Chapter Three
Tequila Lullaby
Kagome sat in front of her vanity mirror holding her eyeliner pen. She'd forgotten she was here to apply make up and instead was staring straight ahead at the woman in the mirror wondering when she had lost her grip on everything that mattered.
Ayumi pushed open her door and meandered up to the makeup table wearing her fancy silk kimono that Kagome had purchased for the play.
"Mom can I wear some of your makeup?" She picked up a plum lipstick and began to apply it.
Kagome plucked the silver tube from her daughter's hand. "I'm sorry Ayumi but none of the other ladies maids will be wearing makeup in the play and don't you want to match?"
Ayumi considered this. "I guess so." Apparently this eight year old was old enough to care about standing out from her peers.
She leaned forward and picked up a silver picture frame from the vanity counter. "Is this grandma when she was younger?"
A young woman with short black hair smiled for the camera. She held up a diploma and was wearing a graduation gown. Kagome sighed. "Yup that's your grandma when she graduated from college."
Ayumi held the glass of the picture to her nose. "She's really pretty. Like you."
Kagome smiled. These were the times she was glad she was a mom, unlike earlier when she had to fight Ayumi to get her to finish her homework. "Yeah she was."
She ran her hand through her daughter's hair. "You're her namesake and she was always so proud of that."
"Don'tcha miss her?" Ayumi returned the picture to the vanity.
Kagome answered honestly. "More than anything."
Ayumi's lips thinned. "What will I do if you or dad die?"
"You'd work through it and keep going." Kagome began brushing her hair. She didn't want to push Ayumi away but they couldn't be late for the play.
Ayumi's eyes shone and Kagome knew she was on the verge of tears. "I couldn't stand it if I lost you or dad."
A horrible thorny hand of guilt twisted it's self around Kagome's heart. If he's cheated on me I'm getting a divorce. But looking at her daughter's face made her question everything.
Kagome ran the brush though Ayumi's short hair. "It could happen but both of us are very healthy and still young. I think you'll be putting up with us for many, many years to come."
Ayumi grinned showing of the gap in her smile from the tooth she lost at school earlier in the day. "Promise."
"I will do my best."
Kagome managed to sit through the longest children's play in the history of mankind. She always loved to see her kids perform but tonight her thoughts didn't belong to the play.
She stood and clapped with the other parents but wasn't paying attention.
The woman beside her touched her elbow. "My daughter's the flower! Isn't she adorable?"
Kagome squinted at the stage where no less than ten 'flowers' danced. "Sure is!" she lied.
On the drive home Kagome's mind continued to wander. If I leave him what am I going to do with the girls? But I can't stay if he has another woman.
No she would never make that decision or mistake a second time. Kagome loved Hojo because she was his entire world. At least I used to be.
When Hojo held her hand or when she caught him watching her when he didn't think she'd notice; she knew he was thinking of her and not some other woman. Like Kikyo, Hojo never had a Kikyo. It was always just me.
But now it wasn't. Kagome's stomach churned at the thought of always sharing the man she loved.
She thought back to when Inuyasha had chosen Kikyo. I came back and asked to stay. I loved him and didn't care what it took. I just had to be near him. Then a year and a half later he tore my heart from my chest. It was my own stupid fault. I should have expected it. But not from Hojo, never from him. Didn't our marriage vows mean anything! In a few months it'll be ten years. Ten years and this is how it ends.
Maybe we should get counseling? Ten years is too long of an investment to throw away. But what will I say… Will I have to explain Inuyasha for the therapy to work? After all how many other woman spent their teens in the Feudal Era? That is a profound part of who I am today and no over paid shrink will ever understand. They'll lock me away for sure.
The car veered off the road and Kagome heard her girls scream when she struck the heavy public mailbox. She slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a grinding halt.
The mailbox was anchored to the sidewalk in concrete and didn't even budge.The front end of the car didn't seem to be so lucky. From inside the car Kagome could tell the right headlight was out. The crunching nose of bending metal told her the right side of the car had sustained heavy damage. She groaned and slammed her head back against her head rest.
DAMNIT! Hojo is gonna freak!
Oh wait. Why do I care what he thinks?
Kagome turned around to see the girls in the back seat. They were wide eyed and crying but seemed unhurt. "Are you guys okay?"
Miya sniffled than laughed. "I'm fine. Can we do that again?"
Ayumi howled. "No. We can't do that again." She wiped her nose on her silk sleeve and took on an accusatory tone. "Mom's in so much trouble with dad."
Kagome's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "Ayumi, everything is fine." She sighed and opened the car door to inspect the damage.
Except for a scratch the mail box was unharmed. How in the hell did that happen? What do they make those things out off? Kagome circled the four foot high black metal box but it wasn't even dented. The car's headlight hung down from it's socket and a chuck of the front end was dented to match the square edge of the mailbox.
She'd done at least sixty thousand (aprox $5000) yen of damage to the car. It would take days to repair and she'd have to rent a loaner. There goes the insurance premium. Good work Kagome.
Kagome climbed back into the car and pulled away from the mail box. She saw rubber tire treads on the road and a thin scrape of her blue paint on the mail box but no other damage. She elected not to call the police and just went home.
She drove cautiously least a police officer spot the damage on the car and pull her over. She was almost home when she passed the street that led to Hojo's childhood home. Kagome turned on to the road and called back to the girls.
"Hey I think you guys are going to stay with your Grandmother Sumi for day or two."
Ayumi protested. "Why? You didn't tell us this before we left?"
Kagome fought to remain calm. "I just forgot. But it'll be fun."
Hojo Sumi was happy to see her grandkids. Ever since the death of Hojo's dad she tended to get lonely. She saw the car and pulled Kagome aside.
"Are you okay?"
Kagome forced a smile. "Yeah but I really could use some time to myself. Can you keep tonight and for maybe the weekend too? They have clothes and toys here already so they shouldn't cause too much trouble but if they do you can call me and I'll come get them."
Sumi gave Kagome a warm hug that reminded her of her own mother. "No problem, just go take care of whatever it is that brought you here."
Kagome felt no guilt driving off and leaving her girls behind at their grandmother's. It's the best thing really. Obviously I am not at my parenting best right now. I could have gotten them killed. Damnit!
She pulled up to the Shrine and leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. When she was a girl they took the bus everywhere. The cars were something they purchased when they moved out to the shrine and everyone seemed too busy to wait on a bus. Had we taken the bus tonight none of this would happen.
Oh well, no point in mourning a busted up car. It won't fix itself. Besides I can get a new car… Can't get a new family, though sometimes that doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Now she did feel guilty.
Kagome slammed the car door and trudged into the kitchen. She put on a kettle of tea and headed to the bathroom for a long soak.
The hot bath only served to remind her of the roykan resort Hojo was planning on visiting without her. Kagome finished off the last of her tea. For once the bath and tea did not solve her problems. Her shoulders were still in knots and her stomach… Better not think about my stomach.
She stood from the streaming bath and wrapped her self in a large towel. Well when in doubt alcohol couldn't hurt.
Kagome rarely drank mostly because she felt it was a bad example for the girls. But they aren't here right now and Hojo won't be back until the day after tomorrow. Who will know if Mom indulged in a few too many while she tried to sort it all out?
Kagome stood on tiptoe and pulled the cupboard over the fridge open. What do we have here?
There was two bottles of sake and one of American citrus tequila. Kagome chuckled. American tequila, there's an oxymoron. All tequila is based out of the Americas…isn't it?
She took a can of diet coke and the mostly full bottle of blue tequila in one hand and on a whim her other hand snatched up the keys to the well house pad lock.
At first she sat under the God tree and watched the stars. How much has the night sky changed in five hundred years? Are these the same stars Inuyasha is under right now?
And the same sky the stood over Hojo and that other woman? With that in her head she pulled the cap from the tequila and held the bottle up to her lips drinking deeply. What could she have that I don't? Probably an air of mystery, giant boobs and no ass or kids.
The liquid stung on the way down but it's warmth seeped into her limbs. She followed it with a slug of diet coke then lay on her back on the grass directly below the tree.
Kagome could still see the scar on the tree trunk from Kikyo's arrow. If she squinted hard she could still imagine the boy Inuyasha pinned to the tree. This image required another hit on the tequila bottle.
How different would my life be had we never met? Would he still be stuck to the tree? Maybe inside the trunk after it grew around him? Hmph, She smiled. It's a backward version of Sleeping Beauty complete with the thorns. Cept sleeping beauty had foul mouth and tried to kill his rescuer.
Even after she was married Kagome was able to stand under the God Tree and feel the tether that forever connected her to Inuyasha.
Tonight the connection was dead. There was just an old tree protected by the historical society and a nifty rope fence.
Gods I hope he's not dead. But I guess he is… I mean he's long lived but surly he wouldn't be alive five hundred years later. If he were, he would've tried to find me.
Once late at night Kagome had Googled Sesshomaru. He was a youki and maybe he was still around somewhere. But no luck. If he walked in modern times he kept to himself. As if he would have talked to me anyway but it would have been nice to find out how it all ended. If Inuyasha was happy or had children. Who knows if Sesshomaru would even keep up with such things?
Kagome sat up. All of these thoughts were a waste of her time. The past held no solutions to her problems now. I am just hiding in the past. I need to move forward.
Kagome pulled herself back to her feet and wobbled back to the house. She past the well house and paused to study the locked door. Except it wasn't locked, hell it wasn't even shut.
The worn door swung open in the wind slamming against the side of the well house. Damnit Ayumi! I told that girl to stay the hell out of here.
Kagome reached down and held the lock in her hand except it was still locked. The chain was broken. Hojo owned a great pair of wire cutters but how likely was it that her eight years old would know where to find them and how to use them?
Fear pricked the base of her spine. I would have a burglar the one day I'm drunk off my ass, have wrecked the car and lost my husband. What timing! Maybe I can get the thief to shoot me and I can finish this day off in the hospital on really good drugs.
Kagome circled the tiny house and saw it was deserted. She stepped cautiously into the house and it was empty. Whoever was here was long gone. She propped the door shut and headed back to the house.
The front door was locked and all the windows seemed secure. Must have been that kid Ayumi heard earlier. When I find him I am calling his parents. The shrine isn't a safe place for him to be playing in and now he's destructive.
Kagome dropped the now half full tequila bottle onto the kitchen counter and stumbled into the bedroom she shared with Hojo. His clothes lay across the bed and the scent of his cologne filled the air. This wouldn't do, she'd never get any sleep in here tonight.
Kagome picked up her beloved pillow and held it under her arm as she climbed the stairs to her old room. She lay across Ayumi's tiny twin bed and was claimed by a dizzying darkness.
A small hand tugged on her ear.
Kagome pressed the pillow over the side of her face and pushed the hand away.
It returned with more persistence. Kagome touched the side of the bed with her foot and discovered she was alone on the bed. "Miya…No! Go see you father. Leave me alone…it's too early."
The hand left and she heard the sound of bare feet skipping out of the room followed by a blessed silence. Kagome had been a mom long enough to know a busy child with a plan is a quiet child, and that was rarely a good thing.
She sat up and put her hand to her head. Why did I drink all of that tequila? Then she remembered. Hojo had found a replacement for her and the girls were at their grandmothers.
So who is the kid who was just in here? It's got to be that boy.
Kagome sat up on the twin bed and swung her feet over the edge to the floor. She was alone.
She went down the hall and checked Miya's room. Toys were strewn over the floor and her bedding lay in a pile on the floor. Before they left for the play the night before, Miya's room was neat and her bed made.
Kagome slipped down the stairs into the living room. She refused to be afraid. After all it was a child and she knew she could handle a kid.
The couch pillows were piled in front of the TV set and the coffee table was over turn. Looks like someone was making a fort.
Kagome stepped into the kitchen and her heart froze. Every cupboard door stood open. Bags of flour and sugar lay empty on the floor and white flour covered every surface of her countertops.
Food wrappers littered the floor, the fridge door stood wide open and broken china plates lay on the floor where they'd been thrown from the safety of their hutch.
I hope he isn't an only child cause I'm going to kill him.
A series of small footprints trailed through the flour that dusted the floor. Kagome knelt down to examine them and was relived to count five toes on each foot. So whatever it is, it's human. Then she felt silly. Of course he's human, it's just a kid. Not some feudal well monster.
The sound of breaking glass came from the living room and Kagome spun on her bare heels to face the noise. She slipped in the flour and landed face first on the floor.
Omph! This is not going to be my day either. Kagome rose to her knees and heard singing. It was an ancient lullaby sung in the voice of a young boy.
Nen nen kororiyo okororiyo
Boyawa yoikoda nenneshina
Boyano komoriwa dokoe it ta
Anoyama koete satoe it ta
Sato no miyage ni nani morata
Denden taikoni sho no fue
Sho no fue
That's an infant's song, he sounds like he's four or five. Maybe his mother sings it to his younger siblings.
Kagome crept around the kitchen on her knees and peered into the living room
A small boy was jumping up and down on Hojo's beloved leather easy chair as he sang. The song was supposed to be sung in slowly in soft voice but he was shouting it. His long white hair flew up behind him. Kagome approached the chair from behind. She waited for his bare feet to land for a brief moment on the expensive leather cushion then her hand shot out and grabbed him by his thin ankle.
Little monster, I gotcha!
His opened his mouth and screamed. The noise was unbearable and Kagome nearly dropped him. Instead she tightened her grip and pulled him off the chair on to the floor. He fought her blindly; his fists pounding on her chest then his fingers grasped her hair and began pulling.
Ouch! Why you little demon…. His eyes opened and Kagome saw his large pupils were liquid gold accented with feline slits. She held him down with one hand and her heart pounded as her other hand ran over the top of the boy's head searching for his…ears.
She found them, a set of round human ears on either side of his head. Right were they are supposed to be… And that's when he bit her.
Notes:
Pavlov's Bell is a direct reference to drooling dogs. In fact I loved the title so much I had to write something I could use it on. What could make our Inuyasha drool? (evil laughter) I got the idea while driving around doing errands listening to my They Might Be Giants CD and The Dinner Bell song came on. On a sad side note the Pavlov experiments were cruel to the dogs so who knows how this will end. Well actually I do but I ain't telling. However Iz the hedgehog has the ending up for auction at EBay right now. Shameless little prickly capitalist that she is…
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist won the Nobel Prize in Physiology (medicine) in 1904 for experiments that involved the conditioning of dogs to drool in expectation of being fed upon (supposedly but this is under debate) the ringing of a bell. Now think of this in reference to Inu and Kagome and tell me it ain't funny.
Translation of the lullaby Edo Komoriuta that I hope I have not butchered:
Sleep, sleep,
little one, sleep.
You¹re a good baby,
now go to sleep.
Do you know
where your nurse has gone?
Gone to her village
she won¹t be long.
What will she bring baby
when she does come?
A flute so lovely
and a thunderous drum.
And a thunderous drum.
VampirePeaches: Good looking out!
Cremoisa: Inu can't get mad at Kagome for being married when he choose Kikyo. I assume he would expect her to be married.
In chapter one the line "Everyday he was able to spend with her was like winning the scratch off instant lotto or finding two 1000 yen notes in the bottom of his washing machine." I borrowed the washing machine part from a review of another story of mine by BrickWall. So if it goes to show if you put something clever out there I am not beyond shamelessly borrowing it.