Disclaimer- Who is this Inuyasha you speak of? I've never heard of him…

AN- I swear you guys make me blush when I read your reviews. :-) -- Happy Bug

Moving along as if I knew what I was doing…

Glimpses of the Past

The rest of the morning slipped by in an uneventful mesh of everyday activities. Soon Kagome found herself in the kitchen again, helping her mother prepare lunch for the family. Today they were making Oyako-don. Truth be told, Kagome wasn't really that great a cook. But she tried, and more often than not, whatever she was trying to make seemed to turn out pretty well. Fortunately, this particular dish was fairly simple and her mom wasn't shooing her out as she usually did. So while she cut the onion and her mother diced chicken, the conversation between them floated casually, as if a huge secret hadn't been revealed only hours before.

"Kagome dear, start the rice now, would you?"

"Sure mom." Kagome grabbed a pot and filled it with enough rice for them all, adding the proper amount of water and then setting it on the stove to boil. She went back to the onions, only crying a little for their sad, sad fate.

"Uhhg." Sniffle. "Why do I always get to be the one to chop the onions when we cook together?"

Pausing in her work, Mrs. Higurashi looked up at her daughter with a wink. "Why, because you can't stand to see your mother cry, of course."

Sniff. "Yeah, I'm just a sucker like that."

"Yes, you are," she agreed with a small laugh, going back to her chicken.

Kagome finished with the onion as quickly as she could, eager to have her eyes stop burning. Checking on the rice, she noted it had started to boil and gave it a quick stir before lowering the heat and covering it. She grabbed a pan to begin the next part of the preparation and set it on the stove to heat up next to the rice pot. Then she gathered together her ingredients.

Inuyasha spoke up after what had seemed like a very long while. "This time, don't mix them up."

Blushing, as she remembered he had probably been here for the last time she helped make this particular dish a week and a half ago, she said, "Don't worry, I won't."

"What was that?" her mother asked, not looking up as she scooped the finished chicken into a bowl and set it aside so she could wipe counter.

"Nothing, Inuyasha just kindly reminded me not to mess up this time."

"Oh, yes," came a little chuckle as she remembered the decidedly sweet flavor of the last rice bowl. "Well just remember, it's twice the amount of soy sauce to mirin, not the other way." (AN-Mirin is a sweet rice wine.)

"I know, I know."

"And don't measure the sugar over the pan this time."

Sigh. "I learned my lesson about that the hard way."

"Actually we all did."

At this, they both laughed remembering the faces everyone had made after the first bite. Kagome's smile lingered on her face as she carefully measured out each ingredient, making sure to get them right the first time. Fist came the dashi stock, then the soy sauce and mirin, and finally the sugar (measured over the counter of course). She stirred the soup-like mixture a little to dissolve the sugar, then left it to simmer.

As Kagome busied herself around the kitchen with her mother, Inuyasha sat on the table observing them both quietly. There was something about the way they worked together like this that made him feel at paece. Actually, there were a lot of things about this girl that made him feel peaceful… Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around though? Shouldn't he be the one giving her peace of mind, allowing her to feel safe knowing he was around to keep her protected? Not that he was really complaining, it was a nice change after all. Maybe he would tell her a little bit about himself as a kind of repayment? True she didn't know the effect she had on him, but she had been trying so hard to get to know him… What could it hurt? Answer: nothing but his pride, and that was pretty much shot to hell anyways, with this stupid Guardian curse.

Now Mrs. Higurashi was adding the chicken to the pan, stirring for a few minutes before adding the onions. Kagome, he saw, was whisking together something in a bowl. Oh, it was eggs, judging by the empty carton on the counter near her elbow. Now the heat was being turned up under the pan. Kagome was talking to her mother about some school exam or another, he wasn't really paying attention. It was the sound of her voice he was listening to at the moment, not the words. Ah, the stuff was boiling now.

"Oi, Kagome, you're chicken is boiling."

Kagome turned her attention to the stove. "Oh, thank you," she said, waving vaguely to the table at her mom's confused look. She brought the eggs over and poured them on top of the chicken mix, covered it with a lid and lowered the heat once more. Turning to her mother again, she said, "I'll go get gramps and Souta now."

"Okay, lunch should be finished by the time you drag your grandfather away from the shrine anyways."

Hurrying across the courtyard to the shrine, Kagome heard Inuyasha say something behind her. She stopped and turned around, smiling. "Why Inuyasha, was that a compliment I heard?"

"Hmph. Don't be stupid. All I said was it didn't look like you completely messed it up this time. I could be wrong though."

"No, no, no. I believe what you actually said, was that it looked pretty good this time. And that," she said pointing a finger at the air, "was a compliment."

"Feh, whatever. Probably tastes like crap again."

"Not that you would know if it did." She paused, thinking at that for a minute. "Would you?"

"Maybe," he said noncommittally.

She rolled her eyes and continued on. "That's a no."

He made a huffing sound as if offended by that. "Hey, I might be able to taste and eat things too. Not like you ever even offered me anything."

Instantly Kagome turned to him with a rather ashamed look on her face. "Oh, Inuyasha, I'm so sorry! That's was rude of me. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Inuyasha kicked at the ground, glad she couldn't see the shamefaced look on his face. He hadn't meant to upset her like that…

"Er, no. I was, uh, just teasing you. I really don't need to eat." Instead of getting angry at having fooled her again though, she looked relieved.

"Oh good. I was afraid for a second there that I'd been starving you."

"Please, you think I would rely on you to be able to eat? Get real." What was he doing? Was he trying to piss her off? But again, she just shrugged his comment off and smiled.

"No, I guess if you had to rely on me to eat, you might end up starving anyways, seeing what a poor cook I am and all." With that she flashed him a mischievous grin and continued on to the shrine, getting halfway up the stairs before he began to follow again, dumbfounded expression still in place.

By the time Kagome had managed to get her grandfather away from his storeroom, her mother had not only finished preparing lunch, she had set the table, made a salad, portioned the rice into the bowls and was just pouring the chicken and egg mixture over the last bowl when they came in.

"Ah, such perfect timing."

Instead of sitting down at the table though, the two guys stared at the bowls with hesitant looks on their faces.

Souta cleared his throat and asked cautiously, "Um, is that Oyako-don?"

His sister turned to look at him suspiciously. "Yes…"

"Oh. And uh, did you help make it?"

Kagome crossed her arms over her stomach. "Yes."

Her brother and grandfather's faces fell as one. "Oh."

Kagome could feel her eyebrow twitching as she said with forced calm, "There's nothing wrong with it."

Seeing their impending doom in that eyebrow, the two quickly put on big smiles and waved their hands at her assuredly.

"Oh yeah, yeah."

"I'm sure it's wonderful Kagome dear."

Unconvinced, she just looked at them and said, "Uh huh. You could at least try it before you give me that look."

"Of course!" they both said overenthusiastically.

Uncrossing her arms, she hung her head and sighed.

"Can you really blame them?" Inuyasha asked. But of course she didn't reply.

Mrs. Higurashi took pity on her daughter and said loudly to them all, "I've already tried it and it tastes perfect. Kagome, you did a wonderful job this time honey. Now sit down and eat, everyone, before it gets cold."

So they did and Kagome noted with some satisfaction, and after seeing both her brother and grandfather still take a small dubious bite first and then eat their lunch in earnest, that it did turn out pretty darn good, thank you very much.

Her mind turned back to the short conversation she and Inuyasha had earlier. It was kind of sad that he couldn't eat anything. No wait, that wasn't what he said. He said he didn't need to eat didn't he? She made a mental note to ask him later if he was actually capable of eating, or if it was just unnecessary. She wouldn't mind making something for him to enjoy if that was the case, since she really did love cooking for her friends and family. And even if she didn't admit it out loud to him, he was beginning to grow on her. 'Guess he's wormed his way under my skin in more ways than one.'

After lunch, the guys headed back to the shrine to finish unpacking, Souta once again asking/pleading her to help and her again politely/firmly refusing. She'd make it up to her brother by helping with the next one by herself. She wasn't a complete bully after all. Not that she would tell him that.

When the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Kagome headed up to her room to finish off the last of her homework before night fell. Rewriting her book report, two pages of algebra and a language workbook. Yup, five hours aught to just about cover that. She heaved a weary sigh as she plopped down at her desk to begin. She raised her arms over her head, locking hands to stretch them out for a few seconds and then bringing them down to flex her fingers several times before picking up her pencil. Looking over her previous work she made some random markings here and there to fix any problems she found.

"Oi."

Startled, her hand jerked over the paper leaving a dark line in its wake. Growling slightly, she twisted her chair around slowly.

"Sorry, sorry," he said hurriedly before she could yell at him.

"What is it?" she asked impatiently.

"Nothing, I'm just bored."

Giving a little sigh of frustration at the apparent lack of ability for hanyous to amuse themselves, she queried, "Well what do you usually do?"

"Stare at you."

Kagome blushed at this plain statement. "Oh… Is that all?"

"No, I usually talk to whoever is here, but you seem to have an annoying habit of stopping my train of thought."

"Only when you voice it."

"Which is all the time."

"Your fault, not mine." And here she turned back to her paper, flipping the pencil upside down to try and erase the worst of the line.

"Oh come on, don't be like that."

She ignored him and kept correcting her report, trying to make it as mistake free as possible. Fortunately she hadn't done as bad a job as she originally assumed. This might not take as long as she first thought it would. She was just about done with the last paragraph when she heard a horrible sound coming from her bed.

It was Inuyasha.

And he was singing. Very poorly.

"I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch. Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch."

Shaking her head at the sound, she hurried to finish the last few sentences. Unfortunately, what had started off as a soft and slow repetition was quickly picking up in both speed and volume.

"I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch. Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch."

Just as she was sure even her mother would be able to hear him (not to mention every single person in a four block radius), she made the last correction on her paper, set down her pencil and spun around shouting, "Alright, alright. Cut it out already!"

The singing stopped.

"What, you don't like my singing?"

"Deaf corpses wouldn't like your singing."

"Well now that's a little harsh. And I'm pretty sure all corpses are deaf, seeing how they're dead and all."

"Well if they weren't before, they are now."

"Yeah, yeah, so are you done yet?"

"No, I'm not done. I have a ton left to do still." She raised her hand before he could protest. "But, I will take a break. If you promise to never sing again for as long as I live."

"I promise."

"And no crossing your fingers."

"How…but…" Now how had she known that?

"C'mon, do we have a deal? You spare my eardrums if I spare you from boredom?"

"Fine, wench. But there will be a time when you want to hear my beautiful voice again. Then you'll regret this hasty promise."

"Somehow I think I'll manage, "she stated with a wry smile. "Do you want to take another walk? We could go to the park down the street."

"Yeah, but then you can't talk to me or people will think you're crazier than you really are."

"Er, thanks for your consideration…I think."

"We don't have to go anywhere…"

A thought occurred to Kagome. "Inuyasha, do you want to talk to me?"

"Stupid, what do you think we've been doing this whole time."

"No, no. I mean do you really want to talk to me. Like about more than just random, whatever-pops-up things. Won't you tell me something about yourself?"

She half expected him to brush her request off again. Or to tell her to mind her own business. Instead, he said, "Alright."

"You're not just going to chew me out again are you?"

"No, I'll be honest."

Sensing a change in his attitude, for once in a positive direction, she started him off with the least offensive thing she could think of. "So, tell me about the other people you've watched over. How many have there been?"

"Twenty-five." No hesitation. So he had been lying when he first told her he didn't know. Figures.

"Twenty-five huh? And you said you were awake for fifty years, so that's two years for each one? Does that mean you'll be with me for two years?" Somehow that didn't seem as bad as it would have just yesterday.

"No, I wasn't with them all the same amount of time."

"Oh…"

"Some people I was only around for a few days, some months and , well, the longest one was for three years."

"Wow, so you really don't know how long you'll be here."

"No."

"So, this longest one, the person you guarded for three years, what were they like?"

"Boring."

Kagome frowned and gave him an irritated look. "You probably think that about everyone."

"True, but Yasuyuki was especially boring. I swear in the three years I followed him, he did the same thing every single day. The guy was a workaholic too. No family, no wife, no kids. I guess he had to throw himself into something."

"Yasuyuki. You remember his name? How long ago was this?"

"I dunno, probably about a hundred years or so."

"A hundred years! Wow, you have a really good memory."

There was a short silence after that, in which Kagome wondered if she had upset him somehow. But then he spoke again, if a little sadly.

"I remember all of them. Junichi was a carpenter. He could make the most amazing rocking chairs I've ever seen. Nami had the cutest smile; she was only five years old, my youngest charge so far. Satomi was a bit vain, but she had a killer sense of style, at least for the time period she was in, the fifties if you were wondering. Hidenori had three kids, all girls, all spoiled rotten by their father, but still kind of sweet in that annoying little kid way." He paused for a minute. "You should probably finish your school work."

"No, that's okay. Go on. I don't mind, really."

He sighed. "I'm trying to tell you I'm done talking wench. Now stop bugging me and finish your work."

Almost physically restraining herself from pointing out it was him who had bothered her in the first place, Kagome turned back to her desk and got a new piece of paper to write out her final draft on. As she copied down the words from her previous paper she thought over what he had said. All those people, all the time he had spent with them. Yet he never once had gotten the chance to speak with any of them. She began to wonder if, in ten years, he would be remembering her in the same kind of sad, detached way. The thought disturbed her, especially considering she would know he was out there somewhere, be it sleeping, or following around behind someone who didn't even know he was there.

Silence filled the room from both people as Kagome waded through one assignment after another until itbegan to get dark out. As the sun began it's final decent past the horizon, she slapped her pencil down atop her books with a hearty and satisfied sigh.

"Done!"

"Well that didn't take long," came the sarcastic reply.

She just stuck out her tongue at him. "I think I'll go downstairs and see if mom needs any help."

"No need, she's already done."

"How do you know?"

"I can smell it, plus I could hear her making it."

"Oh, you can smell it? Oooh what did she make?"

"Salmon and miso soup."

"Yummy!" she exclaimed jumping up from the chair and heading for the door. "Last one down does the dishes!" With that she dashed down the stairs and skidded to a halt before the dinning room door.

"Sorry wench you lose," said Inuyasha from in front of her.

"Hmph, you cheated."

"No I didn't, you're just slow."

She stuck her tongue out again instead of responding and opened the door. "Let's go."

"After you."

Dinner was better tonight, since they were actually on speaking terms this time. And after clean up and some family time together in front of the TV, Kagome went upstairs and got ready for bed. Sitting on her mattress combing out her wet locks (considerably easier to do this time, having put conditioner in) Kagome remembered something she had meant to ask earlier.

"Hey Inuyasha?"

"Mmm?"

"Can you eat if you want to?"

"Didn't we already go over this?"

"Sort of. You said you didn't need to eat, but I was wondering if you could if you wanted to."

"I…suppose. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just curious."

"Uh huh…"

Swiping the comb through her hair one last time, she placed it back on her night stand and moved to turn the light out. In the darkness she settled herself comfortably under her covers. Snuggling down into her pillow she whispered softly, "Good night Inuyasha. Thank you for talking to me today."

"Whatever. Good night."

"Sweet dreams."

"I don't dream."

"Oh, well sweet memories then."

"Good night."

"Good night."

Quiet descended over them for a few peaceful minutes, then…

"Inuyasha?"

"Dammit, what is it with you! Are we going to go through this every night?"

Soft laughter. "No, sorry. I just wanted to ask you not to get me up so early tomorrow."

"Feh, we'll see."

"Alright, thanks… Good night again."

"Good night Kagome."

AN- And slowly but surely we make our way to an actual plot. It'll be somewhere in here, I promise.

Bye for now.