Sakura's Note: Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope you all had a good time (and possibly break). A quick post-translation piece about what Miguel the Chef was saying last chapter…
¿Qué abre echo yo para ser maldecido para trabajar con este estupido y terco frances? – Roughly: What did I ever do to be cursed to work with this stupid, stubborn French man?
Cabeza dura - Hard head.
So there you go. A quick lesson in Español.
Also, the song used in this chapter is by Vertical Horizon. If I give you the song title now you'll now something that happens. Therefore, it will be mentioned at the very end of this chapter. All the lyrics are not used, some stanzas are omitted to add some more emotion. The whole song would work, but it's a little out of order. Anyway, enough rambling…
Enjoy and R&R! (I loved all the reviews I've gotten in the past few weeks, arigatou!)
.-..-.
Chapter 16: Mama
.-..-.
Eri peeped into the quiet office. "You wanted to see me?"
Midoriko looked up kindly, Naraku following with a penetrating stare.
"Um…Hi?"
Naraku closed his eyes and hissed in disgust. "We have a job for you. It involves the Dawson girl."
Midoriko shot him a look. "It isn't as much a job as it is a favor, Eri. You are a loyal, honest, and valued Urashi employee. We can trust you to guard this secret with your life, and not to squeal to the media-"
"That and we have enough information to blackmail you until the day you commit suicide from the pressure." Naraku added coldly, glaring. He tossed a one-page contract at her, followed by a pen. "Sign it."
Eri eyed him warily, "What's all this about?" Skimming the document to find no explanation, Eri signed any way. Midoriko wouldn't let Naraku double-cross her.
"What we are about to tell you will not be shared with any other employee." Midoriko continued, "Sango Dawson is an orphan. And she is also the only girl in her immediate family."
Eri gave a double take. "What?"
"She lives with her three brothers." Midoriko clarified, "You're an intelligent girl so I won't insult you by explaining the problem this presents for Kagome."
"Why are you telling me all of this?"
"We know how close the two of you have gotten over the past week. You are her closest friend here, and by knowing the deep dark secret, she won't have to hide it from everyone. In addition, you won't corner her with unavoidable questions if you're in the know."
Eri nodded. "I should let her know?"
"Yes. Let her know that she can confide in you without breeching her contract." Midoriko gave a faint smile. "Until we can find a way around this, the fact that she is an orphan must stay hidden."
.-..-.
"If you don't wish to go, you can stay here." Checking his appearance in the hallway mirror, Sesshoumaru turned back to Kagome. "We won't take offense."
"No, I'd be honored to go." Kagome answered earnestly.
Inuyasha jogged down the stairs, dressed in a black dress shirt and pants. He stopped on the last step, meeting Kagome's eye with a questioning look.
Kohaku followed, also dressed in black. He smiled at Kagome, easing around Inuyasha to go down the remaining steps.
They filed into the car, Inuyasha sitting up front beside Sesshoumaru. "Let's get this over with."
Sesshoumaru pulled out onto the road, starting out, as usual, at an insane pace.
Inuyasha and Kohaku seemed used to their eldest brother's driving…they seemed to have confidence that they wouldn't die.
Kagome wasn't so sure.
Sesshoumaru was on the highway in a matter of minutes.
"You can speed up now, Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha muttered without looking away from the window. He heard Kagome gulp. The drive would be fairly long, despite Sesshoumaru's speed…and like always, memories overtook him.
"Ooh! Look at that one!"
"It's hugemongous!"
"Stupid, hugemongous isn't a word!"
Sango bit her lip, swinging her feet from her seat in the shopping cart, "Shut up!"
"Hey! Be nice to one another." Tai Dawson's piercing golden eyes glanced back at them, holding up a frozen turkey. "Your mom's headache's going to get worse."
Inuyasha's mouth became a firm line, and with a sneaky finger, he managed to poke his sister in the leg before their father could say anything.
Without looking up from the vegetables a little ways away, the raven-haired beauty called out her son. "Inuyasha…"
Inuyasha immediately straightened up, darting over towards his father.
"How do you do it, Izayoi?"
His wife giggled, walking over and placing a bag of greens into the cart beside their daughter. "It's nothing personal, honey. He just knows I'll spank him."
"Dad! Dad! This one!" Inuyasha insisted, poking furiously at the nine pound piece of poultry.
Tai grinned, "Now this is a turkey!" He grabbed it up with childish excitement, "Izayoi! Look!"
Izayoi forced herself not to laugh. Like father, like son. "Yes, honey, you found the perfect one."
Sesshoumaru picked up a can of cranberry sauce, "Does this contain preservatives?"
"A few," Izayoi confessed. "But it isn't that big of a deal. You can put one or two in the cart."
Still reading the label, Sesshoumaru dropped the two cans into the cart, giving a faint smile to his younger sister.
Tai, proud of his son finding the biggest turkey a the supermarket, wrapped an arm around his wife. "That's all of it."
"We'll have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Hm?"
That's where the memory always stopped. The final Thanksgiving they'd had together was getting blurry. They'd been only a little over a month away from another one when it'd happened. Everything from so long ago was.
Inuyasha sighed. They were there.
Sesshoumaru waited until everyone else but Inuyasha was out of the car to get out himself. "Are you coming this time?"
"Yes!" Inuyasha growled, unbuckling. "What business is it to you, anyway?" Slamming the car door behind him, Inuyasha found himself forcing his steps towards the graveyard.
Kagome stood a little ways away from where Kohaku knelt down between the graves, head slightly bowed in respect.
In all honesty, her silence surprised Inuyasha the most.
.-..-.
"I'm gonna go sit in the car." Kohaku quickly turned back around towards the car after leaving the flowers for their mother and Reese Cups (their father's favorite food) at their graves.
"Oh! I'll go with you." Giving Inuyasha a final, sorrowful glance, Kagome headed back to wait with Kohaku. Inuyasha had remained silent the entire time, as had Sesshoumaru. Kagome knew that her leaving would not change that, but it might allow them to release a bit more feeling with her and the brother that looked up to them gone.
"I will be returning with Kagura later tonight." Sesshoumaru stated impassively.
Inuyasha looked over at his brother, yet said nothing.
Suddenly becoming restless, Inuyasha jammed his hands deep in his pockets and headed back towards the car. "Hurry up."
Sesshoumaru continued to stare at his father's tombstone coolly. Father…No matter how many times I stand here, I never understand the reason why you died. You left them in my care. Why?
Just as the countless times before, only the wind answered him.
.-..-.
"What!" Eri almost fell off the bed in shock. "I had no idea- I've been so careless!"
Sango leaned away; scared that Eri's frantically gesturing hands might poke her eye out. "It isn't your fault, Eri…Until now I haven't really spoken of my parents to anyone…"
Eri looked near tears. "But, this is awful! Here we've been talking about Naraku killing people when today is the anniversary of when your parents-" Eri grabbed up Sango's pink telephone and pushed a set of numbers, "Yeah, Spider man, get Purity ready to go within ten minutes. Don't ask me questions! You say you can do anything – prove it!" Terminating the conversation, Eri flew off the bed with Sango's arm firmly in her grip.
"Eri, what are we-"
"That was Naraku. We're taking you to see your parents!"
"But…doesn't that mean going back to my old life?" Sango held out her arms so Eri could force on her jacket.
"Of course not! You're riding in a private jet to a cemetery where your beloved parents are waiting for you to visit." Eri grinned, "We'll tell them our destination when we get up there."
.-..-.
…It was windy.
Suddenly Sango was grateful that Eri had made her put on her warmest jacket. Stepping out of the sheltered elevator, Sango shuddered at the intensity of the winds.
Sango almost flew back at the whirlwind the metallic blue and white helicopter that would take them to Purity 1 was stirring up, saved only by Eri grabbing at her hand.
Naraku and Midoriko noticed them with concerned – or in Naraku's case irritated – looks. Midoriko held onto her wildly flowing hair as she ran towards them, skirt blowing, in front of Naraku. "What is the meaning of you needing a plane?"
There was no way Sango could talk over the winds loud enough for the two to hear her.
Eri, however, had no qualms about shrieking out the answer. "We're going to the cemetery where Sango's parents are."
Naraku raised a surprised eyebrow. Putting on his headphones, he yelled something into them, then, turned to Sango. "What is the cemetery's name?"
"Hakushin Cemetery."
.-..-.
Just as Sesshoumaru pulled into the driveway, the ripping sound of a motorcycle surfaced. In a matter of moments a woman clad in red motorcycle gear appeared, pulling into the driveway behind the Jeep.
She removed her helmet, grabbing a hair tie to quickly put her hair into a stylish up-do. Sesshoumaru, having recognized the sound of the motorcycle as soon as he'd heard it, was already by the curb waiting to greet her.
"Keh." Inuyasha dug his keys out of his pocket, heading towards the door.
Kagome followed beside him. "Is that Kagura?"
"Yeah. That's Sesshoumaru's girlfriend." Inuyasha sighed, it sounded foreign even after so long. "They'll be going soon…might as well take this chance to meet her." Something in his stomach made him feel sick, sticking around long enough to say hi to Kagura didn't sound too promising. Before Kagome could follow, Inuyasha disappeared into the house, up the stairs towards his room. What's wrong with me?
.-..-.
Kohaku peeked through the crack in the door.
Inuyasha sat slumped over by his window, the curtains open only enough to see what was going on outside. "Whuddaya want Kohaku?"
Jumping back away from the door, Kohaku grabbed his heart. "Whoa, you scared me!"
"Serves you right." Inuyasha muttered, turning to stare at him. "Need something?"
"Not really…"
The two stared at one another.
"Want something?"
Kohaku stayed silent.
"Then why are you looking in on me?" Inuyasha grilled, looking back out the window. "I'm not on display. Not to Sesshoumaru, not to Kagome, and not to you." When he glanced back to see why Kohaku wasn't responding he found an empty doorway.
Leaning back onto the windowpane, Inuyasha's half lidded eyes watched Kagome wave Kagura and Sesshoumaru goodbye as they sped off on Kagura's motorcycle.
.-..-.
Inuyasha stormed down the hallway, fists deep in his jacket pockets, towards the staircase. He didn't stop even when his elbow jostled Kagome – instead, he sped up.
"Inuyasha?"
No response.
"Inuyasha!"
He ignored her – or perhaps never heard her at all – and slammed the front door behind him.
"Where are you going!" Kagome called uselessly.
Kohaku, on his way back from the bathroom, stopped at Kagome's frantic question. "He's going where he always goes."
Kagome turned, "Where's that?"
"The creek. He goes there when he doesn't want us to see him. Neither Sesshoumaru nor Inuyasha are good at showing their feelings. I never knew mom and dad like they did…I guess that's why I don't have sucha hard time." Kohaku gained a distant look in his eyes. "Maybe that's a good thing?"
The creek…It glowed brightly on the mental map she formed. "The creek…you mean the one Miroku always passes on the way to school?"
"Uh…yeah. How did you-?"
Grabbing her jacket, Kagome jumped the steps to the door. Inuyasha, you can't hide your feelings from everyone around you…it doesn't work! I've tried.
.-..-.
The sun continued to lower in the sky behind the trees as the cars continued their hurried routes to nowhere or somewhere, leaving Kagome able to walk without a million people recognizing her.
"Inuyasha, you stupid, macho idiot!" Kagome huffed, kicking a random walnut lying on the ground.
Bottling everything up was pointless. There was a limit to how much could be held, and when you reached the top, it was over.
Something told her it had been over for Inuyasha a long time ago.
Finally, Kagome crossed the nearly deserted street, walking along the edge of the forest. It was dark, the only light coming from street lamps and the occasional line of cars. Cautious of danger, Kagome stopped at the entrance to the park. The swings were eerily still. The children's playground cast shadows across the grass.
Ahead of her, behind the border of trees, a creek gurgled.
He was there. The most secluded place.
That's where she would be.
Kagome crossed the woodchip-covered playground, stopping at the bank, where amazingly huge boulders sat.
Something made a sound to her left, where the hugest boulder rested, between two lower ones, reaching over the creek itself.
The heiress felt a twig snap beneath her feet.
"Who's there?"
Kagome felt relief rush through her at the sound of his voice. She took a step forward to identify herself.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha looked almost white… "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I was worried about you…you just ran out-"
"Ever think that meant I wanted to be alone!" Inuyasha snapped. Kagome winced, stepping back as though he'd bitten her, and guilt filled his stomach. "How did you find me?"
"I just…knew." Kagome omitted Kohaku. "I figured if I would go to a place like this to be alone…you might too."
Inuyasha scoffed. "Well aren't you the little detective?" Inuyasha's voice cracked, and he quickly turned away.
"Inuyasha…"
"I don't need your pity."
"Good. I'm not offering it." Kagome looked at him through the darkness – it was a new moon tonight. Without the moonlight shining down on him his hair looked almost the color of hers. "I came here because I'm worried about you. You can't hold it all in and pretend it doesn't exist and faking the world out; it'll kill you!"
"You're one to talk."
"You have people to talk to! The press isn't hungry for your feelings like they are for me, and if you tell someone they won't go blab to the local newspaper. You have people you can count on, Inuyasha. You can count on me! Take advantage of it."
An awkward silence passed.
"It's not something I do. I don't let everyone see the pathetic weak side. I shouldn't have one!"
Watching him through the darkness, Kagome waited for him to say something – anything – that could hint at how he felt. From what she'd seen and heard, he didn't open up at all. Kagome had felt that before. Bottling up emotions came natural to her. When someone told you to smile, you smiled no matter what you felt. You pushed what you felt aside.
Here it was different.
This wasn't New York and Inuyasha's every move wasn't being watched by the whole world. His feelings weren't exposed to everyone for them to judge.He shouldn't be ashamed.
"Inuyas-"
"Kagome-" Inuyasha stopped, sparing her a quick, regarding look. He sighed. "You first."
"I wanted to apologize for following you tonight. It isn't right that I come to your own secret spot where you go to be alone to try to talk."
Inuyasha showed he agreed with a quick nod. "Why did you, anyway?"
Because…I care about you, Inuyasha. "Because you matter."
Inuyasha scoffed.
"You do. You shouldn't have to hide how you feel because you think someone's going to laugh at you or think you're weak." Kagome smiled sadly, "Your parents wouldn't want you to hold it all in. I know my mother didn't. She told me."
Inuyasha glanced at her worriedly.
"She told me when she was alive." Kagome confirmed, "My hamster died, and the topic came up. So, she just mentioned it to me. She told me she wanted me to be happy."
Inuyasha remained silent, thinking about what she'd said until he found a difference. "You still have your father."
Kagome's eyes met his, and he couldn't help but breakaway from the pain there. "Yeah, I still have my father."
A minute later, Inuyasha caught movement from the corner of his eye.
Kagome swung her other foot over the edge of the boulder, grabbing onto the ridged edge to keep her balance. Otherwise, she would most likely slide down to the wet, pebbly bank. The moss on the underside of the boulder was slick, Inuyasha knew.
Kagome reached for the side, but her foot slipped from under her. Before she had a chance to scream, a firm hand gripped her forearm.
Heaven
knows you're with me now
Heaven knows that you're here
I feel
your breath all around me now
And all the pain disappears
It
goes away, it goes away
"Don't try that again." Inuyasha chided, pulling her up beside him. "I might not be here next time."
"…Thank you." Kagome let out her breath, checking her elbow for scratches.
"Keh. Just be more careful." Crossing his arms, Inuyasha leaned back, staring at the stars.
Kagome looked out at the creek, appreciating its beauty. It was hard opening up a conversation. "Inuyasha?" She was afraid he wouldn't answer.
"What?"
You
carry too much on your shoulders
I can't wait till you let me
down
Cause the only thing we're getting is older
This time
never comes back around
"How did they die?"
Inuyasha paled. "Car crash. Some drunk forced them off the road, and they followed in their car, then pinned my parents to a tree."
Kagome's head shot to the side, watching him in horror.
"When we found out, our grandfather Toutousai came to take care of us. The will said if Sesshoumaru was up to it, our parents wanted to entrust the three of us to him when he turned eighteen. So, when he did, our grandfather moved to Florida. " Inuyasha sounded emotionless. "Without the will, we might have been seperated."
At her sniffle, Inuyasha jumped back. For a minute there, he hadn't felt so bad… "W-what are you crying for!"
And
it only hurts, when you cry
I'm alone inside, when there's tears
in your eyes
I can't hide and say I'm fine
But it only hurts,
when you cry
"For you." She managed between quiet sobs. "Since you won't, I am!" Leaning on his suddenly tensed shoulder, Kagome continued to let it all out. Not only for him, but for her mother as well.
No one deserved to lose their parents before they had a chance to know them, grow up with them. Yet, they'd all missed out. Inuyasha, Sango, Sesshoumaru, Kohaku, Miroku…herself.
Slowly, Inuyasha relaxed, his arm hesitantly wrapping around her. "I hate seeing a girl cry." He felt weak, unable to make her stop. He felt weak for even running off with feelings to hide at all.
Heaven
knows you're with me now
And I'll do my best to hold on
Cause
nothing is worth all this fighting now
And I won't give up till
it's gone
Yet, the creek always settled something for him. Today, Kagome rested on his shoulder, crying for him when he could not. So, he returned the gesture, leaning into her as she sobbed.
Make
it go away, go away
Make it go away, go away
He could open up to someone…for just one night.
.-..-.
Vertical Horizon – When You Cry