Daughters
Chapter Two: Sweet Silence

"Are you sure you don't know where it is?" Inuyasha asked angrily as he observed the map his grandfather had made for him to find Rin's kindergarten class. Rin silently shook her head and Inuyasha released an irate sigh. "Fine."

He stared at the makeshift map scripted by his grandfather's shaky hand. He frowned acutely and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Come on," he commanded and stalked off towards the direction the map indicated. He heard the tap of Rin's shoes behind him. Under different circumstances, Inuyasha may have thought that Rin looked cute in her school uniform, but he was being forced to care for Rin and therefore, by default, she was an evil little child who he was stuck with for practically the rest of his life.

He glanced at his watch and screwed his face together. "Damn, I'm going to be late for school."

Rin toddled behind him, her small body trying to keep up with Inuyasha's long stride. She released tiny little pants as her feet clacked against the pavement, trying to stay within Inuyasha's sight and not lose him.

He glanced at his watch again and cursed. "Damn, you're going to be late, too."

Rin made a small noise in the back of her throat—sounding suspiciously like a whimper. She enjoyed school and the idea that she wasn't going to make it on time distressed her.

"I guess we can run," Inuyasha muttered and stopped suddenly. Rin ran into the back of his legs and released a tiny squeak of surprise. He stared down at her, thinking hard. "You won't be able to keep up, though."

His frown deepened at the knowledge of what he'd have to do. "I guess I'll carry you, then."

Before Rin could register what was going on, Inuyasha had scooped her up and was dashing down the sidewalk. She bit back a scream of surprise as Inuyasha jumped over small children and pets alike and dodged between taller adults.

He looked around wildly, whipping out the map every so often. Five minutes before her bell was going to ring, Inuyasha skidded to a halt in front of Apple Blossoms Kindergarten.

He practically threw Rin into the building. He pulled off her backpack and shooed her inside. "Come on."

Inside Inuyasha and Rin were greeted with a blast of warmth. Rin removed her jacket and hung it in a cubby. Inuyasha looked around stupidly, taking in the surroundings to Rin's school. Rin plucked her backpack away from his hands and hung it up, too.

"Ah, Rin," an elderly woman greeted the little girl. Rin gave her a tiny smile and glanced down at her feet. "Come on in, the rest of the children are waiting for class to begin."

Rin made to leave.

"Rin, say goodbye," the woman said with a tiny point towards where Inuyasha stood awkwardly. He frowned slightly at the teacher's command.

Rin turned around and gazed at Inuyasha for a long moment, her brown eyes wide. Inuyasha continued frowning and silently willed her to turn around and go to her class. Wordlessly, she raised her hand and gave him a tiny wave.

With his hands stuffed into his pocket, Inuyasha watched as Rin ran from the foyer of the kindergarten and disappeared around a corner.

The woman stepped forward, giving him a small smile. Inuyasha frowned and hoped that she wouldn't talk to him. He was going to be late for his own school. But the woman stood in front of him and smiled charmingly.

"You must be Inuyasha Shinkanshi. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your grandfather called and told me that you'd be taking care of Rin from now on." She fell silent and Inuyasha wasn't sure what it was that she was waiting for. When it became evident that he wasn't going to say anything more, she cleared her throat and smiled again, albeit awkwardly. "It really means a lot to us that you bring Rin to school."

"Hm."

"It's very kind of you… especially in light of Rin's… loss." The woman sighed. "It truly is a shame."

They stood there for a long moment and Inuyasha wondered if the woman wanted him to start crying or some sentimental stuff like that. His frown intensified and his lavender eyes swept over the room silently.

"Rin wasn't very close to her mother… but at the same time, losing a mother at such a young age can be quite troublesome later on." She sighed and crossed her arms, looking towards where Rin had disappeared.

Inuyasha scowled. The woman obviously didn't know she was talking to an orphan.

"In any case, I really do appreciate you taking care of your cousin. It means a lot to everyone, really. Especially since your grandfather's health interfered with his taking care of little Rin. There aren't that many teenagers who would take care of their small cousins. You're a good person."

What was with all this ego stroking? Good person? Him?

Inuyasha suppressed a snort—just barely. The woman gave him a strange look, wondering why it was that he wasn't responding to what she was saying.

"Well, thank you," she said finally when she finally registered that Inuyasha wasn't going to say anything.

He shrugged. "Whatever."

The woman looked slightly offended as Inuyasha turned around and stalked out of the kindergarten. He couldn't stand to stay around much longer and listen to some woman praise him for something he didn't even want to do. He snarled angrily to himself.

He didn't want to take care of Rin. But there was nothing he could do. For the time being, he was some stupid babysitter until he got legal consent over Rin. For the time being, his grandfather was Rin's legal guardian.

Once the papers were signed over to him, he was dumping the little brat in a foster home. There was no way he was going to take care of his aunt's brat just because she was dead.

'The minute she becomes my legal charge,' he vowed with his fist clenching. 'She's as good as gone.'

With that in mind, he continued on to his school.

He glanced at his watch, cursed, and ran toward his school in a sprint. He was going to be late, and it was all Rin's fault—and that stupid lady who didn't know when to shut up.

"Mr. Shinkanshi," his Japanese Literature teacher said tensely when Inuyasha burst into the classroom, panting, "Do you mind telling the class why it is that you've come to class fifteen minutes late?"

Inuyasha frowned as he found the entire class's attention on him. Like he was going to say the reason in front of his classmates.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Inuyasha, with his panting chest and unruly state of dress, appeared to have been doing something other than running to his class. His tie was lopsided, his hair was whipped around in odd positions, his shirt was untucked and wrinkled, and one of his shoelaces was untied.

His teacher tapped his fingers against his folded arms. "Mr. Shinkanshi," he said tensely. "I do not appreciate such conduct in my school. See me after class."

Growling faintly, Inuyasha stalked to his chair in the back of the class and flopped down, glaring daggers at his homeroom teacher. He was so busy plotting the man's demise that he missed everything the teacher said during the lesson.

Instead, he occupied himself by looking out the window, watching the clouds roll by and imagining all the different ways he could disembowel his teacher. A rather petty thing to do, yes, but at that moment in time, revenge was far more important than learning about Japanese literature.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Inuyasha watched as his fellow classmates ran from the room to buy some snacks quickly before the next period began and the new teacher entered the classroom. A few students stayed in the back of the class, discussing amongst themselves.

Inuyasha would have liked to run to the juice machine, since he didn't have any breakfast that day, but instead he stalked up to his teacher's desk.

It took a moment for the teacher to acknowledge his presence. His back was to him. Inuyasha glowered at him wordlessly, imagining just running from the classroom and getting some lemon tea, or something. Or eviscerating his homeroom teacher.

He was in a bad mood, and had been ever since Rin woke him up early with her attempts of taking a shower. His bathroom was probably still flooded.

"Mr. Shinkanshi," his teacher said without turning around. He started erasing the lesson on the board and as he erased the day's assignment Inuyasha realized that his planner lacked that particular assignment. Oh well. He wouldn't be doing homework tonight, anyway, not with Rin running around.

"Yes?" Inuyasha asked with as much venom in his voice as he could congregate.

"I found your display this morning rather troublesome."

"Did you?" Inuyasha snarled. It was hardly a display. He'd just come to school late.

"I've been fairly lenient with you this year," his teacher continued. "I excuse your tendency to fade out during my lectures. I've excuse many homework assignments that you've failed to turn in. I like to think that I'm a fair teacher and that I give my students plenty of chances to prove themselves to me."

Inuyasha snorted.

His teacher twisted around and faced his student, his expression similar to Inuyasha's own. They both scowled at one another.

"I won't accept, however," the teacher continued, "you coming to class late repeatedly. This is your third tardy this quarter. Furthermore, your refusal to give a reason for being late. "

His teacher paused and Inuyasha realized that the man was waiting for an explanation to his late arrival.

"Like I said," Inuyasha drawled out slowly, as if talking to someone younger and stupider than himself. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," he countered.

"I had to drop my cousin off at her kindergarten," Inuyasha said with a shrug and eyed his teacher for his reaction.

His teacher seemed unfazed. He took in a deep breath and released it slowly. "You're right," he said finally, "I don't believe you."

"Hm."

"You have detention after school. I'll see you then."

"But—"

His teacher didn't listen, but simply collected his things. With a nod towards the disgruntled boy, he strolled out of the room. The bell rang and his classmates filtered back into their room.

He eyed those who drank from lemon tea cans and apple juice bottles enviously. He was thirsty. And hungry. He eyed a student eating from a bag of cookies furiously, as if he was the one who wronged him and not his teacher.

He stomped back to his desk and sat down just in time for his next teacher to enter the room. She smiled jovially, unaware of the dark glares Inuyasha was sending her. She didn't do anything wrong herself, but for the rest of the day Inuyasha found himself in a rather sour mood and snapped at anyone who dared speak to him. Luckily for the rest of the population, not many people talked to him.

"Has Inuyasha not come yet, Rin?"

Rin looked up at her teacher, who was wearing a jacket and had her purse tucked under her arm. She was ready to go home.

It was the end of the day and Rin was alone. Her classmates' parents had already ushered away their children. She wouldn't see them until tomorrow. Rin, however, was stuck on the steps to her kindergarten, her knees pulled to her chest, as she awaited Inuyasha's arrival.

He was already ten minutes late. But Rin knew that his house was far away from her kindergarten class. She frowned at the thought. The kindergarten was closer to her home than Inuyasha's was.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere, yes?" the teacher asked hesitantly, looking around as if expecting to see the long, black-haired student to appear.

Rin shook her head.

"He's not here?"

Rin nodded, refusing to speak even to her teacher. The elder woman frowned and looked out over the streets, searching for the said boy.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon, Rin-Chan," the woman reassured happily, smiling down at the little girl. Rin nodded silently and stared at the pavement like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

Silence passed between the little girl and her teacher.

"Well," she said finally, shifting awkwardly. She couldn't miss her train—it was the last one of the day heading towards her home. But she couldn't leave Rin. "I'll stay here with you, if you'd like."

Rin quickly shook her head no.

The teacher shifted uncomfortably. "If you're sure."

Rin pointed a finger. The elderly woman turned and looked towards where she was pointing. Her eyesight was poor, but in the distance she could have sworn she saw a young man.

"I guess he's coming then," the teacher said happily. "Goodbye, Rin. See you tomorrow."

Rin waved at her teacher and turned her attention towards where the man was approaching. She stood and moved towards where the man was approaching. But, as he got closer she realized that it wasn't Inuyasha who was approaching but someone else. He passed by Rin and her school without even glancing towards the little girl.

The little girl silently retreated back to her place on the steps. She tucked her feet beneath her and leaned against the railings lining the sides of the concrete steps.

Rin was left alone, watching the sun in the sky. The shadows grew long around her and she sighed uneasily. Her bottom lip quivered but she refused to cry. Perhaps Inuyasha forgot about her?

The sun's rays cast a bright red glow over the horizon as it dipped closer. How long had she been sitting out here? She couldn't read the clocks in the school and she didn't have a watch. But it seemed like an eternity. But everything felt like an eternity to a little girl.

Rin whimpered slightly as the dusk extended throughout the sky.

Her eyes swept the streets, longing to see her mother turn the corner and bring her home. If her mother came, she'd be happy. Rin perked up. Maybe her mom was coming for her?

Rin's brown eyes searched all over, waiting for her mom's face to appear. She bit her lip and stood again, her small legs quaking with the idea of seeing her mother again.

Her mother wasn't going to come. Rin knew that. But she wanted her to. She wanted to see her mom.

Maybe she'd come?

But no, Rin knew better.

She looked down the street, searching for a familiar face or perhaps a bus she could take home.

No one came.

Her bottom lip quivered again and Rin felt a pressure behind her eyes. She wanted someone to come and get her. She didn't want to stay at the kindergarten all by herself.

Rin watched as the sun began to sink towards the horizon, the bright red and oranges of the sky dancing on the endless windows of Tokyo. The street lights flickered on, though it wasn't dark enough to need them yet.

The little girl sat back down and pulled her legs to her chest, letting a single tear drip down her cheek. She bashfully wiped it away.

Rin's silent world was interrupted when she heard the pounding of footsteps. She lifted her head in time to see Inuyasha skid to a halt in front of the gates to her school and dash inside.

Rin felt hope rise in her chest as she saw Inuyasha's face. Someone had come for her. Even if it was someone she didn't particularly want to see, she was still thankful he'd come.

Inuyasha panted. "I had detention because I was late."

He took a moment to catch his breath and when he did, he stood up tall and stared down at her like she was something foul stuck to his shoe.

He didn't offer an apology nor did he ask if she was all right. He only offered an excuse to his tardiness. Rin stared at him for a long moment, her brown eyes unreadable.

"Well, come on. We have to go," he snapped out when the girl didn't say anything. He frowned again for the umpteenth time that day. "Hurry it up."

Rin jumped off the steps leading to her kindergarten and toddled behind him, trying to keep up to his pace. Inuyasha glanced at his watch. Rin followed behind him like a ghost, never saying a word to the boy. She was almost invisible to the man in front of her.

They walked in silence the entire way back to her home. By the time they reached Inuyasha's apartment, the sky was dark and the streetlights truly had a purpose. Only two stars dotted the sky, the rest drowned out by the sleepless city of Tokyo.

Inuyasha unlocked the door and stalked inside, throwing his shoes off with a kick of his feet.

"Take off your shoes," Inuyasha ordered once they were both inside. Rin didn't need reminding. Her shoes were already placed neatly beside his own. He glared at them as if they'd caused him some kind of offence.

He removed his uniform jacket and threw it on a chair as he passed it, heading towards the kitchen. Rolling up the sleeves to his wrinkled button-up shirt, Inuyasha loosened his tie and removed it as well.

He was tired from school, detention, and dashing to the kindergarten. Ordinarily, he would have just walked but he knew his grandfather would have killed him if he learned that he'd picked up Rin late. In any case, the girl was home now and that's all that really mattered to him. As long as he didn't get in trouble.

He pulled out the ingredients and supplies necessary to make dinner for two and set out to satisfy his hunger.

After two grueling hours of making food, Inuyasha flopped down into his chair and Rin followed, sitting on a phone book so that she could reach the edge of the table. The food wafted through the entire apartment and Inuyasha sighed happily.

"Dinner, finally!" He started eating right away. He'd worked hard on his food—and now he was very hungry. Even if he wasn't the greatest cook in the world, he was still happy to eat.

He amused himself with his food for what seemed like an eternity. He munched happily and didn't take any notice of the girl beside him.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Rin sitting, staring at the food. But not eating. He paused in his consumption to give her an incredulous look.

He frowned. She must have felt his gaze on her because she turned her attention back to him, blinking slowly as she gazed at him. He lifted his eyebrows.

"Why aren't you eating?" he snapped out. Rin glanced at him then at the food.

She didn't move.

"Come on," he groaned out and rubbed his forehead. "Just eat the damn food. Don't tell me you're too good to eat the food I make."

Rin didn't move and Inuyasha felt like throwing something at the wall.

"Just eat it," he commanded. He slammed his fist down on the tabletop.

He wasn't sure why this was annoying him so much. Growing up, he was notorious for having the shortest temper out of anyone else in the family. It was just something he was used to doing. As a child, when his parents were alive, he was spoiled and got whatever he wanted. And if he didn't get it right away, he threw a tantrum until he got it.

When he was sent away to live with his grandfather, he toned down tremendously. His grandfather had a no-nonsense attitude. And, even though he felt sorry for the orphaned boy, he didn't let him get away with anything. But there was one thing about Inuyasha's behavior that couldn't be erased—and that was his temper.

"Eat," he said again when Rin still made no move to do as she was told.

Rin looked at him stubbornly, her eyebrows furrowing as she gazed at the angered man. They glared at one another for what seemed like hours—but in reality was only a couple minutes—neither blinking nor looking away. Stubbornness must have run in their family.

Silently, Rin jumped down from her perch and trotted away. Inuyasha sat stupidly in his chair, unsure how to make of this. He was debating chasing after her and throttling her—something he knew he'd regret immediately afterwards, or just letting the little brat starve. If she was too good to eat his food then she could just starve.

He was about to get up and go after her. He could just force her to eat. He had to make Rin eat. As much as he hated the girl being around, he knew that he couldn't let the girl not eat dinner. Even he had a heart at times, though he hardly liked the idea of expressing it for the stupid little girl he was forced to take care of.

But Rin returned a short moment later, carrying a pad of paper and a crayon. She pulled herself up onto her chair with some difficulty and showed him the bright red crayon.

"You don't know how to write," he said tensely, watching as Rin leaned over her pad of paper and began drawing vigorously. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Slightly taken aback at the display, Inuyasha blinked a couple of times, watching as Rin worked.

He watched her, slightly awed at her motor skills. Finally, the little girl pulled away, revealing a frowning face that was barfing. Hardly something worth putting up on the fridge.

"Um… you're sick?" he guessed, unsure of how to make of it. He stared at the frowning face as if it would give him the answer all of his questions. Instead, he only saw a frowning face barfing. Not much insight was needed with such a primitive picture.

Rin shook her head and, using the red crayon, drew a pepper.

Inuyasha stared at a long moment before it clicked in his mind.

"You don't like peppers," Inuyasha realized and Rin nodded her head. Inuyasha inspected her food and frowned darkly. "There's barely any in here. Get over it."

Rin didn't seem to like that answer. She glared at him darkly—a look that reminded him of his own withered stares. Well, despite the irony of the situation (Inuyasha now felt a deep, deep sympathy for his grandfather for having to take care of him and this little monster) Inuyasha refused to relent.

"You can pick around it," he said finally. He was king of arguing and he'd be damned if he let a little girl, who couldn't even talk, get the best of him.

Rin refused to touch the food.

He snarled. "Fine, give it here."

He pulled her bowl of food towards him and began picking out the peppers one by one.

"Damn brat," he muttered.

Rin watched him, her brown eyes inspecting the food to make sure that he didn't overlook a pepper. He picked each one out and plopped it down into his own bowl. He had no problem with peppers.

"There, I think that's all of it," he said finally and practically threw the bowl at Rin. "Next time, just get over it and eat the stupid food. I don't care if there's something you don't like. I'm not some damned special order cook. Peppers are good for you."

Rin frowned and silently stared at the young man as he began eating again.

She started eating, too, now that the peppers were gone.

Inuyasha woke up the next morning when he felt a pressure on his bed. Blinking his eyes open, he stared up at Rin. His first thought was that it was too dark to be getting up.

His next thought was that it was very, very odd that Rin was on his bed in the middle of the night.

He frowned when he realized that Rin was, indeed, sitting on his bed. That, and holding a pair of scissors.

"What?" he asked, dazed out of his comfortable sleep prematurely. He gazed at Rin, not truly comprehending that she really was there and was holding a pair of scissors.

Then, his dazed mind seemed to clear and he snapped to attention.

"What did you do?" he asked tensely. The deer-in-headlights expression on her face proved that she had done something wrong. He pulled the clippers away from her hands. "Where did you get these?"

He inspected the scissors and tossed them aside, watching as they soared in a small arch before landing with a clunk on his floor.

"Well?"

Of course, he didn't expect Rin to answer. He'd grown used to not getting an answer from the mute girl. Though it was annoying, Inuyasha figured that hearing her high-pitched, scratchy voice all the live-long day wouldn't go over well with his sanity.

But he was digressing from the problem at hand. The point was that he didn't know what Rin was doing with scissors on his bed in the dead of the night.

Then, he saw it.

In her hand, grasped tightly between her small fingers, Rin held a large chunk of black hair.

"Oh my fucking God, you didn't!" His hand instantly reached up to his head, grasping his now very short hair. His eyes widened and he practically dove forward and choked the girl. "You cut my damn hair! You little brat!"

Instead, he continued grasping his hair, trying to register that his hair was short and that Rin had cut it in the middle of the night. Why? Because he'd told her that she should just eat peppers? What was the world coming to?

Inuyasha had always written Rin off as just an annoying brat. He'd never once thought that perhaps Rin was also a sneaky, conniving little girl bent on revenge. He was in trouble, if that was the case.

His hair was short and unruly. True, his hair was unruly when it was long, but he'd been growing his hair out since he was about ten, getting it trimmed every once in a while. His teachers hated it and so did his grandfather, which fueled his desire to grow his hair long and wear it in a pony-tail. And now…

"God, it's short!" he cried out, effectively pointing out the obvious. He groped his head, wishing that his hair would magically grow back. This was hardly something he ever wanted to wake up to.

Rin stared at him, horrified. Perhaps, in hindsight, Rin may have realized that cutting her caretaker's hair for vengeance wasn't a very astute thing to do.

Suddenly, he snapped his attention towards Rin, who stared at him in dismay. The chunk of his hair that she'd cut off fell limply from her hand and landed in a tiny pile on top of his blanket.

He rose slowly, creeping towards her.

"You cut my hair," he said, his teeth clenched. His hands balled into fists. "You cut my hair, you little brat!"

Rin swallowed and scurried away from him. She scurried to the end of his bed, trying to huddle into a ball and perhaps turn invisible. She cowered as he drew near and sniffled.

Inuyasha wasn't aware what was happening until he saw a tear fall down her cheek. He instantly froze, all his anger whooshing away with that single tear lingering on her quivering chin. He instantly deflated.

"Um…" he said uneasily as Rin began to cry quietly, her body scrunched up into a tiny ball. "Hey… stop that…"

Rin continued to blubber, shaking her head. She didn't like seeing the savage look in Inuyasha's eyes. She was sorry.

"Stop it!" he commanded, but his angered voice only fueled Rin's sobs.

He reached out a hand hesitantly and touched her back. "Look… Stop that. It's okay. I… I needed a haircut anyway… um… just don't do it again?"

Rin lifted her head cautiously and stared at him, her brown eyes puffy and red. He swallowed and bit his lip.

They were silent for a long moment—Rin's tears effectively silencing Inuyasha, and Inuyasha's attempts at comforting Rin silencing her heavy sobs.

"Just don't do it again," Inuyasha said for a second time.

Rin stared at him before wiping her eyes quickly. She blinked a couple of times and looked at him.

She looked down, her cheeks turning pink, before she nodded her head.

"Okay then," Inuyasha said with a nod of his own.

"Glad to see you're on time today, Mr. Shinkanshi," Inuyasha's homeroom teacher greeted as Inuyasha stepped in the room, carrying a can of lemon tea. He gave him a minute stare. "Did you cut your hair?"

Inuyasha's face scrunched up in displeasure. "No, you've just been hallucinating my long hair."

Before Mr. Kimoto could give him another detention for his mouth, Inuyasha flopped down into his chair and stared out the window. As other students filtered into the room, they glanced at his hair but didn't say anything. They knew of his temper and also knew that getting a hair cut wasn't a big deal in the first place.

His short, crooked hair was pulled back away from his eyes as best he could. He'd debated pulling it into a pony-tail, but decided that he might as well wear it down.

'It will only take another eight years to grow back,' he thought with some regret.

"I won't be late today," he told himself as he slammed his shoebox open and pulled out his street shoes. He loosened his tie, happy that he no longer had to wear it around his neck. He wasn't sure why he cared. "And I'll make her eat her damned dinner even if it kills me."

He closed his locker and spun his combination.

With that in mind, Inuyasha nodded and turned around—then smashed right into a girl walking down the hallway.

They both released tiny noises as they toppled over. Inuyasha managed to catch himself but the girl fell onto her tailbone and released a hiss of pain.

"Ow," she said as she struggled to her feet.

She stared up at him and Inuyasha instantly recognized the blue eyes from the grocer.

"Sorry," the girl said with a tiny smile. He recognized her as the grocer—but now that he thought about it, she was in his class, too. She sat near the front and he never really talked to her. He had no reason to talk to anyone.

"Yeah, you should be," he said with a snort.

Her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"I said 'you should be'," Inuyasha said with another grunt. "Are you deaf and blind?"

Her face scrunched up in annoyance. She obviously didn't like his attitude and found him to be a rude and arrogant prick. Which he was.

"Usually people say sorry when they run into each other," she said.

"And you did," he spoke like he was speaking to someone mentally slow. "It's your fault anyway. You should look where you're going when walking down the hallway. Stupid girl."

Her eyebrows knitted together and her blue eyes narrowed, glowing heatedly. "You're an ass."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"You're just mean to everyone, aren't you?" she hissed out, her hands planting on her hips. Inuyasha paused and glanced at her. "You were rude to that little girl, too."

"That's hardly any of your business," he snapped out.

Her girl's nose twitched. "You're still a jerk."

"Can't you tell how deeply sorry I feel?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically. With that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and started walking away from her. The grocer glared after him, silently throwing daggers towards his back.

Author's notes: I know that some of you aren't fond of Inuyasha with short hair… but I really like it. Especially in these alternate reality settings where it's the norm for short hair (you hardly see men nowadays with long hair, now do you?)

Also, for the record, in Japanese schools, students have their street shoes but also a pair of uniform shoes they wear in school. During school hours, shoes are kept in a shoebox (like a locker) which is what Inuyasha was doing in the last segment of this chapter. Also, in Japanese schools, the teachers move from classroom to classroom instead of the students.