Daughters
Chapter Five: Little House

"Damn teacher," Inuyasha muttered to himself as he dashed down the street, darting towards Rin's kindergarten. "Keeping me for damned detention. I'll show him."

Continuing his long thread of idle threats and half-concocted plans of vengeance, Inuyasha whirled around a corner and was delighted to see the kindergarten in the distance. Hoping that Rin hadn't tried to go home and that her teachers wouldn't try to lecture him, Inuyasha skidded to a halt and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

He entered the schoolyard and saw the empty yard and the dark windows of the building. Silently cursing his teacher for holding him after class so late, Inuyasha barked out a quick call, searching for Rin.

"Hey, Rin, are you here?"

When no word answered his calls, Inuyasha felt a small amount of unease creep into his mind. Staying as nonchalant as possible, Inuyasha tried the door to the kindergarten. It was locked. The teachers had gone home for the day. He whirled his head around, searching for some sign of Rin and her little uniform. Any sign of the long brown hair, or the bright brown eyes would do him some ease but the schoolyard was abandoned.

"Oh shit," Inuyasha cursed as he soon realized that Rin wasn't at the school and nowhere near the area, for that matter. His string of curses continued as he circled the building, checking the back playground and the bushes encompassing the area.

He wasn't sure why it was that he cared so much for Rin's disappearance. Surely he could just call the police and they'd deal with it. But, at the same time, he knew that he'd be slaughtered by his grandfather for losing Rin and then probably killed again in the afterlife once his deceased aunt got her hands on him.

Sighing he ran his fingers through his short, tapered hair. "Okay, I can do this."

With a nod of what he supposed was reassurance, he set out from the kindergarten searching for some sign of the small child. He swallowed the lump growing in his throat and tapped his foot.

"If I were a stupid brat, where would I go?" he thought out loud, crossing his arms and tilting his head upwards, watching the bright oranges and reds splash over the sky. It would be dark soon.

He ran around blindly, like a mouse in a maze, searching for that one exit so far away.

"Rin!" he shouted, hearing his voice echo off the buildings around him. What would he do if he couldn't find Rin?

'She couldn't have gotten far!' he thought wildly, his head whipping around as he searched for Rin. 'But Tokyo is huge.'

Why did he care?

His frantic attempts to find Rin came to an abrupt halt once his mind whispered those four little words. Why did he care? He had no earthly reason to care about Rin and where she was. She was a nuisance.

He tried to hide behind the idea that his grandfather would kill him. That, and he didn't want the guilt of knowing he'd lost his little cousin in the city because of his stupid teacher. But, perhaps, deep down inside, Inuyasha knew that wasn't true. Perhaps he knew that Rin was like him. She was alone in the world. But he was cynical and pragmatic and Rin was just a little girl, a little girl who didn't understand what was going on around her. Rin could smile. He hadn't smiled in years.

Rin was alone, somewhere out there. For all he knew, she could have been kidnapped. Shouldn't he be happy for Rin's disappearance? She was out of his hair, sure. She was a nuisance to him, he never failed to tell himself that. He'd been conned, in his opinion, into taking Rin.

He ground the heel of his palm into his forehead, clenching his eyes shut. What could he do? What could he do?

Rin was somewhere out there, all alone. She was alone. She was alone. What had he done to make her feel at home?

Images of a past long gone flashed in his mind and he shook his head quickly. What had he done to make Rin feel that she wasn't at fault for her mother's death? What had he done to insure that Rin was okay and that she was alive? What had he done to acknowledge his cousin and reassure her that everything would be okay?

He'd done nothing.

He'd done the one thing that he hated more than anything else. He'd suffered it first-hand and now he was dishing it out to his innocent little cousin.

What could he do to stop it?

He released a large sigh. 'Stupid brat.'

Sand drizzled through her fingers as she squatted over the sandbox. The wind rustled the trees above her and she watched, fascinated, as the wind brushed the sandbox, sending a small wave of sand over the edge and into the grass surrounding her rectangular sanctuary.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been there, in the small park, grounded in the sandbox. Her brown eyes, hooded as she kept her head ducked, blinked back tears acquired from her thoughts and the small grains of sand that danced in the wind.

"There you are!" a voice roared behind her.

Rin stiffened and turned around, tears in her eyes. Inuyasha stood before her, framed by the blustering trees and the flickering light of a streetlamp beyond the park. He was panting and he looked haggard. His tie was lopsided, hanging loosely around his neck, his shirt was untucked, and his pants were dirty. His fists were clenched at his side.

She squeaked, trying to muffle the tiny sob that left her throat.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. She knew what she'd done. She'd wandered away from where he would have picked her up. She'd been out for what felt like days, and she'd made a hassle for him. Tears clouded her vision and she ducked her head. "I'm sorry!"

Whatever bitter lecture Inuyasha was about to snap at Rin quickly left his mind as he watched Rin collapse to the ground, crying loudly.

Inuyasha released a large groan, knowing that he couldn't stay angry at a little girl who was crying. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that he couldn't stay angry at a crying little kindergartener.

He knelt before her, his knee cushioned by the soft sand around them. "Let's just get home."

Rin lifted her head, her brown eyes shining with hope. "Home? My home?"

Inuyasha's face melted into a look of confusion as he registered her question. Slowly, his clouded eyes closed and he shook his head. "No… I mean… I meant my home."

"Oh," Rin said as she visibly deflated. More tears drizzled from her eyes, splattering against her rumbled and sandy skirt. She repeated, "Oh."

Inuyasha, crouched awkwardly before Rin, watched as the tiny girl seemed to curl into a tiny ball and die. He remembered seeing that same look on a child's face. For years he'd seen it every time he passed a mirror. A silence passed between them, only broken by Rin's periodic sob or sniffle. Bowing her head in shame, Rin clutched at her dirty knees and tried to silence herself, but it was all in vain.

He'd seen that look. He'd hated that look. He'd always hated that look. His life revolved around his parents… and they were taken away from him. Why hadn't he seen that Rin was like him? Why hadn't he seen that Rin was just a little girl, completely alone in this world?

"Rin…" Inuyasha began but was quickly interrupted.

"Why did she go away?" Rin cried out loudly, tears in her eyes. "Is it because I never listened when she told me to eat my dinner? Or go to bed?" Rin reached out and clutched the material of Inuyasha's pants. "I want my mommy back, bring my mommy back!"

Her heartbroken stare penetrated Inuyasha's senses and he sat there stupidly, trying to register what the little girl was begging for. She continued to cry, calling out for her mother. Perhaps, up until that moment, Rin had forgotten that her mom was really gone. It was unnerving how much Rin was like him when he'd lost his parents.

"Mommy…" Rin cried out.

Inuyasha hesitantly reached out a hand and patted Rin's back, unsure how to make of it all and how to comfort her. He was growing increasingly awkward in this situation and had no idea how to remedy the girl's large tears and pleas for her mother. Those were wishes he couldn't fulfill for her.

"Mommy hates me! She has to hate me because I didn't brush my teeth or take baths when I was supposed to!" Rin sniffled loudly, wiping her hand against her face, trying to banish the tears. She reached inside her mind, trying to pinpoint the exact moment her mother started hating her, hating her enough to leave her alone forever. "I want my mommy."

"Rin," Inuyasha said quietly, swallowing thickly as he tried to find a suitable way to comfort the crying child. "Rin, come on… it's…"

He stopped. It wasn't okay. It wouldn't be okay for Rin for a long time, as long as she thought of her mother in sadness. He bit his lip, trying to remember what it was like for him when he'd lost his parents. He rarely acknowledged that his parents were gone, it was something he avoided like human contact. He just didn't want to think about it, it always disturbed unsettled memories and emotions deep within him.

"Your mother doesn't hate you," he said finally, wondering what it was that was possessing him to talk. Didn't he hate her? Didn't he want her to go away?

But he thought about his own mother. Her smiling face was slowly fading away from his memories. He was losing his mother. How could he wish the same thing on a girl so small and so young?

Rin sniffled and released a tiny cry.

"No one," he murmured, hesitantly patting Rin's head, feeling the softness of her brown hair against his palm. "Could hate you."

Her sob stifled and she blinked, tilting her head to look at him. Her large brown eyes surveyed him, as if searching for a confirmation or for some sign of his untrustworthiness.

Seeming to find nothing that suggested dishonesty, Rin offered him a tiny smile and sniffled.

"There…" he began before he realized that Rin was flinging herself at him and cushioned against his chest.

He released a tiny gasp of surprise as Rin clutched his white, button-down shirt of his uniform and started sobbing uncontrollably. She shook her head and cried, refusing to relinquish her grasp on his shirt. He sat awkwardly in the sandbox, watching as Rin continued to cry against his chest. He could feel the wet spot from her tears and snot already staining his uniform, but he couldn't find the heart to push her away.

"I miss my mom," Rin wept quietly.

Inuyasha sat, leaning on one of his hands as the other hand awkwardly patted Rin's back. He'd always wondered how it was that Rin could be so happy, so carefree, despite the fact that she'd lost both her parents, just as he had. Perhaps he'd been jealous of the girl's happiness. But now, he would have given anything for her to stop crying. Seeing Rin sad was weird and unnerving.

He'd grown used to Rin being the cheerful and happy one while he was the miserable one. Rin didn't deserve to be miserable like he was destined to be. She didn't deserve the sadness of being an orphan without anyone that cared about her. Like no one had for him.

"I know you do," Inuyasha murmured quietly, his eyes drifting to the darkened sky sadly. He knew. Oh, how he knew.

A short distance away, watching from the other side of a chained fence, Kagome Higurashi stood, cushioning a grocery bag in her hand, the wind whipping her black hair from her eyes as she watched the scene beyond.

Inuyasha ran his fingers through his shortened hair, his lavender eyes watching the lights of cars flashing by in the streets below. From his window on the third story, Inuyasha could watch the world below him and not have to enter it himself. A stray strand of black hair tumbled out from where it was tucked precariously behind his ear. It wavered in the soft night breeze filtering through his open window and he felt the soft strands brush his cheek.

He heard tiny footsteps behind him and turned his attention towards Rin. She was dressed in her pajamas and ready for bed. Her large brown eyes were red and puffy from her tears earlier that day. He stared at her uneasily, unsure what it was that Rin wanted him to say or do.

"Inu-oniichan," Rin murmured quietly, as if unsure what to say. Inuyasha jolted at the unexpected honorific tagged onto his name. Rin hadn't called him, well, anything, since she'd gotten here. She lowered her gaze and clutched her hands.

"What did you say?" Inuyasha asked in wonderment. He saw Rin's cheeks turn pink.

"Sorry," she whispered.

Inuyasha snorted and titled his chin upwards. "It's not like I care, or anything." He glanced at her and twitched his nose. "Call me whatever you want."

Rin's brown eyes looked up at him and she smiled widely at him, as if he'd just given her everything she wanted in the world. It was a bit unnerving, how unconditionally Rin loved people. He'd given her no reason to give him a smile like that, and yet there she was standing in his doorway and grinning happily up at him when only a couple hours ago she'd been a broken little girl in a sand box.

"Inu-oniichan," she repeated, her smile still piercing her lips.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and turned away, forcing himself to remain apathetic to her happiness. The last thing he needed was to become weak just because some little brat smiled at him. Who did she think he was, Santa Clause?

He opened his drawer and pulled out his own pajamas—sweat pants and a plain shirt. He glanced at Rin, who peeked up at him from behind the doorframe.

"Do you mind, I need to get changed, too, ya know," he snapped out before he could control himself. Rin released a tiny yip and disappeared from the doorway. Rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time that night, Inuyasha released a woebegone sigh and slipped on his own sleepwear.

"Oy," he called after Rin, who quickly reappeared at his beckoning. "What was it that you wanted, anyway?"

He crossed his arms and glanced at down at her angrily, his brows knitted into the permanent look of disapproval. Rin stared up at him, her large smile melted away and leaving only a curious expression shadowing her face.

"I wanted to…" Rin trailed off, staring up at him with a desperate expression in her eyes. "I wanted to know if I could sleep in here with you!"

He stared at her blankly, wondering why it was that Rin wanted to be in the same room with him. And, for that matter, why wasn't he shoving her out the door this very moment? When he stared down at Rin, he could see the hopeful expression in her eyes and apprehension.

Rin ducked her head. "I don't… want to have nightmares."

"How is sleeping in the same room as me going to help that?" Inuyasha said with disgust.

Rin quivered under his harsh voice and clenched her hands tightly together. "It's what my mommy would do for me…"

Silence met this remark and Inuyasha turned his gaze out the window, watching the city lights dotting his line of vision. How could he say no to that? The last thing he wanted was for Rin to start crying again. He didn't know how to deal with kids, let alone sad kids. Why did his aunt have to die? Why was he stuck like this?

"Fine," Inuyasha huffed and threw his hand towards his bed. "It's all yours."

Rin toddled across the room, her tiny, bare feet padding against the ground softly as she made her way quickly to his bed, as if afraid that he would change his mind and send her away. She huddled under the covers and stayed there, happy to be out of the inquiring eye of Inuyasha.

He sat down on the floor, not entering his own bed. He didn't want to share a bed with his young cousin. No way, no how. He sighed and crossed his legs, leaning against the wall his bed was positioned against.

A short moment later Rin's head poked out from underneath the covers, her brown eyes glowing. "Are you not tired?"

"I am," Inuyasha said tensely.

'So annoying and troublesome,' Inuyasha thought sourly as he stared harshly at the wall in front of him. His lips quirked downwards. 'But I don't want her to cry anymore.'

Rin didn't deserve sadness. She didn't deserve the life he'd received. His eyebrows furrowed. Rin was annoying. He didn't like Rin and he certainly hated having to take care of her, but, at the same time, he knew that he was the only thing she had, and he would not do as his own relatives did. He would not leave Rin alone to rot. Every fiber in his being screamed at the mere thought of it. He would not let Rin suffer as he had. Never.

Rin continued to watch him silently and Inuyasha tried his best to ignore her gaze. He felt unnerved under her stare.

"What?" he finally barked.

"You were nice to me today," Rin said finally, her voice quivering. "I like it when you're nice, Inu-oniichan."

Inuyasha froze, finding himself unable to stay immune to such a statement. He clenched his fists and finally turned his attention towards her. She stared at him calmly, that small glimmer of hope still dancing in her large brown eyes.

Inuyasha's heart pounded and he forced out another sigh. "Whatever."

Rin continued to look at him and Inuyasha grew uncomfortable again.

"Stop looking at me," he demanded.

Rin ducked under the covers, a small giggle leaving her lips. "Inu-oniichan is funny."

Inuyasha pounded the heel of his hand against his forehead. What had he done to deserve this torture? What? Him funny? He was being mean and was pissed off at her, and she thought that was funny?

It was going to be a long night.

"There," Inuyasha said as he pulled back from the front door to his apartment, smirking at his cleverness. "That should do it."

On the door, Inuyasha had taped a small sign to the door. Scrawled across it in Inuyasha's ridiculous chicken scratch were the words 'Rin's little house'. What had possessed him to create such a thing was beyond him, but when he'd shown it to Rin, she'd seemed happy.

Cracking his back for the umpteenth time, Inuyasha sighed loudly. He had to work in a couple hours and he'd gotten a crappy night's sleep the night before, seeing as how Rin stole his bed from him.

"Good morning!" a voice called out from down the hall. Inuyasha whipped around and watched Kagome walking down the hallway, cradling a paper bag in one hand while waving at him with the other. She reached him quickly and smiled her welcome. "What are you doing out here, Shinkanshi-kun?"

"Do I need a reason to be standing outside my own door?" Inuyasha asked snidely. Kagome merely shrugged her shoulders and glanced around, her eyes falling on the door.

Inuyasha felt his face heat up and he pushed his hand out, ripping the slip of paper off his door. With his face the color of a fire truck, Inuyasha stuffed the now destroyed sign into his pocket.

"I only did it to keep her from being annoying," he told Kagome defensively.

Kagome laughed quietly and shrugged one shoulder. "I think it's very sweet of you to care about Rin-chan, after all."

"Keh," Inuyasha snorted out, closing his eyes. "I'm not sweet. And I don't care about her at all."

Kagome laughed again and didn't answer him, digging around the paper bag she'd brought. A short moment later she extracted a yellow-green can and handed it to him.

"Whatever you say, Shinkanshi-kun. Here," she said, plopping the aluminum can into his hand. "I bought you a lemon tea."

He gazed down at the can in his hand, almost as if he hadn't expected her to do such a random act of kindness. Instead of giving her the thanks she deserved, however, Inuyasha merely opened it and sipped on the carbonated drink.

"You're welcome," Kagome said patiently before slipping past him and into his home without invitation. He was a bit annoyed by it, but his desire to drink his lemon tea quickly outweighed his desire to call after Kagome and give her some snide remark.

He followed after her, his head tipped back to drink.