Daughters
Chapter Seventeen: Dead Wrong
The heavy knocking at the door alerted Mr. Higurashi that someone was on the other side. He glanced over at Abi, who was busy feeding their child Himeko. She gave him a look that clearly told him that she hadn't called anyone. The person on the other side of the door was an unexpected arrival.
He sighed and heaved himself up from the table, setting his newspaper down next to his steaming cup of coffee. Padding across the threshold, the new father reached for the door handle and opened the door to the visitor.
Inuyasha Shinkanshi stared at him darkly from the other side of the doorframe.
Mr. Higurashi made to slam the door shut but Inuyasha shoved his foot into the doorway, deflecting the door's slamming with only a small hiss of pain from the high school boy. Mr. Higurashi screwed up his face, giving the boy an angry look before trying to kick the boy's foot away.
"I have nothing to say to you," the man said stubbornly. He truly didn't. Inuyasha had come to his house twice now: first to look for Kagome and be completely rude, and the second time to wrestle his daughter's address from him. Both times he'd been unpleasant and rude and Mr. Higurashi did not wish to repeat the visits, especially with his little Himeko in the world.
"Tough shit," the boy said harshly, never failing to spout out a rude remark while in the presence of Kagome's father. "Because I've got something to say to you."
Mr. Higurashi refused to open the door to Inuyasha and tried to shut the door on the boy's foot in an attempt to knock the appendage aside. Inuyasha ignored the man's attempts and bumped his hip against the door as it sailed towards him, knocking it back towards the flabbergasted man.
"You don't have to let me in," Inuyasha snarled. "But you better damn well listen to what I've got to say."
"Fine," the man groused, realizing that the teenager wasn't going to go away until he said what he needed to. "But make it quick."
Inuyasha gave him a glare, illustrating his dislike of being ordered around by someone that wasn't his grandfather or Kagome (who also witnessed his wrath when they tried to assert their authority as well.) He paused, as if trying to draw out the unwelcome visit and make the father squirm.
Mr. Higurashi's eyebrows slanted downward and he fixed Inuyasha with an irate glare that would motivate Inuyasha to speak quickly so that he could get back to his everyday life and just as quickly forget that the boy had ever disturbed his life with his unwanted presence.
After Inuyasha determined that the awkward silence dancing between the two men had gone on long enough, Inuyasha spoke, "Stop treating Kagome like you have been."
"What?" the man barked. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from the boy, but that certainly hadn't been it.
"You heard me," the boy asserted, glaring at him persistently. "What kind of father are you, anyways? I thought that after you cooled off a bit you'd apologize to her and try to make up with her. But no! Do you have any damned idea what you're doing to her?"
"Who are you to lecture me?" the man snapped. "You're not a father. How can you possibly understand what I'm going through?"
"I'm no father," Inuyasha agreed. "But at least I know how to treat a daughter."
He thought of Rin, back at the apartment with Kagome. Kagome had no idea what he was doing. He'd finished his shift and returned home. Rin was taking a nap and Kagome was sitting there, looking just as she always did.
They'd talked, just as they always did. Kagome was cheerful, just as she always was. But Inuyasha hadn't been convinced. Something was different about Kagome. She wasn't cheerful. She wasn't happy. She was in pain.
He'd pretended to have left his wallet back at his work and left to go retrieve it, instructing Kagome to stay where she was and look after Rin.
Now, he found himself in front of Mr. Higurashi, protecting Kagome as if he had some obligation to do so. Who was he to do something out of the charity of his own heart? He swallowed and thought bitterly of his situation. He crossed his arms and assured his foot was still in the doorway. He wouldn't have Mr. Higurashi suddenly slamming the door in his face just to get out of this talk they were having at the front door.
"You think just because you look after your little cousin you can give out advice on how to be a father?" the man barked.
"I never said that," Inuyasha hissed.
"But that's exactly what you're doing," the man retorted. "I don't have to listen to this crap."
Mr. Higurashi made to slam the door again but Inuyasha's fist rushed out and slammed against the door, sending out a loud, sickening smacking noise that startled the man. Inuyasha leaned his face in, unrestrained anger dancing in his eyes, his face contorted into a disgusted sneer.
"Just because I'm not a father," Inuyasha murmured, "does not mean you should brush me aside. Just because I haven't lived with Rin since the day she was born doesn't mean that I have no? validation in my words. Just because you think of me as a stupid, useless teenager does not mean that I have no right to try and help her."
He glared darkly at the man, his entire body rigid and prepared to resort to violence if the case presented itself. Mr. Higurashi stared at the teenaged boy in shock, his eyes widened and his entire body frozen under such an intense and deadly gaze.
"Kagome loves you," he snapped, "but that doesn't mean she has a right to be pushed around by you."
"What do you want? I support her financially. Is this what this is about? Does she need more money?" Mr. Higurashi reached for his wallet. "If that's all she needs."
Inuyasha slammed his fist again, freezing Mr. Higurashi's descent for his wallet.
"This has nothing to do with money," he snapped. "This has to do with Kagome! Are you such a fool that you can't see what's right in front of you and walking away?"
The man bristled. "I'm certain I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You're killing your daughter," Inuyasha stated. Mr. Higurashi stared. "Do you know that?"
Mr. Higurashi stared at the boy. He knew what he was getting at. He knew that Kagome was being ripped apart. But she… But she was…
The man lowered his head a fraction of an inch, feeling as if he were drowning in his thoughts. Inuyasha continued to stare at him, gauging his reaction to such harsh words. His eyes were narrowed and burning with his anger. He clenched his hands into fists. He leaned against the door, opening it a small ways so that he could stand directly in front of the man who Kagome called her father.
It was in that moment that Inuyasha realized how tiny and insignificant this man was. Inuyasha towered over him by nearly a head. He looked old. He looked worthless. He looked like something to be pitied.
Inuyasha leaned against the door further and Mr. Higurashi let the door open completely and Inuyasha stepped into the doorway. He stared at the man before him and the man took a small step backwards.
"Maybe you hadn't meant to do it," Inuyasha said at last. "But Kagome's heart is broken. You're all that she has left. Her mother is dead. Her brother is never home. She only has you. And you chose your wife over her. Where is Kagome to go now?"
The man tilted his head upwards, staring at the ceiling, his lips pursed and his dark eyes glowing with his emotions.
"Why are you telling me this?"
The boy paused and seemed to weigh this question in his head. He sidestepped the question. "Kagome needs you, whether you want her to or not."
"And what am I to do now?" the man barked. "I can't…"
Inuyasha cut him off with his dark look. "Don't ask me for advice on how to mend things with your own daughter. After all, who am I to give advice?"
Silence swayed between them.
"I…"
"I'm not saying you have to do anything," Inuyasha said, cutting him off. He turned to leave, stepping out of the doorway. He glanced at Mr. Higurashi over his shoulder, confident the man wouldn't slam the door on him now. "But if you make Kagome cry anymore you'll have to answer to me. And I won't be as good-natured as I have been if it comes down to that."
Mr. Higurashi stared at him, unsure how to respond to such a threat.
Inuyasha swirled around, beginning to walk down the hallway. Mr. Higurashi watched him go. The boy paused in his retreat, a thought occurring to him. He glanced at the man again.
"She loves you."
Those three words slammed into the man's heart and he couldn't find the courage to shut the door even long after the young man had made his disappearance.
"You're back," Kagome said as Inuyasha opened the door. "Did you have trouble finding your wallet?"
"Hm?" Inuyasha asked, turning away from her as he slid off his shoes and shut the door. "Yeah, I couldn't remember where I'd dropped it so I had to look around for a while."
"You found it though?" Kagome asked, walking towards him.
He flashed his wallet and waved it. "Yep."
"Good," Kagome said with a smile. "I should be going then."
Inuyasha made a small noise of agreement and stuffed his hands into his pockets, leaning against the door as he watched Kagome get ready to leave. She slipped on her jacket, despite the fact they were on summer vacation it stilled rained tremendously, and slid her feet into her shoes.
He handed over her payment for watching Rin and Kagome pocketed it gratefully, smiling benignly at him.
"Is something the matter?" Kagome said at last. "You seem troubled."
"Nah," Inuyasha waved it off. "I just got in a fight with a coworker. I'm still a little steamed. It's no big deal. The guy's a moron anyway and I just had to point it out to him. I don't think he much appreciated it."
Kagome nodded. She stood there impatiently, waiting for Inuyasha to move aside. When he didn't, she fixed him with an aggravated look.
"Are you going to move? I should be getting home," Kagome said at last, frowning.
"Hm," Inuyasha seemed to think it over. Then shook his head. "Nah."
She frowned, not amused by Inuyasha's odd behavior. "What's gotten into you? I need to get going. Get out of the way."
"Kagome, I think you should talk to your dad," Inuyasha said out of the blue.
"What?" Kagome barked, shocked at his words and unprepared such a declaration. "What are you talking about now?"
"I just think you should." Inuyasha shrugged and stepped aside from the door. "That's all I had to say."
Kagome frowned and opened the door. "Okay, whatever you say, Inuyasha."
"Just trust me," Inuyasha returned as he held the door open for her. Kagome nodded her head, still looking doubtful. But she did not question him again. She waved and smiled, leaving the apartment complex and heading towards her home.
Mr. Higurashi glanced up from where he was sitting. Abi slumbered on the couch, a small, new-born baby within her arms. He heard a knock at the door and stood, frowning thoughtfully. Padding across the wooden floors of his apartment, the older man reached out a hand. He paused, remembering the last time he'd opened the door without thinking only to be met with an angry whirlwind of frustrated teenager. He sighed gently and opened the door, preparing himself with another onslaught from Inuyasha Shinkanshi.
On the other side of the door, it seemed as if his dead wife was coming back to haunt him.
Kagome stood, her wide blue eyes staring at only him. Mr. Higurashi was hit with a wave of nostalgia.
"Kagome," he said as a greeting. His eldest nodded and looked at him squarely in the eye.
No words passed between them and Mr. Higurashi wasn't sure what to make of this situation. He hadn't spoken to his daughter since he'd kicked her out. Why wasn't she speaking?
He swallowed, feeling as if the silence were going to strangle him. He licked his chapped lips. "Why are you here?"
The words came out harsher than he'd intended and he internally flinched at the rough words dancing from his glib tongue. He cleared his throat and gave his daughter a pleading look, wishing that the pain in her eyes would disappear. That she would disappear. That this would all disappear.
"I'm angry with you, Dad," she said at last. She sounded tired. She sounded remarkably different than when he'd last seen her. She seemed to have aged twenty years. She looked beautiful, just as she always was.
"You are," he agreed. He didn't question. Kagome had every right to be angry with him.
"I'm sorry it took so long to say that," Kagome said quietly. Mr. Higurashi knew she wasn't referring to the time spent standing in his doorway. "Goodbye."
She turned to leave. Mr. Higurashi glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping Abi and Himeko.
"Kagome, wait," he commanded. His daughter did as she was told and stopped, one heel lifted from the ground. She seemed to teeter there for a moment, as if contemplating running away. Then, silently, she turned around to look at him, an impossibly sad look in her eyes.
His breath stilled and he remembered Inuyasha's words. He knew they were true. He hadn't accepted it until he saw her eyes just then. Kagome was suffering. Why was he always so blind to her pain?
"Would you like to see your sister?"
Kagome smiled sadly. "Please."
They entered the apartment and Kagome followed after him as if she'd never been inside the apartment before, despite her life in the apartment for several years. She followed after her father, her hands clenched in front of her and her black hair hanging limply over her eyes.
He motioned for Kagome to sit down at the kitchen table and he retreated to Abi's sleeping from. He grasped his newborn daughter and picked her up. The tiny baby snuggled into her father's warmth and cooed gently, her tiny fist gripping the material of her father's shirt as she slept. The old man smiled warmly.
He returned to Kagome's side and sat beside her, showing the tiny baby to his eldest. Kagome's entire face transformed. The sadness melted away and she gazed lovingly at the little girl, instantly falling in love.
Kagome hesitantly reached out a hand, as if afraid that he would push her away. He nodded and Kagome's fingers traced the tiny curve of Himeko's tiny head, feeling the silkiest hair nestled on the top of her head and the smoothest baby skin.
"So cute," Kagome cooed as she gazed at her little sister. She smiled, feeling as if she would cry at any moment.
"Would you like to hold her?" Mr. Higurashi asked awkwardly.
Kagome sucked in air. "May I?"
Mr. Higurashi nodded and deposited the little girl into his eldest daughter's arms. Kagome cradled the baby in her arms, staring down at the little girl as if she were her own daughter. She cooed at the little girl, rocking her and gazing at her lovingly, her blue eyes shimmering as she looked.
The baby stirred and opened her eyes—the brightest blue Kagome had ever seen—and looked up to her sister for the first time. The baby yawned, displaying a toothless mouth. The blue eyes blinked and stared at the girl before she smiled brightly up at her older sister and giggled.
Kagome felt her broken heart start to mend at the little girl's laughter.
"She's wonderful," Kagome said at last, looking up at her father, only barely managing to tear her gaze away from Himeko. "She looks just like you."
"Yes," the man said quietly, staring at the baby girl.
Kagome lowered her gaze, feeling a small amount of jealousy creep into her soul despite herself. This baby had all the man's love. She'd worked so hard for his approval, and the little girl had stolen it all away. She quickly banished the thought with a shake of her head. She could not be angry at a baby whose only crime was being born to her family.
"How's Abi?" Kagome questioned, wondering if she truly cared about the woman's wellbeing.
"Still tired and a little sickly," Mr. Higurashi admitted. "This was her first baby, after all. She's never had to experience it before and she is young."
Kagome rocked the baby, cushioning the little child in her arms and remembering times long since passed and gone forever. Silence and peace pushed together, creating a tranquil medley within the small apartment.
Mr. Higurashi cleared his throat. "Shinkanshi Inuyasha was over here a couple days ago."
"Oh," Kagome said, not sure how to react to the information. She'd suspected he had—it would explain his sudden command of her going to see her father. Until today she hadn't had the strength to go to her father's doorstep.
"You're very lucky to have him in your life," Mr. Higurashi said at last, sighing sadly. Kagome glanced at him. "He protects you better than I do."
Kagome shrugged her shoulders, as if trying to show the man that it truly wasn't such a big deal. But the two Higurashi family members knew that that was a lie. It cut Kagome deeply and Mr. Higurashi knew that he'd damaged his daughter.
"I know I'm not a good father, Kagome," Mr. Higurashi admitted and saw the girl shift as she gazed down at the baby. "I tried to ignore the idea of my not treating you right… but I know… he said…" He paused, collecting himself before continuing, "He said things I myself was afraid to admit. He is harsh. But he is wise."
Kagome laughed. "I wonder what he would say if he heard you say that."
"He cares for you deeply," Mr. Higurashi said. "Maybe he's not even aware of it himself. I can see that he wants to protect you and be there for you."
Kagome laughed again, her blue eyes shimmering. "I know. I know he does. Though he'll deny it and call me stupid for daring to suggest such a thing. He's an angry guy… but he's kind. When he wants to be."
She lifted her head and stared at the ceiling, a thoughtful and peaceful expression on her face. She smiled tenderly and Mr. Higurashi felt as if his breath had been stolen. Once again he was looking into the face of his dead wife. He blinked slowly, wondering why he always saw her in his daughter's face. That woman should have been long gone from his memories and his life.
Yet, here she was.
Kagome lowered her gaze back down to stare at Himeko. "Inuyasha… he's… he's hurt, too. I don't know if I, or anyone else, will ever be able to make him truly happy."
Mr. Higurashi mused over these words. "I wouldn't be too sure. You have a way about you, Kagome. Never forget that."
Kagome looked at him, surprise clearly written on her face.
"I think you can heal him," he said at last. "I think he's already letting you into his heart."
Kagome felt herself start to blush and busied herself with Himeko, who idly grasped at her older sister's hair.
"But how would I know if he's happy? He never fails to tell me when he's unhappy," Kagome murmured, bouncing the giggling Himeko.
The bemused father wasn't sure how to respond to such a statement and opted to remain silent, watching as his two daughters interacted for the first time. Himeko was known to cry tremendously, but at this time she was so incredibly happy that Mr. Higurashi was shocked into speechlessness.
"I think she likes me," Kagome said hesitantly, a question in her voice.
"I think she does, too," Mr. Higurashi said at last.
Kagome laughed. Her laughter was dry and hollow compared to the blissful ignorance dancing in his youngest daughter's baby giggles.
The nostalgia hit Mr. Higurashi like a wave. He watched Kagome, the spitting image of his dead wife. Her hair. Her lips. Her nose. Her face. Her body. Her personality. It was as if his wife had been reincarnated.
He tipped his head, staring at her. Then he saw it. The things that Inuyasha had forced him to see himself. The soft curve of Kagome's jaw, meeting to a soft, rounded chin. He touched his own, identical one idly. Her shaped ears, with the tiniest of points. His own ears popped. He had been blind. Blinded by his own fears and insecurities.
"It's shocking," Mr. Higurashi remarked. Kagome glanced at him. "How much you look like your mother."
Kagome was silent, her lips pursing shut as she stared at Himeko. She loved her mom. People always told her how she looked like her mother. Kagome bit her lip, fretting silently. Mr. Higurashi watched her reaction.
"Dad…" Kagome said quietly, stilling her bouncing of baby Himeko. The little girl released a tiny cry of protest but Kagome ignored her. Instead, she turned her blue eyes towards the wall opposite her, staring straight forward.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, surprised by her reaction.
"I want you to know that… even though I look like her… I am not Mom." She didn't say anything more and she didn't turn to face him. Mr. Higurashi was shocked. "I am my own person."
"I understand," he said, smiling sadly. "All this time, I've been comparing you to her. Like a ghost. You're her ghost. But you are not her."
Kagome sighed. A bitter smile weaved across her lips. "Yes. I am her ghost. That is why you hate me."
His mouth went dry, as if someone had stuffed cotton balls into his mouth. He swallowed thickly feeling the weight of Kagome's truthful words. He loved his daughter. Yet, at the same time, he resented her.
He resented her for looking like the woman he'd married when he was too young. He resented her for looking and talking like his dead wife did. Why did Kagome have to be the ghost engraved in his mind? Why did Kagome have to look like her?
"Kagome," he said at last. Kagome didn't look up from where she busied herself with the baby. Himeko cooed and chirped happily. "I want you to know that I've made many, many mistakes in my life."
Kagome tensed.
"But know that you are not one of them. You never will be." Where had these words come from? He surprised himself. "Know that I love you. You are my daughter. You always will be."
Kagome sniffled and raised her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I know, Dad."
"Rin!" he called out, searching for the little girl. She was always so evasive. "Rin, where are you?"
He'd been searching for her for what felt like hours. He knew she was in the house. But he was starting to get worried. There was no sign of the little girl and he was growing uneasy. Rin had a habit of disappearing when really he needed her around. It was almost impossible to keep an eye on the little girl.
"Rin, damn it, where are you?" he called out, searching for his little cousin. He rolled his eyes heavenwards as he heard the tiny shuffle of feet. So she was in the house after all. But why was she hiding?
He followed the sounds of her footsteps and opened the door to his room. He'd already searched the messy room and hadn't found her. But he heard small shuffles and shifting of a body and the various mountains of stuff in his room as they toppled over with her movement.
"Rin," he huffed, entering his room. "Where are you, you foolish girl?"
He heard something that sounded like a muffled cry. His frown deepened.
"Rin, where are you?" he asked, leafing through the large piles of debris in his room. He heard a snuffle and found the small noise coming from underneath his bed. He knelt and leaned over, looking under his bed frame and finding Rin nestled in the small corner of his room, hidden under his bed.
He stared at her, unsure what to make of this situation. It took him a moment to realize that Rin was crying. Tears spilled from her wide brown eyes and splashed on a small book before her.
"What's the matter?" he whispered, shoving his way under the bed. He was too big and his back scraped against the underside of his bed. He reached out his hand for Rin and she hesitantly recuperated the action, her small fingers breezing over Inuyasha's rough, calloused hand.
"There are no pictures of Mama," Rin whimpered as Inuyasha pulled Rin out from under the bed.
"What?" he asked.
She waved the book in her hand and Inuyasha recognized it as the forgotten photo album that hid under his bed. He hadn't looked at it in ages. It had pictures of his former self—his younger, innocent self. It had pictures of his grandfather. Of his old friends long faded away. But not his own parents. Those pictures were long since lost.
"There are no pictures of Mama!" Rin cried out. "I want to see Mama!"
"Aunt Mari will always be in your memories, Rin," Inuyasha offered hesitantly.
Rin shook her head violently, shoving his proffered suggestion back towards him. "No! She won't! I can't remember what Mama looks like! I can't remember Mama's face!"
Rin cried out weakly as she crumbled against Inuyasha, clenching the material of his shirt as she tried to dig out a memory of her deceased mother. Nothing came to mind. Everything was a blur. Everything was blank. It was all… so empty.
Instead of feeling sympathy for the crying girl, like he should have, Inuyasha felt something creep into his heart. Something he'd always felt. Yet, feeling it now, it almost seemed foreign. Rage.
The girl crying before him was the mirror image of his own days when his parents left him forever. He could recall with bitter clarity the feeling of abandonment and loneliness. He could recall sadly the day he realized that his mother and father's faces had faded away from his mind's eye.
Yet he hadn't cried. He hadn't cried like this.
And he'd been alone. Completely and undeniably alone.
Rin had him. Rin wasn't alone. Rin was with him, Inuyasha. Rin was with Inuyasha and being taken care of! How dare she be sad when she could cushion her tears against his stomach?
"Stop crying," he commanded, shocked at the coldness in his own voice.
Rin didn't listen. She'd learned to ignore his heavy, cold tones as his own u-turning emotions.
"Stop," he repeated and something in his voice must have sparked something in Rin because she tipped her head back up, staring at him in shock, tears spilling from her dark brown eyes.
Her bottom lip quivered. "But Mama is…"
"Your mother is dead, get over it!" Inuyasha blasted out before he could stop himself. By then, it was too late.
Rin gasped and recoiled away from her caretaker, her tiny grasp skirting away from his shirt. Inuyasha felt a sudden coldness overflow him and he felt emptier than he'd ever had before. But he couldn't stop. He was too far gone.
"Why can't you just learn to accept that she's gone? That she's never coming back? Huh? Why is that so hard to grasp?" Inuyasha wasn't sure if he was talking to her or himself…
Rin sobbed louder.
"Stop it! Be happy! Accept it! Accept it! I've accepted it! You should, too! Accept it! Accept it! Accept it! Accept it!" He kept repeating those two words, each time cutting into his soul inch by agonizing inch.
Rin's face was enough to kill him. She looked like she'd been betrayed. She had been. She'd been betrayed by the one person who could give her comfort now. She was truly alone now. Just like he was.
Why wasn't he happy about that?
"I take care of you," he said weakly. "Why aren't I good enough?"
Rin's body trembled as she sobbed uncontrollably. He reached for her and she shoved his hands away.
"No!" she screamed out, her voice cracking as she failed to wipe her tears away.
"Rin," he whispered, realizing his mistake. He reached for her again but she slapped him away.
"No!" she repeated, tears in her eyes. "Leave me alone!"
She raced away from him.
Gone were his fantasies of happiness. They rushed out the door with her. He watched her go. Then his fury seized him again and he flared up.
"Fine! You fucking little bitch! I don't want you anyway! I never wanted you! I'll never want you! You're just an annoyance! You're just a burden!" His throat felt raw from all the screaming. His entire body quivered under the weight of his words. "Just leave me the fuck alone!"
He slammed his door and he heard Rin slam one, too. He supposed she'd retreated to her room. He could hear her sobs.
He knelt on the floor, his forehead against the ground. He felt as if he were going to cry, but knew that only humans could cry. He was not human. How could a human treat a little girl like that?
His body shivered and he quietly called out Rin's name, wishing he could take back his words.
He wanted Rin to want him. He realized that now. Rin was everything to him now. She wasn't just a remembrance of times long gone. She was his now. She was the first to make him smile. She was the first to say she loved him for the first time after the accident.
He clenched his fists and banged them against the carpet.
"I'm an idiot!"
She'd reached out to him and he'd pushed her away, shattering her. That perfect, smiling little girl. He'd crushed her. Could it be fixed?
He stood and padded towards her room. He hesitated for only a second before opening the door. He took in the room sadly, staring at the open window, the perfectly made bed, the perfectly clean floor, the moon shinning in the sky, and the stars conspicuous only in their absence.
"Rin?" he whispered.
He yawned loudly and clicked off the television. He sighed dreamily as the darkness consumed his small apartment. Arching upwards, the only sound the creaks and groans that come with old age, the withered old man made his way towards his bedroom so that he could sleep for the night.
The phone rang, its ring sounding shrilly in the dark, lonely apartment. The man hunched his way to the phone and extended his withered old hand with a creak.
"Hello?" he murmured into the phone as he grasped it tenderly. "Shinkanshi residence."
"Grandpa!" his grandson's voice rang out, sounding desperate.
"What's the matter?" Inuyasha's grandfather said as he noted the intense tone of his grandson. The boy was nearly hysterical.
"Is Rin there?"
"What? No," the man was puzzled, "why should she be?"
"She's not here," Inuyasha said loudly, and there were thumps and curses as the boy continued searching for the little girl. "I've searched everywhere and she's nowhere!"
"Relax," the old man urged. "I'll be right over. Don't move."
On the other side of the phone line Inuyasha paced back and forth. It hadn't taken him long to realize that Rin had climbed out her window and crawled down the fire escape to get away from him. Great. Why had he said those things? He was an idiot! And now Rin wasn't in the house. He thought that maybe Rin had escaped to her grandfather's house, but he'd been wrong.
"Fuck, I should be looking for her!" Inuyasha told the lamp as he passed it for the fifth time. The lamp didn't respond—not that Inuyasha expected or wanted it to. "I should have kept her in my sights!"
He continued pacing, hoping he'd find some sign of Rin. Why wasn't his grandfather here yet? He should be out looking for Rin!
There came a knock at the door and Inuyasha launched himself into the foyer, wrenching the door open and staring at his grandfather.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Inuyasha announced loudly, eager to find the missing Rin.
"Hold your horses, boy," his grandfather stated calmly as he hobbled into the room. "Let me rest my bones. I practically ran here and you can't expect an old man like me to be chipper and ready to roll after something so strenuous."
"Then I'll go and you stay here!" Inuyasha barked.
"Steady," the man urged. "There is something very important we need to discuss before you go. I think I should have mentioned it sooner."
"What?" Inuyasha groused, eager to get going and find Rin.
"Let us sit," the man said with a wave as he gestured towards Inuyasha's own furniture. The man creaked as he leaned over and sat comfortably in his own seat.
Inuyasha snarled and paced.
"I need to talk to you, Inuyasha. It would be best if you were sitting," the old man urged. Inuyasha snarled again but relented, sitting down and folding his arms across his chest. "Now, why don't we start by you telling me what happened."
As Inuyasha relayed the fight between the two young grandchildren to the grandfather, the old, withered man listened patiently, nodding in all the right places and frowning in all the right places, too. Inuyasha finished and stared down at the coffee table that separated them, ashamed.
The old man sighed and contemplated the new information.
"Yes, I believe now is the time that I should tell you," the old man agreed with himself.
"Tell me what?" Inuyasha questioned. "Can't it wait? We need to go find Rin! You've rested enough, I'm sure."
"There is something that you should know, Inuyasha," his grandfather said sternly, staring down at his lap as Inuyasha sat in the chair opposite him. "Something very important."
"Yeah, what?" Inuyasha groused, wondering why they weren't out looking for Rin. That's what they should be doing. Instead, he was listening to his grandfather yammer on about something pointless.
The man mulled over his grandson's ignorance and impatience, weighing the thoughts in his head and debating where to start.
"It's about Rin's father," his grandfather said after a pregnant pause, deciding he should just dive into the issue.
Inuyasha looked at him expectantly. His grandfather sighed and rubbed his eyes, pressing his head into his hand. Inuyasha watched him curiously, wondering what kind of weight was heavily draped over the old man's shoulders.
"What about him?" Inuyasha prompted, wishing that he could get it over with. He needed to find Rin. Who knew where she was?
The old man sighed.
"Spit it out!" Inuyasha snapped, losing his patience.
His grandfather's next words silenced him sufficiently.
"He's still alive," the old man whispered.