Kagome.
I stormed back into the room where Sango and Chasuki were, muttering rather cruel things about Inuyasha.
'Idiot…Inuyasha…' I seethed. I tripped over one of my shoes and kicked it into a wall in a fit. Sango twitched, backing away from me slightly. Kirara was tipped out of her lap in the process, and she mewed in protest.
"Ah, sorry Sango…" I said sheepishly. 'Calm down…'
"Something wrong?" Sango asked me, echoing Inuyasha's earlier question.
"No. Everything's fine." I lied, feigning cheerfulness. Truth be told, I had been meaning to talk to Inuyasha about our somewhat foggy relationship. Now that Kikyo was…free, in a way…
'What am I saying? I already know I love him…all I need to do now is find out if he really does love me back…'
"Kagome, what should we do about Chasuki-san…?" Sango asked me, sitting closer now that I'd stopped trying to destroy innocent footwear.
"Hmm…should we wait until she's awake?" I replied, glancing over to where she lay. She was a complete mystery to all of us, except Rin, apparently. "I wonder where Rin knows her from…"
"I don't know either, obviously. We may as well wait until she wakes up. Then we can get both her and Rin to talk to us."
"Good point." I mused. I stood as the door slid open, and Kohaku, Shippo and Rin wandered in. "Oh, hi!" I smiled at them. Shippo and Rin ran over to hug me as Kohaku walked over to Sango and started playing with Kirara.
"She's still hurt, I think," I said to Rin, who was looking over at Chasuki.
"Oh…" Rin trailed off. "I'm sorry about that."
"It's ok, no one blames you at all." Sango reassured her. Rin remained quiet, however, still worrying about Chasuki's state.
Miroku slid open the door to admit both himself and Inuyasha, and I got a terrible idea...
"Hey, Rin, do you remember what I can do to Inuyasha?" I said suddenly.
Inuyasha gulped. The last time Kagome had wanted to cheer Rin up…
"Yaaay!" Rin cheered. "Sit! Sit!"
"Kagome…" Inuyasha began, "However I offended you earlier, I'm sor-"
"Sit."
"Yeow! What was that for!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Oh…nothing." I replied innocently.
The door slid open once again, and Sesshoumaru walked in silently, Jaken close behind.
"What are you all doing standing around like this?" Jaken glared at us all. 'Such a grumpy toad…'
"Jaken. Go outside."
"…Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." Jaken said, muttering as he stalked out of the room.
Sesshoumaru glanced over at Chasuki, patting Rin on the head as she ran over to hug him. He walked over and tipped the contents of a glass vial into her mouth. She spluttered soon afterwards, sitting up with a gasp.
"Wh…what?"
"Suki-chaaan!" Rin yelled. I don't think that girl can be quiet…
"Rin-sama." 'Suki' replied, bowing her head.
"Rin-sama!" was the first thing that popped into my head, and I wasn't the only one to say it, either. She blinked, as if she'd only just realised we were all here.
"Rin-sama, who…ah, Sesshoumaru-sama." she said, bowing to him as well.
"How do you know who I am?" he replied, eyes narrowing.
"You are the Lord of the Western Lands, yes?" she asked.
"Yes."
"My hometown is in an area under your rule, I think you had alliances with our rulers. I mean no harm or disrespect," she added, probably just in case.
Rin was jumping around now, extremely excited that this woman had woken up. I silently took in her appearance. For a demon, she looked almost as human as myself. Large brown eyes, taller than me, normal limbs, no tail…The only odd thing about her was the electric blue streaks running through her short black hair, and I bet I could find people like that in the modern-day Japan I lived in.
"So, who are you all?" Chasuki said, looking around the room.
Rin pointed to us in turn. "Kagome-chan, Inuyasha-san, Shippo-chan, Kohaku-kun, Sango-chan, Miroku-san, Sesshoumaru-sama, Kirara…Jaken-sama went outside…"
She nodded to each of us as our names were given. "I am Chasuki. Suki is fine." she glanced at Rin. "I am glad you are safe, Rin-sama."
"How do you know Rin and what were you doing?" Sesshoumaru said, relaxing only the slightest bit. I rolled my eyes. 'He's so suspicious…'
"Can I eat first?" she said calmly. "I'm kinda hungry. I can explain everything afterwards."
He tensed, but gave in, partially because Rin was already leading her towards the kitchen. When I say kitchen, of course, I mean small area where one can cook…
I followed, interested in the newcomer, and everyone else trailed behind.
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Moments later, I entered the 'kitchen' just as Chasuki sat on the floor, tearing into a rat she'd pulled out from behind a door. I gagged, turning away, and found myself almost up against Inuyasha. Blushing, I moved away, waiting for Chasuki to finish eating it.
"Oh, sorry…Kagome-san, was it?"
"Just Kagome," I replied, still not looking.
"You can look now. I'm a fast eater, and that was a pretty fat rat." she said after a moment. "Sorry again."
"That's fine," I replied, grinning.
Sango sat next to me with Miroku on her other side. Inuyasha stood behind me. Kohaku and Shippo seemed more interested in playing with Rin, and we left the three of them to run around in the small garden next to where we were.
Sesshoumaru stood in a corner, waiting. Chasuki looked up at him and nodded.
"I have known Rin since she was born. I've known her mother since she was born too." This simple sentence had quite the effect on the room. We all fell silent, something very unusual for us, and we waited for her to continue.
"It's a long story, so get comfortable."
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Oh yes, I just realised:
To clear confusion about ages, in case I don't later on:
Inuyasha - Looks 20, is around 250.
Shippo - Looks 12, is 60+
Chasuki - Looks 23, is over 700
Sesshoumaru - Looks 25, is over 900
Kouga - Looks 20, is around 250
Ayame - Looks 19, is around 200
Kagura - Looks 19, is 5
Kagome - 20
Sango - 21
Miroku - 23
Rin - 13
Kohaku - 15
Naraku and his detachments (besides Kagura), plus Kikyo, are dead.
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Also:
Name Translations
Inuyasha - literally Dog Demon, can be read as Female/Lower Dog Demon.
Sesshoumaru - Destruction Man (I know, lol), Destruction of the Circle of Life, Perfect Destruction.
Shippo - With the correct pronunciation, his name means The Seven Treasures. Without the correct pronunciation, his name actually means Tail.
Kagome - No defined meaning, although it can be read as Woven Basket. (bwahahaha)
Kikyo - Chinese Bellflower.
Chasuki - Literally 'Refined/Elegant Taste in Tea'. Rin's nickname for her, Suki, is Chance.
Miroku - named for the predicted Buddha of the future, Maitreya Bodhisattva, called Miroku in Japanese.
Sango - Coral.
Kohaku - Amber, or Topaz.
Rin - Can be read as Companion.
Jaken - Wicked Perspective.
Kouga - Steel Fang.
Ayame - Iris.
Kagura - The Dance of the Gods.