Hey, arn't you glad I've been writing? I sure am. I've been crazy busy and I've really missed writing this story. But hey, I've come up with some good ideas and hopefully they'll come into play. Sorry to say, but this chapter is more a filler than anything. An important event/cliffhanger at the end (you're forwarned) but the rest is just "blah blah blah?" "blah blah blah blah, blah blah." "blah blah blah blah blah!"
But enjoy anyway. : )
Chapter 11 – Surprise Packages
"Thank you for letting us sleep over, Mrs. Higurashi," Rin said graciously. Mrs. Higurashi looked at the girls fondly.
"I'm so very glad you could come. Although I've never met you properly. You're name is Rin…am I right?"
Rin nodded happily. "Uh huh. Rin Makino. I met Kagome and Sango at the beginning of the school year. Up till then, I used to go to school in the Shinikwa district, until the merger."
When the car pulled up in the driveway, the girls got out and went inside. Everyone was sleeping, so they quietly tip toed upstairs to Kagome's room. When they where inside, Kagome shut the door and sighed.
"What a night," She said, collapsing on her bed. Rin nodded in reply, sitting down in a chair.
"No kidding. What'd you think Sango?" Sango shrugged. Kagome had noticed she was quiet. Usually, after a party like that, Sango would be the only one left with energy…
"Sango, are you alright? You seem abnormally quiet. Abnormally being the key word," Kagome said. Rin nodded.
"I noticed it too…did something bad happen?"
Sango was silent for a moment, but suddenly said, "Kagome, remember when we were kids, and we bet over who would get their first kiss first?" Kagome nodded.
"Yea…why?"
"You owe me five dollars."
Kagome gasped in disbelief. "Are you serious! You really did? Wow!" Sango sighed.
"Kagome, you're making too big a deal out of it. You're sounding I won the lottery."
"Well, you're five dollars richer," Rin suggested.
Kagome wouldn't stop there. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Who was it!" Kagome asked in a squeal of excitement.
Sango was reluctant to answer. It wasn't exactly something she was proud of, like she expected her first kiss to be. Sharing it with him…somehow changed everything.
"Well, who? I really want to know Sango!" Kagome pleaded. Sango shook her head.
"No. It's much too embarrassing, I refuse."
"Oh come on!" Kagome urged. "I wanna know!"
"No," Sango said, "It's too bad, I'm not going to tell you!"
"Come on! I'm already giving you five dollars, what more do you want?" Kagome said desperate, "I'll give you another five! That makes ten dollars Sango. Please?"
Sighing, Sango mumbled. "Fine."
"So who was it?"
"…."
"Sango! You promised."
"Miroku."
Kagome raised her eyebrows. "Really? When? Where? How come I didn't see it!"
Sango shrugged. "It happened fast. It was barely considered a kiss at all. You were busy, I don't know. It was right before we left. That's why I wanted to go home."
Kagome gave out a giggle. "That's sooo cute! He likes you! Oooh, It's so cute I can hardly stand it!"
"No, it's not!" Sango hissed. "It's not cute! I didn't want him to kiss me!"
Kagome frowned. "He's really not that bad Sango-"
"maybe to you," She snapped, "but he didn't kiss you! How would you feel if Inuyasha had done that to you?"
Kagome made a face of digust. "yuck."
"He nearly did," Rin said quickly changing the subject.
"No he didn't," Kagome objected, "Inuyasha? He hates me as much as I hate him. He would have never gone through with it."
"I don't know," Sango said thoughtfully, "he looked like he was going to…"
Kagome shook her head. "No, no way." She was more saying it to convince herself than to convince Sango and Rin. She didn't ever want to think about Inuyasha talking her first kiss. As sorry as she felt for Sango, having hers taken by a pervert, it would be much better than having Inuyasha take it.
And yet…
If Inuyasha had decided to be as friendly and kind as he had been a weekend ago…
No.
Never.
He's never going to change, Kagome thought scornfully, I don't know what that asshole was doing…but he wasn't being himself. What a jerk!
"Kagome? Kagome, did you hear me?" Rin asked, waving her hands in front of Kagome's face.
"Huh?" Kagome said, snapping out of her slight trance, "Sorry, I was thinking."
"About Inuyasha?" Sango cooed.
"No!" She spat, then stopped. "Well, yes. About how much of a jerk he is."
Sango rolled her eyes. "I swear, one day the two of you are going to let go of your stubborn ways and fall for each other."
Kagome's face went completely blank. Blankness changed to confusion. Confusion changed to disgust, and finally disgust to anger. "Never," she replied angrily, "never ever! He is the biggest asshole I know and he does nothing but embarrass me and make me feel like a loser! I hate him! I hate him I hate him I hate him!"
"Ok ok," Sango said, " I was just kidding! Take a joke Kagome!"
Kagome smiled idly, talking deep breaths. "Ok. I think I'm ready for a movie and some popcorn."
The girls stayed up way into the morning watching movies and eating junk food. Kagome's mother had begged them to get sleep, but to no avail. Even if they tried, it always ended up in fits of hysterical laughter. After watching as many chick flicks as they could find and eating as much food as they could stuff themselves with, even after the party, they lie awake and talked about everything and anything.
They finally found sleep early, at 4:30 in the morning. Kagome's mother had been nice enough to allow the girls to sleep in until late morning.
They came into the kitchen, bleary eyed and yawning to find her making breakfast.
"Thanks mom," Kagome managed to croak. Her mother tsked her.
"Kagome, don't get sick. It's right before the holidays and this is the time of the year when everyone gets sick. It's also a very important time in your school work and if you have to miss school because you end up with pneumonia, you won't be happy when you get back and have to make up all your work."
Her mother continued, and Kagome just stared blankly at her plate. Sango and Rin simply held back a laugh as her mother droned on and on.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Kagome said groggily, standing up.
She walked outside in her pajamas and slippers and looked around.
No one was there.
She frowned. What the hell?
She looked down at her feet, where a small package sat. It had her name written in an untidy scrawl.
She looked around again, searching for a sign of who could have given it to her. She was reluctant to open it. What could be inside?
She came back in and heard her mother call "who was it, Kagome?"
"Oh, no one. Some guy had the wrong house," Kagome called back, "but I got my slippers all wet, so I'm gonna go run upstairs real quick." For some reason, she didn't want Rin and Sango to see the package. She didn't know what it was, nor did she want to open it in front of them. Somehow, this was special. It was hers, and only hers.
She came back down a minute later.
"Kagome, I've said it a million times and I'll say it again: You're mom is the best cook," Sango said, throwing her head back happily. "I'm full."
"That was very good," Rin agreed, "I'm stuffed."
Shortly afterwards, the girls went back upstairs to Kagome's room. She inwardly cursed as she saw the small package sitting in plain sight on her bed. She wished she had put it someplace special, where no one else could see it. For some reason she felt incredibly selfish about it. Kagome hadn't really had much that she could consider hers- her mother was very particular about making things between her and Souta very equal. So to have this one little, insignificant package sitting on their doorstep addressed to her- somehow, that was special.
"What's that?" Rin asked, pointing to the package.
"Uh, nothing," Kagome said reaching for it. "Just something I haven't really opened yet. A present maybe."
"It wasn't there this morning," Sango said, eyeing it suspiciously, "what is it?"
"What are you talking about Sango, of course it was here this morning," Kagome said quickly, making an attempt to shove it in her desk drawer.
"Come on Kagome," Rin teased, "what are you hiding?"
"Nothing! I just," she stopped and looked at her friends bashfully, "I just sort of wanted to open it by myself. You know, it's mine, so…"
"So you wanted it to be secret," Sango waved her hand, "Don't worry about it, Kag."
"You sure?" She asked.
"Yes, we're sure," Sango said with a smile. Then she put her hand on her chin. "Although, you know, I wonder what's in it…"
"Yeah…" Rin said, a curious smile growing on her face, "who's it from?"
"Doesn't say," Kagome shrugged. "it was on the doorstep when I answered the door this morning."
"What if it's a bomb?" Rin said suspiciously.
"I'm pretty sure it would have blown up," Sango said, rolling her eyes.
"It could be any number of things," Kagome said, setting it back down on the bed and looking at it. "I don't know what to do."
"Well don't get rid of it," Sango said, "what if it's something nice? A secret gift from someone?"
"Well you'd certainly think they'd do a better job of giving it to me," Kagome said, "something about packages set in front of people's doors make me think of bombs too."
"See, I wasn't the only one," Rin said, sticking out her tongue.
:"I think we should open it though," Kagome said finally.
"You do?"
"Yeah. I mean, what's the harm? I really highly doubt it's a bomb. The only real enemy I have is Inuyasha…and he's not nearly smart enough to figure out a bomb," Kagome said.
"Are you sure you want to open it?" Rin asked.
"Yeah, you don't have to," Sango assured her, "I mean, if you'd rather open it later."
Kagome shook her head. "No, I think I want to do it now."
With slightly trembling hands, she carefully stripped the package of its masking tape. She unfolded the box slowly, as to savor each passing second with eager anticipation. Finally, she took a deep breath and opened it flat.
There were no explosions.
Instead, there lay a simple object in the box with a folded note beneath it. Mistletoe.
Could it be? Kagome thought, bemused, from the party last night? She picked it up and examined it.
Rin and Sango said nothing.
Then she picked up the note that remained in the box. Her hands now shaking slightly more than before, she opened the note to read it. She may even figure out who it was that sent it.
There was no name anywhere on the note. Only one, simple sentence, written in the same untidy scrawl:
Maybe Next Year.
Yeah, go on and admit you hate me for cutting off there. I'll update again soon, I promise. I've taken a rather small role in the school play this time (unlike last year) and I'll hopefully have more time for my writing :D
Love you all!
Lola
