Innocent Kisses in the Rain
Park near Kagome's house, Saturday afternoon, Tokyo, Japan, July 24, 2004.
"It reflects upon the school. Participating in a project normally assigned to children will not appear in any college entrance exam, or in any other exam for that matter. It is a disgrace on the school's part."
"What do you mean, 'assigned to children'? Even if it was assigned to a person two years -"
"Two and a half years, my dear Kagome."
"Two and a half years then, Mr. Perfect-everything! Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted… You obviously are not beyond the level of a 'child's assignment' if you are asking a 'child' to help you with your 'child's assignment'." Kagome stated proudly, raising an eyebrow in silent challenge. He smirked back.
"Very good Kagome." He said as he turned back to the spiral notebook on his lap and carefully penciled in a complex set of symbols.
"Taking notes? Are you going to consider my advice, oh wise one?"
"Yes, seeing how old and experienced you are…"
Kagome huffed. "What are you doing then?!"
"I'm working." He said tonelessly, but at the same time with amused mockery. Kagome was speechless at his audacity before she huffed indignantly and tried to push him off their bench.
Flashback
"So, do you have an idea about your myth?" Kagome asked boldly, falling into step with the tall Sesshoumaru.
"Yes." He replied, and she stumbled a bit.
"What's it gonna be about then, smart one?" She asked hotly, regaining her composure.
"It's going to be about a young girl, who speaks endlessly and is too sensitive. She meets with a sorceress who turns her into a horrid creature that cannot speak. A frog. She was then locked into a tall tower and forgotten about. She starved to death, eventually."
Kagome was dumbstruck. But she was not dense.
"You're such an insufferable jerk!" She said after a point of thunderstruck silence.
He made a point of glaring at her, but she had grown used to his cool gaze by now and she glared fervently back.
Then she grinned.
"It's a perfect idea! But the female should be a male, and he should be soooo quiet that an young female witch wants only to hear any voice of his, so her mother, concerned for her daughters mental health, turns the man into an ugly toad so that her daughter could, for even such a short period, hear his hideous croaking that was his voice."
It was Sesshoumaru's turn to be flabbergasted.
"What is the moral? And who are these characters parallel to?" He spoke slowly, glancing down at her as her smile widened.
"The moral is that you should always speak your mind to be understood and that beneath a beautiful face is a hideous voice." Kagome stated proudly and skipped ahead.
"A beautiful face and a hideous voice have I?" He asked cleverly, and she visibly tripped.
"I - I wasn't talking about you!" She scrambled to explain herself…
"Ah. I see. We are just brainstorming."
"That's right! You started it!"
"Ah."
"And since you're stealing this story from English fairy tales…"
"What?"
"The frog ---"
"Is not kissed by a human female to turn into a prince." Sesshoumaru replied knowledgably, and gave her a mockingly questioning glance. She blushed and shook her head.
"You're so pompous! Fine! It's just like the fairy tale 'The Beauty and the Beast'."
"The frog is not turned human by a loving female." He said again and she gave him a murderous glance.
"In 'The Beauty and the Beast,' a witch turns a man into a terrible beast because he-"
"Spoke too much, drank too much, and was too cruel."
"Well, you fit at least one third of that description!" Kagome stuttered nervously, managing a weak glare.
"So you were referring to me and I have a beautiful face and a hideous voice?"
"I was going to say we should name the toad an American name since you took the basic idea from an American fairy tale!"
"Was it not a frog?"
"A toad is better." Kagome insisted.
"What is your proposition?"
"… We should call him 'Jake'."
"Jake?"
"It's an American male name! Don't you know?"
"So it does not begin with a 'S'?" Sesshoumaru asked slyly.
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome cried and shoved him away in embarrassment.
End Flashback
"Well, I suppose we haven't got much more than that, have we?"
"We have much time to finish."
"So we're just gonna… Leave it for now?"
"It is getting dark."
Kagome looked at her watch.
"No it's not! It's still early!" Kagome's eyes flew to the sky… The clouds were retreating to the horizon in eager dexterity.
"We will continue speaking about this another day. Farewell Kagome."
"W-Wait!" Kagome cried out, taking a step toward him.
"Yes?" He asked, his mask expertly back in place.
Did he put it back on each time before he went home?
Aren't you supposed to drop them when you get home, where you are safe?
"My little brother plays soccer." She spoke, looking away. She almost flinched now that she saw the true seriousness of his practiced façade.
"Yes?" He pressed, and tried to soften his expression a bit.
"You wanna come to his game on Wednesday? It's at five o'clock… Will it interfere with… prep school or something?"
"I surpassed the teacher's limited knowledge when I was young." Sesshoumaru informed her with little humor in his voice - was what he said true?
Wow.
"So you wanna come?" She asked, her eyes meeting his finally.
He studied her for a moment, and then nodded.
She grinned.
"Okay! Maybe we can talk about your story again then!"
"Until Wednesday." He nodded.
She turned and skipped away.
He turned and walked.
Had he one less second of 'face practice' in his sixteen years, he would have grinned as well.