Fastball
A/N: I can just tell I'm going to re-edit this story when I finish the entire thing. You know, make the entire thing smoother with less grammatical mistakes? I hate transition. It sucks to have weak transitioning because that's one of the basic elements to a good story.
Disclaimer: I'm a follower, not a leader.
Chapter Three: First Base
Nghi
It was only four o'clock- two hours since the dramatic runaway- when Kagome found her new house, and her mother was at the front door, glaring at her. She had been smart enough to observe her surroundings while running away that it took her another good hour to retrace her footsteps and hike up the steep hill.
"Where have you been, young lady?" Mother asked; she inhaled sharply when her daughter stopped two feet away, and every scratch and stain was visible within her naked eye. "What have you been doing!"
Kagome felt tempted to reply smartly with a "None of your business", but she knew Mother was fearless when it came to disciplining her children; it wouldn't take much thought for her to take two strides across the lawn and smack her. "I was just taking a walk," she said dully, scratching her jaw.
"Well, it must have been a big walk for you to look like this," Mother answered, and then she suddenly stood up with her hands firmly planted by her sides. "You've been playing baseball again, haven't you? How many times has this been, me telling you-"
"I didn't," Kagome snapped, and Ayumi looked surprised. Her cool attitude faltered, and she began to fumble, trying to explain before the woman could fume. "What I mean is that I was going to, but there were already people at the field, and they were using it, and I was watching, and they got into a fight, and one person left the other, so I thought I would join, but the boy didn't let me, so I played him for the field, and I won, and he was a sore loser, and he tackled me, and then we got into a fight."
Ayumi didn't hear all of the words, but she picked out three main ideas: baseball, fight, and boy. "A boy, you said?"
"Yes, Mom, a boy." Finally, something the two could talk about without bickering. Kagome smiled cheerfully. "It was a boy with a nasty temper, too."
"Really. And he picked a fight with you because he lost?" Mother was leading Kagome into the bathroom where the first aid kit was. "That's no way to behave around a girl."
Kagome didn't really think gender mattered, but that was going to take another day and a half if she even thought about bringing that up. "Well, I think he shouldn't have been stupid in the first place. It's his fault that I came home with these cuts."
"Boys are just a little more sensitive about their pride than girls. They can't stand losing at this age," Mother said. Then she added thoughtfully, "They can't stand losing at any age, either, now that you think about it. Heh. I remember this one time when I beat Taro at a swimming race by a whole half a minute, and the poor man wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the month."
"Who's Taro?" Kagome asked. Or she would have had the doorbell not rung. Mother finished applying the ointment onto her knee scrapes and gave her the leftover bandages. "Patch those up and meet me outside; I'm going to greet our neighbors." It was a mystery how her mom could always tell who was waiting.
Kagome heard voices and irritating laughter- she loved giggling, but there wasn't a lot of enjoyment in smiling just for the sake of formal salutations. In her opinion, if it wasn't funny, then it wasn't worth a laugh. It puzzled her so much that Mother could possess such a quality in an otherwise flawless personality: the ability to bend and twist to conform to today's society… or, in other words, the ability to butt-kiss very well. Grandpa was old and grumpy half the time, so he didn't really give much thought towards first impressions, and Souta was just a drooling three year old. That left Mother to be the face of the family, and she was expecting her daughter to do the same. It's back to laughing at the stupid jokes, she thought unhappily before hopping off the counter.
"-And so here we are, ready to start a new life!" Ayumi was finishing up a story when she reached the doorway. "Oh, and here she is, my lovely daughter Kagome!" Ayumi was positively crooning and buttery, and it made her slightly ill.
"Hello, Kagome. My name is Kaoru Furiko," the woman greeted. Kagome barely had any time to return the welcome when Kaoru turned to Mother, slightly apologetic. "I'm so sorry my husband could not be here to say hi to such a warm family. He has been very busy lately, with late-night meetings and calls from work. And my older son is not here, either. Pity I did not welcome you guys earlier; he just left for late-night school a half-hour ago."
"Oh, that's OK. We'll meet them some other time," Ayumi replied smoothly; it was a 'never' in the Book of Stiff Salutations (Or BOSS for short) to criticize anyone about their lack of enthusiasm.
The two began to chat solely, and Kagome felt she was being pushed out of another conversation…. This was her break and, still smiling forcefully, began to edge for the entrance. Then- "Oh, and did I mention I have a son around your daughter's age, too?" Kagome groaned inwardly; she should have gone at a pace faster than a snail crawl!
"Oh, really?" The amount of shock Ayumi inserted into the interjection was so phony she cleared her throat, lied about some dry throat condition, and tried again with less surprise. "I didn't know. Did you hear that, Kagome? You might have someone your age to play with! Isn't that great." She didn't sound too excited there….
When Mother nudged Kagome indiscreetly, the girl nodded quickly. "Oh, yes, I'm so happy." Robotic and neutral- just the way she felt about this. But out of curiosity, she added, "Who is your son, by the way?" And Mother nodded along, also curious.
Kaoru giggled nervously. "Oh, he's not feeling too well today. You know boys at this age- temper temper, and not like us mature girls." She winked and giggled pretentiously, and Kagome laughed very weakly. "But yes. He had a bit of a… scuffle, and he's not feeling social at all."
Mother opened her mouth to say something saccharine for sure when the honey oak door behind Kaoru opened with a bang, and a boy stomped out. "Mom, Sesshoumaru left his stupid socks in my room again!" he complained, waving a pair of socks in the air.
The woman's smile fell a little bit, but it was back up in a quick moment, and she called rather pleasantly at the boy, "Come here, Inuyasha. I'm just welcoming our neighbors."
"Not now," he yawned, scratching his elbow. "My legs are killing me, and buy some more bandages 'cuz we're out."
"Inuyasha, please come here and say a little hello. It wouldn't kill you now, would it?" The smile was permanently etched across the face, but Kaoru's eyes threw daggers. He opened his mouth, ready to decline the offer so graciously when she cut in. "Worry about the socks later, and I'll remember to buy the bandages that you like. Now come here- no, put the socks down first."
For Kagome, she was too busy staring at the boy to notice any sudden different voice tones or mood tension in the air. How on earth could a stupid boy she met on a baseball field be her neighbor? How on earth could a stupid boy she only met for two hours possibly of all possibilities be her neighbor? How on earth could a boy so dumb, so straining to be around, and so rude be her neighbor? She watched, absolutely stunned, as the boy frowned, muttered something, and began to mooch his way over to his mother's side. "Hello," he mumbled unenthusiastically before turning around to find comfort within his dark cave. Kagome wished she could do the same.
Kaoru caught him by the shoulder and, turning him around once more, whispered into his ear menacingly, "Do it with sincerity." Inuyasha gave her a sideways glare before smiling widely. "Welcome to-" The words died in his throat when he caught Kagome's eye and realized he was not more than one foot away from her, and she wondered how long it took him to notice. About time, she thought. This time, it was Mrs. Furiko who nudged the boy, and he exclaimed, "You again!"
Realization sunk in, and then he said, "You again!"
"Her again?" Mrs. Furiko asked, and Ayumi followed suit with, "My daughter again?" There was no time to say more than a parrot's imitation, because Inuyasha lunged for Kagome. "Idiot girl! Once I get my hands on you, I'm going to kick your sorry little-"
"Inuyasha!" Kaoru was busy restraining her son by his shoulders, and he was shoving and kicking and looking positively murderous and ready to kill. Kagome thought the two didn't look alike at all; they just had really bad tempers.
But she couldn't really say anything much more without venturing into hypocritical, because Ayumi was also busy restraining the girl. "Just because you're bitter doesn't mean you have to act so senile, you sonofa-" Kagome yelled, and she was also shoving and kicking and looking positively murderous, too.
"Kagome!" Ayumi cut her off, but she wasn't listening; she had better things to do, like choke the living daylights out of the useless mass in front of her!
Apparently, Mrs. Furiko was tired and had a less expendable temper because she suddenly roared, "Enough!" It was a tone that warned of threats and future pain to come, and the woman was glad she went into stock business and not flower arranging. But either way, that was enough to get both kids to stop lunging. "What is going on, and how do you two know each other?" She was still holding Inuyasha by the collar, and she was waiting for an explanation. "And it better be good."
He gave her one more dirty glare before facing his mother. Kagome watched as he pointed a sticky, little finger at her and opened his yap. "She's the one who punched me!"
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