Mocha Latte

-Kitty

Chapter 11: A beautiful day in the neighborhood


"Alright, I'm off!"

The door clicked shut behind her and an echoing silence rushed in to fill her absence. The sunlight was warm on his back and his ears twitched, listening to the mini orchestra of songbirds outside. Inuyasha sighed, glancing around at the messy apartment and, though friendly and familiar, he felt a strange discomfort rise up in him. With Kagome gone it was far to quiet and far to empty. He glanced around restlessly, finding himself in an odd state of agitation, feeling his isolation in the small, cozy apartment and being driven mad because of it. Outside, the rest of the world was stirring to life, the sounds of doors opening and slamming, cars revving up, voices greeting other. He wore his tension in his brow as he listened to the activity. A neighbor stepped out nearby, the jangle of keys dancing before the correct one was fitted into the lock sounded bright and inviting somehow. Gradually, the sounds of passing cars pick up in frequency, until a steady stream was zooming by, each containing a busy driver, rushing to work, or to send children to school, or tend to one task or another. The world outside buzzed with purpose and urgency. And he sat indoors, sheltered, and surrounded by stillness.

He was standing before he realized it, charmed beads in one hand, the remnants of a dark roast morning brew in the other. He moved with a confident, relaxed ease, gently placing the coffee mug in the sink before turning toward the door. As he passed in front of the bathroom, he glanced at himself, frowning just a little. Dark hazel eyes stared back at him, set in a serious face, framed by dark black hair. It was still an image that sent a shock through his spine every time he saw it. The boy in the mirror was human, clean, and decently dressed. His jeans had no holes, his shirt was well made, although its design was bizarre, with the image of a particularly disgruntled looking feline with piercing blue eyes glaring out at the world. This wasn't the white haired, golden eyed demon in rags, barefoot, and hungry that he'd been so recently. And it was with conflicted dissonance that he regarded himself for several seconds before frowning at his reflection, daring it to dissuade him from what he'd determined to do. He took a bracing breath, unsure exactly why he felt so anxious of this venture, and then turned and marched out the door.

"Oh! Hello there."

He'd hardly managed to set one foot outside when he was immediately met with a stranger. Panic rose up in him faster than a flash of lightning and he froze, eyes wide and jaws tight, taking in the old, hunched figure before him.

"You must be Kagome's friend," the old lady said. She had a serious face and she regarded him solemnly, with an intensity that instantly put him on guard. There were more wrinkles on her face than he could recall ever seeing on a single person, giving her skin the look of an old, wizened tree that had weathered hundreds of years of storm and wind. Feeling like a child being caught in some mischief, he turned slowly to face her and nodded cautiously. Despite the charmed disguise, he felt vulnerable, exposed, sure of unseen threats that could attack him at any moment. He gripped the apartment keys fiercely, squeezing them tight in an effort to quash the urge to flee. The old woman continued to regard him, without a word, or even a blink, and it was to his immense relief when another neighbor stepped out to break the silence.

"Miss Kaede! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Toshio," Kaede responded, turning from her assessment of him to greet the neighbor. "Your car is again blocking my back door this morning."

"Ahh… I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll go move it now."

Kaede nodded, her expression hardly changing. "Good," she said, before turning her attention back to Inuyasha.

"Tell Kagome I have a new artifact I need her to bless," she told him, "It's a particularly stubborn thing and I can't reason with it anymore."

Inuyasha frowned, mildly confused by the request but decided to save his questions to ask Kagome later. Instead, he nodded, which seemed to placate the old woman and she turned to lumber down the stairs, her old wrinkled knuckles gripping the railing tightly.

"Oh, and hanyou," she said, her words rooting him to the spot, "If you are loitering around today, I have one or two tasks for you to make yourself useful."

And with that, this Kaede woman departed, her slow, shuffling gait finally delivering her back to her unit. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose, deciding he was most definitely not going to be helping out little old mysterious ladies today, heaved a breath, squared his shoulders, and proceeded down the stairs into the apartment courtyard. The complex was a simple one, with two levels of apartments facing a simple, green space, set up with several planters for the renters to cultivate. Inuyasha glanced around, noting that only one planter appeared to have life, positively bursting with vegetables and sweet smelling herbs. Lacking any horticultural inclinations that morning, Inuyasha swiftly located the gated exit of the complex and soon found himself beside a small local road. The sun peered down warmly at him and he paused there, marveling over the sensation. Unveiled, he normally moved in the shadows, only glimpsing the sun from various hidden corners and behind dumpsters. When had he last stood so boldly in the sunlight, smelling the green, green grass and been able to glance left and right and leisurely take the time to ponder where he felt like going?

Walking down the street was a strange thing. People passed him, hardly glancing up to notice him. And when they did, a direct look, without fright or disgust, and then a nod of greeting before moving on. The sun was warm, the sky was blue, and the sounds and sights that he might have previously viewed with wary suspicion were now sources of curiosity. The sprinkler system in a front yard started up, causing him to leap out of his skin before staring down at the simple, fascinating contraption. Impacter arm flickered rapidly against the stream of water, creating a strange ffft, ffft, ffft sound that gave the impression that the little device was laughing, spraying water around the lawn in little misty droplets and refracting the sunlight into fragments of rainbows. The water added a fresh, clean scent to the air around him and he inhaled deeply, a feeling of comfort and peace wrapping around him as though he'd adorned himself with the warm aura of Kagome's apartment and worn it out like a garment.

A little ways down and a team of workers were milling about, pushing the loud, gassy lawn mower around or raking away the clippings. They paused as he approached, smiling and waving as he passed. In another yard, an old graying man was watering a collection of roses, a peaceful smile in the old wrinkled eyes. The frail figure turned as Inuyasha moved past his driveway.

"Good morning, young man," the old man called warmly. Shyly, Inuyasha raised a hand, returning the gesture and felt a wave rock through his body. To be recognized and acknowledged, greeted and to hear the words "good morning" as he passed. The cloak of Kagome's presence bolstered him, embraced him, and tugged at him to explore the sunny neighborhood block more.

A fat calico cat yowled at him before lifting a leg and grooming itself in full dignified feline glory. Squirrels chittered as they danced along the powerlines. Cars passed, mailmen smiled and nodded, children on bicycles pedaled by, shouting at each other as they rushed to school. An occasional dog started up a ruckus as he sauntered by. He wandered farther, meandering his way back to the little playground park with the wide, wooden shelter and the tall guardian oak. The little rabbit's body was nowhere to be found, only a tuft of fur here and there, and a shard of white in the grass. A constrictor wrapped around his heart then, squeezing, and a frown found its way to his face.

Life will die and beget new life.

Her voice drifted through his memory and he felt the tension ease.

'You cared,' She'd told him, 'That's more than enough for this one young life.'

Overhead, he spotted a raven, dark and sleek, in the branches above him and just a little further, a mass of twigs and branches, somehow adhering together as though to defy gravity. The raven stared down at him with its black, emotionless eyes, assessing and intelligent, with a wisdom that seemed odd in such an ominous looking bird. It fluffed its feathers, let out a loud, piercing caw, then hopped up to its nest and settled in, a look of contentment in its expressionless face. The wind rustled the oak tree's branches but the gentle oak stood firm, sheltering the budding new life that was growing thanks to another's sacrifice.

Experimentally, he reached out a hand to the rough bark, feeling the age in the tree under his calloused palm. The wind blew past again and the rustling in the upper branches whispered to him. His yin energies could not call upon the spirit that lived within but in his contact with the oak, he swore he felt a response, a gentle recognition of his presence. Carefully, he drew back his hand, solemnly regarding the old tree and finding his feelings mixed as he heaved a long, bracing sigh.

He wasn't sure just how long he stayed there, eventually taking a seat under the protective shade of the gnarled old oak tree. He sat with his legs spread out, feeling the dampness of the rich, dark earth seeping into his jeans. The bark was rough and supportive against his back and overhead, he listened to the rustlings and the stirrings of the raven couple as they tended to their nest. Occasionally, a child's laughter emanated from the playground as a grandparent pushed the little life higher and higher on the swingset, or caught the little body on its descent down the plastic slide. Eventually, a familiar scent drifted his way and he looked up as her figure came bouncing through the park toward him, unsurprised that she seemed to know exactly where to find him.

"Inuyasha!" she called, waving. She was in the biggest sweater he'd seen yet, looking like a large blue marshmallow, billowing with each perky step. She had an empty bag over one shoulder and beamed down at him when she got close enough, offering a hand to pull him up.

"Let's go shopping for dinner!"


A/N: phew, it's been a while! ... aaaaaand it's likely to be another long while... its end of the year crunch time at work right now so i'm not likely to have a whole lot of time until maybe the start of the holidays... figured i'd try to get this one last chapter out before getting back to adulting :)

anyways, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!