Chapter 18: Sneaky

Inutaishou comes onto the patio to see his son is waiting rather impatiently. "Took you long enough." Inuyasha rudely comments his father as he connects the tank to the grill. That made Inutaishou strike him on the head. "Hey, what did you do that for?" Inuyasha asks as he rubs the spot where it got hurt. "Isn't it obvious? Rudeness is in your nature." Inutaishou glares at him. "Fine. Sorry." Inuyasha murmurs at him. Inutaishou just stare and then smiles. "Forgiving. Let's grill up the meat." He pats him on the back. Inuyasha walks back into the house to see his mother is continuing on with the appetizers. "Is this enough mom?" Inuyasha asks her seeing so many dishes.

Izayoi wipes the sweat from her brow. "Not unless we have a lot of guests coming over. We have to keep them full of food. I would be a bad hostess without anything to eat." She states to her son. "Inuyasha, where are Sango and Miroku? They're here right?" Izayoi asks him. Inuyasha nods, "Yeah, They're outside with dad." Izayoi smiles, "Would it kill you that they help bring out the food?" She asks him.

"There's no need." Kagome's voice speaks up from behind. "I'll be more than happy to help out with the food, Mrs. Takahashi." Kagome smiles as she grabs a tray while her mother takes another. "Oh Kagome, you shouldn't. You're my guest." Izayoi tries to protest gently. "No, I wanted to help despite being a guest." Kagome said nicely to her before she heads outside. Ai smiles, "Trust me, Kagome is one girl that will do whatever it takes to help someone out." Izayoi couldn't help but to agree.

Kagome comes onto the patio to place the trays onto the table. "Oh, thank goodness you're here, Kagome." Sango smiles as she takes one of the trays from Kagome's arms. "Wow, Kagome, I never know you'd be skilled of carrying those trays." Sango compliments Kagome's stunt. Kagome giggles a little. "It's no biggie. I was just good when I was carrying my stuff to and from the moving truck." She explains to them.

When Kagome left the kitchen, Hige comes into the kitchen. "Did I miss anything?" He asks the ladies. "No. But Inutaishou is outside. You can go out there." Ai suggests to him. Hige nods and heads outside. Ai spots a six pack of beer in both hands. Ai shakes her head. "I hold your husband likes that kind of beer." She turns to Izayoi with a concern look. "What's wrong with that? Inutaishou is a demon and a drop of alcohol won't do a thing to him." Izayoi assures her. "You sure? My husband can be a bit scary with the beer he brings with him." Ai looks outside as she sees Hige offering Inutaishou a bottle from the six pack. Inutaishou smiles and clinks the bottle with the one Hige has in his hand. "You have my word, Ai." Izayoi takes hold of her shoulder to comfort her ease.

Back onto the Patio, Sango and Kagome were talking among themselves. "So where is Sota? Isn't he coming over?" Sango asks Kagome after taking a but of a potato chip from her paper plate. "Sota's at his friend's house. He'd rather be there than here." Kagome responds to her. "What about Kohaku? Is he home? I know that soccer season is over." Kagome asks Sango in the same manner. "Same answer, Kagome. I found it hard to believe that Kohaku would rather spend his time with his friends than with me and dad?" Sango sadly smiles. Then it occurred to Kagome about something. "What about your mother? I've never met her before." She asks quietly assuming it's a personal topic. Sango looks around to see everyone just minding their own business. "Come with me." She gestures Kagome with her hand and leave the property.

Sango leads Kagome to her through the back patio. When Sango opened up the sliding door, she looks around to make sure her father isn't around since he can only take Kohaku to his friend's house. She walks in and gestures Kagome to follow in quietly. She then leads Kagome to her bedroom. "Nice room." Kagome spoke softly worried that Sango's dad would hear her. Sango nods back and pulls out the picture of herself and her mother from her bookshelf. She hands it over to Kagome to give her a look.

Kagome can immediately tell that Sango has her mother's hair color and eyes. But the rest of her features are from her dad. "She's very pretty." She compliments. "Thanks. She passed away last year to cancer." Sango sadly smiles, trying her best to hold back her tears. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea." Kagome sadly spoke to her. "I take it that she meant so much to you." She gives Sango a hug to comfort her. "It's ok. You didn't know" Sango pulls back and puts the picture back onto its spot on the bookshelf.

"Sango, you home?" Sango's father calls from downstairs. Sango gasps. "Ok, hide in my closet until I come back." She gently pushes Kagome into her closet so that her father wouldn't notice her. Kagome nods to remain silent. Sango closes the door gently then her bedroom room door opens up to reveal her father. "Sango. I thought that you were at the Takahashi's house." Sango's father said. "Sorry, I forgot to get my charger." Sango calmly lies as she grabs her battery pack. Her father looks at her suspiciously. "Ok then. Let's head over to the Takahashi's then." He said. "Ok." Sango smiles back. When her father leaves the room after closing the door, Sango sighs silently. "Is he gone?" Kagome asks her through the open gap of her closet. "Yeah, but don't come out just yet. Do you have your phone with you?" Sango asks her curiously. "Right here." Kagome sticks her phone out. "Ok. When I get to Inuyasha's place, give me about 5 minutes to give you enough time so you can get back without getting caught." Sango whispers the instructions. "Ok." Kagome agrees.

Sango and her father make it to the Takahashi house. "Ah, Kaoru, it's nice to see you." Inutaishou greets him as he offers him a bottle of beer. "Pleasure." Kaoru speaks back with enthusiasm in his voice. Sango goes to Inuyasha and Miroku to their own table. "Hey where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asks her as he gives her a soda. "She's back at my place hiding in my closet." She whispers to Inuyasha. "Oh. I had no idea that she's back at your place." Inuyasha said as he takes a seat. "Exactly. I can't have my dad go back and find her there, I have to wait for about 5 minutes to give her the signal to return." She explains to him.

About 5 minutes have passed so Sango gives Kagome the text to let her escape her house. 'Make sure you get out through the front door instead of the back.' She texts Kagome the directions. Back at Sango's bedroom, Kagome quietly looks around to see that she's the only one in the house. There's no telling whenever Sango's father might be popping out. She comes downstairs to see the front door in view. She opens it up to make sure that the coast is clear. She closes the door and walks casually to the Takahashi's garage because the garage doors are open. She spots her friends at the table. "Hey. I'm back." Kagome smiles at them. "Took you long enough to get back here." Inuyasha frowns at her. That alone made her glare. "Well excuse me for trying to get back here without getting caught. The least you should be is to be supportive not rude." She crosses her arms and turns away from him.

Sango glares in Kagome's defense. "Inuyasha, why would you say something so mean to her? Do you have any idea how scared she was when she first met my dad the other night? Since then she's been afraid of him since because of his overprotectiveness." Miroku can tell that Sango is dead serious about her father. He can't blame her. Inuyasha now feels bad about what he said to Kagome. "I'm sorry." He tells Kagome even though Kagome doesn't turn around. "I'll forgive you for now, Inuyasha. But don't you dare speak to me like that again." She accepts the apology. She turns her chair to take a sip until a tapping on a bottle gets their attention.