NINE
"Morning peaches!" Ren practically sang as he and the rest of the fur balls jogged down the stairs, relieved to see his sister up and about.
"Morning brother." Kurenai replied while scraping fried rice into a serving bowl.
Sesshoumaru once again sat at the dining table with no evidence of his interaction with Kurenai nor the inexplicable tension between the two of them aside from the steaming cup of coffee in front of him.
Kurenai kind of expected the daiyoukai to be curious to try coffee when it wafted throughout the kitchen but she wasn't prepared for Sesshoumaru asking her to add half a teaspoon of sugar to the first teaspoonful she put. And cream too. She was so sure the daiyoukai would prefer black coffee but she got an adorable surprise and Sesshoumaru's moko-moko was visibly wiggling when he tasted the sweeter, creamier coffee and she fought hard not to fawn over how unintentionally cute the daiyoukai was being.
"So good to see you up and about." Ren pressed his cheek onto his sisters while the dogs began nuzzling at her leg, "These smell amazing, it's been a while since I had your cooking." he then turned to the daiyoukai and bowed slightly, "Good morning Sesshoumaru."
Sesshoumaru responded with a curt nod. Despite that irritation he's feeling from his title being invalid in this era, he finds the siblings' effort to express their respect for his title commendable.
Ren pulled a mug from the cupboard, "As expected, right to hustling the moment you can put pressure on your foot."
"Thank God it's not that serious," Kurenai said as she bent down to greet the rest of the dogs.
"Yeah, but don't push it. Think long term especially for the anniversary concert." Ren cautioned firmly, "Dr. Keller said you need an x-ray make sure there are no broken bones so we'll pass by his clinic before going ahead with today's plans."
"I know, better safe than sorry. Are Inuyasha and Miroku awake?"
"Yeah. They should be down soon."
"Then I'll check on Sango and the kids. Take care of the fruits for me?"
"Of course."
"Thanks." Kurenai disappeared into the guestroom next to the kitchen and it wasn't long before the men heard the children cheer for a new day of adventure in the modern era.
Inuyasha and Miroku came down the stairs just as Ren placed the pitchers of juice on the table and Kurenai, Sango and the kids stepped out of the guestroom shortly after.
"Morning dog boy." red met amber as Kurenai approached the table hand-in-hand with the children.
The hanyou smirked in reply, "Morning wench." there's a shadow of relief in Inuyasha's eyes upon seeing her back to her peppy self once again.
"Are you feeling better Kurenai?" Miroku asked.
"After all that sleep? So much better!" her friends chuckled and she continued, "Plus, I can move around now." She lifted her foot with the walker boot.
They looked at her foot, in awe of how she can stand on her own a day after getting the injury, "That's great, modern medicine is incredible." Miroku commented.
"It is incredible," Ren agreed then added, "But she still needs to be careful with her steps, the injury's still there. Anyway, the breakfast sis prepared is getting cold so let's eat." He pulled a seat out for his sister while the others occupied their same seats as yesterday.
"Good morning Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin hopped on the seat beside the daiyoukai.
"Did you sleep well Rin?" the daiyoukai asked his ward.
"Un!" the young girl nodded happily.
Praises on Kurenai's cooking filled the table as they get a taste of it.
"This is delicious Kurenai." Sango commented about the bacon and sausages.
"Oh it's nothing special, anybody can cook sausages and bacon well. You just need oil and a frying pan." Kurenai replied.
"But the fried rice and miso soup are amazing too." Miroku added.
"Yeah wench. Why can't you cook like this back in our time?" Inuyasha griped in the midst of wolfing down bite after bite of the food on his plate.
"Hey, I never heard you complaining about my cooking over there and besides, how will I be able to cook properly? Even when we're at Kaede's hut we get attacked by demons. And all you ever wanted to eat was ramen." she listed down for the hanyou.
"Sis is a really good cook, she's been in-charge of cooking ever since we were young and she loves it. Why do you think we have such an amazing kitchen?" Ren nodded to the kitchen, "She chose everything that's in there and the equipment are topnotch."
Sesshoumaru mentally agreed with everyone's sentiment, the feast Kurenai made is quite delectable and after watching her prepare everything, he understood what Ren said about her loving cooking. Kurenai finds pleasure in cooking rather than treating it as a chore and despite himself, he can tell that she pours love and care for whoever will eat it into every dish she makes.
He's never met anyone who genuinely likes to take care of everybody like she does, since they arrived to this era, she's been thinking of their well-being despite her injuries.
{She'll be a great mother, won't she?} the gruff voice inside his mind suddenly stated.
/Nonsense!/ he replied indignantly.
He swore he can hear the roll of his beast's eyes as it spoke, {Sure, convince yourself that you didn't think that for one second.}
/Why are you even here?/ he snapped. His beast has been silent for decades, and it's puzzling that it's being very talkative right now.
{There is something here that I find very interesting...} the beast purred.
/Be amazed with this era all you want, but don't feed this Sesshoumaru with your useless blabber./ he chided.
The beast snickered, {This modern era is definitely a sight to behold but there's something far more fetching that caught my attention.}
/I'm not in the mood for your riddles, leave!/ he commanded.
He got a scoff in reply, {Stop pretending like you don't know what I'm talking about, you big stuck up dog.}
The daiyoukai let out a low growl of impatience at his beast's taunting that caught the attention of everyone at the table.
"Sesshoumaru? Is the food not to your liking?" Kurenai asked, a hint of anxiety painted her face.
"Oh, leave him be. He's just being his usual pompous self." the hanyou spat which didn't help his friend's anxiety at all.
Sesshoumaru ignored his brother's contempt and addressed the miko, "The food is wonderful Kurenai, it's well prepared."
Wide eyes stared at Sesshoumaru in awe. Did they just hear the daiyoukai call Kurenai by her name?
"'Kurenai?' when did that happen?" Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in suspicion, switching his gaze from his brother to his best friend.
Kurenai shrugged her shoulder, "It just did." she looked at Sesshoumaru, "Are you sure?" she tilted her head down and looked intently into his amber eyes.
"Yes." he answered firmly and the crease on her eyebrows finally smoothed out and her lips broke into a smile.
"That's good then." she took a sip of her coffee while Sesshoumaru mentally cursed at his beast for putting him through that predicament.
The siblings told them of their plans for the day; after stopping by Dr. Keller's clinic to further check Kurenai's foot, they will be buying clothes and other necessities.
But the siblings shocked them when they learned that due to their work, they will be going with them to a faraway city called New York tomorrow and what's even more shocking is they will be riding the vehicle called an airplane; a vehicle that the people of this era use to travel through the skies without any magic. The capabilities of the humans in this era are astounding.
After enjoying the feast Kurenai made, the siblings took their guests to their bedrooms to get ready for their shopping trip.