A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one, but well, life interfered.
Chapter Six
Last time:
Not quite as comforted as he had hoped by this inner debate, Sesshomaru got up, took another icy shower and prepared to for work. He left a little less eager than usual to make his usual visit to the home. He didn't know if he could ever get the images of Maiku from that dream out of his head and was not looking forward to the trouble they would cause him when he saw her again.
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"You just got here and now you want to go back again!" Inuyasha cried, his rage evident in the twitching of his ears, as well as the elevated level of his voice and the vein pulsing on his forehead.
Kagome gripped the straps of her backpack, willing back her own anger so she could try to reason with the stubborn and irrational hanyou.
"Inuyasha, I've been here with you shard-hunting for the past week. I simply need to restock on a few supplies and run a quick errand for school. I'll be back by tomorrow morning at the latest."
Inuyasha crossed his arms and glared at her. "You just want to go back and see him, don't you?"
Kagome let out a frustrated scream. "Him? You mean my brother Sota and Grandpa? Yes, yes I do want to see them."
"No, you know who I mean. That young guy with the funny clothes who you have to talk to for your 'project.' You just want to go eat a meal with him again, don't you? Admit it, Kagome. I saw the way you were looking at him."
There was just something that rubbed him the wrong way about that man. He seemed so familiar for some reason, but Inuyasha just couldn't put a finger on it. Well, the reason didn't matter; he was not going to let Kagome near him again.
Kagome had turned a brilliant red color, when he finally emerged from his thoughts.
"Looking at him HOW, Inuyasha! Admiring how he can have a polite conversation, or eat with decent manners rather just shoveling it all down like a wild animal. Or how he can go five minutes without trying to bait me into an argument! Well, guess what, Inuyasha, I do admire someone who can do those things. People like Sango and Miroku and Mr. Daiginkeiko."
Inuyasha let a triumphant shout. Kagome glared at him.
"Yes, I want to see Mr. Daiginkeiko to tell him that I not only passed but made an A on my project with his help, and no thanks to a certain MOODY, IMMATURE BAKA!" Kagome was seething. Miroku, with Shippo on his shoulder, and Sango, with Kirara in her arms, took a collective step back.
Inuyasha apparently lost his common sense in proportion to how much he needed it. He turned around and shouted, "So you admit it! You just want to go be with that long-haired baka! Who would still be stuck in that child-prison if I hadn't gotten him out!"
Kagome stomped her foot and screamed again. "Of all the...you baka! SIT, BOY! SIT! SIT! SIT!"
Inuyasha hit the ground letting out a string of violent curses as he went. Everyone was so absorbed in this little spat that no one was expecting the velvety voice that spoke suddenly from behind them.
"Well, well, Inuyasha, you always seem to be at that woman's feet. I am beginning to think you like that position, or could it be the view?"
Heads snapped over to look at the emotionless demon lord who stood there, calmly watching what was going on. Inuyasha and Kagome both blushed, and Kagome stepped a bit back so that the hanyou would not be in any position to look up her skirt. A smack rang out and Miroku rubbed his cheek and protested, "It wasn't me! I didn't say anything."
"You were probably thinking something worse," Sango told him. His blush only made him look guiltier.
"Speaking of annoying men I don't want Kagome around," Inuyasha muttered darkly under his breath from the ground, still bound by Kagome's spell. Aloud he grumbled, "What do you want, Sesshomaru? You don't have any business here."
"What, are you now resorting to diplomacy before violence, little brother? The fact is that I have no business with you or any of your party. Rin has come to keep her end of the bargain she made with the miko."
At the mention of her name, Rin appeared from behind Sesshomaru's white hakamas and made her way hesitantly over to Kagome. She held another set of pictures in her hand. Kagome smiled and pulled her backpack down so she could retrieve what she had brought for the girl.
"I'm so glad you came, Rin. I was just about to go back."
"Was not!" Inuyasha called out from his hole in the ground, just as the spell was wearing off.
"Sit, boy!" she barked out, without even pausing in her search. Inuyasha grumbled even more fiercely as his hole became a little deeper.
Finding two coloring books and another box of crayons, Kagome presented them to Rin and accepted the pictures in return.
She glanced up at Sesshomaru, who appeared bored with whole affair. She shook her head and bit her tongue to keep from saying anything. In her time, Sesshomaru may not have looked much older physically, she could really see the difference now in him. In her time, Sesshomaru still had the same suave arrogance, but it had been tempered with experience and maturity. This Sesshomaru seemed so childish by comparison that it made her want to take him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Fortunately, she did remember just how much more violent this Sesshomaru was, at least towards her, and refrained from doing so.
"Thank you, Sesshomaru, for bringing her," she told him and gave him a slight bow.
He looked down his nose at her, then simply turned in a swirl of white and walked away. Rin gave her a respectful bow and said, "Thank you, Kagome. I'll have more for you soon!"
Kagome smiled as she tucked the pictures into her bag. Perfect timing. She figured Sesshomaru would like to see these, and she was just on her way to see him...er...again. Kagome just shook her head, preferring not to think about it. She waved good bye to her friends, gave Inuyasha another "sit" for good measure, then jumped down the well and into the future.
Kagome sat quietly as the train carried her across Tokyo. She had checked her purse again to make sure she had the pictures Rin had given her, the gift she had picked up for Reiku and the slip of paper with the home's address scrawled on it just in case she got turned around and forgot how to get there. That secretary of his sure was a grouch, just as bad as she had been in person. The woman had squawked her ear off just for asking if Mr. Daiginkeiko was in this morning.
Honestly, was it her fault that Sesshomaru had been spending most of his time at the home rather than in his office? Kagome smiled. It was really kind of sweet that he was spending so much time caring for the little girl. It also made her worry as well. Was Reiku not adjusting well? She shuddered, not having to imagine what the poor girl had been through, and wondered if it was possible to recover from something so devastating.
Full of energy and a strange uneasiness, Kagome practically ran up the steps to the home. She just hoped the person at the front desk was more helpful than his personal secretary. It turned out, however, that Sesshomaru would be no trouble at all to locate as all his attention at the moment seemed to be taken with the rather attractive new woman at the front.
Sesshomaru did not even notice that Kagome had come in. He stood tall and stoic as ever just beside the front desk, but his eyes drifted nervously over the items on the desk in such a fervent determination not to look at the woman that he was even more obvious. A soft blush colored his pale cheeks. Kagome stifled a giggle and stepped back beside a pillar. She had never seen Sesshomaru act like this before and wasn't sure if she should interrupt or come back at a better time. Judging by the faint blush on the woman's cheeks, there was obviously something happening between the two.
Awwww, puppy love! Kagome told herself. She must be another youkai with a concealment charm because even this Sesshomaru wouldn't consider dating a human.
Deciding to come back at a more convenient time, Kagome emerged from behind the pillar and started back towards the door. Just as she got it open, they spotted her and the woman called out, "Welcome to Daiginkeiko Children's Home. How may I help you?"
Kagome turned around with a cheery smile plastered on her face. The woman was looking directly at her with a polite smile on her face. Sesshomaru had moved several feet away from the desk and all traces of any emotion had vanished.
Kagome laughed nervously and said, "Um, I'm here to see Mr. Daiginkeiko."
"Kagome," Sesshomaru said. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"No, um, I just came by thank you. I managed to get an A on that project, thanks to your allowing me an interview," Kagome glanced over at the secretary and looked away quickly. The woman was staring very hard at her, as though she had fuda plastered to her face or something. It was a little unnerving, but then Kagome realized that if this woman were a youkai, she would obviously sense her miko abilities and of course be a little wary.
"Indeed, your teacher sent me a copy of your report and told me how you did. I must say I found it to be very well-written. I had intended to ask your permission to send it to a magazine that has been pestering me for months for an interview," Sesshomaru told her. Kagome gaped. "Though of course you would receive payment as the author, of course."
"Se-Thank you, Mr. Daiginkeiko! I don't know what to say," she gushed. Her report published in a magazine!
"Well, I had hoped you would say yes," Sesshomaru told her.
"Oh, yeah, I mean, yes. Yes, of course you can," she told him.
He nodded, then turned back to the secretary and said in his usual monotone, "Maika, call the magazine and tell them my offer of Kagome's interview. Have them call me later for the details."
The woman nodded, giving Kagome one last look, and made a note on her pad.
"Was there something else you needed?" Sesshomaru asked, startling Kagome, who had still been thinking about her report being published in an actual magazine.
"Oh, um, well, I was hoping to visit Reiku and see how she was doing. I'm sorry I haven't come sooner, but um, well, with my 'illnesses'..."
"Ah, yes, I understand. And I believe Reiku would be happy to see you. I was just on my way to see her myself; you may come along if you wish," Sesshomaru told her, then whirled and walked swiftly back into the main area of the home.
Kagome trotted after him, and said, "I see you have a new secretary."
Sesshomaru grunted. Kagome sighed. The brothers were more alike than they would ever admit.
Smiling slightly, Kagome added, "She is very pretty."
Sesshomaru reddened slightly, and Kagome smirked. Bingo!
"So how are things with my brother? I see you are here, so I am assuming he must be at the bottom of a rather large crater by now," Sesshomaru asked a little too quickly.
Kagome grimaced and then blushed. "You should know, you were there. And how dare you say something like that!"
Sesshomaru smirked. "Something like what, miko? It may have been a few hours for you, but it has been five hundred years for me. I have said many things to my brother and you since then."
"Never mind, you hentai," Kagome grumbled under her breath.
To her surprise, Sesshomaru chuckled and said, "Oh, that day. I must admit I find your control over him to be rather amusing. And I take it you also have something for me."
Kagome reached into her purse, pulled out the brightly colored pictures and handed them to him. He looked at them for a while then tucked them into his pocket. A little further down the hall, Sesshomaru stopped beside a door and knocked softly on the frame.
Kagome peered around him to see a finely furnished playroom, unoccupied except for one little girl, who stopped coloring and looked up when Sesshomaru knocked. A smile lit the little girl's face and she lifted a very familiar doll before she ran over to them, crying out, "Mr. Daiginkeiko!"
She wrapped her arms around his legs, then looked up at Kagome. "I remember you from the day..." Reiku's face fell a bit and her smile dimmed, but she shook her head and continued, "from the day I met Mr. Daiginkeiko."
Reiku held up the doll, and Kagome felt a twinge of some feeling she could not quite identify. She had just seen that doll in the arms of Rin, and now some other girl was embracing her. True it was her reincarnation, and she knew she should be happy that Sesshomaru was finally moving on with his life, but to her it still seemed so sudden.
"Her name is Kagome," Reiku continued cheerily. "Just like you. Mr. Daiginkeiko is letting me take care of her."
Kagome swallowed hard and forced a smile on her face. "It's nice to see you're doing well, Reiku. And yes, we do have the same name. You must be a very special girl to have the honor of caring for her."
Sesshomaru stepped in, apparently sensing Kagome's discomfort. "Indeed, Reiku is a rare child."
Reiku beamed at the praise. Kagome took the moment to retrieve the gift from her purse. "I have something for you too, Reiku, if Mr. Daiginkeiko says it's okay."
Sesshomaru nodded curtly. Kagome handed the girl a small package. Reiku eagerly tore through the paper and held the camera inside as though it were made of solid gold. Her eyes were wide, and Kagome caught Sesshomaru cringe out of the corner of her eye and giggled. He must have been very aware of her ulterior motive in buying the camera for the girl--those oh-so-adorable (and to Sesshomaru embarrassing) photos of the youkai lord at play.
"This is for me! Oh, wow, Kagome, thank you!" Reiku said in almost a whisper.
"Well, I want you to put it to good use, okay. Make sure you get shots of as many happy memories as you can. So that you won't ever forget them," Kagome instructed.
Reiku nodded solemnly. "Oh, I will, Kagome."
Kagome smiled and said, "Well, I have to be going now. A certain someone will be getting on a lot of people's nerves by now, and I have to go make sure he sits down before he ends up causing trouble."
That put a smile on Sesshomaru's face. "A wise decision. I will have my secretary send you any paperwork needed to ensure you are paid for that report. Good day, Kagome."
He inclined his head slightly, and Kagome gave him a respectful bow. "Good day to you too, Mr. Daiginkeiko. Thanks again for all your help."
Kagome sat on the train, unable to stop thinking on Rin and Reiku and that doll. She had just seen Rin, laughing, smiling and sublimely happy clutching the doll; then here, just a few hours later, Rin was long dead and her reincarnation was holding a much older version of the same doll. Tears sprang to her eyes as these morbid thoughts refused to leave her. She had just seen them all--Sango, Miroku, Kaede--laughing and joking, but she knew that in this time their bodies were nothing but bones and soil.
Time traveling wasn't easy, but most of the time she managed not to think too deeply on it. It would only bring her headaches and tears if she did. She drew her knees to her chest and stifled a sob with her knees. Her thoughts drifted again to Rin and Reiku. Poor Rin had to have had a horrible life before Sesshomaru took her in. Even after death, her reincarnation had had to suffer things too horrible to mention. Yet both Rin and Reiku had been able to brush it off and go on everyday with a smile and happiness great enough to cheer even Sesshomaru. Why had fate been so cruel as to bind that girl's soul to misery?
Kagome sniffed. Well, at least fate had also given her Sesshomaru. He was constant, powerful, strong enough to have endured time and continue to protect that embodiment of sweetness and innocence that was Rin, now Reiku. He really was her guardian angel. She actually smiled as the last of her tears dried. Apparently fate had an ironic sense of humor to have paired such innocence and life with death incarnate aka Sesshomaru. Yet those two completed each other, needed each other. Cheered by that thought, Kagome found her own smile again.
Kagome stood in her kitchen packing as many packets of ramen she could into her backpack. Now, all she needed was her flashlight and some matches. The matches she found in a drawer, but her flashlight was no where to be seen.
"Hmmm. I thought I had it in one of the pockets," she said to herself as she rifled through her bag.
"Sota!" she called out. Maybe he had seen it, or used it. He had been trying to find a toy that had fallen into the eternal night of the crack between his bed and the wall.
"WHAAATTTT!" he called out, from the living room.
Kagome frowned and ran into the living room. As usual her little brother lay on his stomach with his eyes glued to the television. Oddly enough, it wasn't cartoons, though. It looked like some boring report.
"Sota, did you take my flashlight out of my bag?" she asked in a way that made it sound more like an accusation.
Sota's back went rigid and his head shot up. "Oh! Be right back, sis!" he called out, then darted up the stairs.
Kagome shook her head. "I thought so." Raising her voice, she called after him, "You know you're not supposed to take things from my bag, Sota! You ASK if you need to borrow something!"
She rolled her eyes at his muffled reply that sounded suspiciously like "whatever," and found herself watching the report on television. A very knowledgeable voice with a strange accent was speaking as a animation of the solar system played itself out.
"And these occurrences are quite rare, which is a rather good thing seeing as how they also tend to affect forces on earth such as the weather or even interfering with the earth's natural electromagnetic field."
The picture changed to show the young reporter, who was apparently doing the story. "And the next solar eclipse will take place a week from next Tuesday. For those who are interested in this amazing event, there will be a watching party hosted at the Tokyo Botanic Gardens by the Astronomic Society. If you still wish to observe, yet don't have the chance to join to the festivities, we remind you to avoid looking directly at the sun to prevent eye damage."
"Here it is, Kagome; I was going to give it back. I just wanted to find that figure that fell behind the bed," Sota explained as he ran into the room and handed her the flashlight.
"Uhuh, thanks," she told him absently still staring at the screen. Wow, the chance to see an actual solar eclipse! I bet no one in the feudal era had seen one. They would probably think it was a demon attack or something. She just had to take this chance! When would she ever see one again? And of course she had to get Inuyasha to come. But how to convince him to drop the shard hunt and come to the future with her for a day?
Running back to the kitchen, she started pulling ramen out of her bag until there was only enough to last a week at most. Grinning to herself, she said, "There we go. Now he'll have to let me come back. I'll just have to figure out some way to make him come with me. Maybe if I just tell him, he'll be excited and want to come. After all, a solar eclipse is rare."
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Maika watched as Mr. Daiginkeiko said a quick goodbye to Reiku, turned a very enchanting shade of red when he looked at her, then abruptly turned away. She wondered what he had dreamed about last night to make him so... It had to have been a dream, because her modest kiss certainly hadn't been enough to make even a teen blush. The little girl sighed as she watched the man leave, then turned with a smile to return to whatever she had been doing. It was now or never.
"Kid! Reiku!" she called out. She fanned herself with a folder and smiled when the girl looked her way and stared warily at her for a moment.
"I won't bite, kid. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute," Maika told her. To reassure her, Maika set the folder down and leaned forward to seem less imposing.
The little girl walked slowly over, her hands clasped behind her back. Maika had to admit the girl was incredibly adorable.
"You're the woman Mr. Daiginkeiko likes, aren't you?" Reiku asked suddenly.
Maika started, her mouth falling open. "What makes you say that? I'm just a secretary. I don't think he really would be all that interested in me."
Reiku smiled and gave Maika a reassuring pat on the arm. "Oh, I can just tell. He was blushing when he looked at you earlier, and he kept peeking from the corner of his eyes while I talked to him."
"Oh, he was, was he?" Maika said, openly amused by the girl's amazing knowledge. She was an observant little thing. "You miss him, when he goes away, don't you?"
Reiku's smile disappeared and she nodded. "I know he is very important and has to work a lot, but I wish we could spend more time together.
"Well, I think he works a little too hard, too. I do like to think of him as a friend, which is why I was hoping you might help to get him to loosen up and relax a bit. Get him to spend some more time with you. I can tell being around you makes him happy."
Reiku blushed at that and smiled again. "How do you think I can do that?"
Maika reached up and pulled out a flyer. "See this? This is an ad for a carnival that is coming to town. Have you ever been to one before?"
Reiku's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh, I would love to go to one of those."
Maika nodded. "And I think Mr. Daiginkeiko should go to one too, but he's always so busy. He would never go...unless he had a good reason."
Reiku grinned and looked up at Maika. "So, you think if I asked him to take me, he would?"
"Oh, I bet he would, kid," Maika told her. "And it would be good for both of you to get out and have some fun."
Reiku lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck. "Oh, thank you, lady!"
"Maika," she told the girl, hesitantly returning the embrace.
"Thank you, Maika, I'm going to ask him the next time I see him. I've never been to one before and I don't think Mr. Daiginkeiko has either."
Maika made a mock horrified face as Reiku released her. "Now that is just unacceptable. Everyone has to go to a fair at least once."
Reiku giggled. "Then it is my job to get him to go. Thank you for telling me."
"No problem, kid," Maika told her. She grinned as she watched the girl skip happily back down the hall. Reizo, honey, you don't stand a chance. I hope you like cotton candy and carnival rides.