A/N: I see that you all waited to see Mama Higurashi in action. So... Here she comes!
Hojo vs Mama H. - writing this was my gift for myself. It turned out a little too long for a chapter, but I think you won't mind ~winks~

7. I'm Telling Mom

Hojo stepped in the house more slowly than Souta who already had took off his shoes and was running up the stairs to carry his bag to his room.

"Good day!" Hojo called. "It's Hojo Keichi!"

"Oh, good day!" Higurashi's mom came out from the kitchen door and smiled at him. "Come in and join me. We're going to have lunch, hope you can eat with us?" she didn't wait for his answer and went back into the kitchen.

"Oh... You don't need to trouble yourself..." Hojo slipped his shoes and made his way to the kitchen. "I... I wanted to talk to you, Mrs. Higurashi," the boy said to the woman putting a kettle on the stove. It was obvious from the stuff laying on the counter and the table that she was halfway through making a meal. But when he spoke she looked at him, her brow raised.

"That's alright, don't worry and just take a seat. So, what is it, dear?" she asked and opened a cupboard. "Beef?"

"Beef is nice," Hojo replied while sitting on a chair close to the end of the kitchen table. "I want to talk about Higurashi... I mean your daughter, Mrs. Higurashi."

"Mhm... Dear, you're friends since you were six, you can use her name," Mrs. Higurashi said while still going through the cupboard's contents. "She told you to call her Kagome, right? Chicken?"

"Chicken's nice," Hojo said, not really paying attention to the question, since he was still trying to find the best way to vocalize his suspicions about Inuyasha. He missed also what exactly the woman was doing, looking at his hands, rested on the edge of the table. "Um, yeah... Well... K-Kagome... Yes..." he muttered. "It's important and can't wait."

"Shrimp?" Mrs. Higurashi asked politely, the boy just hummed, not really noticing her speaking, organizing his arguments in his head, nervous because he really wanted Mrs. Higurashi to treat the situation her daughter was in with all seriousness. "Okay, what's on your mind?"

Hojo looked up - just in time to see the middle-aged woman putting in front of him three instant ramen cups and a pair of chopsticks. His wide, surprised eyes met hers - full of motherly kindness. A second passed in total silence and stillness.

"Oh, sorry," Mrs. Higurashi chuckled and shook her head. "Just pick one, Souta and gramps will have the other two. I guess I'm too used to make three of these for Inuyasha when he comes to visit."

"Um..." Hojo decided to accept the chicken flavored ramen, but didn't start eating. "I wanted to talk about Inuyasha, actually." he said. Mrs. Higurashi tilted her head and smiled.

"Ah, Kagome said you two met recently," she said and grabbed two pairs of chopsticks. She put them on a tray with the two other ramen cups - just in time to hand the tray to Souta and tell him to find gramps in his shed and make sure he ate. Hojo used this to eat his ramen before it got cold. He wanted to have Mrs. Higurashi's full attention, after all this was a serious matter and distractions weren't welcome. When he finished the woman was sitting on the other side of the table, a cup of tea in her hand, another placed near his seat. "Now, dear, you want to talk about Inuyasha? I hope you're here not because he insulted you. If you are I'm sorry..."

Hojo shook his head, causing the woman to grow silent.

"That boy is extremely rude, this is true, but I am not here to get apologies, Mrs. Higurashi," he assured her and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid that Higu- I mean Kagome is in danger."

""Danger?" brown eyes, so much similar to the eyes of her daughter, looked at the boy in confusion, a hint of worry in their depths. She wrapped her hands around her cup. "I'm sure that Inuyasha won't let my girl get hurt. He'd rather die," she said with faith and warmth in her voice. Hojo realized that Higurashi's mother was deceived as much as her and her friends were, thinking Inuyasha was a good guy, against all evidence. It was true, people were inclined to see and hear only what they wanted to.

"I mean Inuyasha is the danger. He does illegal stuff," the boy blurted out, deciding to shower her with evidence, tell her everything. She couldn't - wouldn't - hold to her wrong opinions and beliefs after learning the truth. He knew he could sound a little rude, but the safety and well-being of Higurashi was at stake!

"Huh?" the woman raised her brows.

"Yes! I heard them talk about their gang! And they guys - I mean Eri, Yuka and Ayumi - had told me he's a gang member. But it's eve worse, he made Higurashi join his gang and do all that horrible crimes with him."

"Huh?" Mrs. Higurashi's lips parted in surprise, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Yes!" Hojo nodded and took a sip of his tea to wet his dry throat. "Souta told me they're robbing people of their jewelry and Inuyasha's bullying old ladies. And he abuses Higurashi, never letting her spend time with me and the girls, controlling her life and being rude to her. And he's violent and probably does some anabolic steroids because he's a lot stronger than he should. I'm afraid he takes advantage of her. And of you too, Mrs. Higurashi. You should not let him stay at the shrine, around Higurashi. He's a bad influence and if we don't do anything he may harm her or make her do something even worse..."

Hojo was so focused on telling Mrs. Higurashi everything, sure his words would make her understand how dire the situation was. The woman was sitting oddly still, not even drinking her tea anymore, just observing him. He felt he was getting to her, maybe he could make her see through the fog of deception and lies...

"Please, Mrs. Higurashi, I... I care for your daughter very much, I don't want her suffering because of the bad boy who latched himself to her kindness. She's so sick and he treats her like she isn't, like she isn't a lady," he confessed, looking in Mrs. Higurashi's eyes. "You can forbid her from seeing him. If you want to I can travel with her to see the doctors... I promise, I won't let her be hurt. This gang member is lying to you, he made you and the guys - I mean Eri, Ayumi and Yuka - think that he's a decent person, but he isn't...""

"Dear, do you have any evidence?" the older woman cut in. Hojo opened his mouth a few times and then deflated, slumping on his chair.

"Um, no," he muttered. Mrs. Higurashi sighed and took a sip of her tea.

"I see. So, basically, I have your word against Inuyasha's. Well, actually, your word against Kagome and her gang's."

"I am not lying, Mrs. Higurashi," Hojo assured her. He wasn't a boy to spread lies or rumors, he was always masking sure of this.

Still, he realized, he had no physical proof Inuyasha was a gang member and was dragging Higurashi in trouble. And since Inuyasha had been lying to her for months or years, making her trust him... He realized that it would take more than just his honesty to influence Mrs. Higurashi's opinion on the matter. But he hoped his words made her doubt the white-haired boy, at least a little. Maybe she'd notice things, knowing what Hojo knew?

"I am not saying you're a liar, dear, but I think you're a little confused and misunderstand some things," she said softly. As he was trying to find an argument to convince Kagome's mother that he was right Mrs. Higurashi stood up and went to a shelf where a few photos in frames were. She took one and put it in front of the puzzled boy. It was depicting four teens and a kid. The woman pointed a finger at each one while talking. The people in the picture were laying on grass in a circle, only their heads and shoulders visible in the picture.

"This is Kagome, my strong-willed, good-hearted girl," she smiled fondly. "This is Inuyasha, a boy who had to live alone and face prejudice and hate because he looks different. So in order to survive he became strong and rude, but at the same time he used his strength to protect others and rudeness to protect his soft heart from being hurt by others. This boy," she pointed to a black-haired boy. "His name's Miroku. He was orphaned at young age because his dad died of an illness Miroku suffers too. If he won't find a cure to it it will spread and kill him eventually. This sweet girl is Sango, who just recently lost her whole family in a horrible accident - the only survivors being herself and her brother. While she had terrible scars on her body, her brother suffers from amnesia and don't even recognize her. And this little boy is Shippou. He also lost his parents, first mom, then dad and now lives as a foster son of Kaede, an old healer Kagome and Inuyasha went to see."

Hojo looked up at the woman and then back at the picture. He noticed that only Higurashi was looking at the camera, everyone else was slightly turned to gaze at her, but every person in the picture was smiling.

"This is the gang they were talking about, their gang of friends. They all are good kids, trying to find their way in life," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Since Kagome made friends with them I feel like I have four more children, because she's telling me about their adventures every time we have a while. Look at them, dear, do they look like bad people? They're just teens, like you. They're not a bunch of vile people after Kagome. They're her closest friends, willing to go to great lengths to protect her and each other."

Hojo's gaze dropped back to the picture. The people in it seemed... Okay. But he was sure it was just another deception, the picture being a thing to make Mrs. Higurashi not doubt them and their intentions. He realized the woman didn't believe him at all - she had been listening to Inuyasha's lies for so long she couldn't see the truth anymore. It was a horrible realization that an adult could be misled just like a teen. The stories about each member of the gang members had to be skillfully fabricated lies. There was no way so many teens with so tragic background could meet. Each one of them had a sappy tale to tell, to make those with gentle hearts lean towards them and want to help them.

He needed proofs. He needed evidences. When he was walking down the shrine steps he was planning to make a file with all the data, making it the ultimate proof that he was right and that Inuyasha and his gang were bad. Mrs. Higurashi gave him some leads, telling the names they were using. He could look them up.

.

Mrs. Higurashi looked after the boy and giggled. He was so silly, thinking her Kagome needed saving from Inuyasha's clutches. Mrs. Higurashi was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that her daughter was the safest exactly where she was in the said hanyou clutches.

Still, the boy was too interested in this and could unveil things which should be hidden. He had good intentions, it was obvious, but good intentions didn't ensure a good outcome of the matter. The shrine keeper walked to the phone and chose a number.

"Hallo? Can I speak with Mrs. Akita...?"

A/N: I love how Higurashi family members are speaking only truth.
What do you think? Was this chapter good? I hope it was, because it sure was good to write and I'm half asleep posting it because I stayed up long to post it this night.