Disclaimer: Don't own nuthin'. Except Kaori and Suzume.

Notes: None.

Sesshomaru, Kaori, and Rin all heard a door open, then close. "Kaori! I got the sketch paper you needed!" a strong, yet somewhat sweet voice called.

"Okay, but you have to come here! You'll never guess who showed up!" Kaori called back, shooting Sesshomaru a smile and whispering to him and Rin, "Watch this, I bet she'll start freaking out."

The door to Kaori's room opened, and Sesshomaru said, "Hey, Suzume, remember me?"

The girl with black hair and purple eyes stared at him with an open mouth. "Se-Sesshomaru?"

He nodded. Suzume ran to him and tackled him on the bed, Rin and Kaori moving just in time. "How did you find us?" she asked, sitting on his chest.

"I'd tell you... If you would just... Get off... So I can breathe!"

Suzume giggled. "Sorry,"

Sesshomaru, Rin, and Kaori all took turns telling the freakishly long story. When they were done Suzume looked guilty, and Kaori knew why.

"Why didn't you tell me that you knew?!" she almost yelled at her older sister.

"You were perfectly happy not knowing, so I wanted to keep it that way. If I had told you, you would have remembered and you'd be depressed because you missed Sesshomaru too much!"

"You could've at least told me the truth about how our parents died, instead of telling me they died in a car crash!" Kaori pointed out.

"You know, Kaori, it was harder for me than you because I actually remembered Sesshomaru and Inutaisho-sama and our parents! I had to live with the fact that I couldn't forget like you did!" Suzume protested, tears welling up in her eyes.

Rin put a small hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Sesshomaru-sama is here now, so there's nothing to cry about. He can make everything right again,"

Sesshomaru took a sharp intake of breath. He had said the exact same words to Kaori, talking about his father. Suzume looked at Rin as a tear fell and ruffled her hair. "Thanks... You're so cute..."

Rin smiled. "Miss Kaori said the same thing!"

Suzume looked at her sister, who also had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry for breaking down like that," she said.

"No, it's okay, I'm sorry for blaming you for not telling me."

Sesshomaru stayed silent for a minute, then said, "My father said I was to protect you whether I wanted to or not,"

"Oh," Kaori said cheerfully, trying to brighten spirits in the room, "How is Inutaisho-sama doing?"

"Actually, Kaori, he's dead." Sesshomaru said, not really caring.

Suzume looked suddenly very sullen and sad. Kaori was stunned for a moment before the tears fell silently. He got up and sat between them, trying to give some comfort to the both of them. Kaori leaned on him and buried her face in his sleeve, her shoulders shaking.

"What... happened... to him?" she asked between sobs.

Sesshomaru felt uncomfortable talking about his father if it was going to make the both of them upset. "He... died in a fire, trying to protect my hanyou brother's mother. He was fighting a samurai called Takemaru of Setsuna when Takemaru's warriors set the building on fire, then the building collapsed, and killed both Takemaru and my father. Izayoi, Inuyasha's human mother, got away, as did Inuyasha, who was only just born."

Suzume looked up at him. "So you have a half-demon brother now?"

"Yes," Sesshomaru answered, "And he's a pain in the ass."

"What's 'a pain in the ass' mean?" Rin asked with innocent curiosity.

Suzume and Kaori sweat-dropped, but Sesshomaru actually told her, "It's a bad name for somebody, and something a child shouldn't say, Rin."

"Oh," Rin replied, "Okay."

"Well," said Kaori, drying her tears, "There's no use dwelling in the past. Oh, Sesshomaru, if you're going to be here for a while, you're gonna need some modern clothes." She eyed his kimono as she said this.

"Ooh!!! I wanna go shopping!! I'll take Rin, so you and Sesshomaru can have some alone time..." Suzume said.

Kaori blushed and shifted uncomfortably, while Sesshomaru only blushed unnoticeably.

"Hey, Rin, come look at this one!" Suzume called, beckoning the child over to an outfit for a tall male, "Do you think that Sesshomaru will like this one?"

"Hmmmmmm..." Rin put her chin in her hand in thought, trying to imagine Sesshomaru wearing it, "Maybe, I can see him wearing that."

The outfit was a muscle shirt that said, "I LOVE My Attitude Problem!!" and flare jeans. Just to let you know and see if YOU can picture Sesshomaru wearing it.

"Uh... I think he'll need some shoes, too," Suzume said, picking up a pair of converse shoes, "Now we can go find you some outfits, Rin."

Immediately Rin ran into the children's female section, looking at a lot of little dresses, shirts, jeans, and skirts.

After finding a few cute outfits, Rin and Suzume went to look at shoes. She helped Rin try on some running sneakers, dress shoes, and flip-flops, buying a bunch of them and leaving. It was already dark by the time they got back to the car, and Rin entertained herself by opening and closing the automated windows in the back seat.

As the arrived at the house, the light in Kaori's room was shut off. 'Whoa,' Suzume thought, 'I wonder what they're doing in there...'

She opened the front door quietly and held it open for Rin, who thanked her politely. Suzume told her that she could go ahead and sleep in her room since Sesshomaru had the guest room, but she doubted that he was using it at the moment. When Rin was in her room with the door shut, Suzume put her ear to Kaori's door, but heard nothing. "Whew," she whispered, "At least they aren't doing what I thought they were doing."

The door opened abruptly and Suzume nearly fell forwards. "And just WHAT, exactly, did you think we were doing?" Kaori asked accusingly, yet smiling at her older sister.

Suzume laughed. "Never mind, you probably don't want to know. So what were you doing? Your light was off."

"The light wasn't off, the curtains were closed, silly! I was combing out Sesshomaru's hair because he just got out of the shower."

Sure enough, Sesshomaru was sitting on Kaori's bed in a bathrobe. She walked back over to him, sat down cross-legged behind him, and resumed brushing his long, silvery hair. "Suzume lifted an eyebrow at sesshomaru. "What?" he asked, "I didn't ASK her to... She just did."

"Uhhhhh-huh." Suzume said sarcastically with a smirk, then turned around closing the door behind her.

Kaori smiled. "Did you even use conditioner, Sesshomaru?"

"If you mean the light pink bottle you showed me, then no."

"Then how is your hair so silky all the time?"

"I can honestly say that I have no idea."

When she was done, Kaori yawned. "I guess I have to go to bed, now. Man, am I glad it's Friday!! Goodnight Sesshomaru."

"Goodnight." He began to make his way to the guest room, but Kaori halted him as she crawled into bed. "By the way, Sesshomaru," she said slyly, "I liked those cute little purring noises that you made when I brushed your hair."

Sesshomaru smiled at her and said as he walked away, "Maybe I should get you to brush my hair more often."