One Week
I don't own Inuyasha
Chapter 7
Sesshoumaru pulled into the driveway only to notice a vehicle that he was sure he knew the owner. Stepping out of the car he noticed the familiar sundress and heels that his mother usually wore as she hurried to hug him as he returned it.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
"I was worried. You never returned my phone calls and your father said he left you and your siblings by yourselves for the week. I came to check and see if you all were okay."
Sesshoumaru swallowed, feeling guilty that he hadn't returned the calls.
"Why didn't you answer?"
"I was busy with my brothers and sister. You know...bonding."
"But you were sitting on the bed and looking at the phone and said you'd call your mommy back, and..."
Sesshoumaru covered Rin's mouth.
"She can be a little talker sometimes."
Sesshoumaru tried to wave Rin into the house but she seemed to be glued to him.
"Busted!" Inuyasha carried a bag of groceries into the house as Kohaku quickly ducked into the house behind him.
"Well, hello Rin. Thank you for being honest with me."
"Hi, Momma Satomi. You're welcome."
Satomi folded her arms across her chest staring her son down until he talked. Sesshoumaru tried to avoid his mother's eyes. Maybe he wasn't overly enthused about going to her house every few weekends. She technically lived in the middle of nowhere. Besides, it wasn't like it was when he was younger. He and his mother could entertain themselves in the backyard for hours, watch movies, read and tell stories, and go on adventures through the winding paths behind her home. It was just different now and they were past those things. He wasn't sure his mother knew how to adapt to that anymore.
"Does Sesshy have to go to your house? I miss him when he does."
"Well, I suppose if he doesn't really want to he doesn't have to. But, I guess I'll have to find someone else to go with me to the baseball game next weekend."
"Mom, I never said I wasn't coming."
"Now, he talks."
"Do you really have tickets to the game? I didn't think you liked baseball."
"I don't, but I know you do. I got the tickets from a friend and was told they're box seats. I assume that's good?"
"Of course that's good!"
"Excellent! So, you'll come?"
"I was going to anyway."
Satomi clasped her hands together and began to head inside of the house. Sesshoumaru let reality sink back in as he pulled himself from the daze of the baseball game as he ran to block the entrance. The honest truth was that the house was in shambles and letting his mother inside at this point would mean certain denial of a new vehicle.
"Sesshoumaru, what are you doing?"
"I don't know how Izaiyoi would feel about you coming into the house."
"Since when has that mattered to you? Besides, she always welcomes me. I'm pretty sure it's your father who still feels the least comfortable."
Satomi was blocked again as she tried to enter. Standing back she crossed her arms again and began to tap her foot annoyed.
"What's going on in there?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Well, I know how you are about dirt. Had I have known you were coming we would have cleaned up a little."
"How bad is it?"
"...Lived in."
Satomi pursed her lips together, uncrossed one arm and started to hold up each finger in a count.
"Mom..."
She'd held up a second finger and Sesshoumaru was determined to remind her that that didn't work anymore.
"Everything is fine..."
The third finger.
"You can go home...?"
A forth.
"..." He felt the air thicken. It brought back memories as a child when she would give him a count to five or he'd be in trouble. He wasn't sure of the consequences at this point, maybe no cell phone, maybe grounding, maybe I'm telling your father, maybe no car.
Before she could finish holding up the fifth he'd stepped out of her way and just tried to prepare himself for her reaction. Sesshoumaru wasn't sure he knew what to make of his mother's scan of the entire front room but he knew it was bad as she began to clutch the pearls around her neck with not one, but both hands. There it was in all of it's glorified hot mess. It didn't help that he'd forgotten to let Aun out last night or before they left the house this morning and he was currently watering the plant in the corner. Inuyasha, Kohaku, and Rin were all sitting on the sofa looking sad. He assumed this was Inuyasha's doing since Rin kept giving away the facade by breaking into smiles and then trying to put on a straight face.
"Sesshoumaru..."
"I know it's bad. We planned on cleaning up before Dad and Izaiyoi got home."
"There is no way. What if they came home early?"
Sesshoumaru swallowed, never letting that possibility run through his thoughts.
"How does the rest of the house look?"
"Just don't go into Kohaku's room or... the master bedroom." His mother's eyebrows shot up wondering what could have possibly occurred in Taisho and Izaiyoi's bedroom
Sesshoumaru simply sat on the couch next to his siblings cringing as he heard his mother scream. Rin leaned against him.
"Is your mommy mad?"
"Maybe."
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault."
Kohaku peered around his sister, "What's she going to do to us?"
"Nothing."
"Tch. It's what she's going to do to Sesshoumaru that should be interesting."
Sesshoumaru glared at Inuyasha before his mother made her way downstairs.
"I don't know what your father and Izaiyoi are going to say or do if they come home to this. There's a hole in your brother's wall, your parents' bedroom looks like World War III and don't get me started on the kitchen that looks like it's been through a five-alarm fire. What are you going to do about this?"
"I don't know."
Satomi could read the defeat in her son's expression. Maybe Sesshoumaru had bitten off more than he could chew with this little adventure but she knew Sesshoumaru had a habit of never turning down a challenge, especially when it came from his father.
"Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"To get another window, maybe some drywall, and paint, lots of paint."
"Why so much paint?"
"You haven't been in Rin's or Inuyasha's rooms lately have you?"
"What's wrong with their rooms?"
"This little angel likes to draw on walls."
Rin ducked behind Kohaku giving off an apologetic expression.
"...And the demon seems to be practicing his graffiti skills."
"Hey, that's art!"
"Your mother knows about your art?"
Inuyasha tried to find his own hiding spot but decided that hiding behind Sesshoumaru wasn't really an option.
Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised that his mother knew almost every aisle of the House Department store like the back of her hand. She was an interior designer and there wasn't one that didn't put their hands on the materials that they used. Rin was getting a kick out of the view from the shopping cart but Inuyasha and Kohaku were struggling to keep up with this woman in heels. He timed it totaling less than an hour for her to grab everything they needed. Sesshoumaru was sure that when he was younger it took his mother hours to shop for clothes. Returning to the house they'd run like a well-oiled machine moving from the top of the house to the bottom. Inuyasha hadn't made much of a fuss having to repaint the wall in his room. Sesshoumaru was surprised that they didn't butt heads more than once patching the hole. Rin and Kohaku hadn't whined about their tasks either and were having fun competing with the game his mother created with them cleaning up the trash downstairs.
Sesshoumaru looked around the place admiring how good it really looked. Even when his parents were at the house he hadn't recalled the last time he'd seen the floor completely clear of clutter, his parents' bedroom actually looked like their bedroom again and the broken window never was broken. As the sun set they'd all ended up outside, the coolness of the spring night was perfect for one last run of the firepit as his mother skewered another marshmallow and handed it to Rin. His little sister delighted in holding it down into the fire and pulling it out only to have to blow out the flames and devour the singed marshmallow. Inuyasha and Kohaku were challenging each other to see who could make the biggest smore and then eat it the fastest.
Sesshoumaru looked over at his mother again and she seemed to be content watching them enjoy the evening. The night was even bringing back memories of the times that they'd spent together. Maybe doing something like this again wasn't beyond their years. The thought was disrupted as Satomi got up to leave. He'd followed his mother back into the pristine house.
"I should probably be going. I know I overstayed my welcome but..."
"No, you didn't. Believe it or not, I'm...glad you came today."
"Think you can manage to keep this place looking good enough until your father and Izaiyoi get home?"
"I hope so."
"Well, you know how to find me if you need anything."
"Hey, mom...do you think this could stay between us?"
"You mean, don't tell your father?"
"..."
"I was never here. Just make sure your brothers and sister are on board with that."
"Thanks."
Satomi smiled as Sesshoumaru hugged her knowing that she hadn't planned to tell Taisho in the first place. Taisho had already talked to her about getting Sesshoumaru a car if he succeeded with this task. He'd asked her not to meddle but she just couldn't help herself. Her son getting a vehicle of his own meant that he could come to visit more often and she wasn't about to jeopardize those chances.
A/N: One of the reasons I like reviews is not only to develop my writing but it helps to open my mind to new ways to develop these characters :) Thanks for reading/reviewing! Will write more soon!