Chapter 2: Reacquainted

The next morning I had woken up feeling groggy. I sat up in bed, my hair an unruly mess. I saw that I was still wearing the clothes from the night before, never have changing them. I wondered why and then I remembered. My mom and I had a huge fight about me being defiant and not wanting to move to South Korea for the summer. I was hysterical, blocking out most of what she said. I got out of bed, walking downstairs, but when I heard my mother's voice echoing from the dining room, I stopped. I peered around the corner and saw her on the phone. I listened intently, wondering who she was talking to.

"Well I talked to her about it last night," my mom was saying. "Rin says that she doesn't want to go."

"…"

My mom ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what else to do."

I began to wonder who this mysterious person was on the phone. Maybe it was my dad. If she sent me to my dad's for the summer that would be so cool. The last time I visited my dad was a year ago when he was in the process of buying a new house. And maybe there could be a possibility that he and his new wife and I would get along. Maybe.

"But I don't want to send her all the way to America by herself," my mother went on. "She's never flown without me before."

I frowned. Okay, so it wasn't my dad. Who the hell was she talking to, then? My mom suddenly perked up.

"Well that's a wonderful idea. I'm positive that Rin would love that."

Love what? I thought.

"And she hasn't seen them in a long time."

Seen who in a long time?

I listened more carefully as my mom was just finishing up with her phone call. "Yes, I'll be sure to tell her, and hope that she agrees."

I saw her sigh and stand up from her chair. I walked half-way back up the stairs and then came back down. Pretending as if I knew she just got off the phone, I asked, "Who was that?"

She answered, "Sit down and I'll tell you."

So I crossed into the dining room, taking a seat. "So, who was it?"

My mother answered, "That was Izayoi. You remember her, right?"

I thought for a moment and then responded with, "Oh yeah. Sure, I remember her. She used to baby-sit me all the time."

"And you know her two sons; Inuyasha and Sesshomaru."

"Yeah." Ugh. How could I forget? They both were a pain in my ass.

"Well Izayoi has given me permission to let you stay with her and her family for the summer," my mother went on. "What do you think?"

I pondered the idea in my head. Live with my mom's friend and her family? That would be nice. Ugh, but I forgot. She has her two sons, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. What brats! I hated being over there when she watched over me while my mom was away. Whenever I was left over there, Inuyasha made every attempt to terrorize me. Sesshomaru was no better, seeing as how he never protected me from the wrath of his younger brother. But of course this was years ago. I hadn't seen or heard from them since I was twelve.

I continued thinking. Was I really going to take my chances with living under the same roof as those buffoons, or suffer months in a foreign country that I wanted no part of? I decided that it was the latter.

So I shrugged and said, "Yeah." It couldn't be that bad I thought.

"Good," my mother replied. "At least for once, you're making your decisions easier to handle."

I rolled my eyes at her response.

"You should get started with packing," she advised me. "I'll be leaving for South Korea in two days and I need to make sure that you get to Izayoi's safely."

I rolled my eyes again. As if I didn't know how to take care of myself.

"Yeah, okay," I responded as I retreated back to my room. Shuffling through my walk-in closet, I retrieved my duffel-bag and other carry on that I might need.

XX

The next day I started shoveling in clothes and personal items inside. I was taking a lot: such as my favorite blanket, books for me to read, my make-up kit, my yellow iPod nano (couldn't forget that) and everything else. I continued to pack when I thought that was all I was going to need. I scanned my vanity for anything else that I might have overlooked, and I'm glad that I did. Sitting on my dresser next to three framed photos with me in each one, was my jewelry box. I kept only a few trinkets in there; nothing in there was really worthy of wearing.

Flipping up the pink decorative lid: I spotted a turquoise necklace that could no longer fit me since it was given to me the day I was born, a tennis bracelet with the clasp broken off, a pair of earrings that didn't match a single thing in my closet, and a sterling silver ring with a pink heart-shaped gem in the center.

I remembered this ring. It was the first piece of jewelry that he had ever given me back when I was twelve and he was fourteen. Sesshomaru had given this ring to me that summer we were spending at his family's beach house.

Flashback

The family was catering a cook-out so he saw the perfect opportunity to steal me away, leading me under the pier. The waves crashed and the wind blew. I can still recall the wide-eyed smile he'd given me just before he held something bright and sparkly in his hands.

He held it up in the afternoon sun and stated, "I saved up all of my allowance money just to buy this for you, Rin."

I couldn't help but smile; something that shone even brighter than the ring. That was the first time that I'd ever kissed him as well. Right there on his cheek. Sesshomaru was happy and so was I.

End of Flashback

But of course this was four years ago. The ring was obviously too big to fit my small fingers back when I was twelve, but I wonder if it would now. I picked it up from inside the box. I tried each of my fingers and it fit perfectly on my middle finger. I admired the jewel when I heard my mother from downstairs.

"Rin, come on! Are you ready yet?"

"Um, yeah Mom, just give me a sec!"

I did some fast last minute packing, shut my door and said good-bye to my beloved bedroom. I joined my mom in the passenger seat of her car and then we were off. My mom wasn't quite ready for me to fly on my own so we spent two hours on the highway and then thirty minutes in back-to-back traffic only to travel another twenty minutes and we were finally in Kyoto.

Kyoto's city was almost as big as Tokyo's I noticed. The streets were just as crowded and there were shops on every corner.

"You'll like it here," my mom told me.

I smiled. Of course I will I thought. I'm not leaving Japan. The bright glint of my ring caught my eye and I smiled.

I guess that Mom saw the goofy look on my face and looked down at my hand and said, "I've never seen that before. Is that from a friend?"

I giggled and nodded my head. I took note of the change of scenery that morphed from the city life to a gated community with elegant houses and massive front yards. The grass was neatly cut: a pool sat in the back of every house and top-notched cars were just sitting in their double-wide garages or driveways.

My face was pressed against the window. Sure Izayoi and her family lived in the best places, but this was incredible. We drove around a corner and my mom parked behind a dark green SUV. This house put my three bedroom place to shame. It had a double-wide front door with a beautiful arched overhang all the way across the porch. A metal bench swing hung on the left, large windows were covered by drapes and even more windows could be seen from higher levels of the house.

The front door opened, and I saw a slender woman with long black hair, wearing a flower-printed dress step onto the porch and make her way towards us. My mom got out the car and I followed her lead.

"Izayoi!"

"Hitomi!"

Both women embraced and had their tender moment―whatever that meant. I was left to retrieve my own luggage. I was saddled down with my heavy backpack and trying to cradle other bags underneath my arms, when my mom called out to me.

"Oh Rin, come over here and say hi to Izayoi."

I waddled over and breathlessly said, "Hello."

Izayoi smiled brightly. "Aww you're so grown up."

I gave an embarrassed smile, not sure if she could see because of my slouching over.

Izayoi sucked in a breath and scowled. "Now Rin, you shouldn't be lugging those heavy bags around." She looked back towards the house and I followed her gaze to see a tall half-demon boy with long silver hair and wearing a jersey with basketball shorts step onto the front porch.

"Oh Inuyasha, come help Rin with her bags!" Izayoi demanded.

"Who?" he asked, confused.

"Rin," she repeated. "You remember her."

Inuyasha stepped towards me, squinted his eyes and exclaimed, "Hey runt!" He ruffled my hair. "How's it going, squirt?"

I gritted my teeth and made a mental note of my next victim on my kill list. Squirt?

"Come help Rin with her bags," Izayoi repeated.

Inuyasha groaned and rolled his eyes. "But Mom, I was gonna head out and play some ball with Naraku and Kouga." He smirked. "I'm gonna whip those pussies into shape."

Izayoi gasped. "Inuyasha!"

I saw the hard glare Izayoi had given her brazen son for his coarse language.

She groaned. "Just help Rin with her bags, please."

"Keh, fine."

He grabbed my duffel-bags, leaving me with my backpack and strolled his way back into the house. Izayoi followed right behind him. I turned to face my mother.

"Well this is it," I said.

She nodded her head. "Are you gonna be okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I'll be fine."

She sighed. "Well, alright." She leaned forward, giving me a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you at the end of summer."

I watched as my mom proceeded back into her car, strapped on her seat-belt and rolled out of the driveway. I watched from where I stood as my mom's car began to fade in the distance, round a corner and was gone all together. Now here I was, forever to spend my two months of summer with a family that I've known most of my life.

I just prayed that Izayoi's sons would make it bearable for me to live here.