And here we are with another chapter. Hallelujah.
Idea. getthe (I can't type your normal name): Kirimi's talking to Izayoi, so she's saying "Obviously, I follow Inu Taisho on Twitter." Sorry I didn't make it clear.
Also, I keep meaning to say... The school they go to is called 'Gakuen Yokai'. Gakuen-academy, yokai-demon, so, 'Demon Academy'. For those who don't know.
Anyways, enjoy Mother's Intuition.
Sesshoko rubbed her ever swelling stomach as she meandered through the 'Baby Supplies & More' section of her local convenience store. Her piercing golden globes scanned over pacifiers, babywraps, cribs and more. She honestly thought it was a little early for baby shopping, as the little life wasn't due for another seven months, but Izayoi had instructed that it was important to get the preparations done early (like, really early) to get used to the feeling of shopping and providing for someone other than someone else. This was a new concept for Sesshoko, who pretty much liked to leach off of whoever was willing to provide for her.
"Shoko, dear, I think this stroller might be better for someone... your size, don't you think?" Izayoi asked, referring to a pink girl's stroller that was rather high off the ground. Tsk, Sesshoko knew she was too tall for her own good.
"It's fine." Sesshoko hissed, pissed to the point of rage for some reason. Whether it was hormones, or maybe just the unnecessary time spent around Izayoi, Sesshoko didn't know. All she knew was that she didn't want to be there.
As Izayoi continued to stuff their shopping cart, Sesshoko wandered over an isle or two, where she saw a group of teenage girls about her age talking in a group.
I've never had that... Sesshoko thought as she rubbed her stomach. She was always so divorced from reality, so closed off from society. She was never social, except to her family. While Inuyumi would constantly protest that they "weren't exactly a close-knit family", she was the only one Sesshoko ever really talked to.
But it was true. Sesshoko had never experienced that kind of life because of her anti-social barrier, but now she never could because of the baby. And the more Sesshoko thought about it, the angrier she got. Her cheeks flushed red, and she decided that why should those girls enjoy their time together, when she never could?! She stomped her way over to the group of girls, about to give them a piece of her mind. That is, until she felt as warm, delicate hand grab her arm. She turned around to see Izayoi's smiling face.
"C'mon," She said. "Let's go check-out."
"As you know, I was only sixteen when I got pregnant with Inuyumi." Izayoi said, sipping an iced mocha. She and Sesshoko had stopped at a Starbuck's on the way back. Sesshoko simply sat there across from her, silent, letting her Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino get cold.
"And I was scared," Izayoi continued. "I had no idea what I was going to do. I wasn't ready for a baby. But I didn't have the heart to get an abortion. So I kept it, and tried so hard to keep it hidden from my parents. But when my mother found out, she called me terrible things. She told me I was a slut, and then she kicked me out of the house. I tried to go live with my father, who lived in Osaka, but he was deep in debt and couldn't afford to keep me. I didn't want anything more to do with you father, because I was angry with him, so I bought a room in a small hotel. I lived there for about three weeks, until they kicked me out, too.
I didn't have anywhere to go, so I finally kissed my pride goodbye and went to you father, and he took me in. He gave me a place to live, and then," She starred deep into Sesshoko's amber eyes. "I met you. And then your father and I got married, and we were able to raise Inuyumi together."
Sesshoko squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't ask to hear her stepmother's life story. "And you're telling me this because...? What? Do you pity me because the father won't take care of me like father did to you?" She hissed, though her voice lacked the malice she was aiming for. In all honesty, Sesshoko was tired and just wanted to get back to her sister's apartment.
Izayoi shook her head. "No, no, sweetie, I meant that you should be glad that you have family that will support you through this."
Sesshoko blushed, but tried to cover it up with another rude remark. "Yeah, well, it's not like I'm scared, or anything. I don't care about this parasite!"
But Izayoi saw right through her stepdaughter's façade. She simply smiled and drank the rest of her iced mocha.
"So Miss, whut ken I get fer ya tanite?" The bartender asked with a strong American, southern, accent. "Ya look like yoo cud yoose sumthin' strong!"
Kirimi simply smirked, then shrugged. "Give me the finest, oldest liquor you've got." She was wearing a short, tight red dress that clung to her curves, as well as an extremely fluffy - and somewhat ridiculous, may I add - boa that bore a strong resemblance to the one she gave to her daughter all those years ago. Her white hair was done into an updo, and she wore elaborate, dark makeup.
"Sher thing, Missy!" The bartender said with a sly eye, grabbing a bottle of what looked like liquid gold and serving it to the lady who also looked like gold. "Tell me Miss, it looks like sumthin's got yer goat! Whut is it?"
Kirimi's eyes, though, were just as sly. "Fella did me wrong." She said in a tell-tale voice like rumbling thunder.
"Whut did this feller do ta yoo?"
"He didn't please me enough."
"So whut did ya doo?"
"I left him. For an American."
"Like me?"
Kirimi's face was close enough to the bartender's that they could've kissed, but instead, she slapped him across the cheek. "No!" She hissed, her tone similar to her daughter's. "My man's got class."
"Oh really?" Came a new voice. Kirimi turned to meet the face of her ex, Inu Taisho.
"Inu-chan! What are you doing, here away from your woman, so late at night?" Kirimi said, twirling her silver hair in her manicured finger.
"Why did you come here Kirimi? Shoko doesn't need you here, ruining everything. So just get the hell out of Japan and go back to spreading your legs for that foreigner of yours." Inu Taisho hissed, his tone deadly.
"I'd be hurt, but do detect a hint of jealously...?"
"What do you want, Kirimi?!" Inu Taisho growled, his baritone voice low.
"Ugh, just let me explain myself, you stubborn ass." Kirimi spat, her voice loosing it's flirtatious glow. "I am simply going to stay until Sesshoko has that baby of hers, then I'll take the child and go back to my Juan."
"What?! You are not taking the child!" Inu Taisho roared in anger. Who did she think she is, taking Sesshoko's baby like that?!
"Oh, honey, I know you love that girl, but you and I both know she's not fit to be a parent. This way it'll be better for everyone." Kirimi replied in her holier-than-thou manner.
Inu Taisho, however, grabbed his bag and stood up from the stool of the bar, his face dangerously close to Kirimi's. "Listen, you whore, you will having nothing to do with my daughter, and you will quit terrorizing my family to go back to that fleabag foreigner. End of story." And with that, he walked out of the bag, a furious stomp in his step.
"Hey! She's my daughter too!" Kirimi shouted at her retreating back.
She starred into a reflection in her glass of golden liquor, and smirked to herself.
"So he doesn't even want me near her, eh? This could be fun..."