OMG THIS WAS FREAKING HARD TO WRITE! I HATED THIS CHAPTER, MAINLY BECAUSE NOTHING WOULD FLOW!

Hopefully it doesn't suck total ass, and I promise the next chapter should both be better and come out quicker.

OH LOOK! CHAPTER 5!

Chapter 5:


Kagome was still laying horizontally across her bed thirty minutes later, attempting to count the little popcorn bubble things on her ceiling for the third time ; she kept losing count. She always managed to reach somewhere around twenty-five before forgetting which ones she'd already counted. She'd tried naming the sexiest one Bob and asking him for help occasionally, but he was apparently the strong and silent type and after an unfortunate incident in which she was forced to blink, she lost him amidst the sea of irregular and yet totally identical ceiling bubbles.

Either way, it wasn't really all that important. Seriously, she doubted that a talk show host was going to randomly run into her room and offer her a million dollars if she could correctly tell him the number of popcorn bubbles on her bedroom ceiling.

It was just something to calm her down, and keep her mind busy. A way to pass the time while she waited for the swelling around her eyes to go down, for the red to fade.

This was why she hated crying. As if it wasn't bad enough that you had to cry, and that your nose ran and you ended up with the headache from hell, but everybody had to know about it.

If she were back at home she'd have snuck into the kitchen for an ice cube to cool the redness and relieve the puffy effect, but she didn't risk it here. With her luck she'd end up lost and stumble through a closet into Narnia…

She was poking at her eyes to see if they still felt hot when she was startled by a knock on the door. Poking herself in the eye, she bit down violently on her lip to restrain the curse word trying valiantly to escape. After a few painful seconds she was able to squeak out , "Yes?"

"It's dinnertime", came Taisho's voice through the door.

"Be right out."

She waited until his footsteps grew quiet before muttering a string of curses that would make a sailor proud. A trait she'd most definitely inherited from her mother. Seriously, if anyone had a potty mouth when angry or injured it was Noriko Higurashi.

When she felt she could contain herself, and her eye had stopped watering enough to see, she crept from her room.

They had already dug in by the time she arrived, Shippo making small volcanoes out of his mashed potatoes. Inuyasha was chewing a leg of chicken to death, and Izayoi was looking on in horror, as if she'd never seen her sons mutilate food before.

Taisho and Sesshomaru were just sitting there quietly, eating bites of stuffing with a fork, occasionally biting from their legs of fried chicken, looking as civilized as could be. It was as if they were compensating for the other two, balancing the levels of disgust before Izayoi had a complete meltdown.

She seemed to be teetering right on the edge…

She was so mesmerized in the train wreck that was her sons, that she didn't notice Kagome's approach. Taisho, so focused on his food, his eyes sometimes drifting over to check on his wife, also failed to see her and if Sesshomaru did he just didn't care.

She really didn't know what Sesshomaru did or didn't care about, and it was a little unnerving. Shippo and Inuyasha hated her, Taisho and Izayoi didn't. Cool. She knew that. But Sesshomaru? He just seemed so apathetic about everything that she honestly didn't have a clue.

She could have been upset about this, had been for a short while, but had soon decided against it. He was the only one of Izayoi's children with manners, and on the off chance that he didn't already hate her she wouldn't give him reason to.

Either way, as things stood he was by far the easiest to deal with.

Which was good, since the only open chair sat between him and Taisho. Shippo had apparently decided against ever sitting next to Kagome again and had squeezed a chair in between his mother and brother.

Sitting down, she was relieved when no one scooted to the edge of their chair in a desperate escape attempt.

Things were getting better already.

Dinner, overall, hadn't been as bad as, lets say, the Holocaust. Nope, no genocide or anything. Even when Shippo had noticed her and started scowling. Or when Izayoi had asked about her day and received rude comments from Inuyasha. Or when her poor abused eye got attacked by a kamikaze pea on a suicide mission.

She wouldn't, however, have called it the world's greatest dinner either. That was two Thanksgivings ago, when her mom overstuffed the turkey and it'd exploded all over the table. They'd had Thanksgiving T.V dinners in front of the fireplace, watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials on T.V. Ayame and Kameko had come over somewhere in the middle and they'd made up Thanksgiving carols and ate ridiculous amounts of popcorn.

That was definitely the best dinner she'd ever had, and nothing could ever possibly beat it. She wouldn't ever try.

She fell back onto her bed, restless.

Okay, just plain bored.

There was nothing to do in this house. At least nothing that she knew of. For all she knew there was probably a bowling alley hidden in the basement, or a movie theater complete with concession stand. For some reason she got the image of Sesshomaru standing behind the counter pouring fake butter-like-substance onto popcorn. It was highly amusing and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. That though was soon followed by Inuyasha in a red and white striped outfit sweeping the floor.

That time she really did laugh. She couldn't help it. The thought of that spoiled pretty-boy doing anything that could resemble manual labor of any kind was hilarious.

She allowed herself a few minutes to laugh over her fantasy before staring at the ceiling, boredom reigning once again.

Damn boredom.

She was trying to locate Bob amongst the many, less-sexy, popcorn bubbles on her ceiling when there was a knock on her door. Standing she started towards it, but it was useless. The person on the other end, Izayoi and it turned out, didn't wait, just calling through the door.

"We're going out, me and Taisho. Ballroom dancing, we go every Monday night. We'll be back around 11:00. I'll have my cell phone if you need anything, feel free to call. Um…lets see, Shippo is all of your responsibilities, though the boys should have it under control. Um, so yeah. Goodbye Sweetie!"

Kagome stared at the door, several minutes after the voice had left.

Ballroom dancing? Seriously?

Kagome smiled, leaning her head back. It was dark out, around 10:00, and she knew her mother would be turning over in her grave if she could see her now, not in bed, on a school night. At the moment however, she didn't exactly care.

After several more minutes of boredom in her room, she'd finally surrendered to her desire to walk along the beach. After all, it wasn't as if there was anything for her to do inside. Sesshomaru had mysteriously disappeared into his room, and Inuyasha and Shippo were watching a movie in the living room. The Lion King.

She'd always been a big fan of Disney movies, that one being a particularly well-loved classic, but somehow she sensed she'd be less than welcome to join them. In fact, she'd bet that if she were to walk in and curl up on the couch they'd both scowl and leave.

Hell, they might even burn the couch.

But that didn't really matter. She could watch Disney movies anytime, without subjecting herself to 120 minutes of Inuyasha's presence.

And so she'd slipped through the back door, and out into the night. The air was cool, a slight breeze swirling around her, playing in her hair. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a deep breath, the smell of flowers and lake water filling her nose, the air chilling her chest from the inside.

It was oddly wonderful. Somewhat exhilarating.

Exhaling the day's stress away, she ventured down towards the beach, eager to feel the pale glowing sand between her bare feet. It'd looked like a fairy world from her window, and if so, she was fully ready to throw herself into it.

Inuyasha sighed as Shippo burrowed himself into his ribs, hiding from the hyenas and their Nazi-march.

Seriously… what kind of kid's movie was this? He didn't even pay attention in history and he could catch Holocaust references. Though he had to admit, they were somewhat amusing. And kids weren't really supposed to know about those things yet…

Vaguely he wondered if the stars would really spell out SEX. He could remember hearing that somewhere…

Now, however, his attention was focused on his brother's somewhat painful attempt to escape inside his ribcage.

Heh, that reminded his of Zazu, singing inside the bones after Scar took over.

He resisted humming I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, under his breath.

"If it scares you," he frowned, prying his brother's head away, "Then why do you keep wanting to watch it? Seriously you've seen it six times already, nothing here should scare you."

"I-I'm not scared" he insisted, his words contradicted by his death grip in Inuyasha's shirt.

"Oh yeah?"

"Y-yes!" he demanded, refusing to admit to fear, especially in front of his big brother. He spent a lot of time trying to look cool for him and didn't want this one creepy scene to ruin all his hard work.

And it was hard, most of the time. Being sure to copy his stances, watching how he reacted to things, occasionally pushing his mom away when she tried to kiss and cuddle him…in public. He couldn't do it in private, he loved her, liked being cuddled by her.

Daddy too.

He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do about grades. Half the time he praised him for A's and the rest he called him a goody-goody. Usually it depended on his mood, but that really didn't help him at all. He couldn't take a spelling test, anticipating his brother's mood the next week when it was returned.

God being cool was complicated.

It had, however, just gotten a lot easier with the arrival of that girl. She was weird, dressed all in black, and barely spoke. She was creepy, and he didn't like her, didn't want her here. He'd told his mother this, sure that she'd tell that creepy quiet girl to leave, and had been sorely disappointed when she hadn't.

She'd just smiled and patted him on the head and told him that they would all adjust. That was it!

The way he saw it, she was choosing this girl over him, and he didn't like it at all.

Lucky for him, Inuyasha didn't seem to like her any more than he did. Plus Inuyasha was older, so he could say more. He could use those bad words that Shippo got punished for using.

His brother was just that cool!

He had to admit, he'd been a little worried when he'd heard she was Inuyasha's age. Ever since he could remember Inuyasha had been talking about girls, though he couldn't really see the appeal. Girls were squeaky and weird and tattled far to easily. He didn't like girls.

Inuyasha had said his mom was a girl, but he couldn't see it. She didn't do any of that icky girl stuff…He'd never seen her tattle, ever, though she had gotten just a little squeaky when Daddy had given her a diamond necklace for the anniversary of their first date. He wasn't sure why that warranted presents, but planned to find some random date that he could celebrate. Maybe he could get some free stuff…

Because his brother, for all his complaining, had an arm around him, Shippo leaned against his side. He didn't burrow or anything, just curled up there with a little sigh.

"Why does she have to be here?"

"Hm?"

"That girl, Kagome. Why does she have to be here. I don't want her here."

He heard Inuyasha laugh, felt his chest rumble slightly. It was soothing and he could feel his eyes getting heavy. Had his brother always been this warm?

"Always knew you were a smart kid."

He smiled a little. Out of all the people he knew, Inuyasha's compliments made him the happiest.

"I don't want her here either," he continued.

Shippo yawned, his little mouth stretching wide open. "Then why is she?"

"Because", he started to reply, only to find he had no answer. Why was she here? Had anyone ever said? " Because Mom said so." He finished lamely, hoping the boy was still young enough to buy the excuse, determined to find the real answer.

"Okay," he replied, his voice heavy with sleep, but Inuyasha could still hear the disappointment in it. The sadness.

That alone gave him a whole new reason to despise the bitch. How dare she come here, invade his house and upset his little brother. Yes, the kid was a pain in the ass half the time, and teasing him was beyond fun, but that didn't mean he didn't love him.

He ran his hand over the boys hair a few moments, staring at the screen, though not really paying attention to the movie. When finally Shippo's breathing grew even, shallow, he scooped him up carrying him to bed, leaving a crack in the door and plugging in his nightlight.

He was still scowling, angry with Kagome, when he ran into Sesshomaru in the kitchen. It wasn't such an odd occurrence, them living in the same house, but rarely did he venture from his room after about 10:00. He didn't say anything as he passed him, grabbing the milk from the fridge, and drinking it straight from the carton. Maybe if he was lucky he'd backwash something… leave it there for her to drink…ruin her milk…

Then again, it was the family milk, and Izayoi would kill him if she ever even learned about him drinking from the carton. It was a pet peeve of hers…

He could feel Sesshomaru's eyes on his back for a moment, before he turned to seclude himself once more in his fortress of solitude, AKA his bedroom. Feeling a chance slipping away, he closed the fridge and faced his brother's retreating back.

"How much do you know?"

Sesshomaru turned, facing Inuyasha. The younger man was leaning against the counter in an attempt at casual, betrayed by the stiff set of his shoulders.

"Quite a lot actually. Certainly more than you, though probably less that dad."

Inuyasha growled in frustration. "You know what I mean damn it!" He slammed an angry fist onto the counter, venting his anti-Kagome feelings on the poor house.

" Maybe. Care to elaborate?"

"Damn-"

"You really should expand your vocabulary little brother, it's severely lacking." Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a sigh, before Sesshomaru continued. "If you're referring to Kagome, than I probably know as much as you do."

"Well why the hell is she here?"

"I don't know."

"Then how the hell-"

"Ask someone else. I've already told you, I don't know." He turned once more, exiting the conversation.

"No one else will tell me anything!"

"And neither shall I." He looked back as he reached the doorway. " You could try asking her though, hm? Just a thought."

Inuyasha scoffed at the idea, his face a mask of disgust at the prospect, causing Sesshomaru to raise one eyebrow. "She's not that disgusting."

Inuyasha gave him a droll stare that he didn't bother to return. "Where the hell is she anyways? She should be down here helping with the babysitting or, or something!"

"Outside. She left a while ago."

"What? Damn girl…" he sighed, walking towards the back door. Just what he needed, proof of her stupidity. What the hell was she doing, walking around outside? In fall no less? Was she trying to die?

She wasn't going to go suicidal on them was she? He mother died so she goes drown herself in the lake at night while his parents were ballroom dancing? Oh hell no, that wasn't happening. That was way too close to a Lifetime movie for his tastes.

"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru called, just before he left.

He looked back at him.

"I'm buying you a dictionary for your birthday. Act surprised."

Rolling his eyes, he slammed the door behind him.

Kagome took a deep breath, letting it fill her lungs before letting it out slowly. She'd been out here for about 30 minutes. She knew she should probably get up, head back to the house and act like she'd been asleep, if only her limbs would move. They were heavy, sluggish.

She was laying on the sand, just out of the water's reach a small ways down the beach. The sand was soft beneath her, the fall air cool and refreshing. Her eyes were heavy, though she refused to close them. She kept them open, staring up at the stars above her. There were millions, far more than she could ever see at home. When you lived next to a 7/11 there tended to be lights everywhere. Not like here. The Hayashi's lived a ways away from the city, where the millions of stars could easily be seen. She loved them. They were gorgeous.

She hated them.

Part of her was bitter, angry at this strange place for daring to have a bright side. How dare this lake be so peaceful, and the stars so bright, and the night so pretty? How dare something here be nicer than it was back home? How dare it?

She could feel tears prickling hot behind her eyes, forcing them back. Her throat burned though, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Stupid unwanted tears.

Staring up into the sky, determined to distract herself, she tried to find the North Star. It was the one she could always see, from both the apartment and the little yellow house. It had always fascinated her as a child, shining up there, big and bright. Ever since her mother first showed it to her she'd tried to locate it, night after night, until it was no longer a challenge to find.

It still wasn't, and she found herself staring at it as she tried to force the tears back. It didn't work very well however. All it did was bring up lines from The Lion King. About the stars being the kings of the past or whatever.

Could that be true? And if so, was one of those stars her mother, looking down at her? Was she watching her daughter lay on a beach in a strange place, after dark? Biting her lip, she chocked down the childish urge to wave at the sky, to wave at her mother. As if she expected her to wave back.

How stupid was that?

Overcome, she allowed the tears to fall silently down her cheeks.

She was curled up like a child, her features blurry in the dark. He managed to resist shining the flashlight in her closed eyes, instead just illuminating the area around her. There was sand in her hair, on her back, and plastered on her face, stuck by what he could only assume was tears.

Her eyes were puffy, her nose red.

She'd been lying outside, in the dark, by a lake, and crying in the sand.

The thought should make him happy, stroke the angry little beast that was living in his chest, and yet it didn't. That made no sense to him. He'd wanted her unhappy, wanted her miserably so.

At least, he thought he had.

Yet looking down at her, shivering in the wind with sand on her face, he couldn't seem to muster up any of the fury he'd stormed down here with…

OMG I'M DONE!

Haha. Finally! That took forever. I'm seriously sorry it took so long but I could not get motivated. Like at all… It was quite sad really. I thought this chapter was kind of cute though, in fact I turned out pretty happy with it. It makes a nice transition chapter. Some more important stuff will happen next time and I swear it wont take as long to come out. Now…