My Girl

by Foayasha

Disclaimer: The epic of Inuyasha, while wonderful, does not belong to me. Thus I cannot, and do not, claim to own any of the characters in this short story... but, i'll take full credit for the one who wants all the flavors.

ShagsTheDustmop is awesome btw ^_^ thanks girly for cleanin up my sweet spelling errors.

My Girl Chpt 1 - Just put an AD in the paper

"Hello, Kagome Higurashi. May I ask who is calling?" she answered in a chipper voice. The lulling brush strokes on her scalp and through her raven locks were soothing. Her daughter had taken it upon herself to tame the abundance of glossy hair, while she sat perched on the back of their couch behind her. The two of them watched afternoon cartoons, and ate mini bagels that looked like bite sized pizzas. It was nice to be able to take a break from work to spend time with her.

"Is this Kagome Higurashi, formerly Kagome Akitoki?" the voice on the other line questioned.

"Yes, it is," she muttered dryly. "What, may I ask, is the nature of this call?"

Being addressed by that name wasn't exactly endearing. She hadn't even personally spoken with her ex-husband since the divorce had finalized. What had it been? At least 2 years since the end of her 'happy marriage'?

"I am sorry to inform you, but Mr. Akitoki was in a terrible car accident last week, he passed away this morning. You were listed in his will to receive thirty five percent of his holdings..." the voice trailed off in the back of her mind.

Hojo... had passed away? Now it really was just her raising the young girl. At least Sota and her mother were helpful, but they lived pretty far away. What would she do? Should she be sad?

Of course she was shocked he had died, but he had scorned her with the way he practically refused to be a part of their daughter's life. He admitted the only reason he went along with the adoption was as a last ditch effort to keep the marriage alive. That is, after Kagome realized she couldn't bear his children. Hojo had even acted as if he would still be a father to the child, but in the end, all she saw was his monthly child support check. Now Aimi didn't even have a penpal dad.

She shook her head, attempting to rid her mind of such unpleasant thoughts. She still had Aimi, and that was all she needed. Right? The two of them had truly bonded, as mother and daughter; even in her heart she knew she was meant to take care of, to love, this girl. When it came to Hojo, Aimi hardly noticed the vacant appearance of a father figure. However, school would be starting soon. She knew it wouldn't take long for Aimi to see she only had one parent, but most of the other children had two.

"Ms. Higurashi?" the voice said questioned again.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. This is just a lot of news," Kagome responded sadly.

"We're going to need you to come into the office next week, to finalize the details in his will," the voice said again.

"That's fine, send me an email with the meeting info, and I'll be there," she said finally. "Thank you for contacting me."

"You're welcome, goodbye," the voice said as she ended the call.

Kagome leaned back, lightly pinning the small girl's legs between her and the back of the couch. Aimi began to squirm, before awkwardly scaling the springy couch cushions. After a bit of fumbling, she came around to sit on her mothers lap.

Aimi was a sweet girl, living up to her name: totally and completely lovable. Recently she had her fifth birthday, which she received a doll house from Kagome, and a check in the mail from Hojo. The money was used to purchase her several new outfits for her first couple weeks of kindergarten.

The girls features were amiable, with sweet smiles, and lively eyes. And even though she knew they didn't share any genes, she always thought the girl held a striking resemblance to herself. Perhaps she loved the girl so much that she could find similarities between them, even when they were only minor. This didn't mean she would ever turn down the complements from others about how 'her beautiful daughter looked just like her beautiful mother'. On the other side, Aimi did hold several specific differences from her. Her angelic grin was accented perfectly by a set of amber eyes, framed by thick platinum locks.

She knew that Aimi's paternal parents were most likely of Japanese decent, like her own family. So her coloring was extremely exotic, and unexpected. When they had picked her up from the hospital, only days after she was born, her eyes were dark brown and her downy hair lay as black wisps on her tanned head. As she matured, her hair lightened, to a nearly silver hue, and her eyes changed to a significantly golden color. She was beautiful, and unique. She was Kagome's life and her pride, nothing could change it.

Around her neck hung a small chain showcasing a simple smooth charm; it was made of silver, no larger than a dime. The pendant was a special item to her daughter, an heirloom of sorts, so it was important to her that Aimi would have the keepsake even as an adult. She would normally insist that the girl keep it in her 'safe place': a jewelry box in her mother's room. However, since her daughter's birthday was so recent, and she was getting older, Kagome allowed her to wear the charm several days in a row.

Absentmindedly the girl pulled the charm along the edge of the chain, creating a faint zipping sound against the noise of the television. She leaned her head on the woman's chest, and began a light humming purr. Kagome loved her daughter, but the older she got, the more she seemed to take on odd, yet extraordinary traits. Standard blood tests were given, as procedure for the adoption to see if she had any youkai blood, but they came back negative.

Her physicians mentioned that the tests at such a young age were normally unreliable, but to be honest, Kagome didn't care. Only Hojo was concerned with whether or not the girl was part youkai. His family being strictly against it, and she figured that was part of the reason for his departure. Even though the tests were negative, as she got older, her features and behavior said otherwise. Kagome only loved her more for it, considering it would only be a benefit for her daughter's future.

There was no need to fear the youkai blood which most likely ran through her veins. Those mystical beings had equal rights in this day in age, and were rarely even discriminated against in the work place. Only the old families, who insisted on holding prejudices, held any distaste for them. Go figure she would marry into one of them, and then of all the children she could adopt, she managed to get her hands on one that would never be accepted.

Not like that mattered to Kagome, she always abided by the philosophy that blood cannot define a person. Her daughter was perfect, regardless.

"Mommy, Mr. Akitoki isn't going to send me letters anymore, is he?" Aimi said, more as a statement, rather than a question.

"No darling, I'm afraid he isn't," she said hugging her daughter's small form. The familiar pang of sadness hit her, but she forced it away. It was best to put such thoughts out of her mind for the time being. Aimi was extremely sensitive to her mother's mood, and she didn't want to burden the girl. "Tell you what, would you like to get some ice-cream?"

"Uh huh! Can we, please?" Aimi responded excitedly. "Can I get any flavor I want, Mommy?"

"Of course! I'll even get some different ones for you to try," Kagome mimicked with equal excitement.

[:::]

The walk to the ice-cream shop was short, but cool. It was late summer, and the weather had taken a quicker approach to a lower temperature than she had expected. Luckily she had bundled Aimi well enough to keep her warm, but she herself was not so fortunate. The light sweater and casual business skirt barely kept the goose bumps at bay. She vigorously rubbed her palm along the wool on her arm, while holding Aimi's dainty fingers in her other free hand.

"Let's go to the park first, Mommy, that one over there!" the child pointed. It was a park that she had gone to plenty of times, but it was the middle of the afternoon, so it was much busier than normal.

"I don't know Aimi, there are so many people. You know Mommy gets nervous around large crowds," Kagome's voice was wary as she answered.

"I'll protect you, Mommy, I promise," her daughter proclaimed proudly. Her determined expression, with crossed brows formed into a not-so-threatening 'scowl', was so cute Kagome couldn't say no. They crossed the street, and walked to the bustling playground. Swings and teeter-totters were in full action, while a slew of children played tag around a merry-go-round.

The air was filled with musical mash of youths' giggles and squeals. Aimi quickly joined into a game of tag with the other children playing, while her mother looked around for a secluded park bench or picnic table. Somewhere that she could seat herself at without being bothered by the other patrons would be preferable. Sighting a small cement table at the further end of the park, she decided that was where she would sit.

"Aimi, come here for a moment," she called. Her voice was only another noise among the current of screams and whistles, clattering of playground equipment, and the unnaturally loud nature sounds. However, without an issue, Aimi still heard her and ran quickly to her mother's side.

"You see that table over there," she said as the girl came within range, "I'm going to be sitting over there. Don't go out of my sight."

"I won't, Mommy, I need to be around you anyways, so I can protect you from bad guys!" she declared. As she did so, she once again donned her best expression of 'fierce determination', with her tiny hands balled in fists before her. Kagome giggled, and pat the girl on the head. She sent her off to play again, and kept her eye on her while she crossed the park to the table which would be her haven.

Several adults gave her smiles as she walked by them, her face returning the gesture out of courtesy, while she did her best to avoid conversation. However, she did eventually get caught by a crowd of women she knew from the grocery store, or other local areas. She gave her best attempts to look casual and not uncomfortable talking with them; although, any person with a brain could have seen her unease.

Her eyes would dart from side to side as she felt the world closing around her, as the crowds seemed to pull nearer to her body. Her claustrophobia caused her palms to sweat, and her forced smile shifted into a grimace. Her weight was switching feet from her nervous shuffling, but the other women continued to drawl on about their insipid lives, unaware of her obvious distress. Her hands had just begun to wring at her clutch handbag when her 'protector' came to the rescue.

"Mommy, I need to pee, real bad!" she emphasized her point, grabbing her mother's hand, and dancing for effect.

"Oh, will you excuse me? Thanks," she said casually to the gaggle of women, leading her daughter away.

"See Mommy, I told you I'd protect you," her daughter gazed up to her, love filling her eyes.

"You're so nice to your Mommy," Kagome said sweetly. She picked up the girl, and twirled her around in the air, before bringing the child down to her lips for a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Look, now you're at the safe place! Will you be ok?"

"I am now, go have fun," she said, as the girl nodded, and ran off to play with the other children once more.

Now that Kagome had a decent view of the park, without the suffocating mobs, she was actually able to sit back and enjoy her time. She really did like taking Aimi to the park, the fresh air, beautiful scenery, and lively attitude was perfect. A great atmosphere for the young girl, and herself, to help them both learn to be independent and strong.

There were large assortments of different people at the park: youkai and human families, single parents, and teenagers. There seemed to be a little bit of everything, and Kagome's eye caught on a young couple snuggled on a bench, watching their young son play. He must have been adopted as well, because the parents were human, but their child was a small Kitsune, probably at least five or six years old. Aimi had taken a liking to the young Fox, and initiated a game of tag with him, leading him on a quickly paced chase throughout the playground.

Soon enough she lead him over to Kagome, intent on introducing her new friend. His bright green eyes were shinning, and his flaming red hair was a distinct contrast to the parks forest tones. Through a custom hole in his britches, a little poof of a tail bounced behind him. Aimi looked back at the fluff with longing, as she pulled him by the hand over to her mothers table.

"Mommy, look, I made a new friend. He's starting school with me next week," she sang, her voice perky and proud.

"Oh really, and what's your name young man," Kagome questioned.

"Shippo, Mam'," he said shyly. He turned his head downward, and began to fiddle in the dirt with his bare toe.

"I see your daughter, and our son seem to have taken a liking to each other," hummed a voice from several feet behind the children. Kagome looked up to see the couple she had examined earlier, looking at her with kind expressions. Her nerves began to build in her chest, but as if they already knew, they took a seat on the far side of her table, giving her the needed space she desired.

"Yes, it seems they have," she responded respectfully. "I'm Kagome; it's nice to meet you. I guess our children will be schooling together soon as well."

"Oh is that so Shippo? How nice it must be to make a friend even before you make it to the classroom," the young man said. "It is definitely a pleasure to meet you ,Miss Kagome. My name is Miroku Takata, and this is my beautiful bride, Sango."

The small group exchanged pleasant conversation, and Kagome quickly realize how much she enjoyed their company. Before too long the couple mentioned they needed to leave, so they exchanged phone numbers to set up possible play dates. Aimi blushed, and hugged Shippo as he was lead away from the table. Once they were out of sight she looked back at her mother, smiling like a little fool.

"Well, you really liked that boy, didn't you Aimi," Kagome teased.

"Did you see his tail Mommy? I want a tail!" Aimi said with awe, her hands clasped over her heart. "We're going to be friends, and get married, he already said so."

"Oh, did he now," she responded, with a quirked eyebrow. "Well, I guess I had better start saving money for that wedding, shouldn't I?"

"No Mommy, you need to get married first, I can't get married if I don't have a daddy," she said coolly. "You can put an ad in the newspaper. Like you did when we needed a couch."

"I'll get right on that, kiddo," she blew out her breath, "why don't you go back and play a bit more." Aimi took her suggestion, and flew back into the midst of all the other children, and hopped onto a merry-go-round.

Kagome mused about her daughter's notion, was Aimi already missing on the presence of a father figure? She hadn't even thought of other men since Hojo. Sure their marriage wasn't perfect, but it was the only relationship she had ever had, and it ended horribly. First with the divorce, and now the only man she ever loved was gone from this world. She didn't even know where to start looking for another man, let alone a relationship that could possibly end with another marriage.

Hell, would she even want to get married again? Of course, she did. If for nothing else, Aimi needed a dad, but she couldn't just pluck any man off the street. Good men don't just fall out of the sky.

"Ahhhhh, loooook out belooooow!" she heard a scream followed by a loud thud on the ground next to her. Looking back over her shoulder, there was a man, face down, lying in the dirt. She heard him grumbling, and started to pull himself off the ground.

"What on earth just happened to you!" she gushed, as she ran to his side. The poor guy just got flattened; she had to make sure he was alright. "Did you get hurt anywhere? Is there something I can do to help?"

"Keh, I'm fine. Just a fall," he said gruffly, dusting himself off. Kagome guided him over to her table, although he seemed a bit resistant at first, so he could sit and rest. He was tall, with a lean muscular frame; he was definitely attractive, but that wasn't what drew her attention. He was of youkai blood, at least to some degree; his hair was a similar fair shade to her daughters, with the same golden eyes. On the crest of his head sat two perky ears, twitching wildly at all of the noise within the area. Why did they remind her of puppy dog ears?

"No big deal!" she screamed, "You just fell out of the... out of the? Well, you just fell from somewhere, and where ever it was, it was pretty high!"

"Ugh. Woman, your yelling hurts worse than the fall did. I only fell out of the tree up there," he gestured at the tall tree above her. It had several large branches, that if you could reach them, they would be easy to rest upon. And, did he just call her 'Woman'? "A squirrel woke me, and I wasn't expecting it, no reason to get all... worked up..." he stuttered his last words when he saw her face.

She felt an odd pooling of heat in her stomach at his intense gaze, and looked away when he started to lightly shake his head, and finished dusting himself off.

"Keh, I can't believe I'm asking this. Kikyo Itou, you didn't know of her by chance, did you?" he ventured, his voice seemed a bit shy, and less gruff. "You *ahem* just look a little like her."

"Ah, no I'm sorry, I don't," she said slowly. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it, so she certainly never met the woman. It was odd that he would say something like that, since she was having similar thoughts of him looking like a certain little girl. "What exactly were you doing in that tree? If you don't mind me asking."

He smirked at her, "Checking out the new recruits."

"Er,.. alright. That's an odd answer," she whispered skeptically.

He only lifted a shoulder in response, not really acknowledging her. After he finished brushing off his pants and shirt, he leaned back heavily into the bench; closing his eyes, appearing as if he would go back to sleep. Was he really going to sit there and ignore her?

"So, are you from around here?" she questioned lightly. She may as well make conversation, since he didn't seem to be leaving.

"I am now," he muttered. "I've lived here for a while now."

He turned his head, and lifted a single eye lid to see her. She wasn't doing anything in particular; only sitting slouched on the bench, resting her beating heart. She was still slightly shocked at his abrupt appearance.

"What about you? From around here?" he ventured, and then turned his attention away from her, back to the kids playing.

"A couple years, but I only moved here after college," she answered. "I like it. It's quiet, and the people are polite." He didn't respond; instead content to sit next to her, seemingly numb to the world. Her gaze scanned his face, memorizing his handsome facade. There were relaxed lines marring his features, which could only have been caused by constantly knit brows. Had he spent his entire life scowling? He seemed peaceful enough now, how long would he have needed to frown to form such creases? He looked too young to have known enough sadness to scar his face in such a way. She knew better though, as a youkai, he could be thousands of years old.

He had probably lived through the assimilation of youkai into human society. From what she knew, it was an ugly time in history. There was a great deal of bloodshed, and hardship for both sides. Youkai had their extended life spans and supernatural abilities. Humans had destructive, flesh destroying weapons and numbers. The war only lasted several years, but the battles were still brutal and horrid. It wasn't until a woman of great spiritual power stepped forth as a peacemaker that the war had ended. Youkai happily laid down arms, and humans gratefully backed down. It still took many years afterwards for youkai to be fully accepted, but in the end, they were able to live a peaceful existence with humans.

"What are you starin' at?" she torn out of her thoughts by his gruff grunt. He was eyeing her suspiciously; the scowl that she had imagined was firmly in place and his arms were crossed defiantly. Well, maybe the youkai was just irritable.

"Mommy, is this man bothering you?" Aimi's familiar voice entered the fray. The girl came to stand before her, protectively growling at the man pestering her mother. He looked at her with interest; Kagome saw his nose twitching slightly, as his eyebrows rose up into the cover of his hair.

"You know, I gotta get outta here. It was nice to meet you, Mrs...?" he said quickly, standing and backing away from the 'threat'. The frown that he had given her had been replaced by a fetching grin; his hands had been raised in a placating manner. At least he liked kids. Why was she feeling so warm all the sudden?

"Kagome Higurashi," she grinned at the weird man who fell out of the tree. Oh! Maybe he would want to go out sometime, he was cute after all.

"Okay," he said simply, and dashed away from them, it seemed as quickly as he could.

"How rude, I gave him my name, but he didn't give me his. And then he just ran off without as much as a goodbye," she sneered to herself with a huff. Alright, maybe he didn't want to go out. What a first class jerk! Well, it wasn't like she wanted to go out with him either or anything like that. Even if he was a tall, handsome, youkai man...

"Mommy, that man smelled nice," Aimi said rubbing her nose, smiling behind her hand. "Was he your boyfriend?"

"Ha, no, I just met him," Kagome chuckled, glancing sidelong at the empty place on the bench. Now she felt so empty, why was that?

"Oh. Well are you going to see him again?" she said in a hopeful tone.

"Probably not, why do you ask?" Kagome asked, finding her interest in the man amusing.

"It's not important, I just like him," her daughter shrugged. That was an odd response, what was that supposed to mean? She couldn't contemplate her words long, because she was being tugged forward, "I'm ready for ice-cream Mommy."

"Alright, what flavors are you going to get?"

The little girl placed a finger on her lips, thinking very hard about such an important decision. Kagome giggled as Aimi smiled brightly at her, before proudly stating, "All of them!"

[~A:|:N~]

4011

Vocab Time!

Youkai - is a term mostly associated with Japanese folk creatures and ghosts; Mystical beings.

Hanyou - a being who is one part youkai, and one part human. Half - youkai.

Ice-Cream - a delicious treat! .

So, what did you think? More details will flow in as the story goes.

Anyways, I hope you guys thought the first chapter was interesting enough to want to read the next one.

- Foayasha

Note: There was some confusion on the location of the story - so just to clear this up - this story is based in a US town. Not in Japan. Thankya!