Kagome wasn't as discomforted planting seeds as she thought she'd be. It was especially gratifying that Sango's house wasn't very far away from Inuyasha's—in fact, if one stood on the back porch, one could see what was going on in Inuyasha's backyard...and that was exactly what Sango was doing. She sat on the banister, arms crossed and a flat expression on her face as she stared daggers at Kagome's head. Kagome happily dug little rows in the dirt, dropping the seeds inside. Neither mentioned their spectator, and Kagome was content that way.
"Well, that's it." Inuyasha sighed, getting up from the ground. Kagome had never dirtied her clothes and she didn't plan to; she had simply squatted down as low as she possibly could to satisfy both her want to plant the seeds and her need to remain spotless. "The garden's done. Just gotta water these troublesome bastards and we'll be done." He smiled at her again, making her redden slightly. "I appreciate you riskin' your pretty clothes just to help me."
"Yeah, well...when people need help, I have no problem...helping." Mentally, Kagome smacked herself in the forehead. What kind of lameness was that?!
"I can see that." Inuyasha chuckled, and Kagome was more than thankful that he didn't acknowledge her pathetic response.
"Well, I should probably get back to my, uh, cousin's house. I don't know when my aunt gets off from work, but I don't wanna be outside after dark, and it's looking pretty...dark." There was something wrong with Kagome, she just knew it. Her mother must've slammed her on her head as a child—not dropped; just plain slammed.
"Want me to walk you?"
"Uh..." Kagome glanced back at the back porch. Sango had retreated into the house; it would do no good to have Inuyasha walk her all the way there, and she not even see it. "Nah, I think I can manage."
"Okay." Inuyasha shrugged. "See you tomorrow, Kagome." As Kagome headed for the house, she noticed that Inuyasha seemed like the only person here—aside from Kouhaku, which was obvious—who didn't call her "city girl", excepting the first instance in which they told her the reason for Sango's dislike of her.
Her turning of the knob on the front door was met with resistance and she sighed, resting her forehead against the wood. She should've known better; Sango had locked the doors. Kagome knocked—there was no doorbell, which was completely unsurprising—civilly at first, but when no one came, she started banging. Though her fist ached, the sheer repetition of her rapping threatened to do damage to the ancient door. Apparently sensing the imminent danger, the door flew open and Kagome stumbled.
"You better let me in...bitch." She grumbled, stepping through the threshold and into the house. "Jeez, what's your damn problem?! I know you don't like me. Fine, whatever. But you could at least let me in the house! God! Where's Emi-oba?"
"Minding her business, as some of us should try doing." Sango replied coolly, sitting on the stairs and staring up at the ceiling. Kagome smirked, crossing her arms.
"Oh-ho. I see what this is about. You saw me and Inuyasha, huh?" She laughed smugly.
"I don't think that's much to be proud of."
"Oh, but I do. He was your ex-boyfriend, was he not?"
"Nope."
"Ha! I knew—wait, what?"
"We never dated. Ever." Kagome narrowed her eyes at her cousin.
"You're lying." She dismissed with a flick of her wrist.
"No, I'm not." Sango looked straight into Kagome's eyes, and Kagome could have sworn out loud at the clarity in Sango's dark blues, was it not for the fact that Sango would find it all too satisfying. "I've never even liked Inuyasha."
"Now that's a lie! He asked about you!"
"Everyone asks about everyone around here. People even ask about other people's animals. It's called "local custom", as well as "common courtesy"."
"We don't do it in the city." Kagome snapped back.
"Because city people like yourself are neither local or courteous." Sango said calmly.
"Why would he ask about you if he didn't like you?"
"I don't know whether he likes me or not. The fact still remains, however, that I don't reciprocate feelings I don't know exist."
"..." Kagome narrowed her eyes even harder, making them look nearly closed. "You're think you're so damn clever. You're not clever. You're nothing!"
"That may be." Sango idly scratched her nose, and Kagome pushed past her to get upstairs.
"And I'm not sleeping in your room tonight! I don't trust you not to slash my throat while I sleep!"
"Likewise." Kagome knocked on Kouhaku's room door, which muffled the song "Forgive Me" by Three Days Grace blasting on his speakers.
"Kouhaku!" Kagome screamed, trying to make him hear her above the music. The music stopped and he came to the door, in an undershirt and shorts. "Dude, you're gonna deafen yourself in here. And you look like you're ready for bed."
"Yep." Kouhaku nodded. "'Cause, see, this week is gonna be the most laidback week of my life. Then...come Sunday morning...it begins again."
"What?"
"The work."
"Well, check this out, workaholic. I refuse to sleep in your bitchy sister's room tonight or any other night, so can I sleep in yours?"
"Sure, why not? I got this inflatable mattress that I've been dying to try, but Mom wouldn't let me. She says "save it for company". Well, now we finally got company!" Kagome grinned and entered Kouhaku's room as he went to his closet and retrieved a lumpy blue mass, one side of which was covered in velvet; the other completely plastic. "Now...from what I know of this thing, it's unsafe to blow it up with your mouth and stuff, 'cause then you'll, like, suffocate or something. So then you gotta use a blow dryer." Kagome looked expectantly at him. "We don't have a blow dryer. You probably knew that, though, right?" She nodded with a chuckle. "So I'm at a loss for how to blow it up. Any ideas?"
"How about this? You be the chivalrous guy who lets me sleep in his bed, and you sleep on the wrinkly deflated mattress." Kagome beamed.
"No way! That's a gyp!"
"Not necessarily!" Kagome countered, amused. "You could get the cushions off the couch and put under the mattress!"
"Why can't you do that?"
"Because I've got back problems, and it's unsafe for me to sleep on an uneven surface."
"Liar..." Kouhaku sighed, but he left the room anyway. Triumphant, Kagome plopped onto Kouhaku's black comforter and reveled in the softness of his bed. She had expected his bed to be all hard and uncomfortable, but she was pleasantly surprised.
Her cousin returned with three couch cushions and fixed up his pallet on the floor. "Could you at least give me some pillows?" Kagome tossed a couple of the flatter pillows his way; she liked fluffy ones. "Thanks."
"G'night, kid." Kagome sighed, tired suddenly. It really had been a long day, feeling more like a week instead of...she glanced at Kouhaku's skull clock hanging on the wall, mentally interpreting the Roman numerals as ten forty-five. It felt more like a week than a mere twelve or so hours.
Yet, somehow, even as Kagome closed her eyes, she figured things weren't that bad...
"That's not fair, Mom!" Sango fumed, clenching her fists on the table in the kitchen. Kagome had the grin of a feline upon her face, while Kouhaku fought not to fall asleep in his bowl of cereal. Emi, who sat at the head of the table, simply continued eating her oatmeal. Kagome couldn't be happier—Sango had slipped and forgotten her facade of amicableness with Kagome in front of her mother, simply because Emi declared that Kagome wouldn't be doing any work in her first week.
"I don't want to hear another word about it, Sango. I know it's difficult, but let's at least give Kagome some time to adjust to our little town. We don't want to drive her like a workhorse."
"Why?!" Sango yelled. "We're driven like workhorses!"
"You live here." Emi drawled. "No one's forcing either of you to do anything, but if you want life to continue the way it is, you know what has to be done. All of us do our share around this house, Sango, and you know that."
"But Mom, how adjusted can you get?! She's already been around enough to know where everything is!" Emi said nothing, eating a spoonful of her oatmeal. "MOTHER! Are you even listening to me?!" Emi looked sharply at her daughter.
"I heard every word you said, Sango, and if you don't stop saying them, I'm going to box your ears so hard you won't hear." Face burning with embarrassment and righteous anger, Sango snapped her mouth shut, glaring down at her bowl of cereal. Kagome almost felt bad for Sango; being scolded by your mother in front of your worst nemesis was no laughing matter.
Then again, there was the matter of that pesky "almost".
"Gosh, Sango," Kagome sighed, feigning innocence, "I feel so bad. Emi-oba, if you want, I'll do some of the farmwork this week. I don't know much about it, but I can always try..." She was expecting Emi to decline.
Yet another surprise.
"Well, that's what Sango and Kouhaku are here for—to help you get accustomed to it." Emi smiled at Kagome. "I appreciate your readiness, Kagome, so Kouhaku will show you how things are done around here." Kagome blinked, glancing over at Kouhaku, who had started at his name, mumbling incoherently. She then looked at Sango, whose head was too far bent for Kagome to see her face, but she did see the telltale trembling shoulders. The bitch was laughing! "Whoops—it's about time for me to head off to work. See you kids tonight!" Emi ate the rest of her food and put it in the sink before leaving the house. The clock upon the wall—in the shape of a rooster—ticked rather slowly, audible within the silence that engulfed the house.
The next sound was raucous laughter coming from Sango. Kagome huffed, crossing her arms, and Kouhaku emitted a loud snore, finally laying his head on the table.
"You—you're such an idiot!" Sango guffawed, nearly falling out of her chair. "What the hell, did you think she was gonna say no?!"
"That's the only fucking reason I even—agh!" Kagome grumbled, tossing her plastic blue bowl and silver spoon into the dishwater. The clatter woke Kouhaku, who loudly muttered, "I'm up! It's Sango's turn to milk the...chicken..."
"Wake up, boy." Sango grinned, getting up and shaking his shoulder. He groaned, glaring at her with red eyes. "Have you been drinking or something? Why are you so sleepy?"
"I slept on the floor last night." He yawned, making Sango recoil from his horrible morning breath.
"Um...wow. You should seriously go brush your teeth, Kouhaku." She grimaced.
"Serves you right for setting me up." Kagome seethed, as Kouhaku headed upstairs to the bathroom.
"I didn't do anything." Sango smirked, crossing her arms. "You set yourself up."
"Shut up, before I box your ears." Kagome mocked, and Sango's smirk fell abruptly. "What the hell does that even mean?"
"This." Sango swiftly balled her fists and clapped them hard against the sides of Kagome's head. She shrieked, feeling a dull ringing in her reddening ears.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU SLUT?!?!"
"Besides practically deafen you?" Sango snickered, but all Kagome heard was that ringing. She knew Sango was saying something, but all she saw were moving lips and heard nothing more.
"I hate you." Kagome growled, yanking the freezer door open to get herself some ice.
"That's wonderful, because the feeling's mutual."