The following day Yasha just got back home with his mom after they went to the grocery store. "Mom." Yasha asked as he was getting loaded with bags.
"Yeah?" Kagome answered.
"What is too big of an age difference?"
"What?" She asked as she opened the door and allowed him to stumble into the house with the load of groceries.
"I mean, if I am seven, what girl is too old for me?"
Kagome sighed. "I knew this day would come."
"What are you talking about?" Yasha asked as he dropped the groceries in the house.
Kagome knelt down next to him. "You know how I said that being quarter demon you have better senses?"
"Yeah, better seeing, better hearing, and better smelling."
"Yes well it turns out that you also age differently."
"How so?"
"Yasha, you age one year for every normal two human years."
"But I am seven; I was born seven years ago. I look seven." Yasha said.
"No hun, you were born fourteen years ago, you are actually fourteen. You just look seven."
"That isn't right."
"Yes, that's why you are so smart. I knew this would come up eventually. Be glad you aren't your father, he aged so slow it was like he aged one year for every ten years." She said grabbing food out of the bags.
"So I am fourteen?" He said more to himself.
"Yes, you physically age slower."
"Why didn't you just let me live like that?"
"Because it was no way for you to live, it was bad enough you were considered a freak. People wanted to run tests when you were little so I kept you hidden from them for a few years until the fuss died down. I brought you to the feudal era for a few years, but you were too young to remember."
"How where you able to keep it from everyone else? Like the school and newspapers if they knew when I was born?"
"They don't care about anything once it is old news." Kagome said nonchalantly while putting more stuff away. "Besides all I did was home school you for the first several years of your life before saying you were younger than you were. Which was easy because you never had a birth certificate from here so they were able to accept it. I was able to have one made for you on a later date by your grandmother's friend."
"Why don't I remember that?" Yasha asked before it hit him. "So I am fourteen!!!" He jumped up and down, "I have to tell Azami and Kyubi." He started to run out of the room when his mother yelled.
"But don't tell anyone. That would throw everything off."
"But"
"No, I said you were seven because it was the best thing for you. Trust me." Kagome said hugging her son.
"Can I tell my friends? Please. I only have two of them."
Kagome sighed. "NO, you are to keep this to yourself. This is why I didn't want to tell you."
"Alright mom." Yasha said slinking toward his room. "Come on Shiho we will find something to do." He said as Shiho got up to follow the melancholy child.
A few minutes later Kagome peeked in to see Yasha on his bed looking at the picture of his father. Shiho was bring several toys toward Yasha as if she was trying to find something to cheer him up, "Hun?" she whispered.
Yasha quickly jumped up and put the picture away. "Yes mom?"
"Would you like to go to the park? I called Azami and she is going to meet us there." Kagome whispered.
"But mom, I can go on my own." Yasha whined.
"No, I would prefer me to be near. I will leave you two alone to play. I just want to be there in case something happens."
"Fine." He said getting up.
"Good now lets go." Kagome smiled as the two walked out of the house with Shiho right behind them.
When they got to the park Yasha saw Azami right away and ran straight for her. "Hey Azami!"
"Hey Yash." She said smiling.
"Where is Kyubi?"
"He was busy doing things with his family today."
"Sorry that my mom had to call you like that." Yasha said embarrassed. "I am trying to explain to her that I am old enough to do things on my own but you know moms."
"A little." Azami said.
"I am sorry I forgot about your mom." Yasha said.
When she was five, her parents got into a huge car crash a few days before her birthday. Her father survived but her mother was in critical condition. A few days later her mother died on her birthday. She would continuously blame herself for what happened saying if it wasn't her birthday soon they wouldn't be out. It didn't help that her father would always blame her and on continuous occasions would beat her. Many times she would come to school with bruises but she was afraid to tell Yasha. What if he thought she was weak? Wasn't that the reason why he kept her around as a friend- because she was strong?
"It's alright. She was a nice person. That's all I have to remember about her."
"Let's go on the swings." Yasha said trying to cheer her up.
"Alright." Azami said running after him. "How are you able to go so fast?" she asked while trying to catch up to him.
Kagome sat on the bench reading while her child played. She didn't actually call Azami like she told Yasha. Azami actually called her to ask her if they could do something. She knew about Azami's current lifestyle in fact she was actually saving money to go to court about it. Azami had no other family to go to so her next step was to try and get custody of Azami or at least have her leave that place she called home for a better home. But the legal system was a long process so until then she had to watch the young girl get abused. Azami refused to tell anyone; but Kagome knew the truth. Of course Kagome knew all about abuse from her days back at the castle. Those painful nights where you couldn't even find peace in your sleep. She could only imagine what it would be like to be a child going through something like that. Kagome already promised herself that she would get Azami out of that situation even if it meant getting hurt herself.
Kagome was enjoying her book while Yasha played with Azami. Shiho was laying next to her chewing on a toy that Kagome brought for her; she seemed to enjoy being near either Kagome or Yasha and would never take off to play with other dogs.
After being forced to either sit around or read in the castle; books quickly became Kagome's favorite thing to have around. When she first came back, she had to get used to the new life. Technology changed a lot in one year.
The biggest change was MP3 players which before she started the whole feudal era thing was only meant for the rich. When she came back, it was really hard to accept that everyone had one. She also had to get used to cell phones and phones in general. After being away for a year and never seeing technology, she had to have a refresher course on everything, from tv and internet to cell phones. She even had to learn how to drive so that she could buy groceries for her mother when she got to old to be able to. Of course it was easy to pick up.
Shiho lifted her head as a man strode over to them yelling, "Hey, you're the mom of dog boy."
Kagome looked up to see the man that she met the last time she went to the park with Yasha. "Leave me alone." She said before going back to her book.
"No really, I need to talk to you." He said sitting next to her. Shiho got up and walked over to the man sniffing him once more.
"I do not wish to talk to you and if you don't know my name then go away." Kagome said. 'His language sounds so familiar but I can't think of where I have heard it.'
"Well I just wanted to say that I am sorry for how I acted the other day." He said looking away from her.
"You have an odd way of showing it." Kagome said getting back to reading her book.
"You aren't going to say that you forgive me?" he said exasperated.
"Why should I? You made fun of my child and now you want me to say I forgive you?" She said not taking her eyes off the book.
"I apologized."
"I guess so. I guess I should say sorry for the way I acted then." She said to him putting out her hand. "Sorry." She said sarcastically.
The man mumbled something about her being sarcastic while he shook her hand. "Would you like to go out to eat somewhere? My treat. You can bring your child." Shiho barked and wagged her tail.
"Uh, well he is here to play with a friend right now." She said nervously.
"His friend can come too. It can be my way to say sorry for the way I treated him."
"I have my son's dog with me too." Kagome said pointing to Shiho.
"None sense, I have room for a dog." The man said. Shiho seemed to wrap her tail around Kagome as she pushed her closer to the man.
"Shiho stop." Kagome said pushing the dog back.
Yasha came running over with Azami following. "Hey mom Azami and I are hungry."
"Perfect! Then we can go out!" He said playing with the child's hair, making Yasha furrow his brow.
"Fine you can bring us out to eat but that's it." Kagome said putting her book marker in her book.
"Then let's go." The man said as they walked out of the park.
"You never told me your name." Kagome said as they walked down the street. "Mine is Kagome Higarashi." She said putting out her hand.
"I am Hai." He said politely shaking her hand.
"Alright Hai, tell me about yourself." Kagome said as the kids walked behind them and Shiho walked next to Hai.
"Well I am thirty three years old and I have an older brother. I don't talk to him much."
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened. We just stopped talking." Zinan said.
"Oh." Kagome whispered.
They stopped in front of a nice sit down restaurant. "I don't think any of us are dressed appropriately for this kind of place. And they aren't going to allow dogs in there." Kagome said.
"Don't worry about that." Hai said.
They all walked inside the beautiful restaurant. "Don't you need to make reservations several months in advance for here?" Kagome whispered.
"Normally." He whispered. "Let me take care of it."
A waiter came up to Kagome, "I am sorry miss, but we do not allow dogs in here." Hai let out a cough as the waiter seemed to change his mood, "Hello sir. I will show you to your private room. Are they with you?"
"Yes."
"Sorry for being rude then, please follow me to the private room." He said walking as everyone walked behind him.
"Thank you." Hai said.
"Private room?" Kagome whispered to him.
"Yeah, it is really nice."
"Do you come here often?"
"Several times a week. I have to my father left this chain of restaurants to me when he died."
"You don't seem like the type of person to have this type of restaurant."
"I used to but I never liked the suit thing so jeans and a t-shirt are just as good."
"I see."
"Sir, would you like a menu?" The waiter asked.
"Of course, I have someone new with me." He said before turning back to Kagome as they sat around the round table in a private room. "Tell me about yourself." As he asked this the waiter came in with sodas for everyone. Yasha took no time grabbing a straw and sucking down the soda. Something he rarely got from his mother. Kagome was against many things in this era and carbonated beverages were one of them.
"Well I have one child. I am a single mother, I don't have much else to about me."
"What happened to his father?"
"He died." Yasha said before going back to drinking his soda.
"Oh." Hai said backing away from the question. "So what do you do for a job?"
"I work at a pet store and at the shrine." She said. "That's where I live…the shrine not the pet store." They both enjoyed a laugh as the kids sat back and talked before having a burp war. Shiho lay off in the corner watching the two talk.
"Oh, you're in that family of Higarashi's. That's pretty cool. Do you guys still have priestess and priest powers there?" He said jokingly putting his hands up in a mystified way.
"Only on Saturdays." She said back while laughing. 'If only you knew.' She thought while giving the man forced laughter.
"Well I will have to come over one Saturday and see for myself." He whispered toward her.
They both joined in a fit of laughter before a waiter came into the room. "Are you all set?" he asked.
"Yes we are." Zinan said putting the menu down. "I will have the spaghetti with grilled fish. You know the usual."
"Yes sir. And you ma'am?"
Kagome looked at the menu. "I will have the…" she stared at it before she found something that she somewhat knew. "Chicken Parmesan."
"Very well. And for the kids."
"I want a cheeseburger with fries." Azami said.
"And I want instant noodles." Yasha said.
"Yasha, you know they don't have those on the menu." Kagome scolded him. "Now get something off the menu."
"Now now Kagome, if the young child wants that then that's what he can get. All we have are the beef flavored ones though." Hai said.
"That's the one I like!" Yasha said jumping at the chance.
"How do you have…?" Kagome started.
"I eat that sometimes, fancy meals are great and all but sometimes you want something a little not so fancy if you know what I mean."
"Actually I do." Kagome said remembering her times at the castle having to eat special meals every day.
"Very well." The waiter said walking out.
"So you said you have an older brother?"
"Yes, I don't know him to well though. He appeared to resent me when my father died."
"Why is that?"
"Well…
(Flash back.)
"What do you mean he gets the restaurant chain?" a nineteen year old man yelled at the lawyer who was reading the will.
"That's what it says in here. The youngest, Hai gets the Smorgasbord restaurant chain and the eldest is to get the Burger shack."
"I deserve more than the Burger Shack, he is only a six. He isn't old enough to even run it."
"It says in the will that Hai's mother will get it if he is not old enough to take it in."
"This is wrong." The eldest brother shouted. "I helped dad through the times with the restaurant, I asked for it myself. No one else helped him as much as I did." the eldest turned to the mother. "He doesn't even know how to run a business. Why not just hand it to me."
"Your father gave it to Hai so he will learn when he is older." Hai's mother said. "Besides there is a reason for what he did."
"Of course you would say that, you got the best inheritance." The eldest said sitting down in his chair. "This is wrong."
(Flashback over)
"Hai, I am tired of telling you that this business is mine." They heard a voice yell.
Hai got a little disturbed as a man ran in. "You know very well whose business this is. How did you get in here?" He asked the man as he rubbed his temples with his fingers.
"I just came in; it isn't like you are a leader of anything. Now why do you want this restaurant still if you are making enough money?"
"Can't you see I have company? Now go away please." Hai politely said as he stayed seated.
"You will regret this."
"You say that so often."
"One day I am going to get rid of you and then it will be mine."
"Just remember you are being taped and when that happens you are going to be the first they blame."
The older guy was agitated and stormed out.
"Sorry, that was my older brother." Hai said laughing. "He storms in here expecting me to hand my prized restaurant over on a silver platter."
Just then the meals arrived. "I never had a meal come this fast." Kagome said as they were placed down.
"You never came in with the owner." Hai said as he started to eat.
Shiho let out a bark as she saw everyone eating.
Hai looked over at her, "Can't forget you huh?" Hai looked at the waiter, "Bring the young dog a bone to chew on while we eat."
"Chicken or beef?"
"Beef, chicken will give her splinters." Hai said as if it were obvious.
"Very well." The waiter walked out.
The food was great as everyone ate and Shiho chewed on her new bone. After that meal, they had there parting goodbyes as Kagome brought Azami home and then went back home with Yasha and Shiho for the night.
I know that was an odd place to end but I felt like this chapter was getting too long, I was on a roll with this one! Whether or not it was good though is your call please let me know…pleeeease!!! I only got one review last time and that is never good.
I hate to beg for reviews and I am not going to hold the next chapter as ransom for a review but I wouldn't mind getting more reviews next time. I love knowing what I can do better on or if you like the chapter ;) or for that matter if more than one person is reading it.
