So yeah... I need to update the rest of my stories, sorry bout all that.
Enjoy! ^^
The morning sun was bright over the houses, the sky a vibrant periwinkle blue with only a few cotton ball clouds rolling past it, the fall weather unusually warm for the late season, the light streamed through the large windows of Rin's home, the house warmed by the simple beam of sunlight. The young woman sat on her knees as she gently tended to her orchids, he lips smiling softly while her son calmly sat beside her, his eyes on the white and purple veined flower, his fingers fidgeted over a thin book.
"Alright," Rin murmured softly, standing from her plants, "are you ready Akihiko?"
The boy said nothing but nodded, his lips forming into a half-pout and his ears withering against his head while he followed his mother to the large leather chair, the child sitting in her lap, the book opened to the first page, his mother pointing at the words on the page, her soft brown eyes looking at her son while her dark locks gently slipped over her shoulder.
"Okay," the young woman murmured, "now, spell this out for me."
"T…H…E," the half-demon enunciated, his amber eyes following his mother's finger as she nodded to each letter.
"Good now, what's that word?"
"'The'" Akihiko stated while Rin smiled.
"Good, next."
"Um…" the boy shuffled as he looked at the longer, more complicated word before he swallowed thickly, "B…um, I-I?"
"No," Rin corrected him softly, "try again."
"U-Uh-"
"You know this," his mother encouraged, "what other letter looks like a stick when it's lower case?"
"Um… L?"
"That's right," Rin smiled, "now, spell it out again."
This time, both mother and son spoke in unison as they read the letters out, "B…L…A…C…K."
"Good," the young woman smiled, "now, what's the word?"
"B… la.." the boy stopped at the fourth letter, his brow creasing as he struggled.
"Come on honey," Rin told him kindly, her hand rubbing the boy's arm, "I know this is hard for you, but you can do this."
"It's confusing," Akihiko whined softly, "I don't get it."
His mother sighed softly as she rubbed the side of his hair, her face concerned but determined. When her son turned three, he had mastered the Rubik's cube with such ease it impressed everyone, even the boy himself, and he was able to beat almost everyone he met at chess, his mind advanced far beyond his years in every aspect save for one, reading. For some reason, her child avoided books and letters, even when his mother read books to him before bed he would look away from the writing; when asked, the boy stated that he didn't like it, that it confused him, that the letters looked all jumbled together.
Rin decided to take her son to a specialist for testing to see if her suspicions were right and, though Akihiko was nervous about the whole ordeal, he was polite and obedient, listening to what the doctor had to say and did as the man asked, the child allowed to reside in the play area while his mother spoke to the doctor, the elderly gentleman telling her that she had nothing to worry about, that her boy was incredibly gifted but had dyslexia; he then handed her a pamphlet to a private school that catered to gifted children, Rin trying not to show panic as she looked at the cost, half thankful that her son announced that he didn't want to go to a special school, that he wanted to be normal when she told him what the doctor said.
The young woman told her son everything, promising him honesty but avoided questions when he asked about his father, prompting the boy to find creative ways of discovering who the man was, the newspaper clippings he stored a clue that he was on the right path, but he opted for not telling his mother after how sad she appeared whenever she saw the pictures and he mentioned his dad.
"Once more," Rin murmured softly, her fingers on the paper, "come on."
"B-Bl-Blaok?" he tried, his mother shaking her head.
"I'm sorry honey, but that's not the word," she told him as kindly as she could, refusing to discourage the boy and tell him he was wrong, knowing that destroying his confidence was the furthest thing she could do to help him, "see the little space?"
"Yeah?"
"That means that that's an 'C'," Rin informed him softly, her fingers playing with his soft locks, "can you try one more time for me?"
The boy nodded as he looked at the word once more, his eyes narrowing.
"B-Bl-ack?"
"Good job," the young woman smiled, "now, what's the last word?"
"C-A-T," Akihiko spelt out slowly, following the woman's finger.
"Now, what's that word?"
The boy said nothing as he stared at the words, his lips trying to form it while Rin's heart broke at the sight of her son struggling, his brow furrowed in frustration as he willed himself to figure it out, the young woman slightly thankful that he had remnants of Sesshomaru's stubbornness in him but less so that he had his father's ability for detesting anything he wasn't good at, preferring his comfort zone and staying in it.
"I'll give you a hint," Rin murmured, amber eyes looking up at her in confusion, "Meow!"
"Cat!" the boy smiled happily after a minute, his eyes brightening as his confidence filled him once more.
"Good job!" his mother kissed him on the head, "now, put it all together."
"Th-e… bla-ck… c-at," the boy started slowly before his mother moved on to the next line; she'd admit to enabling him, but she refused to let him give up.
"Next."
Akihiko loved his mother dearly for never making him feel inadequate about his disorder, among everything else she did for him, so when he was pushed by her, though a part of him resented her for it, he did not hate her for it.
"Mommy?"
"What is it sweetie?"
"After I finish the page, can we do something together?"
"Like… a game?" the young woman finished for him, her small son nodding hesitantly. "Alright," she smiled, "what would you like to play?"
"Um," the boy thought carefully for a moment, "I dunno."
"Well, finish the next couple words and then tell me what you want to play, okay?"
The boy nodded and turned back to the words, his eyes narrowed as he sucked in deep breaths just like his mother taught him whenever he was frustrated or angered about something, the gentle hands running through his thick locks soothed him, his body resting on her torso.
"Alright, now-"
A sharp knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts, both sets of eyes turning towards the front door. Rin murmured quietly that she would be a minute to her son, the boy left in the leather chair with his hands around the book, his eyes looking curiously at the front door and his mother as she looked through the glass in the door, the expression on her face changing from curiosity to shock as she recognized the person standing on her front step.
"He-Hello Kagome."
The midnight locks turned as her old friend called her name, her smile both wavering and nervous.
"Hello Rin," the young woman greeted, "i-it's uh, been awhile hasn't it."
"Yes it has," the other pressed, "what-uh-what are you doing here?"
"Well," Kagome started, "it's a bit of a long story; may I come in?"
Chocolate eyes darted from her old friend to her little boy still sitting on the seat, his own amber eyes interested and his ears peaked in curiosity. Wordlessly, Rin stepped outside with Kagome, the door shutting softly behind her.
"No," Rin told her softly, her arms crossed over her dark green sweater, "no you may not come in."
"But… won't you get cold?"
"Compared to the cold shoulder you all gave me this weather is absolutely balmy," Rin retorted, her eyes narrowing while her old friend flinched.
"Ah-right," the other mumbled, her black leather gloves wrung in her hands while her gray coat shifted uncomfortably, "Rin, I can explain-"
"I don't wanna hear it," the young woman snapped, "I thought you were my friend!"
"I still want to be-"
"And shutting me out that was, what; you all being considerate!?"
"He asked us too!"
"And if he asked you to jump off a bridge would you!?" Rin asked, fury now boiling in her veins.
"No!" Kagome defended, her stomach churning at the sight of her once sweet and kind friend turned harsh with five years of resentment and anger, not that she blamed her, "no Rin! I begged him to let me tell you, to talk to you! But…but his argument…" she sucked in a deep breath before she pressed on, "he made the argument that you would get hurt if we talked to you again!"
"So a nice clean break from everything I loved was the … compassionate thing to do," the young mother snapped sarcastically, her hands now on her hips.
"It didn't make sense to me either," her old friend whispered, "and I cannot be more sorry about what I did Rin, really, I am truly sorry," the young woman swallowed, tears bloomed in her eyes while Rin's jaw flinched.
"So, for five years, you left me alone and now you've decided to come, literally, knocking on my door," the young woman snapped, her dark brown orbs narrowing, "what brought this on, it can't have been out of remorse."
"W-Well," Kagome stammered softly, "y-you see, InuYasha and I w-were at the mall a-and we sort of… saw you."
"Saw me," Rin repeated, a tremor of fear running through her as she thought back to her last outing, knowing who else she had seen, "how do you mean?"
"I mean," the young woman pressed, "w-we saw you with uh-well, you know," she swallowed thickly, "with the little boy."
The young mother stood in shock at the doorway, her deep brown eyes widening slightly before she regained her composure, desperate not to scream of shout out of fear that her son would hear with his demonic heritage.
"I-I see," Rin finally answered as she swallowed, "who else knows about that?"
"J-Just me and InuYasha," Kagome told her, her eyes slightly shocked, "wh-why do you-"
"Don't tell anyone else," her old friend interrupted, "and especially don't tell Sesshomaru."
"B-But i-it's his kid… isn't it?"
"No, after he left me I ran straight into the arms of another dog demon," Rin replied sarcastically, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "who else's could it be!?"
"L-Look, I-I didn't-"
"Don't start," the young mother snapped, "just, don't start."
"But, if it's Sesshomaru's-"
"That demon doesn't deserve to know about me or my son," Rin snarled, "after the way he left me, you have to be out of your damn mind to think that!"
"I-I see your point," Kagome stammered defensively, her hands held up, "b-but…"
"That's why you decided, after five years, to find me," her old friend sighed, "not because of me, but because of Sesshomaru!"
"It's not because of that!" her friend suddenly exclaimed, "we were at the mall and saw you and who we think is his kid-"
"My kid!"
"-and we thought that, for the sake of your son we should try and mend bridges-"
"So this isn't you making amends because you felt guilty," Rin practically seethed, "but because of my son who you think is Sesshomaru's!"
"Rin, please," Kagome begged, her eyes guilt ridden, "I am nothing if not sorry about what happened and I do wanna make amends with you! It's just we didn't see you for five years until three days ago and you just happened to have your son with you; if it had happened without the boy I'd still be here!"
"You didn't speak to me of your own choice!" the young mother snapped, her nostrils flaring before she sucked in a deep breath to calm herself, her eyes darting to the large window that concealed her living room through white curtains, a small head peeking out through them, his amber eyes curious before he caught his mother's eye and slipped from the window, the fabric swishing as he closed it. "Look, Kagome," Rin started, bringing her old friend's attention back to her after her blue eyes looked towards what had caught her brown eyes, "I just…find it hard to believe that after all this you finally want to talk to me!"
"Wh-What would it take… to get back in your good graces?" Kagome finally asked, her throat thickening, "I'll do anything I swear!"
"For starters, don't tell Sesshomaru, about any of this," the young woman told her after a second, "after what he did to me I'm still too bitter to forgive him."
"Yeah, right," her old friend murmured, "sure just… for how long?"
"Until he has a good explanation as to why he left me," Rin told her, "until he had a better reason than the ones in the tabloids."
"A-And the rest," Kagome half-whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Give me your phone number," the young mother told her, her hand outstretched before a white card was placed in it after much shuffling from the red purse around her shoulders her eyes flecked with confusion, "please don't come back unless I call you or I will file a restraining order against you, understand?"
"Y-Yeah, I understand," Kagome murmured, smiling slightly, Rin smiling in response, a sliver of the old friend she used to know shining through, "thank you, Rin, f-for listening to me."
"Well… thanks for apologizing," Rin admitted, "but… I need a little while to figure this all out, this is just a little sudden."
"R-Right," the other smiled, her gloved hand waving as she began walking backwards, "just…please call."
"I will," the young mother promised as she slowly stepped into the house, "bye."
"Bye," Kagome replied, her smiled faltering as the white door shut, her left standing on the walkway; her blue eyes searched around the house to catch the amber eyes peeking out at her though the white curtains before he ducked back into the house.
"Who was that mommy?" the small voice asked as Rin stepped into the house, his head ducking from behind the curtains, his cheeks tinged with red at the idea of being caught.
"J-Just a … friend," Rin breathed, her throat thickening as she tried to keep her emotions in check around her son, "a friend mommy hadn't seen in a long time."
"Why not?"
"It's a long story," his mother sighed, her eyes looking over at him, "can you go get washed up for lunch please?"
"But-"
"Now, please," Rin asked, her hands covering her eyes, her lungs expanding as she inhaled a deep breath trying to steady herself, "I'm sorry honey, it's just… that came as a bit of a shock to me."
"Kay," the boy mumbled softly, his ears flattening as his mother left him alone in the room, the scent of her sadness reaching his nose, his eyes looking up at her retreating back with sorrow; his hands gently pushing aside the white curtains once more to look out at the woman his mother just met, her face turning to the house once more, the boy watching her before he left the living for his own.
His knees hit the carpeting as he reached for the shoebox he hid from his mother, his tiny hands taking it into the light, his fingers flipping through the many folded sheets before he found the few that he was looking for, the pictures of the woman that left their house, her face smiling and her partner a dog-eared man, the same one he had commented to his mother, excitedly pointing at it and saying how they looked the same, his mother's smile faltering but she did agree that they looked alike. Akihiko dug through the remaining papers to find any more of the same woman, ones of her with the same businessman and others, his hands stopping when he pulled out a picture of the woman, but when she wore a white dress and was surrounded by other men, all of them holding wine glasses, one of them having twin stripes on his cheeks and a crescent moon on his forehead.
His amber eyes flickered from the picture to the door where he heard his mother walk past his door, his ears flicked slightly; his mother had said that they were friends and that he was a half-demon, his mother being human and his father being a demon; if both those were true, then his mind stood to reason that one of those men had something to do with his dad, the question remained, which one?
So yeah, little Akihiko is a smart one in't he? ^^