A/N: Thank you to the following for their reviews: Rukia's Reflection, Lightning Streak, Dragon and Sword Master, and LadyCash. And thank you to anyone who put this or its author on their lists. Surprise! Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza, Merry Christmas, Happy Yule and Happy/Merry Pancha Ganapati. I think I got every holiday that's this time of year. From now (Dec. 25th) through Jan. 6th, everyone will be getting new chapters of my stories each day. They're my gifts to you, my loyal readers and I hope you enjoy every one of them.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha characters, manga, anime, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Rumiko Takahashi et al.
A Little Vacation
Ch. 17
The trio of school girls made themselves comfortable on the floor of Kagome's room while Sango lounged in the miko's desk chair waiting for her to begin. It would be interesting to see just what story her young friend would weave to satisfy her nosy classmates. Kagome shot her a look of panic, her eyes pleading for help. The slayer shook her head regretfully in return, unable to comply. She and Inuyasha had met long before Sango had come into the group.
"I'm not quite sure I know where to begin," Kagome reluctantly admitted.
"Well, what about starting with how you met?" Ayumi suggested gently. Her friend seemed a little lost for some reason.
"We met under Goshinboku," the priestess answered quickly. That part wasn't a lie and it soothed her to know that she could at least tell some of the truth. "It wasn't a very good meeting. He was asleep and I woke him up. He'd just broken up with the girl he was seeing and was very angry about it. He thought she'd betrayed him and she thought he'd betrayed her and well… It became this whole big thing and it ended up with him at our shrine."
Sango blinked in astonishment. Every word had been the truth except for the last part and that was only because the shrine hadn't stood in this spot five hundred years ago. Kagome had even done a nice job skirting around the fact that Kikyo had sealed him to the Sacred Tree in an attempt to make him suffer by just saying it'd been a "thing." The term didn't quite fit but the school girls must have realized what she was trying to say because they nodded their heads like they knew what she was talking about.
"How mad was he?"
"I remember a lot of insults, a general threat to my life and Lady Kaede showing up and doing something that subdued him. She's kind of his caretaker. As he told you, he's older than us but he still needs someone to make sure he eats properly. He and his brother might work together on occasion but they've never gotten along. I guess Lady Kaede was Sesshoumaru's solution to his problem of taking care of Inuyasha after his mother died." Kagome shrugged, uncomfortable with how much she'd had fudge what really had happened.
"Sesshoumaru sounds like a real jerk." Eri leaned back on her hands, a frown on her face.
"That's putting it mildly," Sango interjected. "Sesshoumaru was raised as the perfect heir. He didn't want or need siblings and he got a real attitude when his father had another child, another son, with someone besides his mother. He didn't see Inuyasha's mother as worthy and carried that feeling over to his brother."
"Oh, that's right, they're half brothers." Yuka nodded her head, as if the situation finally made sense. She remembered what Kagome's boyfriend had told them.
"Yeah, I don't know the whole story about how Inuyasha's mom and dad got together but I can't imagine the parting between Sesshoumaru's parents was amicable." Kagome grimaced, imagining a fight worthy of a war between the two dog demons. She didn't think that Sesshoumaru's mom would have liked the fact that a human was more important to the Inutaisho than she was. Of course, their marriage or whatever demons called it could have just been a family arranged deal so there would have been no alienation of affection. The young miko was leaning towards that choice because from what she'd seen, dog demons were a loyal lot. She didn't like to think that Inuyasha's father had been so loose with his affections.
"Those kinds of divorces are really hard on the kids," Eri mused.
"Yeah, I can see how things wouldn't be too great between the brothers." Yuka paused to open the container of cookies Kagome's mom had sent with them, nibbling on one thoughtfully.
"Maybe their dad was a real dog and hurt Sesshoumaru-kun's mom." Ayumi reached over casually and took one as well.
Sango choked on nothing, unable to hold back the unconscious reaction. She didn't know which part of the girl's sentence was worse, the "real dog" or the "kun" added to Sesshoumaru's name. "Eh…"
"Oh, should I not have called him 'Sesshoumaru-kun?'"
Sango smiled regretfully at the younger girl. "He doesn't like familiarity. The only reason we get away with it is because of our friendship with Inuyasha. He still glares at us, but at least that's the most he does. He prefers the utmost formality."
"Oh… My bad."
"Don't worry about. I doubt you'll ever meet him. He's almost always away on business and has never even met Kagome's family." Kagome grinned at her slayer friend over the others' heads. They didn't need to know it was because the Sesshoumaru they were talking about was five hundred years in the past. For all they knew, the modern day version wasn't much better.
"Come to think of it, what is your boyfriend's family name?" Eri narrowed her eyes, her brain trying to remember if they'd ever been told.
"Taisho," Kagome said quickly and mentally cringed. She'd used the first thing to come to mind and Inuyasha's father's name had appeared without considering that it didn't sound very common.
"Ah. We should probably call him Taisho-kun instead of Inuyasha-kun, huh?" Ayumi continued to consume her cookie, apparently lost in thought.
"Nah, you'd probably freak him out if you did that. He's a real casual person." Sango didn't want to think about what would happen if someone tried to be really polite to him. He'd probably think the person was up to something. The taijiya contemplated the cookie container, noticing that it was nearly empty. The girls had just had a feast fit for a small army and yet they were packing away the confection like they hadn't yet eaten. She was still full from her meal, and the very thought of more food made her slightly ill.
"Did you want one, Taijiya-san?" Yuka asked, offering her the container.
"No, thank you. I couldn't eat another bite."
"Higurashi-san's cooking is wonderful, isn't it?" Ayumi asked.
"Yes. I'm afraid that unless I am visiting Lady Kaede, I do not get to enjoy cooking like that. I am the sole cook in my family and unfortunately, I do not do nearly as well as either of those ladies."
"You're better than I am, Sango," Kagome said encouragingly. "Unless it's ramen, you know Inuyasha hates it whenever I try to make something."
"He's just spoiled. You need a little more practice, that's all. By the time you're done, he won't know what hit him."
"You mean by the time they get married."
"Eh!" Kagome let out, startled at Yuka's sly statement. There had been no insinuation there. It seemed that they were a done deal in her friend's mind.
Sango grinned, chuckling softly as her friend got redder the longer they stared at her with knowing smiles. Apparently, the school girls knew the same thing she did. While Kagome and Inuyasha were a long way from a lifetime commitment, they were well on their way. The school girls might think that all they had to deal with was maturity and family but Sango knew there was a lot more getting in the way. Time was the big factor and no one had any idea what would happen once the Shikon no Tama was once more whole and Naraku was dead. Although, the conversation they'd had with the Fire Rat seemed to suggest a return trip to the modern era. This time it appeared they'd be taking the long way instead of a quick trip through a time portal hidden in an old well.
"Sango, are you all right? You got quiet all of sudden." Kagome peeked at her friend's face, the small laugh she'd been giving gone quicker than usual.
"Sorry, a stray thought occurred to me. So, are you girls satisfied?"
"Of course not," Eri stated, her grin morphing into something the shard hunters often saw on a monk they knew. "There's still the first kiss to go through and who said 'I love you' first."
Kagome groaned and collapsed on her bed. Flopping backwards, she gazed up at the ceiling. "Do we have to?" she asked plaintively.
"Yes," Ayumi answered, her tone soft but firm.
"We got all night," Yuka reminded her friend.
"All night?" Sango asked.
"Sure, why do you think we were eating cookies? We're hyped up on sugar and can interrogate you all night long if we need to." Eri's grin became almost predatory.
Kagome rolled over and buried her head in her pillow. "Sango…"
"Oh, I don't think so. You told them you'd tell them. Besides, I wasn't there for the confession part." She knew her friend had admitted to loving Inuyasha "as a half demon" while she was off with her brother so in good conscience she couldn't tell it as if she'd witnessed the whole thing. "If you can tell me, you can tell them." Normally, wouldn't she have traded secrets with the girls she'd known since childhood first?
Giving a sigh of defeat, Kagome sat up and took a deep breath. "Okay, okay. Here goes nothing. I was the one to confess first."
"You…"
"Confessed…"
"First…?"
Sango listened to the whole thing, watching as their jaws dropped to the floor at the same time. She counted the beats of her heart, knowing any moment now chaos would erupt. It took about ten beats before she was proven right, the noise level of the room rising dramatically. Kagome ducked her head in embarrassment as her friends started talking over one another and the slayer was tempted to jump to her defense.
Kagome wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. She prayed to every deity she could remember for salvation and it came in the form of a small mew from the other side of her door. Jumping up, she raced to the door and threw it open. Kirara sat on her haunches, tails swishing back and forth as she waited patiently to be let in. "Kirara, your timing is perfect."
The cream and black nekomata wandered in, making her way through the crowd of bodies on the floor. She made it seem as if she was merely greeting everyone but really she was inspecting the school girls. Finally, she jumped up onto Kagome's bed, turning around several times before making herself comfortable.
"What a pretty cat. Did something happen to Buyo?" Ayumi reached out to pet the small head, earning a slight purr in gratitude.
"Not unless Kirara finally pushed him out a window. Kirara is Sango's faithful companion. She goes everywhere with her."
"She's so tiny. Is she still a kitten?" Yuka asked.
"No, she's fully grown," Sango answered.
"Hey, don't think just because we got sidetracked that we forgot what we came here for," Eri warned, petting Kirara just as the others had.
"Yeah," Ayumi said suddenly.
Kirara's ears perked up, sensing something interesting was about to happen. Her kittens had been having a very intriguing conversation and she'd decided to horn in on it to find out what was going on. The boys were currently either having a bath thanks to Higurashi-san or trying to get away from the old priest so she'd been left with nothing to entertain her except Buyo. He'd been about as useful as a rock. "Mew?"
"Not you too, Kirara," Kagome murmured. "And here I thought you came to rescue me."
Kirara glanced around the room, stretching her senses to see if there was anything dangerous nearby. When she didn't get feeling anything was wrong, she looked at Sango. "Mew?"
"Oh, Kagome was just about to tell her friends about the time she confessed to Inuyasha."
"Mew!" Kirara exclaimed, delighted. She stood up and kneaded the blanket a bit before sitting straight up so that she could fix her full attention on what the young priestess was about to say. "Mew!" she said again, prodding the girl with her paw.
"Okay, okay. Here goes nothing…" the young miko sighed again and decided to face her fate head on. There was one thing she could be thankful for.
At least the boys weren't listening.
A/N: Did you read my first note and realize something didn't add up? That would be the fact that because I have five stories in progress and am giving them two new chapters, I've got three extra days to deliver something special. You'll all have to wait and see though, exactly what that is.