InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Cinnamon and Mistletoe ❯ Chapter 4

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Kagome managed a great job of not bursting into a fit of giggles as they were lead to the dining room. Unfortunately, it was all in vain as the sight of her mother grinning wildly and Shiori waving ‘discreetly’ at them delivered that final push over the edge. Shuichi had to steady her before she knocked over a chair that wasn’t really in the way. “You should breathe” he advised and the forced seriousness of his expression made her crack up all the worse.

“I’m sorry” Kagome gasped, leaning on his arm. She took a forced breath and tried to stop laughing. “It’s too much” she said before erupting into another fit.

He quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing about it. He helped her over to the table where her mother was ready with a glass of water. “Are you alright, dear?” she asked in concern.

“Yeah” she nodded and took another sip. It was dangerous to gulp in her condition. “I’m fine. I’m fine”

“What have you been up to?” Shiori asked, brimming with curiosity and eyeing her son suspiciously.

“Nothing much, mom” her son answered. “Just catching up over a cup of chocolate”

“Sorry about that” Kagome’s mother told the other people at the table after the two teenagers sat down on either side of the two women. There were five other people at their table, the youngest barely five and giving Kagome a huge, toothy smile. “Kagome, Shuichi, this is Takashi and his family” she introduced everyone, the little one being called Mia, before they all turned their attention to the various dishes that kept coming their way.  

Kagome kept biting her lower lip to prevent herself from giggling. Mia spotted her efforts and was doing everything in her powers to break her resolve. It almost worked before a slight nudge distracted Kagome. “What’s wrong?” he mother asked her. “You’ve been acting strange”

“I’m fine, mom. Really.”

“You almost chocked laughing. I’ve never seen you like that.”

“There’s nothing wrong” Kagome insisted “It’s all normal. It’s all so normal”

“If you say so…” her mother trailed off.

It was normal. It was so normal in fact that it made her feel awkward. It was the first time in years she could spend time with her mother without worrying over Inuyasha popping out of the well and dragging her off to find more shards, or demons coming after her to steal the ones she had, or seeing the worried looks on everyone’s faces, aware that any of the above could happen at any time and they’d be unable to help her. They were thousand of miles from home, surrounded by people she hardly knew but whom her mother trusted. There were no traces of demons, no time traveling wells – unless there was a whole network of those things waiting to drag her off to the past, which she hoped was not the case – and no concerned phone calls from her friends wondering if she’d pulled through the latest exotic disease her grandfather announced she suffered from.

“You know, Shuichi’s turned out to be quite a handsome young man” her mom said. “Shiori says she doesn’t even remember him ever having a girlfriend”

Kagome dropped her fork in the plate.

“And you used to be so close when you were kids” her mom went on “It would be a shame to lose touch again”

“Mom? Are you trying to hook me up with your friend’s son?” Kagome asked.

“What? No!” the woman said innocently, a bit too much so.

“You are” the girl said plainly. “At your age, too!”

“At my age, I’m too young for grandchildren. I just hate to see you alone and worried all the time. And you never know…”

Kagome started laughing again. They’d picked her out of her usual demon chasing, jewel searching existence, dropped her in a barrel of normal and expected her to stay afloat. She couldn’t help laughing.

At the other end of the table, Shiori was quietly talking to her son. “I’m glad to see you’re getting along well with Kagome”

Shuichi nodded, smiling silently.

“It’s nice to have everyone back together and even better to see the next generation getting along” She was rewarded with another smile and a nod. “How well were you getting along when we had you called?” she asked innocently.

Her son almost choked. “What?”

“I’m just saying, the poor girl was rather flushed and, well, giggly”

“Mom.”

Shiori caught the reproachful look in her son’s eyes and beamed. “Oh, it can be tough at first, but you can always turn to me if you’re stuck for ideas. I’ve been your age once. More importantly, I’ve been her age”

He set his fork down and looked at his mother for a moment. He wanted to say he deals with demons on an almost daily basis. He wanted to tell her he’s faced far greater foes than the awkwardness of a first date (though in fact he hadn’t battled that one yet). He wanted to remind her he’d just met the girl after ten long years. He was faced with his mother’s most disarming smile and the feeling she had been waiting for the chance to act like this for quite some time. She was given the chance to play matchmaker and no amount of supernatural challenges could have prepared him for it.

From the other end of the table, he could hear Kagome burst into another fit of laughter. This time he joined in, finding no better reaction to his predicament.

There we are. Sorry for Kagome’s fit of giggles/laughter, but she has been hit by a concentrated dose of normality and her mother is all to eager to catch up on all the little things that having a teenaged daughter imply.