InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ashes and Dust ❯ Back Home ( Chapter 2 )

I do not own Inuyasha & Co.

Chapter 2

Back Home

Kagome got her affairs in order during the month that passed after she asked her mother about moving back home. She spoke with her job coach at the unemployment office, and sent in her application for the grant to go back to school. The certification she chose was Medical Administrative Assistant, and everything was in the works at the moment.

She felt liberated, and the excitement of going back to school lifted her spirits. Since she made the decision to go back to school, her life was simple again. She packed her last pair of white socks into her luggage. It was finished; she'd packed all her belongings, and had them in the moving truck. As she lifted her heavy bag from the floor, she turned around to take one last look at the room to make sure she wasn't missing anything. Seeing everything was good, she took a deep breath and smiled. She grabbed her purse and left the apartment.

She descended the stairs to the ground floor for the last time. It felt good to drop off the apartment keys at the front desk and walk through the door for the last time. She set the luggage into the back of the moving truck. She gave the driver the address after he closed and locked the door. She climbed into the passenger seat and shut her door. Once the driver was strapped in, the truck grumbled off toward her mother's house.

Not long after, she arrived at her new/old residence and the gentleman from the rental truck company helped her unload the boxes and bags into the house. The afternoon went fast. By the time the truck pulled off, Kagome finally heard her stomach grumble. Kagome sat down on the porch to relax.

“What would you like for dinner, sweetie?” Her mother knelt down and put her hands on Kagome's shoulders.

“Oh, I don't know.” She sighed.

“I'll fix you something and let you know when it's ready. Just rest, it's been a big day for you.” She went inside and closed the door behind her.

Kagome eyed the grounds surrounding her—the trees lining the front yard, the forest of lush trees across the street, and the breeze rustling through the leaves and branches. She was filled with peace. She closed her eyes to enjoy the sounds of the leaves moving in the wind. The light breeze blew through her long, wavy, black hair. Her bangs tickled her defined eyebrows and plentiful eyelashes. She took a much needed deep breath, and smiled.

Her blue skirt embraced her soft legs with the breeze, and her thong sandals cradled her feet nicely. Goosebumps rose on her naked arms as a warm and slightly harder breeze flew through her. Her white tank top rustled slightly as she said, “I'm home.”

Suddenly, she heard a loud bang of to the left. Her head turned to see what caused the sound. There he was. He had tossed something into a metal garbage can. She watched him walk back into his garage. He wore a black bandanna on his head; covering his crown down to the nape of his neck. His long silver hair rested down his back.

He brought more bags of garbage out and tossed the bags into the grouping of metal trash receptacles. He was wearing a red tank top, black knee-length cotton shorts and a pair of black leather thong sandals. A minute later, he stopped and looked at the tree-line, and then at her. She gasped and averted her gaze from him immediately. Her cheeks burned bright red. She heard him slap his hands. Then she heard the sound of grass crumpling as he walked closer.

`Oh, no…He's on his way over. What do I say? I hope he's not mad at me…'

“Hi, you're new here, aren't you?”

Kagome turned her head to see him standing a few feet away from her with his hands in his pockets and a calm look on his face.

“Um, not really. I'm from here, actually. Just…You know…” Kagome gestured toward the front door nervously.

“Moving back home?”

“Yes, moving back in with mom.” Her voice cracked nervously.

“I'm Inuyasha.” He reached his right hand out to shake hers.

“Oh,” she shook his hand.

”I'm Kagome, Kagome Higurashi.”

After the handshake, she ran her right hand through her hair.

“Where are you from? I was told you moved in recently also.”

“Yeah, I'm from all over, really.” He shrugged lazily.

“Ah. So, you live alone?” She looked past him toward his house.

“Naw, I live with old Kaede. She's an old lady I take care of. She doesn't get out much, so it seems as if I live alone.” He sniffed and rubbed his index knuckle under his nose.

Kagome grimaced slightly, but slapped her hands together and rubbed them slightly, as if she was thinking of something.

“So, what's your story?” He lifted his left hand to eye his nails.

“My story?”

“Yeah; why you're moving back with your mother. Is she doing all right? She's not ill, is she?” He looked up towards the front door.

“Oh no, she's fine.” She chuckled slightly. “It's the Recession. I got hit a bit hard, and now I'm going back to school full time is all. You?”

“Relocation mostly. Moving back to my roots you can say. You see, I was born here, but it was a different house my father owned.” He smiled as if at a joke.

“Ah, okay.” Kagome stood slowly and wiped her hands on her skirt. “I should be getting back inside, I can smell dinner cooking.”

“Cool.” He nodded and put his hands back in his pockets.

“So, it was nice to meet you. Talk to you again.” She turned and stepped up onto the porch.

“It was very nice to meet you, Kagome.” She looked back to see him smiling at her.

She nodded politely and entered the house. Inuyasha took a deep breath, pushed it out through his full lips and slowly made his way back to his abode. He looked back at her mother's house a few times along the way.

~*~

Kagome helped her mother cook in the kitchen. Her mind couldn't stop thinking about Inuyasha. They soon sat down to a calm and delicious dinner of green tea, seaweed salad, Oyaku-Don and a bowl of Miso each.

“Oh, Mom, I have really missed your cooking.” Kagome lifted a piece of chicken with her chopsticks.

“Believe me, it feels good to make food for more than just myself for a change. After Sota left, I had to lighten my recipes since I kept running out of room in the fridge with leftovers.” They giggled over the expression.

Kagome mentioned meeting the neighbor for the first time, and the blush returned to her cheeks.

“So, did you get his name? Was he nice to you?”

“Yes, he was very nice, and his name is Inuyasha. He's living with an older lady named Kaede, and he said that he moved here to get in touch with his roots. Mom, does he look familiar to you? Maybe from when I was really young?”

“No, why do you ask?” She lifted a spoonful of Miso to her lips and blew.

“He said he was born here, but that the house is no longer here.” Her mother's gaze lifted to hers. “How old is this house?”

“It's about…Let's see. I believe it's about fifty years or so. Of course there've been some modifications and upgrades here and there over the years, but I don't know the people who lived here prior to when your father and I bought it when we learned we were pregnant with you. At that point, we left the shrine house, as it was too small to house our growing family.”

“Wow. He looks about my age or so, but of course I didn't think to ask.”

“Well, if you get the chance to talk with him again, you can ask.” Her mother sipped at her Miso and Kagome finished off the main dish.

~*~

The next day, Kagome sat up in her bed soon after sunrise, and stretched. She looked at her old room again, and said aloud, “I never thought I would wake up here again.”

Her mother left her room the same as the day she moved out. The walls were a soft blue color, her curtains were white, and the decorations she'd left behind were still covering the walls. “I think I need to do some redecorating in here… I'm not fifteen anymore.”

She looked over toward her desk where she did most of her homework while she was in school, and saw the small picture of the young heartthrob she admired in her youth, Tanaka Hitoshi, who is probably over thirty no himself. As she eyed the picture for a few moments, she thought to herself, `I could so pin up a picture of the hunk next door in that spot.'

She crossed the room and removed the picture, tossing it in the garbage can beside the desk. She turned toward the window and slid the curtains open. She caught a glimpse of him standing outside on his driveway. He was dressed in black sport shorts, a matching tank top, and a bandana as usual. He looked around as he stretched his leg muscles and then looked toward her mother's house, and started running down the sidewalk.

His looks were interesting. He seemed quite nice when they spoke yesterday. Although he also struck her as a bit forward, but personable. She was shocked when he thought to ask whether her mother was sick. It seemed a bit strange, but she thought nothing of it at the time. He seemed to care a bit more than she'd have thought a new neighbor to care, but that could be a benefit in the future, if they ever needed a man's help. She closed the curtains, and slipped out of her pajamas.

Once she made her way down the stairs, she met her mother in the kitchen to help her with breakfast and engaged in some friendly banter about the hunky neighbor.

“Mom? Has Inuyasha spoken with you at all since he moved next door?”

“Nothing more than just friendly greetings. Every now and then, if he catches me carrying bags of groceries, and offers to help, though I turn him down since I'd already gotten so far with them.”

“Wow…”

“Why do you ask?”

“It's nothing. I'm just curious about him, that's all. Gosh, it's been quite a while since I've been back home. I'm thinking of taking a walk to the park later.”

“Sounds good, Hun. You should get yourself some peace and take in the fresh air since you're no longer living in the middle of the city. It would do you some good.”

She nodded as her mother poured the miso into her bowl and handed her the dish of eggs and salmon. They sat down across from each other and ate silently.

After breakfast, Kagome cleaned up the rest of the way, and headed out across the street to the park on the other side of the tree line. The park was quiet, aside from a few kids playing catch, and swinging on the swing set nearby. She walked up to a nearby tree with low branches, and settled on one of them. She leaned back onto the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes to listen to her surroundings.

Inuyasha jogged down the sidewalk after running up the tall stairs between the shops, leading up toward the street to go home. He turned the corner after reaching the last step and looked at the park to see Kagome resting in one of the trees. He stopped suddenly, as he recognized the position. The scene reminded him of one of the times at night when he came upon Kikyo in the past. She was absorbing souls after being attacked. She was laying within a similar tree, resting against the trunk as her soul collectors dropped souls into her core.

Only, this time, it was during the day, and out in the open amongst people. Kagome struck him as a rare beauty. She was just about as rare as Kikyo was all those years ago. He lifted his bottle to his lips for a swig of water when he walked toward the tree.

Kagome took a nice long sigh, and let her ears work hard for her when she heard the crunch of grass and snaps of small sticks off to her side. She opened her eyes and turned her gaze toward her left to see a sweaty, smiling Inuyasha headed her way.

“Hi, enjoying the park? It's a beautiful day, isn't it?” He stopped and sat upon a nearby branch in the tree next to hers. She watched as he wiped his face with a small handkerchief.

“I haven't been in this park since I was a kid. I grew too busy for play when high school and college came along.”

“How'd the move go? I noticed it went quick enough where I didn't get the chance to offer you any help.”

“Oh, the movers took care of it quickly. I left most of my stuff behind originally, so it was just some rather large, heavy boxes, so it didn't take long.”

“I see. Well, as I've told your mom when I moved in, let me know if you need a strong hand with anything.”

“I will, thank you.”

He let out a long, loud sigh and sat back against the trunk of his tree. She looked to see him staring off into the tree line, deep in thought. She couldn't help but notice his bangs as they stuck to his forehead, and his eyes as they glowed in the sunlight. She looked to his hands and saw that his nails were unusual looking. They reminded her of claws, but was that possible?

He caught her gaze and smirked. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“You sure? You've been staring at me a lot lately.”

“I'm sorry…”

He smirked. “It's the hair, isn't it?”

She looked to the side at him. “Well, partly. Your eyes. They're gold.”

“Yeah, I was born this way.”

“I've never seen anyone else like you.”

“And you never will.”

`Boy, talk about prideful.' She thought as she turned her gaze forward.

He left his branch, sidled up to hers, put his hand on the branch above hers, and leaned his hip against the trunk beside her.

“My family is a small family, so there aren't many who look like me roaming around.”

“How many are there?”

“Just me, and my half-brother who disappeared long ago. My guess is he left the country, and since we never really got along, I have no clue if I'll come across him again.”

“What about your mother or father?”

“Dad died the night of my birth, while my mom died when I was young.”

“I see. I'm sorry to hear that. You're an orphan.”

“Eh, it doesn't bother me. I've been alone most of my life, and I have no problems with that.” He smiled at her.

She made to sit up and came within inches of his face. His eyes glanced between her lips and her eyes. She stood up the rest of the way and turned as he turned to square shoulders with hers.

“You walking back home?”

“Yeah, I'm hungry.”

“Ah. Yeah, I need to check up on Kaede. Hopefully she hasn't been thinking of using the gas stove while I've been gone. I have to unplug it while I'm gone.” He chuckled.

Kagome smiled and joined him as he walked around the tree line.

“So, you grew up here too?” He asked.

“Yeah, although the house looks so much smaller than it did before I moved out after college.”

“Yeah, homes have a funny way of either shrinking in our absence, or disappearing over time. They never like to stay the same as when we left them.”

She put her hands in her pockets, and he lazily swung his at his sides. He held his arm out before she stepped out into the street. She looked at him funny and was about to comment when a car barreled down the street past them.

“Wow, how'd you…?”

“I heard it coming. No biggie.” He started across the street, leaving her behind, staring at him with her mouth open. He turned to look at her. “You coming?”

She was brought back into reality by his question and then ran across to his side halfway across the street. She looked at him through the corner of her eye. He shot her a sideways glance, and she quickly looked away. He stopped and asked, “What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

He waved and walked back toward his garage. Kagome returned the salutation as he typed in the code, and walked under the door as it rose. She thought about how he acted around her, and his offers. He seemed just a bit too friendly, which did bother her to a point. However, if there was a stranger she would accept help from, if it came down to it, he would be the stranger she'd ask. As she walked back up to the house, his smile and his eyes remained on her mind, causing a smile to form on her lips. Maybe moving back home wasn't such a bad idea after all.