InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ It Must Be Destiny ❯ Chapter 7

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 7

Amber walked out of her bedroom, yawning. It was close to midnight and she figured everyone else was asleep. In the two months she had been there, she hadn't seen any of the Higurashi offspring after dinner.

Granted, she figured that they all had piles of homework to do, but her own absence after dinner was mostly her fault. She disappeared into her room after eating and proceeded to chip away at her picture. Lately there had been a lot of erasing and do-overs, but she didn't mind. She wanted it to be perfect- for her grandmother.

Although she never told anyone else, she planned to place the drawing on her grandmother's grave, as a token of love and gratitude for the old woman taking an unwanted child into her life and giving her a home.

If it took years to finish the picture- and at the rate she was going, it probably would- she would consider them years well-spent. She loved to draw and she felt closest to her grandmother when sketching the great Inu no Taishou with her own unworthy hands.

She yawned again as she headed for the kitchen. Oy vey… I'm tired. Just a quick glass of water and I'm going to bed. Can't hardly see straight.

Tying her robe shut as she shuffled into the kitchen, she blinked in surprise as she noticed the light was already on. Suki was awake, it seemed, and raiding the fridge.

(“Gomen… nasai,”) Amber whispered to the silver-haired girl's backside that was poking out of the fridge. (“I… did not… mean… to intrude.”)

Suki pulled herself out of the fridge with a start, looking back at Amber in a mixture of surprise and horror. Her arms were full of food- cheese, an apple, a bunch of grapes, a Tupperware container with sushi inside, and other items. Her brown eyes seemed to be shining gold in the kitchen light and she held a log of summer sausage in her… fangs…?

Amber stood there, just kinda… staring at the poor girl. She didn't move. Looking up from the girl's worried face she saw two white triangular shapes poking out from the top of her silver-white hair. Ears...?

Immediately Suki set her spoils from the fridge on the table, pulling the summer sausage out of her mouth. Amber blinked again as she noticed long, pointy fingernails on the girl's hands.

Suki opened her mouth to speak, to try and explain when Amber gave her a tired smile. (“Cosplay, ne?”)

The younger girl stood there, slightly dumbfounded. Then she brightened, nodding vigorously as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. (“Cosplay! Hai! I just got back from a cosplay party, and I haven't… changed out of my… costume yet.”)

Amber walked slowly over to the sink and got herself a small drink of water. Turning, she shuffled back to her room, waving at the girl without turning around again. “I hope you got an award or something, `cause that costume is really realistic,” she mumbled sleepily as she entered her room and shut the door quietly behind her.

Luckily, Suki understood English. As Amber's door shut, she relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.

(“Baka! What in all the hells did you think you were doing??”) Inusouta appeared out of nowhere and bonked his little sister on the head.

(“Owww!”) she whined, rubbing her abused head. (“I thought everyone was asleep! I just wanted a snack!”)

Inusouta eyed the pile of food on the table. (“A snack or a banquet for a few armies?”)

Suki glared at her older brother. (“Oi! I'm in training you know, and I need to keep up my energy! It's not my fault I got Chichi's appetite!”)

(“Too bad it didn't stick to ramen.”)

The young girl punched her brother in the arm. (“What are you doing up, anyway? Aren't you afraid your girlfriend will see you and run away screaming?”)

Inusouta narrowed his gold eyes at her. (“One: she is not my girlfriend.”)

Suki waved a hand negligently. (“Details, details. She will be soon.”)

(“The female I choose to have a relationship with will ultimately be understanding of my nature. I have my doubts as to whether or not Amber-san will be quite so accepting of me if she were to find out that youkai and hanyous are, in fact, a reality rather than a fairytale told by her obaasan.”)

(“Izayoi and I say you're wrong.”)

He cleared his throat, turning back to the subject at hand. (“Two: I only came down here when I heard you two speaking.”)

She sniffed. (“I was trying to be quiet. She startled me.”)

(“Regardless, perhaps I should strive to teach you and Izayoi to change your form at will like I can.”)

Suki wrinkled her nose as she picked up the apple. (“No way. I like being a hanyou.”)

(“As do I, but in this world, we would be considered freaks if our secret were to leak out.”)

She shuddered as she took a huge bite of the fruit. (“I know. Media and scientists everywhere, trying to figure out how we could possibly exist.”)

(“And we cannot risk having Amber-san discover our dual natures and telling people who will not understand.”)

Suki raised an eyebrow. (“I don't think she'd tell anyone. I rather think she'd understand us more than you believe. Just because she's ningen doesn't mean she won't accept us.”)

(“Regardless, we cannot take that risk. You have heard Otousan's lectures many times.”)

(“Hai. I know. Still, I think you're wrong about Amber-chan. There's something… different… about her.”)

Inusouta ignored that and picked up the log of summer sausage as Suki yelped a protest. (“I'll be taking this as your punishment for letting Amber-san see you as a hanyou. You are extremely fortunate she believes your fabrication about being at a cosplay party.”)

Suki narrowed her now-gold eyes at her taller brother. (“I had that first, 'Souta...!”)

The look he gave her was so tai-youkai-like that Suki almost thought she was looking at a black-haired version of their Uncle Sesshoumaru. (“It is mine now, Kiki.”) With that final statement, he walked out of the room, grace and power in every step.

The young girl growled as she cracked her hand. (“Baka Oniisan! No wonder Chichi's always asking Okaasan if he's Ojisan Sesshoumaru's pup. He acts just like Ojisan Sesshy does!”)

(“I heard that, whelp.”) Inusouta's voice drifted down the stairs to her sensitive ears.

Time passed. Amber put the incident with Suki in the kitchen out of her mind, believing it to be simply a case of overtiredness and delusion. After all, Suki had said it was just a costume from cosplay.

A few months later, Amber was leaving the bathroom one evening before heading to bed when she distinctly heard the sound of crying. Pausing, she listened carefully and discovered that it came from Izayoi's room.

Concerned about the lovely girl, Amber walked over to the closed door and softly knocked. (“Izayoi-chan? It is Amber. Is something wrong?”)

A muffled sniff was her response. A few shuffling sounds occurred before Izayoi softly called for her to enter.

The American girl quietly entered, closing the door behind her. Izayoi sat on her bed, wiping her lovely golden eyes with a tissue. Her hair was completely wrapped up in a towel, indicating that she must have showered recently. She wore a pair of cute purple pajamas with little green frogs all over it.

(“What is wrong, my friend?”) Amber asked gently.

Izayoi sniffed again. (“My otousan. A boy asked me out on a date, and my otousan… well, Chichi threatened to neuter him with his Bakuryuuha.”) Upon this revelation, the beautiful girl burst into renewed tears. (“I'm 17 years old and I've never been on a date- ever! Chichi always scares away any guys who want to go out with me!”)

Amber sat carefully on the edge of the bed, placing a comforting hand on Izayoi's shoulder. She wasn't quite sure she translated the whole “Grand Explosion Wave” concept properly, but that wasn't the point right now. (“It will be okay,”) she said reassuringly, trying to make sure she said her words correctly. (“He just loves you so much- he wants the very… best for you.”)

(“How can I have the best if I can't weed out the worst for myself?”)

Amber smiled. (“You know… you are very… lucky. My parents… they… were not around to tell me who… I could and could not see,") she explained in halting Japanese. ("My obaasan… was very wonderful to me… but she did not feel it was her place… to limit my social life… like that. Not that I had one.”) She winked.

Izayoi wiped her eyes. (“You are the lucky one. No one to tell you what to do, who to see, who you can't see, what you can and can't wear. I envy you!”)

The American girl looked at her hands sadly. (“Do not. Onegai, do not. I would give… everything I have… to have a loving family… like you do. Parents who care enough about you… to place limitations on you. If anything… I envy you.”)

Izayoi blinked in surprise. She hadn't realized what Amber had missed by not being raised by her parents. Sure, her grandmother had given her love and education, but nothing could really replace a parent's love and attention. She never looked at her own family like that.

She smiled at Amber, leaning over to give her a hug. (“Arigatou, Amber-neesan. I didn't realize what Chichi was trying to do.”) She pulled back, holding Amber's hands in her own, smiling brightly and her golden eyes sparkling. (“How can I thank you?”)

Amber looked down at Izayoi's delicate hands, noticing the long, pointed fingernails. They made the girl's hands look like a mixture of deadly weapon and elegant femininity. (“If I may ask… can I paint… your fingernails? They are… so long and lovely.”)

Izayoi blinked. She had thought her claws would raise questions with the American ningen, but if she thought they were lovely, who was she to argue? Personally, she thought they were a little too youkai-esque for her taste, but if Amber liked them… (“Sure! I have some bottles of nail polish on my desk. Help yourself.”)

Amber got off the bed, walked over to the aforementioned desk and looked over the array of colors sitting there. The majority of them were different shades of purple and lavender- apparently Izayoi's favorite color. She grabbed three different bottles and moved back to the bed.

(“I have an idea. I… hope you like it.”) Pulling out the first bottle, a dark purple, she set to the task of painting the long, pointy nails on her friend's hands.

As Amber painted, Izayoi told her stories about her parents and how her mother would always get the better of her father. She told her the tale of how they had ended up married (edited, of course) and how she and her brother had came to be.

The American girl was laughing wholeheartedly by the time she had moved on to the next color, a medium purple. Carefully she painted delicate swirl designs over the darker purple, making it look like flames. (“So your otousan got your okaasan pregnant with you and Inusouta-kun… and didn't know it for four months?”)

(“Hai. And Kami, was he mad when he finally found out! He thought she was keeping it from him on purpose.”)

Amber giggled. (“So he was happy that he was going to be a father?”)

(“Hai. Although, he was convinced that he was having a boy, and Okaasan was insistent that it was a girl. Okaasan said he passed right out when he found out they were having twins- one of each.”)

The American girl smiled wistfully. “I wonder if my parents were happy about having me at all…” she murmured in English.

Izayoi blinked. (“Gomen… I didn't understand that.”)

(“Do not worry about it. Just stupid thoughts.”)

A soft knock at the door caught both their attentions as Amber put the finishing touches on the lavender part on the inside of the medium purple flames. The door opened to reveal Kagome, smiling at the two girls. (“Hi, you two. What's going on?”) she said, giving her daughter a pointed look that clearly said “It's after dark- watch yourself.”

Izayoi gave her mother a bright smile. (“Amber-neesan and I were just... talking about how Chichi found out about you being pregnant with us. I was sad earlier, and she helped me feel better.”) She held up her hand, complete with painted claws, flushing lightly. (“She offered to paint my… er, nails, and she did an amazing job.”)

Kagome looked closely at the purple flames. (“She did indeed. You are an amazing artist, Amber-chan.”)

(“Arigatou, Mrs. Higurashi-san.”)

Kagome smiled at the American girl. (“I've told you, honey. You can call me Kagome. You've been with us long enough that you don't need to stand on propriety.”)

(“Hai, Mrs. Higurashi-san.”) Amber replied with a wink. Kagome laughed.

(“Now, it's late. Izayoi, you have school tomorrow. Amber-chan, I know you are no longer attending, but you still need to get up early. We have a tour of the shrine scheduled for eight- a middle school class. I'll need your help.”)

(“Okay, Okaasan.”)

(“Hai, Mrs. Higurashi.”)

Amber stood up, giving Izayoi a smile as she preceded Kagome out of the room. She bid her daughter good night and closed the door. At Amber's door, Kagome put her arms around the gold-haired girl and gave her a motherly hug.

(“Arigatou, Amber-chan. My Izayoi needed a friend tonight. I knew something was wrong, but sometimes a mother can't fix everything.”)

Tears filled her sapphire eyes as she hesitantly returned the embrace. She, who could not remember her own mother's touch, gladly gave into Kagome's loving hug. (“It… was… no problem,”) she managed to whisper, holding back her tears. For a moment, she felt loved, appreciated.

Wanted.

It was everything she had dreamed of, and more.