InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver Hair ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Silver Hair
Chapter Two
AN-SECOND CHAPTER IS UP!
 
The airport smelled like coffee and old people once I had left the plane and made my way inside the actual building. Picking up my three bags, I left inside and walked out of one of those spinning doors where you pushed one side to make the whole door move. Xander and I use to play in those all the time when we went to the mall with Mum.
More old people.
Old.
Old.
OLD.
Damn, I thought. An old couple, along with many other people, stood in front of me blocking my view of the street; where dad, or one of his “friends”, would be picking me up.
Once again I found myself getting anxious and decided to pull out a pack of cigarettes that I had recently bought at one of the gift shops.
“Can I use your lighter?”
I turned to face that God-awful silver hair that seemed to haunt me.
I glared at Inuyasha, placing my light back into my back pocket. “Nope.”
Inuyasha smirked, “You really are a bitch aren't you?” he let out a small chuckle. “Fine,” he stated, “I'll get it myself.” Reaching his hand behind me he gently slipped his hand into by back pocket where it rubbed up against my butt.
“What the hell?” I yelled. Reaching behind me, I tried to get his hand out of my pocket but it was no use; he had my lighter and the privilege of touching my butt.
“Give it back!” I grabbed for my lighter as he carried on with lighting his cigarette. In the process of trying to get my lighter (and pride) back, I ended up burning myself on the small flame. “Fuck!” When I turned around I noticed that Inuyasha and mine's little “scene” had gathered a small crowd.
BEEEP
“Kagome!” a familiar voice called out from a recently washed black Honda.
I turned once again to Inuyasha, who was done with the lighter, and peered at the light in his hand.
“Call it a gift.” I mumbled.
With that, I proceeded in gathering my things and made my way over to the Honda.
 
- - -
 
“Who was that? Hojo questioned.
“Some guy I met at the food court.” I lied.
“Ah ha.” Hojo made a tight turned onto a less busy street than the others we had been on. “Welcome back to, Tokyo.”
“Yea…I'm not getting much of a “welcome” feeling.” I peered out my window and watched as rows of upper class houses passed by, the reminder in the back of my head that one of them would be mine.
“Don't say such things.”
Another turn.
“Miziyaka is very excited about seeing you. Hey! You see that house over there? The one on the end?” Hojo pointed to a tall house that was connected to all the others around it. The door to entry way was on the corner of the sidewalk; making it the first thing you saw when you turned the corner.
“Yea…” I tried to act interested.
“It's yours.” Hojo smiled at me as he continued to drive on.
“Uh, Hojo…if it's mine then why are you driving right past it?”
“Oh, did I not tell you? Miziyaka wanted you to come by the office. Then you two will go out to lunch and then you'll go home.”
A practical Miziyaka Higurashi, I thought, Of course he would want to meet at his work…
 
- - -
It seemed that I couldn't escape the sent of coffee and old people, even when I had entered Dad's office.
“Right this way, Mrs. Higurashi.” I tall, slender woman lead me in the direction of a large, leather chair that sat in front of an even larger desk. “He will be with you shortly.” With that the woman turned and left.
I stared blankly out the large window that was plastered before my eyes. I watched as people made their way through crowds, waited for taxies, and exited stores. I knew it would be awhile before my father would build up the courage to come see me right away. As I sat in that oversized leather chair I felt an overwhelming sensation creep over me that I just wanted to disappear and leave the whole world behind me, for good.
“Kagome?”
Apparently he had more courage than I thought.
I waited before turning my head to face the voice that stood in the doorway behind me. If I didn't turn around then I would still have some dignity left in me, something I could still call mine, not another person's wish for me. Of course, however, I lost it when I turned my head.
“Oh, Kagome,” my dad paused to let out a long sigh, “it's wonderful to see you.”
I stood up from my chair and waited for my father to speak again so I wouldn't have too. When there was an awkward silence between us I realized it was my turn, and there was no backing out of it.
“Sure.” That one, simple word had surprised me. I knew what I should have said, but what had actually come out was what I had wanted to say.
My dad gazed at me; a small flicker of hurt showed on his face but disappeared just as quickly. “I know that this visit isn't exactly what you wanted, but,” I waited for the rest, which seemed forever until he finished, “I hope we can let this time we have together be remembered as a good memory and not a sour one.”
I nodded. Somehow, I knew I had wanted the same thing, but to admit to that with words would have been way to simple for my take.
“How about we go out to lunch in a few minutes? Then after that…well I have a little more work to attend to but Hojo can take you back to the house, and you can get settled in. How does that sound?”
“Fine.” I mumbled.
I thought I had heard a small sigh come from his lips, but then again it could have just been my own frustration playing tricks on me.
“Alright then, where too?”
I gazed back at him with an expression stating that I didn't know what where there was to go to.
“Right…how about…maybe you should go back to the house now and we can skip lunch and go out to dinner later.”
“Sure.” I stated flatly. I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to live through the next year or so of being here.
 
“This is your room.” Hojo waved a hand in the air as if he were trying to point out the obvious that this small open space was mine.
I glanced hesitantly at the baby blue walls and the queen bed (which took up half the room) with its pink comforter and white sheets with frilly lace attached to the edges of them. There was a small table located to the right of my bed with a lamp and a cordless phone placed neatly on top. A dresser was placed to the left about five inches away from my window. At least I found a little sense of happiness when I saw the computer and desk on the other side of the room. Maybe I wouldn't die after all.
I slowly walked around my room until I stopped myself to look outside the window. Down below stood numerous amounts of people, bicycles, and street vendors. Being in Tokyo, of course, I wasn't going to see too many cars, but the ones that floored by were of course the most elegant and expensive. I left my gaze from the outside world and focused it back on the hideous world of my father's complete and utter idiocy. It was true that he hadn't even talked to me for about eight years, but he could have at least used common sense to figure out that, being fifteen, I would most likely have grown out of the “pink frilly lace blue walls” faze and moved on to something more…teen. But, of course, that was asking for way too much.
“So what do you think?” Hojo could see the irritation that flew through me and made an effort to smile, as if that was going to make this moment any better.
“Well I would absolutely be head over heals for it…if I were eight.”
“Bare in mind that that was around the last time he saw you, Kagome.”
“Bare in mind I'm a teenager and he lives in Tokyo where the styles of teens these days are rather obvious.”
“You know your father…”
“That doesn't mean he knows me.”
“Kagome,” Hojo's face was stern, “give him time to get to know you. That's one of the reason's you're here, right?”
I responded, my face just as stern, “I'm here because my step-dad thinks I'm a delinquent.”
Hojo shook his head, “Then let's try to make this experience a good one so your real dad won't think that too.”
I considered this, but only for a slight moment. “Fine,” I mumbled and then crossed my arms over my chest.
 
“How are things in London?” Dad took another bite of his salad before I answered.
“Okay I guess.”
“Just okay? Well, what do you do everyday?”
I took a sip of tea before answering. “I wake up, eat, hang out with my “friends”, go home, and sleep.”
“Well, that's something isn't it?”
“I guess.”
Dad frowned, “Kagome, please, I really want to get to know you better. I haven't seen you in so long. It's nice to actually have the living proof of my daughter's existence in front of me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in the booth. “I don't do anything, Dad. My life consists of nothing special or of value. Just ask Mum.” My Japanese sounded awful when my British accent mixed with it.
“I wish it was that easy.” He smiled and then put down his fork. “Your mother doesn't even want you here with me. Over the phone she sounded,” he hesitated,” concerned, for lack of a better word, that you were going to move back here. If she had any other place for you then I'm sure she would have put you there.”
“Believe me, I know.” I smirked and then reached for my tea again.
“I wanted nothing more than for her to let me be apart of your life. I already knew you so well I didn't want to lose that. However, it's very clear now that I did.”
There was an awkward pause. How could he expect her to let him in on my life when he completely ruined theirs?
“Why did you do it?” I broke the silence.
Dad directed his gaze away from me, but for the first time since I had seen him I watched him intently. His forehead was wrinkling as he rubbed his temples with his index fingers. His hair showed signs of aging with little strands of gray hairs scattered around his use to be jet-black hair.
“I'm being honest when I say I really don't know, Kagome.” He let out a long sigh that seemed to last for moments at a time.
“There had to be some reason,” I insisted. There was no way he was getting out of this one.
“Kagome,” he paused, “I was young…stupid…I thought I could do anything. In those times…your mother and I were going through many problems. Some financially, some in other places, but for the most part we didn't have any common sense. You were born when your mother was twenty-one, I had already finished school and was working on being excepted into a multi-million dollar company that would have given us pools of money, but your mom was still in school working on becoming a doctor, it was very stupid of us to even think about having a child then but somehow…we did.
“I didn't think that it would be that big a problem. We hired a nanny to watch you when your mother and I were out, you had friends to play with, toys, games, and anything you wanted. Once your mother dropped out of medical school, however, thinking that it was better for her to stay with you, she couldn't handle the job of a stay-at-home-mom. She claimed that it was even more stressful than school or any job she had. I had hoped things would work out and that we could make some sort of “plan”. We started to fight more and even separated a couple of times but we always came back to each other. When I had that affair…it wasn't because I didn't love your mother it was because I felt trapped and helpless. I called it off way before things went too far but I know that doesn't make it any better. Your mom and I had separated for a while when it happened. I thought that things were really going to be over and that sooner or later she was going to file for a divorce. Well…she did…after she found out what had happened. When you two left she wouldn't tell me where you were going or even if you were coming back. I had hoped that she would have stayed in Japan at least for awhile, learning that she had moved to another continent all together almost put me into shock.” Dad took a sip of his tea and looked over his shoulder to see if our food was coming out of the kitchen. Apparently his salad didn't fill him up enough. “They're running pretty slow tonight.” He somewhat mumbled his words.
I wasn't at all upset that our food hadn't arrived yet. I wasn't very hungry, either that or I wasn't paying much attention to my hunger if it was there.
After a few moments a silence, our food had finally arrived. Dad munched on his…well whatever it was as I silently ate my over sized salad.
“Are you feeling well? You're not eating much.”
“I guess I'm not very hungry.” I sat back in my booth and reflected on what Dad had said early about him and my mother. Mum never told me what reasons Dad had had to have an affair, but I suppose even having a reason didn't make it any better for her, like he had said. I was too young to really grasp the whole meaning behind what “cheating” really was. Mum had always explained it as “when a mommy or daddy loves someone else more than who they married”. Of course she would make him the bad guy because in this case he technically was. But it would have been nice if she had told me that they were on the verge of separating anyway. The only thing that even made the affair and “issue” was the fact that she had at last minute decided she wanted him back. I couldn't help but wonder if it was her instead of Dad who had gotten “dumped” if she would have done the same thing and welcomed compassion and a companionship when it was offered to her. What if some young, good-looking guy had come to her in her time of need? Would she have stepped over that fine line between right and wrong?
“Kagome?”
I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced at my father who appeared to be paying the bill.
“Are you finished? You didn't eat much.”
I slightly nodded my head, “I told you I wasn't very hungry,” I almost whispered.
“Okay. Well, what would you like to do before we head home? It's not too late. We could probably find some fun before we head back. Maybe we could-”
“Actually,” I interrupted, “I was wondering if I could take a walk to the park and hang around there for a while. It's not to far from the house. I'll come back before it gets too late.”
Dad slightly frowned, but then decided to agree on the idea. “That's fine. I'm sure you would probably like some time to yourself. You go ahead. Would you like me to ride with you down there? We could take a taxi and-”
“That's okay. I'll be fine walking. It's not too far from here.” My gaze was on a waitress trying to keep her cool while some man yelled at her about their food being cold. Obviously she wasn't their waitress, for she looked around frantically trying to find the rightful one.
“Right.” Dad folded the tiny booklet with the bill inside it. “You go ahead then. You have a phone right? I want you to call when you would like to come back. I don't want you walking home by yourself.”
I nodded my head and then rose from our table. “I'll see you later.” I slowly walked away from my dad leaving him and the still screaming man behind me.
 
The park turned out to be a much farther walk than I had anticipated. The sun had just started to set as I sat myself down on a nearby swing.
Back and Forth.
Back and Forth.
I turned my gaze to the ground and watched as my feet moved around particles or dirt. A breeze blew through my long hair and sent shivers down my bare arms. Even after all that talk about the divorce, the anger I had felt over my hideous room, and the whole trip here in general, it seemed that no matter how hard I tried my thoughts continued to lead back to one person. Inuyasha.
He had pissed me off so much that one night that I couldn't seem to get his voice out of my head. When I saw him on the plane going back to Tokyo that made everything even worse. Every minute or so I would glance over in his direction and completely embarrass myself when I would meet his gaze. At some moments he would burst into laughter when he would look over at my confused and irritated face. Sometimes I would feel his eyes on me so I would turn around and give him the bird. Everything seemed to make him laugh or somewhat content.
“You're pretty ugly. Wouldn't hurt to lose some weight too, you cow.”
“GAHH!!” I stomped my foot into the dirt and grounded it in until my toes felt like they were about to burst open. “I hate you!” I screamed.
Another breeze blew by and this time I ignored the shivers running down my arms. Suddenly, all I could feel were the warm tears that begun to run down my pale cheeks. He had no right to say those things, I thought. I felt even more stupid for sitting in a deserted park crying over a few words that some guy I didn't even know said to me. All my life I had put up with names and people trying to bring me down. What made his words so bad that they caused me to feel the way I did? I forced my foot into the dirt again but gave up after the pain in my toes returned.
“This swing taken?”
I gasped when I heard the familiar voice behind me. I wanted to act like he wasn't there, like he was just another guy that I had seen on the street, but I knew that there was no way I could restrain myself from turning around and looking at him.
“What do you want?” I hissed.
“An answer.” He smirked as he grabbed one of the chains connecting the swing to the rusted pole above it.
“No. It's not.” I turned my head and looked out over the empty playground.
“So…” he breathed, “do you always yell at yourself when you're alone, or do you just do it on special occasions?” his smirk never left his face.
I didn't face him, “Who says I was yelling at myself?”
This seemed to amuse him, “Who else is there to yell at?”
This time I faced him, “None of your damn business.”
“I see.” He leaned over placing his elbows on his knees and held his chin with his hands.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, I do live here you know. Pretty funny how we ended up at the same place at the same time twice.”
“I don't find it all that funny.”
“Oh really?” he lifted an eyebrow. “What would you call it then?”
“Annoying.” I said, flatly.
“Ah, I see.” He stated again.
“Will you answer my question now?”
“I come out here when I want to think.”
“That's a classic, you better give me something better than that.”
He chuckled, “Alright. I wanted to get out of the house…maybe halfway hoping you would be here.”
I stiffened, “I don't find you funny.”
“I figured that last part would piss you off.” His smirk came back.
“Damn right it did.” I rose from my swing and started to move away from him. It didn't matter where, just as long as I was putting a fare amount of distance between us. Of course it didn't matter how far away he was, he would always make his way back.
“Aw, come on, Kags, I didn't piss you off that badly did I?” he still sounded amused.
I stopped myself, my arms crossed across my chest. “Don't you ever call me that again.”
“What? Kags?”
“Stop it.” I was mad now.
He beamed, “He have quite a temper.”
“Leave me alone!” I bellowed.
His smirk went away for a moment. “Can't a guy have some fun?”
“No! Now leave me alone!” my cries almost sound like pleads.
“You're still mad about what happened in London, aren't you?”
I directed my focus to the ground.
“Ha. I thought you were stronger than that.” He wasn't smiling now he almost looked disappointed.
“Please, just go away,” I whispered. I had started to turn around when I felt his hand grip my wrist.
“I can see now that you're not nearly as strong as you lead people to believe.” His voice was just a whisper too, but it was much more fierce than my own.
“You know nothing about me!” I tried to sound harsh but my words weren't nearly as powerful as I had hoped they would be.
I could see his smirk was slightly back, “Are you still annoyed? Or are you scared now?”
“Why would I be scared?” I shot back, my anger had returned.
“Because you're in a place where no one is around with a guy you know nothing about except that he called you a few names not too long ago.”
“I'm not afraid of you. Inuyasha, let me go!” I pulled my wrist away but he had tightened his grip. “You're hurting me!” I began to pound on his chest with my free hand. “Let go!”
Inuyasha started to smirk again and this time even added a laugh with it. “Come on ugly. Let's see what you can do.” He let go of his hold on me and let me pound at him. My efforts were useless for he hardly even flinched.
“I want you to leave me alone.” I stated coldly, after I had given up on my attack.
“You can't always get what you want now can you?”
I ignored him and turned to walk away once again. This time he didn't follow me.
 
When I returned “home” I could still see lights on in my Dad's office window. The door was left unlocked so I pushed in open and entered, a burst a cold air hitting my on the way in.
“Kagome? Is that you?” I could hear Dad as he moved papers around and pushed himself out of his chair.
I walked over to his opened office door and would have kept going if he hadn't appeared in the doorway.
“Where have you been? It's past midnight.”
I looked at the clock on the hallway wall and answered, “I guess I lost track of time.”
Dad's face appeared to be somewhat angry, but I noticed that he was too tried to scorn me at the time. “Why didn't you call?” He asked as he rubbed his forehead with his right hand.
“I don't know. I didn't think it was that late.”
“You didn't walk home alone did you?” This seemed to wake him up a bit.
“No…I…got a ride home…with a friend…”
“A friend?”
“Yea…he's some guy I met on the plane. He's staying here too. He offered to take me home.” It was so easy to lie when the person you were lying too was too tired to even be aware of it.
“Oh. Okay…well…next time can you please call?”
“Yes, and I'm sorry.” I faked a smile and then a yawn. “Do you mind if I go to bed now? I'm pretty tired.”
“Of course. Good night.” Dad kissed my forehead and then I proceeded up the stairs to my room.
Once I entered the world of baby blue and eight year olds I plopped down on my bed and rested my chin on my arms. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling above me.
“Damn…” I mumbled.
I looked over at my computer and decided I was too lazy to get on it just to find out that it probably didn't have any Internet or instant messenger of any sort. Instead, I lifted myself up to change out of my clothes. I pulled my curtains over to cover my window and then slipped out of my jeans. I rummaged through my bag, and pulled out of a pair of baggy, black, pajama paints that had Hello Kitty's face plastered all over them. Next, I pulled off my red tank top and replaced it with a white tube top that clung tightly to my body. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and then headed to the bathroom across the hall from my room.
After I had flipped the light switch on, I stopped and gazed at myself in the mirror. I saw nothing but an ugly, pale nobody. I glared at the reflection in front of me with disgust. Inuyasha was right. I was nothing but an ugly cow.
I turned the faucet on and splashed water on my face over and over until it became hard to breathe. I suddenly stopped, ignoring the running water, and let myself sink to the tile floor below me. I pulled my legs close to my chest and rocked back and forth, my head resting in my arms.
“Get out of my head.” I whispered. No matter how hard I had tried, Inuyasha wouldn't stop haunting me. “I hate you.”
Pushing myself off the ground, I turned off the water and retired to my room, where I flipped off the light and dropped myself on my bed. I had fallen asleep before my head had even hit the pillow.
 
“Kagome?”
“Mmmm.” I groaned as I awoke to a bright light in my eyes.
“I'm leaving for work. If you need anything Hojo's number is on the counter. He said to call whenever you needed him.
“O-ka-y…” I grumbled.
“See you later.” Dad shut my door, his footsteps echoing down the stairs.
I turned over to look at the time. 6:35. “Uh!” I threw a pillow over my face and screamed.
 
The next time I awoke was on my own. I saw that it was now 8:15 and convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, so I pushed myself out of bed and fumbled down the stairs to the kitchen. Hojo's number lay neatly on the counter where Dad said it would be, next to it was a list of places to go to get breakfast. I later found out that this was necessary in order to get something to eat in the morning. I wasn't in the mood for food…no actually I was starving, but I held back the urge to eat until I was at the point where it felt like I was going to die. I decided to preoccupy myself with other things, so I ran upstairs to change into shorts and a blue, spaghetti strap tank top and pick up my MP3 player to go out for a run.
 
Tokyo's streets were crowded with people, which made my morning run one of those easier-said-than-done things. I decided to cut my run short and slipped into a small café shop.
My entrance made an annoying bell go off and also directed everyone's attention to me. One of the girls behind the counter looked up from her magazine just to look back down again once she saw it was only another pointless person that had entered. I noticed that she was wearing blue eye shadow and had her left eyebrow pierced. I turned to look away from her and examine the rest of the room. The café was lit with dim lights and painted earthy colors; tones of red and brown. A door was opened to the right of the counter and seemed to lead into another store. I figured I'd bypass the café and look around the other store, seeming that I didn't have any money and at least I could actually look as if I were about to buy something in the other place.
I was pleased to see that the door lead to a drug store, I seemed to be prone to illnesses and needed a place to come to when Dad wasn't home and I didn't want to be bothered with Hojo and his happy-go-lucky moods. My attention turned to the pharmacy, and then it dawned on me that I had something to look for. I paced down the isle until I came across a section for weight loss pills. I looked up and down for anything that would catch my eye until I saw it, a bright green bottle with the word Antifood printed across it. Without thinking, I picked it up and examined the text.
Curves hunger for up to five hours! Never feel guilty about snacking between meals again!
A smile formed across my face as I held the bottle in my hand. I glanced at the price.
$7.99.
“What?” I exclaimed. I dropped my head when I had realized how loud I had been.
A quickly placed the one bottle back on the shelf and began to exit the store. Before I left, I had already made a mental note to come back again before the day was done.
 
“How's your first day back in Japan?” Hojo sat at the counter of Dad's kitchen munching on a bag of soy chips.
“Fine.” I said. I had hoped that he wouldn't be here when I came back home but, of course, that was too much to ask.
“Hey! How about I take you out today? We can go swimming or out to lunch later.” He glanced at the clock, which read 10:25 and then glanced back at his chips. “Much later. Hmm, what do you say?”
“Um…I was thinking about going back out later.”
“Well that's great! Where do you wanna go? I'll come too so you won't be alone.”
It was so hard to say no to him. He was just so happy. “Uh…great.” I cringed at my words. “I was thinking about going to a book store.” I didn't lie; I was planning on making a trip to one after I went back to my drug store.
“Great! I know this really nice one that's not far from here.”
“Perfect.” I gritted my teeth. Hojo popped another chip into his mouth causing a slight case of nausea to creep through me.
“We can go in a minute or too. I need to make a few phone calls and then we can head out.”
I grabbed at, probably, the only chance I had left, “Great! I need to go make a quick errand anyway. How about you meet me at the drug store down the street when you're done? I'll be waiting outside on the bench.”
Hojo looked a tad bit puzzled and then spoke, “Alright. That sounds…great.”
“Okay. The I'll see you later, Hojo.” I ran upstairs to change into jeans and a fitted, black T and grab a few tens from my bag. Without another word, I was out the door and almost running down the busy sidewalk.
 
“$8.10.”
Of course…tax.
I handed the clerk a ten and slipped the pills in a purse that I had to run back to get out of the house. It would have been pretty obvious if I had a bottle of diet pills in my pocket.
“Have a nice day.”
I smiled and nodded and then made my exit.
A clean getaway.
I couldn't believe how easy it was, but I definitely wasn't complaining.
Once I left the drug store I sat down on the bench against its wall just like I promised Hojo I would. I didn't have to wait long, however. It was almost scary how close he had been to seeing me purchase my secret. I shivered at the thought.
“Hey! You ready?”
“Yea. So were to?”
“The book store is only a couple blocks away. Before we go I want to get some coffee. You want anything?”
I shook my head.
Hojo lead me into the same café that I had been in that morning. When we entered, the same two girls stood behind the counter, except the girl with the piercing had her hair down this time. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her chestnut tresses touched below her shoulders, hiding her dangling earrings. Her eyes were a light brown and sparkled whenever the light hit them just right. She wore two necklaces: one, a chocker with a blue stone in the middle of it and the other, a silver sun hanging from a long, thin silver chain around her neck.
“Hey, Sango.”
“Hey, Hojo.” Her voice was like an angel's. I felt sorry for the other girl behind the counter, I was about to die from one day of her beauty, the other girl had to put up with it almost everyday.
“The usual.”
Sango nodded before she went to work on Hojo's order. The other girl stayed where she was, reading a magazine, every now and then looking up at the T.V. that had been placed in the top right hand corner of the café.
When Sango turned her head her eyes met mine and I couldn't help but blush, something I never did.
“I haven't seen you before.” Her smile was even brighter than before.
I hesitated before I answered. “I'm Kagome.” Pause. “Hojo is my cousin.” I felt embarrassed for my British had interfered with my Japanese again.
She continued to smile, “Hojo! You never told me you had a cousin. So, does that make you Mr. Higurashi's daughter?”
I nodded, “Yes.”
“Hmm, interesting. I didn't even know he had a daughter. I'm sorry, I'm being very rude.”
Despite her looks she was very polite.
“So are you his daughter from his first marriage or second?”
I was shocked by this question. Dating, I had figured my father had done, but marriage…boy did that one hit home.
“Um…she's the daughter of his first wife, Megumi.” Hojo replied for me.
“Oh.” Sango looked worried, like she had said something wrong. I decided to lie to make her feel a tad better.
“I'm sorry. It's just that I hardly ever discuss my Dad's previous marriage…I guess it's just one of those things that hardly get brought up.” Boy was that the truth.
“Oh.” She seemed to react better to this, “I'm sorry. Well, it's very nice to meet you.” She smiled again and then handed Hojo his coffee. “Have a good day. And again it was nice meeting you, Kagome. Come back again sometime.”
I nodded and then turned to follow Hojo out there door.
That's when I blew up.
“SECOND MARRIAGE?” I bellowed. There was no way he was getting out of this one.
Hojo motioned his hands in a “clam down” gesture. “We'll discuss this later.”
“Oh no! We'll discuss this now!”
“Kagome.” Hojo was stern and for a moment I felt a hint of fear from his tone, but I quickly shook it off.
“I want an explanation, Hojo.”
“And you'll have one, from Miziyaka.”
“Save me the hassle of having to ask him and tell me now.” I insisted.
“Kagome. No.”
I crossed my arms over my chest like I had done so many times before, and walked in silence until we reached the bookstore. I was pissed now.
 
After a purchase of four books, three mangas, and a CD, I was broke. Okay, not if you count $1.50 as having money.
“So do you normal go over board with shopping when you're upset?” Hojo continued to glance down at my over stuffed bag.
“Yes. And I told you I'm not upset I'm P-Oed”
“Ah ha. Of course.”
As we left the bookstore I noticed that same silver hair that always made my stomach turn in front of me.
“Damn.”
“What is it, Kagome?”
“Shh!!” I hissed, but it was too late, he turned around.
At first I thought he was going to pick on me for my bag of books plus one CD, but much to my surprise he said nothing and turned his attention back to the person in front of him.
“Hey, I know that kid.” Hojo whispered.
I groaned. “So do I.”
“How?”
I looked at the guy walking next to Inuyasha and recognized him as Miroku. “They were both part of this stupid summer foreign exchange student program that Great Britain was apart of apparently. My friend, Jason, made friends with them.”
“How odd…that he would be…never mind. I hear that those programs are a lot of fun.” As I did, Hojo kept his voice no higher than a whisper. “They look really good on Collage applications, as long as you aren't being sent away for other purposes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh well I've heard about the occasional “bad child” being put into a program like that so his or her parents wouldn't have to be responsible for then over the summer or school year.”
“Oh…” I started to go into a thought but quickly left it.
“Anyway. Your father won't be coming home until around seven, so you're going to have to put up with for a while longer.”
“Fine.” I said, flatly. My focus remained on the hair in front of me.
 
“Have you eaten yet? You need to eat something.”
Realizing that Hojo was right, I acted like I was searching the cabinets for food. My stomach started to grumble and I knew that I couldn't hold back the urge much longer. I pulled out a Granola bar and munched on that, hoping it would at least stop the grumbling.
“I'll be in your Dad's office for a while. I have some paper work I need to be working on.”
“Okay.” I said, relieved I was getting some time to be by myself.
Once Hojo left, I took out the bottle of pills that had been stashed in my purse, and popped open the lid. The directions said to take one after every meal. I counted my granola bar as a meal as I placed the pill in my mouth and washed it down with a few gulps on water.
Then, I waited.
“Day one.” I mumbled to myself, and then I marched upstairs to see what wonders my computer could do.
 
AN- Long I know. Hope you liked it! Please review!