InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Student Teacher Relations ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

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

Inuyasha sighed and leaned back in his chair. In the other room he could see his niece, Rin, sitting in front of the TV watching another movie. It was the third one she had watched today. His brother had gone away on business – though what business that was, Inuyasha could only guess since his brother’s arm was still broken – so he was stuck babysitting.

Not that he did not love his niece. Rin was a doll, but this just was not the best situation. With midterms fast approaching, he spent the majority of his time either teaching or preparing for his three classes. On top of that, if he wanted to even be considered for that research grant, he would have to finish his thesis. What he needed was some peace and quiet, but Rin needed entertainment.

She had already watched all the movies she had brought with her at least twice, and the repetitive noise was starting to grate on his nerves. Something had to be done.

&&&

Kagome smiled to herself as she entered the lab. She was fifteen minutes early. Inuyasha looked up from sorting through the items they would need that day and smiled.

“Ahh, just the girl I was hoping to see.”

“Huh?” Kagome asked as she stored her books out of the way. “Oh, yeah, I didn’t want to be late again.” She gave him a warm smile.

Inuyasha chuckled. “No, not late this time. But that’s not why I wanted to see you. Here, help me set out these things.”

“Oh?” Kagome asked as he placed several items on the table before her to be distributed.

“Yep, I need a babysitter this Saturday.”

Kagome lifted an eyebrow. “You’re a bit old for that, don’t you think?”

Inuyasha gave her a dull look. “Smartass. I need one for my niece. She’s staying with me for a while. With exams coming up and my bid for that research grant to work on, I need some peace and quiet, and I can’t ask a girl her age to sit and do nothing for that long.” He paused to double check the things on his list. “So what do you say? Take her to the zoo tomorrow. I’ll cover expenses plus, say, does twelve hundred yen an hour sound fair.”

“Fair?” Kagome blinked at him, “That’s more than fair, especially if you’re covering expenses.” She reached out for a large brown bottle as she spoke.

“Leave that, I’ll get it.” Inuyasha stopped her, and she gave him a quizzical look. “That’s a strong acid, you could burn yourself.” He pulled on a pair of blue latex gloves and picked up the bottle. Unscrewing the lid, he carefully began to pour small amounts into beakers. “Well, I wasn’t going to offer that much to anyone else, but if you think it’s too much...” He let his voice trail off.

“No, no, twelve hundred an hour is just fine,” Kagome said with a wave of her hands.

“Yeah, I thought so. Here, pass these out, one to a table.”

&&&

Kagome yawned sleepily as she walked down the hall to Inuyasha’s apartment. He had asked her to show up early so they could avoid traffic. She felt it was far too early to be out of bed. But he was paying her, so it was hard to argue.

The door opened after the first knock. Kagome frowned in confusion when she saw only empty air instead of Inuyasha. A happy squeak drew her attention down. There, hanging from the doorknob with both hands so that her feet dangled several inches off the floor, was a small girl. Her dark hair was drawn up into a messy ponytail on the side of her head, her feet were bare, and she was dressed only in a tiny red and yellow checkered pajama suit. She looked up at Kagome and gave a wide smile, showing one missing tooth.

“Rin,” Inuyasha said firmly as he walked from the back room, clothed only in a pair of sweatpants. “What did I say about opening the door like that? There could be anyone on the other side.”

“Like Daddy?” the girl asked happily as she released the knob and dropped to the ground.

“No.” Inuyasha sighed, kneeling down to her level. “Like those men in black suits who wanted to take you away from your daddy.”

Rin’s lip pouted out a little bit and she stomped her foot. “Rin don’t wanna go.” Kagome had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

“I know you don’t,” Inuyasha reassured. “Now go get dressed so you can go to the zoo.” The girl brightened immediately and bounced off to do as she was told. Inuyasha stood up with a groan and smiled at Kagome. “Come on in. You’re a bit early and I’m running a bit late. Breakfast is almost ready.” He closed the door behind her. “If I remember correctly, you like your eggs sunny side up.”

Kagome nodded as he led her to the kitchen, his hand on the small of her back. “Who are these men in black? Don’t tell me your niece is an alien.”

“No,” Inuyasha laughed, “social workers. Let’s just say her mother has issues and leave it at that. Now, is that one egg or two?” He gave her a gentle push towards the table and headed to the refrigerator.

“Two,” Kagome replied, watching him as he balanced a carton of eggs and a package of bacon in one hand and a tub of butter in the other. He closed the refrigerator with a bump of his hip. “I didn’t expect to have you cooking me breakfast again so soon,” Kagome said coyly.

“Well, next time I expect you to cook for me,” he said as he pulled out a pan. Kagome opened her mouth to retort when a large red and white husky bounded into the room and ran up to her. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the eggs as Kagome began to coddle Eve.

&&&

Kagome took a deep breath as she helped Rin from the car seat. The smell of the zoo brought back so many memories from her own childhood. Snow cones and popcorn, elephants and tigers, every smell brought her back.

Balancing the girl on her hip, she opened the trunk and pulled out the stroller Inuyasha had sent with them – the zoo was very large and Rin was likely to get tired and cranky if she had to walk the entire way. Setting the girl in the seat, Kagome shut the trunk, grabbed her purse, and locked the car.

Rin giggled and clapped her hands as they approached the ticket window. “Kagome-san, are we going to see the lions? Rin likes lions! Oh, and Rin likes tigers too! Will there be tigers? Can Rin pet the tigers?”

“Yes, Rin-chan, we can see the lions and tigers. No, I don’t think you can pet them,” Kagome answered with a smile as she pulled out her wallet and paid their admission, accepted the map the lady handed back. Inuyasha had given her five thousand yen to cover their admission, lunch, snacks, and a souvenir for Rin. Closing her purse and tucking it safely in the stroller basket, Kagome pushed the stroller through the main entrance. Directly in front of them was a wide area with food venders, picnic tables, and toy sellers, all stretched out in front of a large open air flamingo exhibit.

“Ooooooo, Rin wanna see the pretty birds!” The girl bounced in her stroller.

“Okay, Rin.” Kagome laughed and pushed the girl over to the short fence separating the people and animals. Rin all but jumped out of her seat to hold on to the fence and look in at the birds. Kagome smiled softly and watched as well. Flamingos were far from her favorite creatures, but they were relaxing to watch.

“Higurashi?”

Kagome looked up in surprise, not expecting to see anyone she knew. Walking towards her, a red wagon in tow and a little boy on his shoulders, was Shippou. She smiled and waved in his direction and he returned in kind. The little boy on his shoulders waved too, almost knocking his little baseball cap off his head in the process. Shippou stopped beside her and placed the boy down next to Rin so he could look in at the birds as well.

“Kitsune-kun, what a surprise. What are you doing here?” Kagome asked.

“It was a nice day, so I thought I’d take my little brother somewhere so mom can get her errands done.” Shippou thumbed down at the two kids. “I see you had the same idea.”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “Rin is West-sensei’s niece. He hired me to baby-sit while he gets ready for midterms.”

“And they call me a suck up,” Shippou laughed. Kagome frowned and he waved his hands in denial. “I’m kidding. But seriously, want to hang out? It’ll be nice to have someone my own age to talk to.”

“Sure, and it will probably be more fun for the kids that way too.” Kagome agreed. She pulled her map out of her stroller basket and unfolded it across the stroller shade. “Ok, Rin wants to see the big cat exhibit and the African exhibit.” She pulled a pen out and circled the places on the map. “And I’d really like to have lunch at the place near the pond. They have a good variety of food, and they sell food for the koi and ducks.”

“That sounds good,” Shippou agreed with a nod. “And Katsu will have a fit if we skip the aquarium, the North American exhibit, or the aviary. He saw a commercial for those little parakeets you can feed by hand now, and there will be hell to pay if he doesn’t get to feed them.”

“That sounds fun.” Kagome smiled as she circled the rest of the places on the map. “And we can go through the Butterfly Garden on the way.” Shippou nodded in agreement. “Come on, Rin-chan.” Kagome reached out and took the little girl’s hand. “If we want to see everything, we had better get started.”

Shippou took Katsu’s hand as they began to walk. He could not believe his luck. First he gets a chance to torture her, now he’d get a day to spend with her alone – well, almost alone. The kids ran ahead and Kagome called for them to stay close.

&&&

“We’re back!” Kagome called softly as she pushed the door open with her hip. Rin was dozing peacefully in her stroller. Kagome carefully pulled it over the threshold so as not to wake her.

Inuyasha appeared around the corner and smiled. He moved across the room on slippered feet and gently lifted his niece out of the stroller. He laid her down on the couch and took off her shoes, before tucking her in. With a tilt of his head he indicated for Kagome to follow him. Closing the door and parking the stroller, she obliged. She followed him back to his bedroom, to find him picking his wallet up off the dresser.

“Let’s see, twelve hundred yen an hour for five hours...” He pulled several slips of paper from the wallet. “Here you go.” Kagome smiled as she took the money and pocketed it. “Did I give you enough this morning to cover everything?”

“Oh, yeah.” She began digging in her own purse for the change.

“Keep it.” Inuyasha shrugged. “Call it pain and suffering. Rin can be a handful.” Kagome smiled and tucked the change back into her wallet.

As she looked up, her eyes fell on a folder marked “Chemistry Exam.” She picked it up and waved it teasingly. “You know, this would be worth big bucks to some people. You really shouldn’t leave something so valuable just lying about.” She bowed the folder with her thumb, threatening to flip it open like a book. “Why, I could slip and see the exam.”

Inuyasha gave her a smile and crossed his arms. “So... look if you want.”

Kagome’s eyes got big as she stared at him. “But that would be cheating!”

“I don’t care if you don’t,” he said back.

Kagome narrowed her eyes and studied him for a long moment. Inuyasha stared back, unmoved. Finally, very slowly, knowing surely he would stop her, she flipped open the front of the folder. Still he didn’t move, and she looked down. Formulas, figures, and equations glared back at her. Her heart leapt into her throat and a thin sheen of sweat broke out across her face. I don’t know any of this stuff!!!

“Of course, what do I care if you look at the Advanced Chemistry exam?” Inuyasha said at last. He ducked and laughed when the folder came flying at his head. “Hey, you’re getting my papers all out of order.”

“Humph!” Kagome replied, crossing her arms.

Inuyasha chuckled. “Aww, poor baby, did I hurt your feelings?” He wrapped his arms around her, effectively pinning her arms between them. “Let me kiss it and make it better.” He gently pressed his lips against hers, enjoying the soft intake of breath. After a minute, he pulled away. “Let me buy you dinner. Mom should be home, we can leave Rin with her for a while.”

She smiled up at him half-heartedly. “That’s sweet. But Sango’s expecting me back soon. I should go.”

Inuyasha sighed and nodded, giving her another small kiss on the nose before letting her go. They walked quietly back through the apartment, keeping quiet so as not to wake the sleeping little girl. Kagome picked up her purse, gave him a peck on the cheek, and left. Inuyasha groaned in frustration and returned to his work while his niece was still sleeping.












< br>













< br>