InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The curse of the dragon ❯ mommy dearest ( Chapter 32 )

~<>~ Curse of the Dragon ~<>~

~<>~ Chapter 32 ~<>~ mommy dearest

Kagome stared at InuYasha, her eyes nearly falling out of her head. She turned off the water and stared around the room in horror. "Crap…we got to hide you!"

InuYasha sighed as he stepped out of the shower and turned to help Kagome out. "Little late for that babe." He struggled to put his jeans on over his wet body. Running two hands through his hear he turned to stare at her. "She knows I'm in here…its kind of pointless to try to hide me now."

Kagome glared at him as she put on her clothes. "I hate you, you know that, right?"

InuYasha kissed her cheek before glaring at the door. He nodded for Kagome to open it and she hesitated. "Oi Kagome, we're already in for it…just get it over with."

Kagome stomped her foot and let out a low scream, "this isn't fair!" she growled as she pounded her way to the door and swung it open. She grimaced at the sight before her. Her mother was leaning against the wall across from the bathroom door, her eyes wide with anger. She looked tired. Kagome tried to pull the door shut behind her to block her mother's view of InuYasha and her mother simply shook her head. Kagome rolled her eyes and let go of the door. She shifted her weight on her heels, looking around the hallway, the floor, the ceiling…anywhere but at her mother. "You're home early."

Mrs. Higurashi stood up straight and stared at her daughter in shock. She reached forward and grabbed Kagome's chin and forced her to meet her stare. "What, in the name of God, do you think you are doing?"

Kagome tried to pull her face out of her mother's grasp then sighed, rolling her eyes at the obviousness of the answer to her question. "I thought you would have been back a week ago."

Her mother tapped her foot impatiently and took a deep breath. "So you figured with me gone you would bring your partying home? Is that why Rin is unconscious on our couch? To much to drink? Is this what you have been `hanging out' with Sango to do over these past few weeks?" she looked behind Kagome at InuYasha, who was leaning on the counter in the bathroom, trying to stay out of the argument. "And what about you, young man, are you not even going to introduce yourself?"

InuYasha hadn't wanted to get involved. He especially didn't want to get involved since he didn't have a concealment charm or a baseball cap to hide his ears. He stood grunting and walked up behind Kagome and scratched his head. He glared about the hallway then at the angry mother…god he hated angry mothers…"This is just slightly awkward…"

Mrs. Higurashi scoffed and shook her head slowly; "you're not the one who came home to find your seventeen year old daughter having sex in your bathroom."

Kagome's eyes doubled in size and she cringed. "Mama…it's not how it looks…well…I guess it is but no, we were not partying…not at all. Rin's just tired, she hasn't slept well lately…"

Mrs. Higurashi raised an eyebrow and regarded Kagome's statement bluntly, "well, with this young man's ever so crude comment, I think I can draw my own conclusions about Rin." She shook her head slowly and brought a hand to her forehead. "I leave for two weeks, Kagome, two weeks and this is what I come back to? I left my very mature, very responsible, very innocent daughter in charge of her brother and her own actions. Suddenly, my mature daughter is gone and in her place a girl who is having sex in my bathroom with a boy that I can only gather that you just met. You always introduced me to your friends first, Kagome, and I know I've never met him! Do you plan on telling me just what the hell you've been thinking?"

Kagome winched at her mother's tone and tears filled her eyes. "Mama, it's really not like that! Yes…I met InuYasha about three weeks ago but it's more then that. We haven't been apart since…" she bit her lip and closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. `wrong words, Kagome…good job!' She wanted to let out an exasperated sigh but InuYasha beat her to it.

Kagomes mother's face turned five shades of red as she stared at her daughter in anger. "You what? What do you mean you haven't been apart since? Kagome…have you had him staying here with you and Souta?"

Kagome waved two hands in front of her body and shook her head. "no…not at all!"

Mrs. Higurashi threw both of her hands into the air and nearly screamed, "so you left Souta home alone to stay with him!"

Kagome winched at the derivation that her mother came to. "no…not really…Souta …uhh…well…he hasn't been home either."

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head slowly, her eyes wide with sheer panic. Glaring at Kagome like she was a stranger, she slowly asked, "Who are you and what have you done with my children? My daughter would never act this way!"

Kagome couldn't help the tears that began to stream her cheeks as she stared at her mother. "Mama, please…let me explain…"

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head slowly then with lightning fast speed, reached out and slapped Kagome across her cheek. "There is no need for explanations…I get the picture…you've been sleeping with a man you hardly know, pushed your brother out of the house to find somewhere, god only knows where, to stay while you were gallivanting with a man who for all you know, could be a serial killer! Kagome, I'm gone for two weeks and you turn into a whore…"

InuYasha growled dangerously and pulled Kagome back from her mother, glaring daggers at her. If she were not Kagome's mother, he would have killed her already. "Don't hit her…consider that your warning. Kagome is NOT a whore and for you to think of your daughter in those terms is sickening, absolutely disgusting. How can you even think of your child in those terms? I've known Kagome for three weeks and it feels like a life time and hearing you, the woman who raised her and being one who has known her for her entire life, call her that…. you don't know her at all! Look, I'm not a serial killer, I can promise you that. Before you get anymore bent out of shape, I think you need to hear Kagome out…you owe her that!"

Mrs. Higurashi snapped her attention to the boy behind her daughter, "and you…what kind of man convinces a seventeen year old girl to sleep with him within days of meeting him? What the hell are you trying to do to her? I don't give a damn about what you think! I know my daughter and this isn't her! she would never have sex in my bathroom…she would never have sex before marriage! She's made that vow! To break it…" she shook her head and closed her eyes.

Kagome opened her mouth to answer but InuYasha got to the answer first. "Look, lady…I don't really care what you think of me. What does matter to me, however, is your opinion of your daughter…"

Mrs. Higurashi held up a hand to the boy and looked to the floor. "I know my daughter…I know she is capable of making good decisions…this however, has not been one of them. Kagome, I thought I taught you…."

Kagome groaned and closed her eyes. `Here it comes…' she snapped open her eyes and shouted at the top of her lungs, "I'm in love with him, mama!"

Kagome's mother put a hand to her forehead and sighed. Shaking her head she clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Kagome…how foolish are you? I really thought you had more common sense…you don't know him! Kagome, you can't decide if you're in love someone with three weeks under your belt! Love is serious…" Her mother cupped Kagome's chin again and lifted her chin towards the ceiling, glaring at the girl's neck. She let off what resembled a growl before her eyes traveled to the boy next to her daughter, hellfire fuming in her eyes. "What the hell did you do to her neck?"

InuYasha wrapped his arms around Kagome's shoulders, letting her know that she had his strength. He opened his mouth a few times then closed it again. "Those…yeah…" he had to fight his entire inner demon to keep from smirking.

Kagome slapped a hand to her neck and glared at the boy next to her, squinting her eyes. "Did you…"

InuYasha flattened his ears against his head and pulled slightly back from the girl, a little worried by the anger and embarrassment mix on her face. He grimaced and gave her a rather apologetic smile then turned back towards her mother. "Look, you're right, love is a serious word with serious consequences, just like everything in life. Love is a word I have never thrown around easily…never actually used it before, honestly. Not even to my own parents. But I know for sure, I am in love with your daughter. I would die for her…"

Mrs. Higurashi blocked out the ranting boy and glared back at Kagome. "Kagome, its eight o'clock. You should be in school, but instead, you're in the bathroom of your mother's house having sex in the shower. Have you been dodging out of school for these past two weeks as well? Can I not go out of town without you throwing your life away? Jesus Christ, Kagome! And your neck Kagome…Christ…you really have just let yourself fall haven't you? You look like a whore with all those hickeys!"

Kagome snapped…that was it. "Who the bloody hell are you to lecture to me? Let me tell you something, mother, I've grown up. I make my own damned decisions. For these past five years, I've done nothing but try to keep you happy with my grades and my actions. I never lived…I never did anything wrong! Mother, let me tell you about these past two weeks. They have been hell! If InuYasha hadn't come along, I probably would be dead right now!" she heard her mother gasp but she ignored her. "You remember Diegosan…you know, the fucker who killed my father? Yeah, I know about that now too."

Her mother put a hand to her mouth and gently reached towards Kagome who pulled back into Inuyasha's chest. "Kagome…"

Kagome glared daggers at the woman and shook her head, "no, mother, let me finish this. So, yes, I know about Diegosan…what you probably don't know is that he's dead…and hey, Souta might have been involved in that." taking a deep breath, the speed to her words picked up without much breathing between words. She used her hands for feral gestures where needed. "Well, also I found out that Naraku, Diegosan's son, has been raping Rin for six months, whose father was aware of his actions and did nothing to stop him and really abandoned Rin to the bastard. So when I learned about this, I took Rin away from him…he's been trying to kill me since. So InuYasha and his brother Sesshoumaru helped us out…they took us into the mansion. See, his stepmother was really sleeping Diegosan behind his father's back, who also killed his father, and also tried to kill the boys and ended up killing five of Inuyasha's friends…." She took a deep breath, breaking away from her rant.

InuYasha gently rubbed her shoulders and leaned to Kagome's ear. "Princess you're rambling."

Kagome glared at the boy who immediately backed down and she turned to glare at her mother. "So, Naraku tried to rape Rin in school and Sesshoumaru took him out, getting injured in the process…and InuYasha decided to seek revenge for him and was nearly killed until Souta and his new girlfriend, yes I said girlfriend, Karron, found them and one of them shot Diegosan dead…yes, it is possible that Souta killed a man."

InuYasha gasped almost as loudly as her mother did. "Souta?" the two glared at her and waited for explanations.

Kagome blinked once and sighed. "He has yet to admit he did it but I know he did. So yeah…then InuYasha saved me from being kidnapped by Naraku and now we can't be anywhere in town because they are after us!"

Kagome's mother rubbed her face and shook her head quickly, "this has to be a dream…I…no, my daughter would never get involved in stuff like this…my son would never kill a man…" she gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "for months, Souta has been asking me about Diegosan!"

Kagome reached out and slapped away her mother's hand from rubbing her face. "This is real, mom, get over it. You didn't think of worrying about Souta going after a dangerous man like Diegosan? And you call me stupid and narrow minded?"

Kagome's mother looked as if she was going to pass out. Putting her back against the wall, she slowly slid down it to sit on the floor. "You have to go to the police…"

Kagome pulled away from InuYasha and squatted down in front of her mother. "Look, don't you think I thought of that? I want to…I mean, Miroku was shot and we can't get him help…. but we can't." tears overwhelmed the girl and her voice cracked. "Naraku owns the police, just like how Diegosan did. We need to deal with this, and I can't have you hating me for this."

Kagome's mother glared out from her hands at her daughter and sighed. She reached out and gingerly touched Kagome's cheek. "Honey, I don't hate you…I could never hate you." Tears filled the woman's eyes as she pulled Kagome into a warm embrace, "oh honey, I am so sorry…. i didn't mean…"

Kagome let out a sob of frustration and of release and began crying into the woman's shoulder.

Mrs. Higurashi rubbed Kagome's hair trying to sooth her. She felt tears running down her cheeks as well as she cradled her daughter. "I'm sorry Kagome…I shouldn't have left you…god I should never have been gone for that long. Maybe if I hadn't…"

InuYasha watched the two women crying into each other's arms in commiseration and in an utter feeling of detachment. He couldn't comfort Kagome's tears and that knowledge alone tore a hole in his heart. He, instead, chose to rest his back against the wall, his hands balled into tight fists.

Kagome pulled back from her mother after a moment and sniffled, "no mom, if you hadn't left I might not have met InuYasha…and regardless of all the problems, I'm glad I did. I can't imagine my life not knowing him." she stood on weary legs and grabbed Inuyasha's right arm. Tugging him forward she placed him in front of her. "Mother, this is InuYasha…InuYasha, my mother…" she gave her mother a small smile that was really a plea for her to at least act civil towards her lover.

Mrs. Higurashi stood slowly and gave the boy a short bow. Shock etched his face as he returned the gesture. She looked the boy over and sighed. "I'm pleased that my daughter has chosen to introduce us rather then sneak this behind my back but I need to say this…"

InuYasha growled at the thoughts that ran through his mind of what she could say…lines that he had heard a thousand times over. `Stay away from my daughter half bred…if you come near her again, I'll call the police/FBI/fire department or his favorite, I'll kill you dead.' He closed his eyes and braced for the worst.

"If you hurt my daughter…no measure of brute strength will save you."

InuYasha laughed shallowly and gave her a smile as he opened his eyes. `Maybe I can get to like this woman after all.' He gave her the most sincere smile he could muster, after all, being caught shaking up with her daughter didn't help his pride. "I will not hurt your daughter…I would kill myself first. I'm…sorry…that we had to meet under these circumstances…."

Mrs. Higurashi cleared her throat and glared back at Kagome. "Yes, talking about…these circumstances…you know you're grounded, correct? And I mean banished in your room grounded."

Kagome rolled her eyes and groaned, "mom…. you can't ground me when I have to fight an evil bad guy for the safety of my friends. You just can't!"

Mrs. Higurashi raised an eyebrow to her daughter. "Its not your place to fight crime dear…"

Kagome sighed in frustration and held her hands out in front of her, "then who else is going to? I'm not fighting crime mom, I'm fighting a crime boss! We need to take him down before he comes in here with guns. I'm sure he will just give him time! I'm shocked that he hasn't actually!"

InuYasha nodded once and wrapped an arm around Kagome's shoulders. "What your daughter is trying to say is that once this basta…man...goes down, then we'll debate her punishment. Until then, she needs to continue staying away from here. And I suggest the same for you. Get Souta and get out of here. I'll have Kagome contact you when it's safe to come back."

Mrs. Higurashi turned slowly to look at the hanyou. "No one will push me out of my house…"

Kagome sighed and shook her head slowly. "They tried to kill Sango mom. Two men hid in her boyfriends apartment…"

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head, as if trying to get hear right. "Since when did Sango have a boyfriend? Did all these boys materialize out of thin air or something?"

Kagome thought for a moment then shrugged, "kind of…it's really a long story. But mom, you can't stay here…you just can't. It's not safe. Please…"

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and glanced about the house. "Kagome, I can't believe you would get yourself into something like this. This is bad, Kagome…real bad. I'll go out of town, dear, but you're coming with me. I'm not leaving my teenage daughter here to be possibly killed in some meaningless battle."

Kagome pulled back from her mother and sighed. "Mom, I'm not leaving InuYasha, who needs to fight Naraku."

Mrs. Higurashi closed her eyes and waved a hand at InuYasha, "and why do you need to fight Naraku?"

InuYasha sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Because he threatened what's mine."

Mrs. Higurashi slowly glared at the boy and raised an eyebrow, "and what per say, is yours?"

InuYasha didn't say anything; he kept his gaze on the woman in front of him. He knew a trick question when he heard one. His patience was wearing thin and he felt like he really could snap at any minute. He blinked very slowly and turned to look at Kagome. "Are you going to take a real shower now?" he could almost feel her mother's eyes piercing through is back as he swallowed down the grin that was forming on his face.

Kagome glared at the boy before slowly turning to face her mother, her face returning to her shades of red. "uhh…yeah. Mom…please don't kill him while I'm in there…" she backed up slowly, pushing past InuYasha and walked into the door.

InuYasha looked over towards her mother, who was glowering at the boy, then back at Kagome. Slowly, he began to follow her back into the bathroom. A hand slapped down on his arm and he turned to find her mother a foot from him. "I was…err…"

Her mother glared at the boy with anger in her eyes. "We need to talk…"

InuYasha sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right, fine…but I am going to tell you this; if you're going to tell me to stay away from your daughter, save your breath. I am in love with Kagome and there is nothing under the sun you can say to me to make me feel otherwise. I will protect her with my life, so don't worry about that either."

Mrs. Higurashi blinked once then again. Looking into his amber eyes, her eyes softened. "I don't want to believe you two are in love yet. I believe that you both are in love with the idea of being in love. There is nothing you can do right now to convince me otherwise. It's how I feel."

InuYasha felt the growl rumbling from the back of throat as he narrowed his eyes. With a snide look, he shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

Kagome's mother crossed her arms and beckoned for him to follow her downstairs. The two walked down the stairs quietly and ventured into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink, InuYasha?"

InuYasha shook his head and dropped into a chair across from where Kagome's mother sat. "No, thank you." he folded his arms and glared defiantly out the door.

Mrs. Higurashi took a deep breath and slowly asked him, "I don't want details…I don't want to know more then I ask, do you understand?"

InuYasha glared back at the woman and stiffly nodded.

"How many times have you and my daughter been intimate?"

InuYasha was tempted to tell her hundreds…he was tempted to go into explicit made up detail…he wanted to make the woman squirm. `How could this woman think of asking me this? I'm not going to just tell her shit! Damnit all, why is she putting me through this fuckin torture?' he coughed once as his eyes widened a few degrees. "Intimate, ma'am?"

Mrs. Higurashi blinked once and sighed. "Please tell me you know what the word intimate means?"

InuYasha pondered for a moment what the mother of a `straight A' student would think of her daughter dating a moron. He licked his lips slowly then rolled his eyes. "Twice…this being the second time."

The news seemed to settle her nerves but the next question was one that InuYasha himself did not really think of. "Have you been careful?"

InuYasha could feel the frown form on his lips regardless whether he wanted it there or not. "Careful, ma'am?"
Mrs. Higurashi closed her eyes and put a hand to her head. The vein in the right side of her forehead slowly began to pump harder as she tried to control her temper. "Have you used protection…and if you say `protection ma'am' I will personally make sure you never see Kagome again!"

InuYasha looked out into the other room, praying Rin would wake up or someone would bomb their house…anything to get him out of the death glare. He could lie…it would be simple. Preparing to do so, he turned to smile at the woman and froze. Looking this woman in the eye and lying was like lying to Kagome. He swallowed hard as he realized that he couldn't do this. He hung his head as his ears flattened to his head. "Well…we…that is…."

Kagome's mother held out a hand and sighed deeply. Taking a few ragged deep breaths, she slowly asked, "if my daughter gets pregnant…"

InuYasha seemed taken back at the idea but finished her sentence with the utmost certainty behind his words. "Then I will marry her and we'll have a family."

Kagome's mother pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Tell me how you plan on making an income to take care of your family?" she sighed heavily. `This is not how the first meeting with the boyfriend is not supposed to go! We should be having dinner and talking of his family. We should be talking about his favorite baseball team…not sex…and mostly not sex with my daughter!'

InuYasha stared at her for a moment then shrugged. "Well, I've always wanted to open my own garage…" he nearly laughed at the blank stare he got from her mother and quickly added, "or I could help my brother in my father's business…. I mean, it is a multi-billion dollar company." He knew he sounded like a snot by the end of the sentence, but he had to add it. He grinned as he watched some of the color drain from her mother's face.

Mrs. Higurashi took a moment to compose herself then sighed. "So you plan on living off your brother's profit?"

InuYasha reared back and shook his head no. "no, I am heir to half the company's profits as soon as I turn eighteen, which is only two months away. My father, before he died, added me into his will…that my brother and me would get half the company's assets. There's a whole bunch of clauses to avoid my bit…step mother…. from getting all of the money."

Mrs. Higurashi took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow. "And who was your father, might I ask?"

InuYasha blinked then shrugged. "Inu no Tashio."

Mrs. Higurashi stood abruptly from her chair, her eyes widened to an alarming size. "Tashio? You're Inuno's son?"

InuYasha pushed his chair back to distance himself from Kagome's mother. She suddenly seemed…strange. "Yeah…"

Mrs. Higurashi frowned and sat back down to her chair, her eyes filled with sorrow. "When did your father pass?"

InuYasha shrugged and leaned the chair back on its two legs. "About ten years ago…my stepmother killed him."

Mrs. Higurashi closed her eyes and sighed deeply. InuYasha could sense the tears before they began streaming her face. "I…we…Tashio was one of my closest friends in high school…. he was the one who introduced me to Kagome's father." Her eyes darkened as she slowly shook her head. "I lost contact with him after we graduated…we talked briefly but nothing significant." She stared at InuYasha for a moment, her eyes slowly taking him in. After an awkward moment she slowly nodded. "You look so much like him. The silver hair…your golden eyes…I don't know how I missed it." she laughed and shook her head, "your attitude…it all fits. Were you two close?"

InuYasha rolled his eyes, "as close as Tokyo is to Miami."

Shaking her head, Mrs. Higurashi blinked back tears, "I'm sorry to hear that, he was a great man. Tell me, his son Sesshoumaru…is that your half brother?"

InuYasha gave her a sideways glance and cocked an eyebrow. "uhh…yeah."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded slowly, "how is Sesshoumaru?"

InuYasha rolled his eyes and let the chair glide back a little further on its hind legs. "He's a bastard, honestly. He's rude, obnoxious…. he's arrogant and pig headed…he's stoic…so fuc…uhh…stoic."

Mrs. Higurashi gave him a small smile. "You're father was like that to outsiders. People who were not close with him…he gave them the ice king routine."

InuYasha let out a deep chuckle, "that must be where he got it from. The way he controls his emotions is kind of scary…really kind of scary. I always wondered where he got it. I never really knew my father…I lived with my mother." he pointed to the top of his head, "as you can see, she was human…lived in Kyoto."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded again and shrugged. "There is always a better person deep down, you just need to be able to bring them out. I learned that being friends with your father. He was a great man and a wonderful influence."

InuYasha glanced out into the living room towards a sleeping Rin. "She managed to get to him…the relationship they have is amazing." He narrowed his eyes and glared back at Kagome's mother. "Please tell me that your relationship with my father was strictly platonic." Sudden thoughts of Kagome's mother and his father entered his mind and he shivered. `god, that would just be wrong!'

Mrs. Higurashi nodded swiftly, "we never…no. He was my best friend. We traveled the world together though. Our senior year we went backpacking across Europe. That was an experience. We had a great time together. We just…fell away from each other."

InuYasha licked his lips and shrugged, "I'm sorry…wish I could tell you more about my dad. He married my step mother Launia…"

Mrs. Higurashi chocked on a cough and glared at InuYasha as if he had grown a second head. "Launia? As in Dectha Launia?"

InuYasha shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I don't know the wench's name. I don't care about her enough to."

Mrs. Higurashi sneered and shook her head. "That baka…oh that baka. It explains a lot of things though…why he stopped talking to me, why he stopped coming around" her eyes fell on Inuyasha's confused glare and slowly nodded. "What you said…that your stepmother killed him…was it Launia?"

InuYasha nodded swiftly. "That's what my brother accused her of when we saw her last night…and she didn't deny it. She actually admitted to it…though I know Diegosan had some influence in it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you knew her?"

Mrs. Higurashi nodded, her eyes glazing over in anger and frustration. "Yes, I knew her. She was leader of the demon clan in our high school. She resented me because of how close your father and me were. She always wanted your father in the worst of ways. He was so cold to her…always was able to slap her back into place with a couple words. But she was persistent!"

InuYasha shook his head slowly. "Then why did they end up together? If my father were like Sesshoumaru…he would never have settled. That would be saying Sesshoumaru is going to end with Kagura, leader of the elites…it just wouldn't happen."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded slowly and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know it seems so strange…love can be strange, so can loneliness. It is a possibility that your father was lonely and Launia was there. I don't know. If he were still alive, I would seriously give him a piece of my mind!"

InuYasha nodded, "I think you should give Launia a piece of your mind instead!"

Mrs. Higurashi frowned and shook her head. "I cannot believe that she killed him. He's dead…and I never knew."

"Never knew what?"

InuYasha gazed over his shoulder to see Kagome standing in the doorway. She had put her hair up into a pony tail and changed her outfit to be a jean skirt that went down to her shins but had a slit up the front of that rose about six inches above her knees. She had a sky blue flimsy top on but was layered by another green long sleeve top that showed off her cleavage. InuYasha gawked for a moment before tumbling backwards on his chair, successfully crashing to the floor with the chair on top of him. "Fuck…!"

Kagome gasped and ran to his side while Mrs. Higurashi laughed ruefully. "Gomen, InuYasha…what were you doing?"

InuYasha struggled to his feet, his face a dark red. "I was…err…nothing, don't worry. Your mother and me have been talking. She knew my dad."

Kagome glanced at her mother with questioning eyes. Suddenly she got the same thought that crossed Inuyasha's mind and she reared back. "You didn't…I mean, you and him weren't…"

Kagome's mother laughed and shook her head. "No, not at all….as I told InuYasha, we were close friends. We were the best of friends actually. He was the man I told you about that I toured Europe with."

Kagome's mouth fell open to an `o' shape and she laughed nervously. "Oh yes, him, you did tell me about that. Uhh…that's a little strange, isn't it? I mean, talk of a small world. I end up falling in love with your best friend's son."

InuYasha pulled himself to his feet and wiped his hands on his jeans. He was beginning to get a nasty case of going stir crazy. Sure, her mother wasn't a bad person once you got her talking…he could actually come to maybe like this nigen woman. Then again…she still looked like she wanted to kill him. `the hell she will take away my Kagome! We probably should get the hell out of dodge before she decided to ground Kagome.' Shuffling his feet, InuYasha grabbed Kagome's arm. "Yeah, ha ha, great catch up…shouldn't we be going?"

Kagome gave him a small smile and put her hand in his. "Yeah, we have to get to school mom."

Kagome's mother stood up and held out a hand to InuYasha who carefully took it. She gave him a firm shake then pulled him a little closer. "You watch my daughter and make sure nothing happen to her. When this is all said and done, I want the both of you back here for dinner…a family dinner." Her eyes fell onto Inuyasha's eyes and she gave him a hard stare, "what we talked about…it better not happen. If I get the slightest thought that you two are still…Kagome will not see sunlight for a long time, understood?"

InuYasha pulled his arm away from the mother and swiftly nodded. He gave Kagome an uncomfortable glance as if begging her to get them the hell out of there.

Kagome flashed her mother a smile before dragging InuYasha out of the kitchen. Passing the couch, she glanced over it. Rin was still sound asleep as if nothing had transpired. She reached down and gently shook Rin's shoulder. "Come on Rin…got to go to school."

Rin rolled over to her opposite side while mumbling, "no fluffy…not getting up…can't make me."

Kagome gave InuYasha a grin and leaned down and whispered, "Get up now before you get Sesshoumaru mad."

Rin popped one groggy eye open and stared at Kagome. "Where's Sesshoumaru?"

InuYasha peered over the couch and frowned. "Not here…the bastards hiding. Now get your ass up and get into her fuc…" he threw a glance behind him to find Mrs. Higurashi glaring at him from the doorway. "Uhh…yeah, get into Kagome's car."

Rin sat up on the couch and looked to where InuYasha was staring with a curious look. When her eyes settled on Kagome's mother, she darted off the couch with a squeal and gave the woman a hug. "Mama, I missed you!"

Mrs. Higurashi returned the gesture and patted Rin's head. "You should be in school…you're more then welcome to come to dinner when we finally can all sit down."

Rin blinked a moment then turned and glared at Kagome then back at her mother then back to Kagome. Her eyes filled with shock and amusement before she stepped back towards Kagome. She gave the girl a nod then waved at Kagome's mom.

The three walked from the house and Kagome stopped. Turning around, she clasped her hands in front of her body. "mom…are you going to leave town like we warned you to? The shrine isn't safe and…well…I can't lose you."

Mrs. Higurashi gave her a warm smile and nodded slowly. "I'm going to get your brother from school and take him to my sister's out in the country. We'll stay away for a week. Kagome…if anything should happen; I have fifty dollars in a bible upstairs. Take it and call me from a train heading for Kyoto." She reached out and embraced her daughter. Cradling her child in her arms, she looked past Kagome to InuYasha. "Keep her safe, InuYasha…she's what I have left…I love her so much." She embraced Kagome again before pulling back, tears in her eyes.

Kagome wiped one of her mother's tears away with her fingers. "Don't cry mama, you'll be home by the weekend." She kissed her mother's cheek and turned to the others. "Lets go."

InuYasha nodded and reached to capture Kagome's free hand in his. Pulling her to the car, he kissed her cheek before opening the door for her. He watched as she got into the car then closed the door behind him. He turned and gave a small wave towards her mother then got into the drivers seat and pulled out of the driveway.

Kagome's mother stood outside of the house, watching the three drive off down the road with tears in her eyes. After a moment, she took a deep breath and went inside to pack.

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