InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Begin Again ❯ Scroll Eleven: Acceptance ( Chapter 11 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: PrincessMelissa83 
[Angst/Romance]
Kagome has a heart to heart with two important men and comes to at least one conclusion.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.19.2006 | Updated On: 08.19.2006 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 371 | Status: Work In Progress
[Angst/Romance]
Kagome has a heart to heart with two important men and comes to at least one conclusion.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.19.2006 | Updated On: 08.19.2006 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 371 | Status: Work In Progress
Note: Listened to The Dixie Chicks, “Not Ready to Make Nice” while writing this. It works, if you have it.
Also, I found a map of the Higarashi house on the internet and there's only four bedrooms. I know I had Inuyasha sleeping in a spare room in the previous chapters (and I really should go back and correct that) but now he's staying in the room with Souta.
As another note, it looks like there's only gonna be three more chapters and a short epilogue after this. Yay!
Scroll Eleven: Acceptance
Kagome rolled over and sighed, kicking the covers slightly off. It had been a long, sleepless night and it was well into early morning now. She hadn’t a clue how she was going to get through the day if she couldn’t sleep soon, but her thoughts kept her awake.
Earlier that morning, her mother had sat her down and had a long talk with her regarding her father, forcing Kagome to accept a few things she had been reluctant to when he first appeared.
“Kagome, I know how much it hurt you when he left. I understand that you felt abandoned, but honey, you loved him so much when he was here. Did that really change?” Keiko tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ears and looked at her curiously.
Kagome sighed and studied the weave pattern in the tatami mats. “I...I don’t know.”
Keiko put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze. “Did you know that when your father and I got married, I was the age you are now? He was just starting college, but we didn’t want to wait so I quit school to be with him. It was hard at first, but we got by and then we had you and he was so proud. He wanted so much for you, Kagome; so much that we just couldn’t give at the time.”
She sighed and kissed her daughter’s temple. “We were so young, Kagome, and we had been sheltered our entire lives. Back then, we knew nothing about life and very little about each other. If we had waited and taken the time the way we should have, we probably would have never married. But, even with all that’s happened, I wouldn’t change a thing. Haruki gave me the most wonderful gifts - he gave me two beautiful, talented, intelligent children and I wouldn’t trade either of you for anything.”
Kagome gave a goofy, sappy smile and put her arms around her mother’s waist. “You really did love him, didn’t you, Mama?” She pulled out of her embrace and looked her in the eye. “Did that never change? Is that why you never found anyone else?”
Keiko smiled. “Yes, I did love him very much and even though it didn’t change, I came to accept the fact a long time ago that our feelings for one another were not as strong as they should have been and I wish him happiness and luck in this new marriage. I never looked for anyone else because I didn’t see the need to. I was happy with you and Souta and your grandfather. Everything I needed was right here. It always has been and it always will be.”
The younger girl smiled and then sighed, leaning forward so that she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. “I guess it doesn’t matter how much you love someone, you can’t make them love you back and you can’t make them stay. Why else would he just leave and not even write or call?”
“You were young, Kagome, so you probably don’t remember. At that time, we didn’t part on the best of terms. It was hard knowing that after all the work we’d put into it, our marriage just wasn’t enough anymore. And your grandfather is still angry. When he left, he forbade Haruki from coming to the shrine again and very nearly disowned him,” Keiko explained. “Your father was probably humiliated and ashamed and feeling guilty. He knew you idolized him and he knew you’d be crushed when he left.
“We were still young, Kagome, and naive. I told you before, Haruki wanted everything for you children. He wanted you to attend the best schools and have the best clothes and everything that money could buy. He left to accept a promotion that would enable him to do that, but I didn’t want to take you kids away from Japan and our family and I wouldn’t leave your grandfather here alone.
“Honey, it wasn’t his leaving that caused our divorce and it wasn’t you children. Even if he’d stayed, our marriage wouldn’t have lasted much longer. It was better that he took a job he would enjoy instead of passing it up and having to make do with something he hated just so he could be miserable however long we were able to hold out. And this way he was able to pay for your school tuition and extracurricular activities and anything else you needed or wanted.”
She groaned and kicked the covers off of her, sitting up. She knew she had to come up with something. She’d been putting it off for to long already. If she was going to have the future she’d already mapped out for herself, then she was going to have to tell her father about the well, which meant that she’d have to trust him and she couldn’t trust him if she didn’t forgive him. If she wasn’t willing or able to forgive him then she needed to stop dragging it out and send the jewel back to the Sengoku Jidai with Inuyasha so she could move on and...
And be miserable for the rest of my life, she thought, making a face in the dark. Face it girl. Sango and the others played only a small part in your decision to live in Sengoku Jidai after graduation. Even if they weren’t in the equation, you’d still chose the past over the present because of him. You’re hopeless. You’re in love...you’re pathetic, that’s what you are. You’ve planned your entire future around a guy. A guy who may not even feel the same way! Put any of the other girls in this situation and you’d tell ‘em they were crazy.
She slid her feet of the edge of the bed and stood, stretching. Well, at least I’m not in denial, right?
Buyo, curled up at the foot of her bed, lifted his head and watched her leave the room before giving a kitty yawn and settling back down. Kagome carefully climbed downstairs and to the kitchen, planning on getting a drink of water, but veered off course when she noticed the door to her brother’s room was open and she looked in.
Souta had slept over at a friend’s house that night and Inuyasha had the room to himself. Standing in the doorway, she took in the site before her. Moonlight filtered in through the bedroom window to the right of the twin sized bed and illuminated the darkness so that she could see the sleeping hanyou. He had one arm tucked under his head with the pillow between his arm and cheek and he was curled in almost a fetal position. His silky tresses drifted across the mattress, almost glittering in the light. Tetsuseiga was leaned against the bedside table for easy access and she grinned.
At least he’s not sleeping with it anymore.
She stepped quietly across the tatami mat and knelt beside the bed, studying his slumbering form with a soft smile. She loved watching him sleep because it was truly the only time that he looked really peaceful. The hard line of his jaw relaxed and his face took on a boyish quality, showing he wasn’t nearly as old as people might sometimes think. Life and circumstance had been rough on him and he had needed to grow up quickly, but he was probably really only a year or two older than herself, if one didn’t count the fifty years he was pinned to Goshinboku.
Kagome frowned, looking miserable. “He took that job and left us because he felt a twisted sense of duty? Does duty always overpower the heart?”
A knowing look crossed Keiko’s face and she nodded in understanding. “We’re not just talking about Haruki anymore, are we? I thought the priestess had died?”
“She did. Before we ever finished the jewel.”
“And Inuyasha is still here and you said yourself he told you he hadn’t planned on going with her in the first place.”
Kagome sighed audibly and stood up, crossing the small room. “He says that, but I don’t know if he’s just talking or if he really did mean it. What if he wants to be with her, even in death, and he’s only staying here because he feels obligated towards me?” She shrugged, shaking her head. “He promised me once that he’d always protect me, but then he turned around and made the same promise to her, even promising that he’d do anything to avenge her, including go to hell with her. What am I supposed to believe? He’s loved her for over fifty years and he’s only known me for two.”
“Her soul was already at peace and I think some part of her already knew that. Her only remorse was in wondering the earth as she was, not living and yet not dead.” Keiko smiled. “From what I understand, Inuyasha doesn’t take his promises lightly. Do you think he would have planned to break one, let alone admit it, if he hadn’t been released from that promise already?”
Kagome blinked. She’d never considered it that way before, but her mother did have a point. She couldn’t think of one time when he had broken his word. Sure, he usually always came to retrieve her a day or two early, but she never really made him swear to not do so. Except when she was taking her entrance exams and he had dutifully waited for exactly two weeks before coming to get her, showing amazing restraint on his part. She had been impressed.
“He gave me his word, too. Did you know that?” When Kagome shook her head, furrowing her brow in curiosity, Keiko nodded. “He came early one day, while you were still in school, and Souta was home sick. I over heard him telling your brother about a few of the battles you’d fought against youkai and, naturally, I worried for your safety. I didn’t tell him, of course, but I suppose it was obvious. He looked me straight in the eye and swore you’d always come home unharmed, no matter what.”
Well that would explain why he always took it so personally whenever she did get injured or ill and why he always acted so guilty even when it wasn’t his fault.
“And then he said,” Keiko continued laughing now, “‘I ain’t gonna promise she’ll be in a good mood when she gets here.’”
Carefully she reached out and lifted away a few strands of hair that had fallen across his cheek and were obscuring her view. His eyebrow twitched, but he showed no signs of waking. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling and crossed her arms over his mattress, resting her chin on them. His other hand lay only a few inches from hers and she moved so that her hand lay over his.
You don’t know how truly beautiful you are, do you? I just don’t understand why people can’t look at you and see the same things I do. How can someone so caring and loyal be considered a monster or evil? If they only knew you, they’d understand…She gave his hand a slight squeeze.
Golden eyes fluttered open and blinked at her, brows furrowing in confusion. “Kagome? What’re you doing?” He glanced at their intertwined hands and she followed his gaze, blushing as she snatched her hand back.
“Sorry…I just couldn’t sleep, that’s all.”
He pushed himself up into a sitting position and scowled. “And you decided to come wake me?”
Her blush deepened and she sat back on her heels. “No, I was going to get something to drink and your door was open…you looked so relaxed…I…” She stood up and tried to hide her face, blushing furiously. “Never mind. I’m going back to bed. Sorry I woke you. Goodnight, Inuyasha.”
He was up and beside her in seconds, grabbing her wrist. “Wait, it’s okay. You can stay…if you want.” She let him lead her back towards the bed and sat next to him, with her back against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a side long glance. “So, why’re you walking around in the middle of the night?”
She shrugged. “Just couldn’t sleep.”
“Because?”
“Because I’m full of thoughts and I can’t stop thinking,” she answered simply and continued when he just stared at her. “I can’t stop thinking about what my mom and I talked about this morning, about my dad and…and stuff.” She averted her gaze from him, recalling how their talk had gone from Haruki to Inuyasha. “Just, you know, how I’m gonna tell him about the well and if I can forgive him. That sort of thing.”
He nodded and they sat in silence for several moments before she turned and looked at him, expression filled with curious hope. “What would you do? What do you think I should do? I mean, really think I should do and not some smart aleck answer like ‘get your ass back down that well, wench.’”
He stared at her for a few moments, blinking. She had just asked his advice? Him? Honestly, he couldn’t remember anyone ever asking his advice on anything before. Whether they thought he wasn’t smart enough to give good advice or just weren’t interested in what he had to say, he didn’t know, but the subject had never come up and it caught him off guard. “I dunno,” he answered truthfully.
You’re being an idiot, Kagome, she mentally berated herself. You faced all those youkai, but you don’t have the guts to face your own father? She growled, the fleeting thought that she was spending too much time with the hanyou crossing her mind and picked up the phone dialing the number.
“Higarashi Haruki’s office, how can I help you?” The voice on the phone was high pitched and annoyingly perky.
“Is Higarashi-san available, please?”
“No, miss, I’m sorry. He’s in a meeting right now. May I leave a message or I can put you through to his voice mail?”
“His voice mail, please,” Kagome requested, a sigh in her voice. Part of her was relieved to not have to talk to him at that moment. The other part had been hoping if she talked to him on the phone he’d do something to change her mind and she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
“One moment.”
Kagome tapped her foot, feeling impatient. After a few seconds there was a beep and her father’s voice came over the line telling her to leave a name, number and short message and he’d get back to her. Yeah, right.
“This is Kagome. I think you and I should talk. We need to work out where we stand with each other. If you’re still looking for a second chance with me and Souta, meet me at the park tomorrow at noon so we can talk.” She’d chosen the park because she could find a secluded area there to talk and she didn’t want her grandfather having a fit if Haruki came back to the shrine.
With that said, she hung up and went to find Inuyasha before he got into any trouble.
She found him laid back on her bed with a magazine in his hands. She cleared her throat and waited while he looked up from his page. “Inuyasha, please don’t read that.”
“You do,” he retorted. “I found it on your desk. I didn’t have anything else to do.”
She blushed and went to her desk, pulling out several school books. He didn’t have anything else to do…but it was so embarrassing to that he was reading one of her girly magazines. There were things in there she definitely did not need him reading.
“Oi, Kagome?” She had been reading her history assignment for several minutes when he called her attention back to him. She didn’t say anything, but he continued anyway. She was only half listening. “Do you have PMS?”
“Not at the moment,” was her initial muttered response before his question actually sunk in. “What!” She whirled around in her desk chair to look at him, cheeks bright red with embarrassment. “No, I do not have PMS! What are you reading?!”
Inuyasha ignored her outburst. “According to this book you do.”
Her blush had crept to her ears and her neck. “I do not! You don’t even know what that is!”
He snorted and glared at her. “I’m not stupid, Kagome, I know what it is. And I agree with this magazine. You do.”
She groaned and had to bite her lip to keep from sitting him. Deciding it was safer to ignore him, she turned back to her book and started reading again. Several minutes of silence passed before she heard him shifting again.
“Oi, Kagome? What’s a tampon?”
With a bang, her head hit the book she’d been reading and she tried hard not to scream. He can’t help it that he doesn’t know. He can’t help it. He can’t help it…Finally getting herself under control, she lifted her head and calmly turned towards him. “It’s a product for women with PMS. Now, put down the book. I need to talk to you anyway.”
He glanced at her and then shrugged, closing the magazine and tossing it aside. He waited patiently for her to continue. There were times that he was actually quite close to being a gentleman. Moments like this his attitude was different, his tough exterior wasn’t so tough and she found him more civil.
“I called my dad and left a message for him to meet me in the park tomorrow at lunch. I’m gonna tell him all about the Sengoku Jidai, but I know he’s not going to believe me,” she explained. “I would really like you to come with me and I was hoping that you wouldn’t mind me telling him what you are? I know he won’t believe me but he should believe the two of us.”
He nodded his agreement and she sighed with relief before turning back to her studies.
All too soon, however, it came to an end when Inuyasha caught the swing’s chains and brought her to a stop, growling slightly under his breath. “He’s coming.”
He was half an hour late, she realized when she glanced at her watch. Didn’t even care enough to be on time, did he?
“Kagome.” Haruki greeted her, looking darkly serious. “I know I’m late, but Ikoku’s doctor had to reschedule and we just got back from having the ultrasound done. She’s far enough along now to tell the sex of the baby. I had to be there.”
She nodded understanding his excuse and, for the first time, forgiving him. “And what were the results?”
He smiled slightly, a look that took several years from his features and reminded the hanyou even more of Kagome’s similarities to him. “She wanted to tell you herself, but I’ll tell you if you act surprised. We’re having a girl.”
She was silent for a minute and then couldn’t help the small grin that tugged at her features. When she’d first found out about Ikoku’s pregnancy, she’d known she would never exclude the baby, her half sibling, from her life, but the reality of it never really sunk in.. “A sister…I’m going to have a baby sister…”
She was lost in thought for a moment and he took a seat on the swing next to hers. Inuyasha glanced at the two and then touched Kagome’s shoulder, nodding his head towards a couple of trees a short distance away to indicate he’d be waiting over there.
Remembering why they were there, Kagome sighed and swung slightly, nervously. “I gave it a lot of thought and I realized that we’re going to have to work something out and do it soon. We can’t just keep at each other’s throats.” She looked at him from under her bangs. “It’s hurting mama and Ikoku-chan. Souta’s so confused he doesn’t know what to feel. Jii-chan is still angry with you…Mama’s just hurt, really.” She paused and looked at the ground, scuffing her feet in the dirt. “And so am I.”
He cleared his throat, not liking this conversation. “It’s understandable. So, what do you suggest?”
She shrugged and folded her hands in her lap. “A truce. We won’t have the same relationship we’d have had if you’d been a part of my life for all these years, but we still might be able to salvage something. There’s some things we still have to work out, though. You were right…there are some things that I didn’t understand. Mama filled me in...some. About Jii-chan and about the fights.”
He had to admit that this was not going the way he had thought it would and he was glad of it. He had expected a flaming confrontation filled with harsh words and lots of yelling. He much preferred this. “Things wouldn’t have been so bad, if I had done things differently,” he admitted sheepishly. “I went about it the wrong way. I’ve gone about it the wrong way this time, too, I suppose. I wanted to force you into acceptance and I can’t.”
At that she smiled. Finally they were getting somewhere. Maybe she could have a relationship with her father now. She had already begun to admit to herself that she did miss him and in some small way she did really want to be daddy’s little girl again - the same way she had been before his job got to be more important. She’d always wanted him back, else wise she wouldn’t have tried so hard for so long to be a part of his life. Her smile fell though, when her first question came to mind. “I know Jii-chan told you not to come back and I know that Mama was angry, but if you really wanted us, why didn’t you try?”
Haruki shook his head. “I was wrong. I made a mistake and it’s one that I have to live with.” He stood up and knelt beside her swing. “Kagome, I was young when I married your mother - practically just out of high school. I tried hard to balance work and family, but eventually I came to think that I needed to pay more attention to my work to be able to give my family what I thought they should have.”
He touched her arm gently. “I know that you didn’t understand, that you probably still don’t understand. Your mother and I discussed it for weeks, but she wouldn’t leave Dad. Now, I think that she made the right decision to stay here and keep you kids in Tokyo. If you had followed me, we would have been together, but Keiko wouldn’t have happy and neither would you kids. I still wanted to provide for you, so I took the position and I sent plenty of money to your mother for your care.”
Kagome blinked, the stark realization that he was right coming over her. She loved her life in Tokyo. She loved being with her grandfather and living at the shrine. If he had taken them with him, she would have never fallen down the well and she would have never met Inuyasha or Miroku or Sango or Kaede. She would have never learned just how strong she really was or found her true path in life. By leaving them in Tokyo, he had actually done her a favor, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. “Jii-chan calmed down after a while and Mama wouldn’t have kept you from us, so why didn’t you visit or call or send for us”
He nodded. “Dad never spoke to me and neither did your mom. I didn’t know what the situation was like back here, regarding me. I know you tried, but I didn’t know if they’d even let me near you, so I stayed away. I honestly thought you were better off without me. That’s why I didn’t visit or bring you to me. Then, when I met Ikoku, I realized that I had been wrong and I wanted to start over. The company transferred me back to Tokyo and with a new family on the way, I had that chance. I want to start over. Can you give me that chance, Kagome?”
What did she want to do? This wasn’t the conversation she had envisioned when she had called him to meet her. She had expected civility, but she had expected distance. She had not expected to want to be close to him again. Biting her lip, she debated within herself, her emotions warring in her heart. Even when Inuyasha was running off after Kikyo every few weeks had she not felt so torn.
Finally she nodded. “But first, there’s something I gotta tell you....and you might want to sit down for this.”
He sighed in relief and retreated back to the other swing while she stood, pacing in front of him and telling him everything that had gone on in her life over the past two years. She explained how she had fallen down the well on her fifteenth birthday, revived Inuyasha, broken the jewel and had a whirlwind of adventures with her feudal era friends.
Haruki, to his credit, listened patiently and quietly until she had finished her story. It had been elaborate and highly unbelievable. But he had listened. “And you and Inuyasha are….”
She blushed, shaking her head and holding her hands out to stop such suggestions. “We’re not a couple. I’ve known him for two years and never once has he lied to me or broken a promise he made me. He’s loyal and smart and strong and kind and he’s a great roll model for Souta. If Souta takes after him even just a little bit, he’ll be someone to be proud of.”
Haruki bit back a smile. For someone who wasn’t Inuyasha’s girlfriend, his daughter sure acted like it. “So, you’ve saved the world, adopted a fox cub, and traveled time. And Inuyasha’s name…it isn’t Taishou Inuyasha?” No wonder he hadn’t been able to find anything when he tried to research the boy. “It’s a bit much to swallow, Kagome, you have to admit that.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I’ve got proof. I’ve got Inuyasha.” She turned to where the boy sat against a tree a few yards away. “Inuyasha?”
She smiled up at him when he appeared next to her. He still wore his modern clothes - a pair of dark wash jeans and dark green button up shirt, but when she called him over he had removed the green bandanna that covered his ears so that they stood up on his head, swiveling intently to pick up any suspicious sounds. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she slowly inched her hand up towards the nearest ear and scratched it lightly, drawing her father’s attention to them and working the feeling back into them after being crushed for so long.
“Inuyasha is a hanyou,” she explained again. “His father was the great tai youkai of what was once the Western Lands. His mother was a human princess in Musashi’s domain.” She smiled at her the boy who was now swatting her hand away from his head. “Need more proof? I’ll bring Shippou for a visit soon and you can meet him.”
Haruki stared at his daughter and the boy before him. It was hard to believe that she time traveled and fought youkai over some legend his father had been telling them for decades, but here she was with the true Shikon no Tama and a hanyou boyfriend.
But the truly amazing part was that she had opened up to him in a calm and collected manner. After their initial reunion, it was something he had not been expecting to happen. He had come to the conclusion his ill thought plans and following shame had ruined any chance he’d had of becoming a father to his eldest children. Not that he had accepted this conclusion. He had been prepared to battle it out, if need be, to be a part of their live.
“It’s still hard to believe, but he’s standing here in front of me…I can’t dispute it.” He shook his head. “I knew you were special, Kagome. That’s why your mom and grandfather wanted to name you the way that they did.”
Utter relief rushed through her veins and she sagged against Inuyasha having been terrified he’d try to stop her from doing what she wished to do. She’d invisioned him having her taken into custody and placed in a mental institution; having Inuyasha put in a lab; or having the evening news knocking on their shrine door to talk to the time traveler.
“Thank Kami!” She gripped Inuyasha’s arm and tugged excitedly. “D’you hear that Inuyasha? I can go back!” She squealed happily, causing Inuyasha to lay his ears back against the noise and glare at her.
Haruki cleared his throat, as the conversation had come to a lull. “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what changed your mind? About me?”
Kagome blushed and looked away, using the toe of her shoe to make an arc in the dirt. “She’s a forgiving person. Too forgiving, even if it takes her a while to get around to it,” Inuyasha muttered. He knew just how forgiving the little miko was. Because of him she’d been put in situations where she’d nearly been killed. He’d made her cry more times than he could count and made her so mad that she wouldn’t talk to him for three days. Yet, in the end, she had always come back and forgiven him, taken care of him when he was hurt, tried comfort him when he was upset, stood up for him. She’d given up a lot for him and had happily made him a part of her life, her family. Yeah, she was forgiving...even if the person didn’t deserve it.
She shrugged. “What you did was stupid It was an awful, horrible, mean, idiotic thing to do and you were a bastard to do it, but people say and do stupid things sometimes,” she answered finally with a glance at Inuyasha as if punctuating her last statement. “The fact is, though, that you were a good father before you left. When the baby’s born, I think that you could be a good father again.”
She looked up at him, her steel gray eyes meeting his dark blue ones. “Don’t get the wrong idea, though. This isn’t forgiveness, this is giving you the chance you asked for, the chance to earn forgiveness. Mess it up and you won’t get the chance again.”
Haruki nodded once. “I can live with that. Shall we make it a deal then?” He held his hand out to her to shake.
She narrowed her eyes and glanced from his face to his hand and back. “How often do you back out of business deals?”
“Never.”
She nodded and gripped his hand in hers, giving it a firm shake. “Deal.”
With that done she sat back down in the swing she had vacated and pushed herself lightly. “I don’t think I’ve been on a swing set since I was a little kid. I forgot how much fun it was.”
Inuyasha snorted and went to sit down on the ground, his back leaned against the pole of the set but well enough out of the way not to get hit. “I don’t see how. You ain’t going anywhere.”
Kagome giggled. “No, but it feels like I am. If you close your eyes and swing really high, it feels like you’re flying.”
“Keh. At least with me you were going somewhere. Besides, I can jump a lot higher than that swing can go.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her. She had gotten up a decent momentum, not going to high, but doing more than just swaying. When she would go forward her hair would lift from her back slightly and fall over her shoulder on the trip back.
“Geez, are you jealous. It’s an inanimate object, Inuyasha, you don’t have to compete with it.” She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him when he glared at her. “So, Ikoku-chan and the baby were okay? Did the doctor say anything else besides that it’s a girl?”
Haruki grinned at the two bickering teens and nodded. “He said they were both perfectly healthy. Any preferences for a name? Ikoku is gathering possible names from our families.”
Kagome furrowed her brow in thought. “I like the name Sora. That has a nice sound to it, don’t you think? Higarashi Sora” She glanced at Inuyasha. “Do you have any suggestions?” The look he gave her quite clearly expressed his answer. He did not want to be involved and thought she was crazy for asking. She sighed. “Hotaru is a pretty name too...Higarashi Hotaru.”
Haruki was about to reply when his pocket started to buzz and he pulled out a PDA and frowned. “I have to go. I’m sure Ikoku would love to hear from you. Tell your mother and Souta that I said hello. You can tell Dad too, if he’ll listen.”
She had stopped swinging to say goodbye and, for an awkward moment, he bent to kiss her forehead. The motion was unfamiliar to both of them and Kagome sat completely still, looking straight ahead while he did so. When she was little he was always kissing her cheeks and forehead and if she fell and scraped her knee or got a cut or any other injury, he would kiss it to make it all better. She would sit in his lap at night, after dinner, and tell him a story from her day and then give him butterfly kisses with her lashes before going to bed. However, those days had been so long ago that it seemed they had forgotten how.
Yep, this whole father/daughter thing was going to take a while to get used to.
Also, I found a map of the Higarashi house on the internet and there's only four bedrooms. I know I had Inuyasha sleeping in a spare room in the previous chapters (and I really should go back and correct that) but now he's staying in the room with Souta.
As another note, it looks like there's only gonna be three more chapters and a short epilogue after this. Yay!
Scroll Eleven: Acceptance
Kagome rolled over and sighed, kicking the covers slightly off. It had been a long, sleepless night and it was well into early morning now. She hadn’t a clue how she was going to get through the day if she couldn’t sleep soon, but her thoughts kept her awake.
Earlier that morning, her mother had sat her down and had a long talk with her regarding her father, forcing Kagome to accept a few things she had been reluctant to when he first appeared.
“Kagome, I know how much it hurt you when he left. I understand that you felt abandoned, but honey, you loved him so much when he was here. Did that really change?” Keiko tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ears and looked at her curiously.
Kagome sighed and studied the weave pattern in the tatami mats. “I...I don’t know.”
Keiko put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze. “Did you know that when your father and I got married, I was the age you are now? He was just starting college, but we didn’t want to wait so I quit school to be with him. It was hard at first, but we got by and then we had you and he was so proud. He wanted so much for you, Kagome; so much that we just couldn’t give at the time.”
She sighed and kissed her daughter’s temple. “We were so young, Kagome, and we had been sheltered our entire lives. Back then, we knew nothing about life and very little about each other. If we had waited and taken the time the way we should have, we probably would have never married. But, even with all that’s happened, I wouldn’t change a thing. Haruki gave me the most wonderful gifts - he gave me two beautiful, talented, intelligent children and I wouldn’t trade either of you for anything.”
Kagome gave a goofy, sappy smile and put her arms around her mother’s waist. “You really did love him, didn’t you, Mama?” She pulled out of her embrace and looked her in the eye. “Did that never change? Is that why you never found anyone else?”
Keiko smiled. “Yes, I did love him very much and even though it didn’t change, I came to accept the fact a long time ago that our feelings for one another were not as strong as they should have been and I wish him happiness and luck in this new marriage. I never looked for anyone else because I didn’t see the need to. I was happy with you and Souta and your grandfather. Everything I needed was right here. It always has been and it always will be.”
The younger girl smiled and then sighed, leaning forward so that she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. “I guess it doesn’t matter how much you love someone, you can’t make them love you back and you can’t make them stay. Why else would he just leave and not even write or call?”
“You were young, Kagome, so you probably don’t remember. At that time, we didn’t part on the best of terms. It was hard knowing that after all the work we’d put into it, our marriage just wasn’t enough anymore. And your grandfather is still angry. When he left, he forbade Haruki from coming to the shrine again and very nearly disowned him,” Keiko explained. “Your father was probably humiliated and ashamed and feeling guilty. He knew you idolized him and he knew you’d be crushed when he left.
“We were still young, Kagome, and naive. I told you before, Haruki wanted everything for you children. He wanted you to attend the best schools and have the best clothes and everything that money could buy. He left to accept a promotion that would enable him to do that, but I didn’t want to take you kids away from Japan and our family and I wouldn’t leave your grandfather here alone.
“Honey, it wasn’t his leaving that caused our divorce and it wasn’t you children. Even if he’d stayed, our marriage wouldn’t have lasted much longer. It was better that he took a job he would enjoy instead of passing it up and having to make do with something he hated just so he could be miserable however long we were able to hold out. And this way he was able to pay for your school tuition and extracurricular activities and anything else you needed or wanted.”
She groaned and kicked the covers off of her, sitting up. She knew she had to come up with something. She’d been putting it off for to long already. If she was going to have the future she’d already mapped out for herself, then she was going to have to tell her father about the well, which meant that she’d have to trust him and she couldn’t trust him if she didn’t forgive him. If she wasn’t willing or able to forgive him then she needed to stop dragging it out and send the jewel back to the Sengoku Jidai with Inuyasha so she could move on and...
And be miserable for the rest of my life, she thought, making a face in the dark. Face it girl. Sango and the others played only a small part in your decision to live in Sengoku Jidai after graduation. Even if they weren’t in the equation, you’d still chose the past over the present because of him. You’re hopeless. You’re in love...you’re pathetic, that’s what you are. You’ve planned your entire future around a guy. A guy who may not even feel the same way! Put any of the other girls in this situation and you’d tell ‘em they were crazy.
She slid her feet of the edge of the bed and stood, stretching. Well, at least I’m not in denial, right?
Buyo, curled up at the foot of her bed, lifted his head and watched her leave the room before giving a kitty yawn and settling back down. Kagome carefully climbed downstairs and to the kitchen, planning on getting a drink of water, but veered off course when she noticed the door to her brother’s room was open and she looked in.
Souta had slept over at a friend’s house that night and Inuyasha had the room to himself. Standing in the doorway, she took in the site before her. Moonlight filtered in through the bedroom window to the right of the twin sized bed and illuminated the darkness so that she could see the sleeping hanyou. He had one arm tucked under his head with the pillow between his arm and cheek and he was curled in almost a fetal position. His silky tresses drifted across the mattress, almost glittering in the light. Tetsuseiga was leaned against the bedside table for easy access and she grinned.
At least he’s not sleeping with it anymore.
She stepped quietly across the tatami mat and knelt beside the bed, studying his slumbering form with a soft smile. She loved watching him sleep because it was truly the only time that he looked really peaceful. The hard line of his jaw relaxed and his face took on a boyish quality, showing he wasn’t nearly as old as people might sometimes think. Life and circumstance had been rough on him and he had needed to grow up quickly, but he was probably really only a year or two older than herself, if one didn’t count the fifty years he was pinned to Goshinboku.
Kagome frowned, looking miserable. “He took that job and left us because he felt a twisted sense of duty? Does duty always overpower the heart?”
A knowing look crossed Keiko’s face and she nodded in understanding. “We’re not just talking about Haruki anymore, are we? I thought the priestess had died?”
“She did. Before we ever finished the jewel.”
“And Inuyasha is still here and you said yourself he told you he hadn’t planned on going with her in the first place.”
Kagome sighed audibly and stood up, crossing the small room. “He says that, but I don’t know if he’s just talking or if he really did mean it. What if he wants to be with her, even in death, and he’s only staying here because he feels obligated towards me?” She shrugged, shaking her head. “He promised me once that he’d always protect me, but then he turned around and made the same promise to her, even promising that he’d do anything to avenge her, including go to hell with her. What am I supposed to believe? He’s loved her for over fifty years and he’s only known me for two.”
“Her soul was already at peace and I think some part of her already knew that. Her only remorse was in wondering the earth as she was, not living and yet not dead.” Keiko smiled. “From what I understand, Inuyasha doesn’t take his promises lightly. Do you think he would have planned to break one, let alone admit it, if he hadn’t been released from that promise already?”
Kagome blinked. She’d never considered it that way before, but her mother did have a point. She couldn’t think of one time when he had broken his word. Sure, he usually always came to retrieve her a day or two early, but she never really made him swear to not do so. Except when she was taking her entrance exams and he had dutifully waited for exactly two weeks before coming to get her, showing amazing restraint on his part. She had been impressed.
“He gave me his word, too. Did you know that?” When Kagome shook her head, furrowing her brow in curiosity, Keiko nodded. “He came early one day, while you were still in school, and Souta was home sick. I over heard him telling your brother about a few of the battles you’d fought against youkai and, naturally, I worried for your safety. I didn’t tell him, of course, but I suppose it was obvious. He looked me straight in the eye and swore you’d always come home unharmed, no matter what.”
Well that would explain why he always took it so personally whenever she did get injured or ill and why he always acted so guilty even when it wasn’t his fault.
“And then he said,” Keiko continued laughing now, “‘I ain’t gonna promise she’ll be in a good mood when she gets here.’”
Carefully she reached out and lifted away a few strands of hair that had fallen across his cheek and were obscuring her view. His eyebrow twitched, but he showed no signs of waking. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling and crossed her arms over his mattress, resting her chin on them. His other hand lay only a few inches from hers and she moved so that her hand lay over his.
You don’t know how truly beautiful you are, do you? I just don’t understand why people can’t look at you and see the same things I do. How can someone so caring and loyal be considered a monster or evil? If they only knew you, they’d understand…She gave his hand a slight squeeze.
Golden eyes fluttered open and blinked at her, brows furrowing in confusion. “Kagome? What’re you doing?” He glanced at their intertwined hands and she followed his gaze, blushing as she snatched her hand back.
“Sorry…I just couldn’t sleep, that’s all.”
He pushed himself up into a sitting position and scowled. “And you decided to come wake me?”
Her blush deepened and she sat back on her heels. “No, I was going to get something to drink and your door was open…you looked so relaxed…I…” She stood up and tried to hide her face, blushing furiously. “Never mind. I’m going back to bed. Sorry I woke you. Goodnight, Inuyasha.”
He was up and beside her in seconds, grabbing her wrist. “Wait, it’s okay. You can stay…if you want.” She let him lead her back towards the bed and sat next to him, with her back against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a side long glance. “So, why’re you walking around in the middle of the night?”
She shrugged. “Just couldn’t sleep.”
“Because?”
“Because I’m full of thoughts and I can’t stop thinking,” she answered simply and continued when he just stared at her. “I can’t stop thinking about what my mom and I talked about this morning, about my dad and…and stuff.” She averted her gaze from him, recalling how their talk had gone from Haruki to Inuyasha. “Just, you know, how I’m gonna tell him about the well and if I can forgive him. That sort of thing.”
He nodded and they sat in silence for several moments before she turned and looked at him, expression filled with curious hope. “What would you do? What do you think I should do? I mean, really think I should do and not some smart aleck answer like ‘get your ass back down that well, wench.’”
He stared at her for a few moments, blinking. She had just asked his advice? Him? Honestly, he couldn’t remember anyone ever asking his advice on anything before. Whether they thought he wasn’t smart enough to give good advice or just weren’t interested in what he had to say, he didn’t know, but the subject had never come up and it caught him off guard. “I dunno,” he answered truthfully.
* * * *
A week passed before she finally came to a decision. Finally, that Friday, she did what she had to do. Her fingers nervously tapped on the phone’s receiver as she stood looking at the paper in her hand with her dad’s telephone number on it.You’re being an idiot, Kagome, she mentally berated herself. You faced all those youkai, but you don’t have the guts to face your own father? She growled, the fleeting thought that she was spending too much time with the hanyou crossing her mind and picked up the phone dialing the number.
“Higarashi Haruki’s office, how can I help you?” The voice on the phone was high pitched and annoyingly perky.
“Is Higarashi-san available, please?”
“No, miss, I’m sorry. He’s in a meeting right now. May I leave a message or I can put you through to his voice mail?”
“His voice mail, please,” Kagome requested, a sigh in her voice. Part of her was relieved to not have to talk to him at that moment. The other part had been hoping if she talked to him on the phone he’d do something to change her mind and she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
“One moment.”
Kagome tapped her foot, feeling impatient. After a few seconds there was a beep and her father’s voice came over the line telling her to leave a name, number and short message and he’d get back to her. Yeah, right.
“This is Kagome. I think you and I should talk. We need to work out where we stand with each other. If you’re still looking for a second chance with me and Souta, meet me at the park tomorrow at noon so we can talk.” She’d chosen the park because she could find a secluded area there to talk and she didn’t want her grandfather having a fit if Haruki came back to the shrine.
With that said, she hung up and went to find Inuyasha before he got into any trouble.
She found him laid back on her bed with a magazine in his hands. She cleared her throat and waited while he looked up from his page. “Inuyasha, please don’t read that.”
“You do,” he retorted. “I found it on your desk. I didn’t have anything else to do.”
She blushed and went to her desk, pulling out several school books. He didn’t have anything else to do…but it was so embarrassing to that he was reading one of her girly magazines. There were things in there she definitely did not need him reading.
“Oi, Kagome?” She had been reading her history assignment for several minutes when he called her attention back to him. She didn’t say anything, but he continued anyway. She was only half listening. “Do you have PMS?”
“Not at the moment,” was her initial muttered response before his question actually sunk in. “What!” She whirled around in her desk chair to look at him, cheeks bright red with embarrassment. “No, I do not have PMS! What are you reading?!”
Inuyasha ignored her outburst. “According to this book you do.”
Her blush had crept to her ears and her neck. “I do not! You don’t even know what that is!”
He snorted and glared at her. “I’m not stupid, Kagome, I know what it is. And I agree with this magazine. You do.”
She groaned and had to bite her lip to keep from sitting him. Deciding it was safer to ignore him, she turned back to her book and started reading again. Several minutes of silence passed before she heard him shifting again.
“Oi, Kagome? What’s a tampon?”
With a bang, her head hit the book she’d been reading and she tried hard not to scream. He can’t help it that he doesn’t know. He can’t help it. He can’t help it…Finally getting herself under control, she lifted her head and calmly turned towards him. “It’s a product for women with PMS. Now, put down the book. I need to talk to you anyway.”
He glanced at her and then shrugged, closing the magazine and tossing it aside. He waited patiently for her to continue. There were times that he was actually quite close to being a gentleman. Moments like this his attitude was different, his tough exterior wasn’t so tough and she found him more civil.
“I called my dad and left a message for him to meet me in the park tomorrow at lunch. I’m gonna tell him all about the Sengoku Jidai, but I know he’s not going to believe me,” she explained. “I would really like you to come with me and I was hoping that you wouldn’t mind me telling him what you are? I know he won’t believe me but he should believe the two of us.”
He nodded his agreement and she sighed with relief before turning back to her studies.
* * * *
Kagome sat on a swing in the park, waiting for her father. The section of the park they’d chosen was pretty much deserted. In the far distance she could see some people out walking, but not many. Inuyasha stood nearby, silently brooding. To preoccupy herself, she pushed herself slowly back and forth until Inuyasha decided he needed something to occupy his hands and came behind her, gently pushing her on the swing. She closed her eyes as she flew back and forth. It wasn’t flying through the trees at unheard of speeds, but it was just as close and his hands gently pushing against her back every few seconds was a wonderful sensation.All too soon, however, it came to an end when Inuyasha caught the swing’s chains and brought her to a stop, growling slightly under his breath. “He’s coming.”
He was half an hour late, she realized when she glanced at her watch. Didn’t even care enough to be on time, did he?
“Kagome.” Haruki greeted her, looking darkly serious. “I know I’m late, but Ikoku’s doctor had to reschedule and we just got back from having the ultrasound done. She’s far enough along now to tell the sex of the baby. I had to be there.”
She nodded understanding his excuse and, for the first time, forgiving him. “And what were the results?”
He smiled slightly, a look that took several years from his features and reminded the hanyou even more of Kagome’s similarities to him. “She wanted to tell you herself, but I’ll tell you if you act surprised. We’re having a girl.”
She was silent for a minute and then couldn’t help the small grin that tugged at her features. When she’d first found out about Ikoku’s pregnancy, she’d known she would never exclude the baby, her half sibling, from her life, but the reality of it never really sunk in.. “A sister…I’m going to have a baby sister…”
She was lost in thought for a moment and he took a seat on the swing next to hers. Inuyasha glanced at the two and then touched Kagome’s shoulder, nodding his head towards a couple of trees a short distance away to indicate he’d be waiting over there.
Remembering why they were there, Kagome sighed and swung slightly, nervously. “I gave it a lot of thought and I realized that we’re going to have to work something out and do it soon. We can’t just keep at each other’s throats.” She looked at him from under her bangs. “It’s hurting mama and Ikoku-chan. Souta’s so confused he doesn’t know what to feel. Jii-chan is still angry with you…Mama’s just hurt, really.” She paused and looked at the ground, scuffing her feet in the dirt. “And so am I.”
He cleared his throat, not liking this conversation. “It’s understandable. So, what do you suggest?”
She shrugged and folded her hands in her lap. “A truce. We won’t have the same relationship we’d have had if you’d been a part of my life for all these years, but we still might be able to salvage something. There’s some things we still have to work out, though. You were right…there are some things that I didn’t understand. Mama filled me in...some. About Jii-chan and about the fights.”
He had to admit that this was not going the way he had thought it would and he was glad of it. He had expected a flaming confrontation filled with harsh words and lots of yelling. He much preferred this. “Things wouldn’t have been so bad, if I had done things differently,” he admitted sheepishly. “I went about it the wrong way. I’ve gone about it the wrong way this time, too, I suppose. I wanted to force you into acceptance and I can’t.”
At that she smiled. Finally they were getting somewhere. Maybe she could have a relationship with her father now. She had already begun to admit to herself that she did miss him and in some small way she did really want to be daddy’s little girl again - the same way she had been before his job got to be more important. She’d always wanted him back, else wise she wouldn’t have tried so hard for so long to be a part of his life. Her smile fell though, when her first question came to mind. “I know Jii-chan told you not to come back and I know that Mama was angry, but if you really wanted us, why didn’t you try?”
Haruki shook his head. “I was wrong. I made a mistake and it’s one that I have to live with.” He stood up and knelt beside her swing. “Kagome, I was young when I married your mother - practically just out of high school. I tried hard to balance work and family, but eventually I came to think that I needed to pay more attention to my work to be able to give my family what I thought they should have.”
He touched her arm gently. “I know that you didn’t understand, that you probably still don’t understand. Your mother and I discussed it for weeks, but she wouldn’t leave Dad. Now, I think that she made the right decision to stay here and keep you kids in Tokyo. If you had followed me, we would have been together, but Keiko wouldn’t have happy and neither would you kids. I still wanted to provide for you, so I took the position and I sent plenty of money to your mother for your care.”
Kagome blinked, the stark realization that he was right coming over her. She loved her life in Tokyo. She loved being with her grandfather and living at the shrine. If he had taken them with him, she would have never fallen down the well and she would have never met Inuyasha or Miroku or Sango or Kaede. She would have never learned just how strong she really was or found her true path in life. By leaving them in Tokyo, he had actually done her a favor, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. “Jii-chan calmed down after a while and Mama wouldn’t have kept you from us, so why didn’t you visit or call or send for us”
He nodded. “Dad never spoke to me and neither did your mom. I didn’t know what the situation was like back here, regarding me. I know you tried, but I didn’t know if they’d even let me near you, so I stayed away. I honestly thought you were better off without me. That’s why I didn’t visit or bring you to me. Then, when I met Ikoku, I realized that I had been wrong and I wanted to start over. The company transferred me back to Tokyo and with a new family on the way, I had that chance. I want to start over. Can you give me that chance, Kagome?”
What did she want to do? This wasn’t the conversation she had envisioned when she had called him to meet her. She had expected civility, but she had expected distance. She had not expected to want to be close to him again. Biting her lip, she debated within herself, her emotions warring in her heart. Even when Inuyasha was running off after Kikyo every few weeks had she not felt so torn.
Finally she nodded. “But first, there’s something I gotta tell you....and you might want to sit down for this.”
He sighed in relief and retreated back to the other swing while she stood, pacing in front of him and telling him everything that had gone on in her life over the past two years. She explained how she had fallen down the well on her fifteenth birthday, revived Inuyasha, broken the jewel and had a whirlwind of adventures with her feudal era friends.
Haruki, to his credit, listened patiently and quietly until she had finished her story. It had been elaborate and highly unbelievable. But he had listened. “And you and Inuyasha are….”
She blushed, shaking her head and holding her hands out to stop such suggestions. “We’re not a couple. I’ve known him for two years and never once has he lied to me or broken a promise he made me. He’s loyal and smart and strong and kind and he’s a great roll model for Souta. If Souta takes after him even just a little bit, he’ll be someone to be proud of.”
Haruki bit back a smile. For someone who wasn’t Inuyasha’s girlfriend, his daughter sure acted like it. “So, you’ve saved the world, adopted a fox cub, and traveled time. And Inuyasha’s name…it isn’t Taishou Inuyasha?” No wonder he hadn’t been able to find anything when he tried to research the boy. “It’s a bit much to swallow, Kagome, you have to admit that.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I’ve got proof. I’ve got Inuyasha.” She turned to where the boy sat against a tree a few yards away. “Inuyasha?”
She smiled up at him when he appeared next to her. He still wore his modern clothes - a pair of dark wash jeans and dark green button up shirt, but when she called him over he had removed the green bandanna that covered his ears so that they stood up on his head, swiveling intently to pick up any suspicious sounds. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she slowly inched her hand up towards the nearest ear and scratched it lightly, drawing her father’s attention to them and working the feeling back into them after being crushed for so long.
“Inuyasha is a hanyou,” she explained again. “His father was the great tai youkai of what was once the Western Lands. His mother was a human princess in Musashi’s domain.” She smiled at her the boy who was now swatting her hand away from his head. “Need more proof? I’ll bring Shippou for a visit soon and you can meet him.”
Haruki stared at his daughter and the boy before him. It was hard to believe that she time traveled and fought youkai over some legend his father had been telling them for decades, but here she was with the true Shikon no Tama and a hanyou boyfriend.
But the truly amazing part was that she had opened up to him in a calm and collected manner. After their initial reunion, it was something he had not been expecting to happen. He had come to the conclusion his ill thought plans and following shame had ruined any chance he’d had of becoming a father to his eldest children. Not that he had accepted this conclusion. He had been prepared to battle it out, if need be, to be a part of their live.
“It’s still hard to believe, but he’s standing here in front of me…I can’t dispute it.” He shook his head. “I knew you were special, Kagome. That’s why your mom and grandfather wanted to name you the way that they did.”
Utter relief rushed through her veins and she sagged against Inuyasha having been terrified he’d try to stop her from doing what she wished to do. She’d invisioned him having her taken into custody and placed in a mental institution; having Inuyasha put in a lab; or having the evening news knocking on their shrine door to talk to the time traveler.
“Thank Kami!” She gripped Inuyasha’s arm and tugged excitedly. “D’you hear that Inuyasha? I can go back!” She squealed happily, causing Inuyasha to lay his ears back against the noise and glare at her.
Haruki cleared his throat, as the conversation had come to a lull. “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what changed your mind? About me?”
Kagome blushed and looked away, using the toe of her shoe to make an arc in the dirt. “She’s a forgiving person. Too forgiving, even if it takes her a while to get around to it,” Inuyasha muttered. He knew just how forgiving the little miko was. Because of him she’d been put in situations where she’d nearly been killed. He’d made her cry more times than he could count and made her so mad that she wouldn’t talk to him for three days. Yet, in the end, she had always come back and forgiven him, taken care of him when he was hurt, tried comfort him when he was upset, stood up for him. She’d given up a lot for him and had happily made him a part of her life, her family. Yeah, she was forgiving...even if the person didn’t deserve it.
She shrugged. “What you did was stupid It was an awful, horrible, mean, idiotic thing to do and you were a bastard to do it, but people say and do stupid things sometimes,” she answered finally with a glance at Inuyasha as if punctuating her last statement. “The fact is, though, that you were a good father before you left. When the baby’s born, I think that you could be a good father again.”
She looked up at him, her steel gray eyes meeting his dark blue ones. “Don’t get the wrong idea, though. This isn’t forgiveness, this is giving you the chance you asked for, the chance to earn forgiveness. Mess it up and you won’t get the chance again.”
Haruki nodded once. “I can live with that. Shall we make it a deal then?” He held his hand out to her to shake.
She narrowed her eyes and glanced from his face to his hand and back. “How often do you back out of business deals?”
“Never.”
She nodded and gripped his hand in hers, giving it a firm shake. “Deal.”
With that done she sat back down in the swing she had vacated and pushed herself lightly. “I don’t think I’ve been on a swing set since I was a little kid. I forgot how much fun it was.”
Inuyasha snorted and went to sit down on the ground, his back leaned against the pole of the set but well enough out of the way not to get hit. “I don’t see how. You ain’t going anywhere.”
Kagome giggled. “No, but it feels like I am. If you close your eyes and swing really high, it feels like you’re flying.”
“Keh. At least with me you were going somewhere. Besides, I can jump a lot higher than that swing can go.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her. She had gotten up a decent momentum, not going to high, but doing more than just swaying. When she would go forward her hair would lift from her back slightly and fall over her shoulder on the trip back.
“Geez, are you jealous. It’s an inanimate object, Inuyasha, you don’t have to compete with it.” She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him when he glared at her. “So, Ikoku-chan and the baby were okay? Did the doctor say anything else besides that it’s a girl?”
Haruki grinned at the two bickering teens and nodded. “He said they were both perfectly healthy. Any preferences for a name? Ikoku is gathering possible names from our families.”
Kagome furrowed her brow in thought. “I like the name Sora. That has a nice sound to it, don’t you think? Higarashi Sora” She glanced at Inuyasha. “Do you have any suggestions?” The look he gave her quite clearly expressed his answer. He did not want to be involved and thought she was crazy for asking. She sighed. “Hotaru is a pretty name too...Higarashi Hotaru.”
Haruki was about to reply when his pocket started to buzz and he pulled out a PDA and frowned. “I have to go. I’m sure Ikoku would love to hear from you. Tell your mother and Souta that I said hello. You can tell Dad too, if he’ll listen.”
She had stopped swinging to say goodbye and, for an awkward moment, he bent to kiss her forehead. The motion was unfamiliar to both of them and Kagome sat completely still, looking straight ahead while he did so. When she was little he was always kissing her cheeks and forehead and if she fell and scraped her knee or got a cut or any other injury, he would kiss it to make it all better. She would sit in his lap at night, after dinner, and tell him a story from her day and then give him butterfly kisses with her lashes before going to bed. However, those days had been so long ago that it seemed they had forgotten how.
Yep, this whole father/daughter thing was going to take a while to get used to.