Chapter 22: Vacations

Saturday morning found Kagome and Reo with her constant shadows hiking through the mountains. She was looking for herbs since her supply ran low. She had been meaning to re-stock but she didn't have the chance to until now. Of course what was supposed to be her bodyguard was complaining under his breath, saying they weren't supposed to be this far from the school. She was sure the male would call Sesshomaru on her for this excursion. She'd have to put out another fire.

"It's beautiful out here," Reo said as he looked out at the view.

"I missed this," she commented. She took a deep cleansing breath and smiled. Her pack was almost full of the herbs she needed.

"We should get back, Kagome-sama," her maid said from behind them. "It'll get dark soon and you will need to eat soon." Kagome nodded and they turned back to head down the mountain they were on. Kagome and Reo stood back to get the semblance of privacy before they talked about what else they should do during this break. They were thinking of movies, working out, practicing basketball and lunches in town. It was going to be them plus her shadows. They would make the most of this time that they had.

~With the Akashi Family~

Seijuro looked out at the water. Had Kagome been here, she would have dragged him to go in. His step mother had insisted on this trip, but she hadn't planned any events. She expected them to be spontaneous, which he and his father were not capable of. She was actually complaining that they weren't doing anything, but she also didn't try to do anything. He was fine looking out at the water. He looked down at his phone to see a picture of her and Reo on a mountain. He would have liked to go with them. He had said so in the group text the three of them were apart of. He sent them a picture of the view and stated it would have been better if they were there with him.

He had saved the picture and sent it to Aomine. He always asked how she was and he had let him know and sent him pictures of the female. Her face was usually serious when outside of the gym. But there were moments when it was just her, him and Reo when she wasn't so serious, like now. She smiled and joked with them. He knew she didn't have feelings beyond friendship for him. He found it hard to be affectionate with people and it possibly could have been because his father and step-mother were never affectionate with each other or with him. Everything he had accomplished was never acknowledged by them. We was never sure if they were proud of him.

He looked at his phone as it vibrated. It was a message from Aomine telling him thank you for the picture. He wrote a message saying that he wasn't with Kagome and Reo, that his step-mother wanted a family vacation, but they hadn't done anything. He was actually really bored.

~With Aomine~

He looked at the message and had to sigh. He had been hoping Kagome was with him so that he could call and talk to her. But she wasn't. She was stuck at school with an older male. From his understanding, the feminine male was her best friend and they talked about everything. They hung out whenever they had the chance, and it made him miss her all the more. They used to hang out every chance they got. Now he had Satsuki to try to keep him grounded. When she was on her dates with Kuroko, he would stay in his room and look at pictures he had of Kagome. He missed her and kept the ring with him on a chain.

He looked down at his knees. They were currently up on the couch, ice over both of them. They still hurt and the pain medications did nothing for it. He just stopped taking them after a while. He would sit in a hot Epsom salt bath before he went to sleep tonight. He was stuck on crutches still. They didn't want to risk him doing more damage to his knees then he already done. The swelling had gone down quite a bit and he would be going back to the doctor to see what the actual damage was and to see what he would need to do the get back to playing basketball.