A small girl quietly walked through the long narrowed white halls. Her curious young eyes scanned the undecorated walls and peeked into rooms. She studied seniors now to old and naïve to care for them selves. Some sat in chairs, clutching white handkerchiefs tightly in their grizzled hands, others hooked up to machines keeping their breathing even as they watched the small television sets set up high in their rooms. The way the light illuminated off the cliché white floor tiles made her childish brain throb.
As she walked by another opened door, holding her mothers hand tightly, she met eyes with an older boy in a room. He looked young, yet to old to be a patient in the child section she just walked in. He had long white hair, which made the small girl assume he was an older patient in the whitened hospital, but his face- passive with a slight flare of anger- was young. He had bright eyes, unusually light brown- that made the harsh violet necklace he wore clash. Still, with his unfamiliar appearance, he felt almost familiar.
His eyes narrowed at the small girl, causing her to gasp and study the black dress her mother dressed her in.
"Kagome" Her mothers voice stated meekly, accompanied by a gentle tug. Kagome looked up sadly with her warm eyes. They were standing in front of a closed door, unsurprisingly white. As Kagome wondered what happened to the decorations in the depressing building, her mother kneeled down, placing her pale hands lightly on her daughters shoulder.
"Kagome," she repeated, "Mommy needs to go some where for a bit. Im going to leave you here, sweetie, there's lots of children your age to play with" The widowed mother placed a bitter smile on her face for her daughter's sake. She thought about her last sentence, as it was more of a coax to make sure her child was comfortable, it was also a slap of reality.
The metal door opened with a squeal, causing both the Higurashi females to jump and look at the plump nurse standing in the doorway. She had gray hair, tied in a long ponytail at the back of her head. She was wearing a white dress shirt, tucked into a knee high white skirt. Annoyingly Kagome noticed the clashing gray nylon rubbing again the older woman's legs, but gave the nurse thumbs up for using color, even if it was a bleak, depressing and boring color.
Her hands pulled a brown clipboard to her face, as the nurse looked over the names Kagome noticed that she had one eye, the other was hidden by a patch like they had on pirate movies. "You must be Ms. Higurashi," she smiled warmly, and then added a soft "Sorry for you loss" Ms. Higurashi smiled lightly, straightening her stance and nodded.
"And you," The nurse continued, "Must be little Kagome… Im very glad you will be staying with me for a while, Im nurse Kaede, but you can call me Kaede, child" Kagome whimpered quietly, tucking herself behind her mothers' legs and clutched into the hem of the black dress.
"Don't leave me mommy," she pleaded quietly. The mother frowned lightly, once again lowering herself to the small girls eye level.
"Don't worry sweetie, mommy will be back soon. I promise." After watching her daughter nod sadly the woman stood up again. "Thank you" she whispered to the nurse. The widowed mother bowed once before walking down the hall again, this time alone.
The small girl refused to go into the unfamiliar room, wanting to watch her mother. The feeling one gets when forgetting something engulfed the child, causing Kagome to run two paces and yell loudly "I LOVE YOU MOMMY" She watched with tears in her eyes as her mother turned around again, and looked back at her daughter. The woman's voice barley carried down the near empty halls before she turned and walked back to her destination.
"I love you too, Kagome"
The child sobbed slightly, a tear streaked down her baby soft cheek, leaving a trail of dampness. It was a long time till the girl agreed to go into the playroom, she calmed her crying by reminding herself that her mother would be back, and everything would be ok again once she was. She reminded herself that as long as her mother was there to chase away the lonely monsters, she would never be alone, a feeling that all children should have.
When the small girl did turn away from the empty hall her mother was once in, she noticed two figures coming from the opposite direction. One figure was large, slightly round and stumbling. The other was short, the same size, if only a little taller than Kagome, and was stabilizing out the larger figure. As they grew nearer Kagome could see their faces. The man was old, bald with a white mustache, and the other was a boy. His black hair pulled back into a tight little rat-tail at the nape of his neck.
His violet eyes caught with the girls, as he flashed her a gentle smile. But his eyes, the only thing Kagome looked at, were sad. Like he just lost some one important to him. The man saw the girl as well, and nudged the boy lightly.
"Miroku" the man slurred happily. "Your going to be quiet the ladies man"
"Mushin!" The boy squealed, looking at his guardian with disgust. "Girls have cooties!" As the two turned into silhouettes down the long shiny hall, Kagome finally walked into the room. When the nurse said nothing but giggle at what she heard the young boy squeal, Kagome turned to her.
"What's cooties?" she asked frantically. She was a girl, and the boy said that girls have cooties. Her eyes studied the older nurse carefully. Again the woman chuckled; taking a deep breath she replied nicely "Nothing for you to worry about"
All was silent, in the annoyingly bright room. It was dull, and very un-decorative with only the bleach white paint and the sun hanging on the walls. Even with the translucent curtains drawn, it did little to shade the light. Already less than an hour since the tall, young, man walked into the room that he had gotten a headache. The shining sun was radiated through the closed window- big window, making it hard for the man to ignore. Seeing on how his younger brother lye unresponsive on the bed bellow the windowsill.
He had brought a novel with him, a peculiarly mature novel, filled with odd horrors, unrealistic, yet surreal events and the only romance he allowed in his life. Though physically attractive, young, and rich the man lived alone and liked it that way. He looked no more than 19, and that he was. He thought of father as a aging man, growing to old for another son after the fling with his mother had ended to abruptly, but he was proven wrong 5 years ago, when his new half-brother was born.
The man looked down at the sleeping boy with a glare, trying to figure out how much the new boy had changed his life. First the divorce left the young man oddly aloof, and his father broken. It carried on like this for a while, both men relying on each other as the silent vow had went unbroken by the lack of women around. The man had been younger when his father met a new woman. Her sweet looks and compatible attitude was backed up nicely by a pleasant sense of humor and good will, but to the man it was all a big lie to burrow into the depths of his and his fathers relationship and destroy it.
Soon enough, he felt like the bond between father and son did explode. The woman showed up more and more, always finding excuses for coming around. Even though her explanations were more often than not, fixed and chased by a pink blush, his father bought them all. Either too blunt to figure the all to obvious lies out, or just didn't care, the mans fathered always found reasons to see her as well. It eventually blossomed into something more and not soon after that, did the younger man wait on the side as they got married. He watched distantly through cold eyes as his brother was born and cared for.
The man moved out as soon as he could, sickened by the bubbly atmosphere and whiney 4 years old. The woman only then found out that her husband was rich, always hiding it incase all she was really a fake, money hungry wench. The man guessed that his step-mom was upset that her husband didn't tell her sooner and could possibly assume such about her, but got over it. Not that she stayed mad, if you can call it mad, for long. As more time went on, when his brother started to grow and go to school, did the mans father become stressed out. He recently began to think it was the small boy, always needing attention, but he had been wrong.
The man wasn't sure if they ever solved their differences, because the all to sappy love story took a horrible twist.
The mans glare switched to the cover of his book, the clashing reds and thick white letters, and then back to the little boy, now wondering which was more dramatic, the book or his life?
He sighed, running a hand through his hair and waited till his bangs fell back into place. The silence was gently faded away with footsteps echoing through the hall outside. The man turned slowly, finding that the door was open. The gentle footsteps grew closer, much to the disappointment of the young man. He glared at the person who broke his concentration, as a doctor walked into the room. Dressed in a faded blue dress shirt, and hand-faded blue jeans, topped off by a professional lab coat and holding a clipboard for authenticity, the man made his way into the room.
"Sesshoumaru?" He asked shortly, glancing down at the clipboard. Sesshoumaru didn't give a heard response, but inclined his head downward, curtly, finding disgust in the obnoxious doctor. The man moved his dark brown eyes up from the clipboard, apparently expecting a voiced answer. Sesshoumaru snorted mentally, scoffing at the mans' ignorance. It was an unspoken competition between the two men, waiting for the other to say something first. As if annoyed by their suffocating pride, the little boy groaned on the hospital bed, effectively breaking the seal and reminding the doctor of why he was there.
"Your little brother suffered no major injuries, a slight head wound, but we have been able to treat it most sufficiently." To Sesshoumaru, it sounded as if the man was boasting in front of his very eyes. Bragging for something he mostly didn't even do. Half-brother, Sesshoumaru almost corrected, but didn't feel the need to talk anymore than he needed to, or start a pointless conversation.
"So I've been told" Sesshoumaru replied coldly, tempted to then add 'a number of times' but stopped him self, again finding it unnecessary. The doctor looked up from the clipboard again, and offered a sarcastic expression.
"As I was saying," he sneered, "You will be able to take him home tomorrow. We want to keep him here in case"
Sesshoumaru felt like growling and doing something violent to the doctor. He lived out of town, meaning he would have to get up early again just to drive into town and pick up a whiney brat, one that he didn't want anyway. Again there was silence, the doctor waiting for Sesshoumaru to response, grudgingly refusing to loose this time.
Growing tired with the grumpy mans presence; Sesshoumaru nodded, once, coldly then added, "I see." The professional sneered again, walking towards the door with upset footfalls. Clearly the men didn't get off at a good start and didn't intend to mend it. People like that made Sesshoumaru angry, agitated by their superior attitudes. Especially when they weren't superior. One would say that Sesshoumaru was being a hypocrite, always aloof and acting as if he was god, if they didn't know him. His attitude didn't come from the piles of money his dad left him, or the huge house. It came from his past, a fact nearly no one knew.
Waking from his daydream Sesshoumaru realized that the doctor was gone, but there was still footsteps echoing in the never wavering bright hall. Not wanting another confrontation from the snooty doctors, Sesshoumaru walked gracefully to the door. He was about to close it when he seen it wasn't the doctors, but a little girl holding hands with her mother. The woman looked depressed, like she lost her only will to live, and the girl looked like she was figuring something out, and didn't like what she was learning.
To his surprise, her hazel eyes met with his. Everything seemed to slow down, as they studied each other, and unknowing to each of them, the other one felt like they seen each other once. It was stupid, he decided, why would he know an insignificant child? Probably one of his brother's friends, with that thought he narrowed his eyes in a glare. He didn't like the child staring at him, and he hated the thought of his brother ever finding happiness after what he caused. He unintentionally startled the girl, and she looked away. Well, at least it was one problem fixed.
He closed the door, finally managing to block out all the sound from the hall. The man sighed, now looking at the floor. It was true, he did accuse the small boy for his fathers' death, and after all it was his fault that the father was so stressed out and not watching the road. The boy was probably crying, distracting the diver. The small boy was a small murderer. Sesshoumaru's eyes hardened once again, once he turned back to the motionless boy.
He made a vow, for as long as Inuyasha was living under his house he would not find happiness.
A small six-year-old girl walked into a large building. She remembered it vaguely, and realized how much it changed. While she walked to the front desk, holding the grizzled hand of her grandfather, she had a chance to peek down the hallway. Where once bright and annoyingly plain halls blinded everything, where now pale peach walls- mildly decorated with occasional paintings of various designs, from flowers to fruit. Still the small girl found the place boring to adult.
She frowned, studying the patterns on the tiled floor. It was still illuminating light from the large windows, she realized as she scrunched her eyes. Her grandfather was talking to the secutary in whispers and mumbles, and the secutary replied in the same hushed voice. It made the frown more apparent, as the girl wondered why she was in this horrid place again. She hadn't liked it the first time, and she wasn't going to like it this time. Why would her mother go here? Was she leaving just like daddy?
When she asked her grandpa, he simply placed a grim smile on his withered face and told her it was nothing like that. He then started to blab on about gifts from the mighty gods, responsibilities and courage, which peeked the young girls interest. She was still a child and loved stories.
"Kagome" the old man said worriedly with his tight voice as he shook the small girl gently.
"Jii-san?" Kagome squeaked, realizing both her grandfather and the secutary was looking at her. The old man smiled, taking the girls hand again and leading her down the hallway. The girl was curious as to where she was going and still wondered where her mother was. It didn't make sense, her mother had cried for hours after they got home from this place the last time, and even though it didn't look so saddening, the place still made Kagome want to curl up and cry until she fell asleep.
"Remember what I told you about courage" the old man said proudly, still looking onward. Kagome looked up at him and nodded once.
"Hai, Jii-san"
"Its time for you to show your courage again, Kagome. You are a very brave young girl." Again Kagome nodded, now looking down the still to bright hallway.
"Is mamma all right?" She asked quietly. Her voice was barley heard by the old mans deafening ears. Gently he nodded, even if Kagome didn't see it, she some how knew not to be worried. The walked on quietly down the long hallway until stopping at a closed door. It was white, wooden with a silver plate that had the numbers 342 engraved on it. Kagome waited till her grandfather made the first move before she dared the slightest move.
The old man reached out and knocked on the door. Even though the amount of strength the man used was slight, it caused the noise to echo down the hall and suddenly Kagome felt her heart pick up pace. The child felt as if as soon as she walked into the room her life would be changing. She stepped back, not wanting her way of life to change anymore since the last time she was here.
Slowly the man reached towards the doorknob and turned it. Kagome now heard her heartbeat in her ears, thumping wildly. Sweat started to form on her thin brows as the door slowly opened. Dramatically slow like her grandfather knew how nervous She was getting. The door was open, and they man stepped in. He gently pulled Kagome into the room behind him, ignoring the whining struggles the small girl put up.
"Kagome…" It was her mothers' voice that made Kagome stop pulling away. She suddenly felt the courage her grandfather was talking about now that she knew her mother was there. It hit the small girl now, how worried she was that she was never going to hear her mothers voice again. She let go of the mans hand. Knowingly he allowed the girls hand freedom. He watched as his granddaughter ran to her mothers' side.
"Momma" Kagome whispered, tears forming. "I thought you were gone" she admitted sadly.
"Kagome" her mother repeated, shifting to a sitting position. Kagome noticed a small bundle in her mothers' arms as the older woman shifted it to one arm and gently moved some cloth. Kagome noticed a small face, as her mother lowered her arms to allow her daughter to see her new brother.
"I'd like you to meet your new brother, Souta"
Hm. Thats my longest chapter i think i have ever written. In total of 6 1/2 pages, i do beleive. Thank you to all the reviewers, i hope you continue to enjoy this story!