Scrutiny by Phoe Nix

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Inuyasha et al is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and the respective companies, etcetera etcetera. I do not own it. Dont want to own it. In fact, I am borrowing the characters and playing with them like Ken and Barbie dolls for my own amusement in a story. I wont say it again, just copy/paste at the beginning of every chapter to remind you.

Author Notes: I am just writing a story, an exercise, if you will, in putting words in order and hoping it all makes sense. Review if you so choose. The words speak for themselves. I do not have a beta. This is from me to you. I will edit where I can. Take note now, for there will be no more notes in the future. Authorial Intrusion is bad. It takes you out of the story. I, most certainly, want you in the story for the long haul. Hope you enjoy.

 

Scrutiny

By

Phoe Nix

~*~

Chapter 1

 

“Hope your Angina gets better!”

Kagome Higurashi waved and smiled through the embarrassment as she watched her friends walk away from the entrance of the local WacDonalds. It’s not like Eri and Ayumi knew that she jumped into a well that lead 500 years into the past. It’s not like they knew her Jii-chan was an old coot with an active imagination.

Her modern friends were real and honest, even if she lied to them about why she missed school. With the chase after Naraku making trips into the past longer, she really did enjoy seeing them. It made a time-traveling miko feel normal.

Kagome turned to leave, instinctively checking her purse for keys. The contents jiggled and jostled, but nothing felt like the cold metal key to the front door. Where was it?

Kagome made her way back into the fast food restaurant to the corner table top booth. It was mid-afternoon on a Sunday, and no one had taken the spot they had warmed. Unfortunately, the key was not on the smooth red leather seats of the booth. She bent at the waist, checking under the table.

Ah-ha.

The metal tip of a key glistened from its spot on the floor. Kagome sighed and crawled under the table, hoping no one saw her table spelunking.

“Now I know how a sardine feels,” she said, on her hands and knees. She had to reach around the table post, and her fingertips just brushed the jagged key tip.

 “I am also never locking the front door.” Kagome edged forward on her knees, using her nails to nudge the key from its spot. It was wedged in good. It must have happened during Eri’s interrogation. She had been so focused on answering her friend’s questions correctly that an elephant could have walked through the room without her notice.

Kagome resituated, sitting on her rear, legs crossed, under a table, in a public restaurant. It really did change her outlook. A pair of tanned legs walked by. The floor was cold. The aroma of grilled hamburger rekindled the sharp taste of pepper jack from her earlier sandwich.

It could be said that she heard them because she was next to their table albeit on the floor. But Kagome knew it was because they were speaking in English. She had taken that test yesterday. Aced it, too.

“Come on, you’ve been practicing. What were they talking about?” The voice was soft, but lyrical, her words highlighted at each syllable. Kagome presumed the speaker, female, was from England.

“But I don’t want to be the stereotypical foreigner.” Kagome noted the other feminine sound was smoother, faster, and clearly American.

“Come on,” urged the Englishwoman. “How else are you going to learn?”

The American sighed. “From what I could tell, they were talking about a guy. The two of them were asking and the other one was avoiding if I could tell by the ‘Ano.’” Kagome paused in her quest for the key. They were talking about her visit with Ayumi and Eri.

“And?” the Englishwoman questioned.

“There was a word I couldn’t recognize. Or maybe I just don’t know the meaning,” the American paused. “Inu…Inuyasha, I think?”

Kagome’s eyes widened. Just when she was starting to feel normal, she ends up under a table eavesdropping on people who had eavesdropped on her. Awesome.

“Think about where the word was placed in the sentence. Was it a subject or object?”

“I think it was a name. Weird name, but as a name the sentences make sense. So, in context, they were friends catching up and talking about a guy.” Kagome tried pinching the key between her fingers.

The Englishwoman voiced lifted, “See, you’re getting the gist of Japanese conversation and you’ve only been here, what, six months.” Kagome could tell the woman was smiling

“Blame it on my students.” Kagome tugged harder, feeling the key pull a little. English teachers. Makes sense.

“Do you feel like you learned anything from listening?” Yes! I know English. I hear them clearly. Take that, Inuyasha. Tests are worth it.

“It is exciting. I understood their conversation. You have to admit that the social context of the conversation was more interesting.  It just seemed like the one girl was okay with,’ the American slowed to enunciate, “Inu-yasha disrespecting her.”

Kagome paused. What?

“We are from different cultures. We cannot really judge. Just hear what they say, and try to understand.” Kagome nodded in agreement. They don’t know everything from hearing one conversation.

“I’m not trying to be that stereotype. Note that she didn’t use an honorific with his name. She said he is a friend, but the closeness is implied. However, friends don’t insult each other. Name calling is not endearing. So, there must be more to it.”

Kagome stared at the key, halfway dislodged. Yes, there was a lot more to it, ladies.

“You are over thinking.”

“It’s called critical analysis.”

Wood scrapping floor indicated the two foreigners were going to leave. “Well, what did else you figure out from listening to the conversation?”

“Sometimes people cause their own problems.” The comment reminded Kagome why she was under the table in the first place - a key – which she resumed tug of war on…

… with an ear still tuned in.

The American continued, “From the ‘baka’ and other such words, the guy is loud and obnoxious. She wouldn’t be getting grilled by her friends and then offered advice if she knew where she stood with the guy. Therefore, he is the problem and she has not dealt with it. I would think differently had she answered the questions clearly and concisely.”

Kagome leaned forward, folding herself like a pretzel to hear the fading conversation.

“Be kind. They couldn’t have been  more than seventeen or eighteen.”

“Old enough to know better.”

“Maybe she will learn, and we can make sure to pass the lesson on to our students.”

Kagome released a breath she did not know she was holding. She tugged the key, and it slid free.

“Daijoubou?” ‘Are you okay?’ She translated mentally for the restaurant employee looking down at her.

Kagome replied in English, “I don’t know.”

~*~

“Mom! I’m back,” Kagome called out, making sure to leave the door unlocked.

Mrs. Higurashi leaned out from the kitchen, “Did you have a good time with your friends, Honey?”

“Well…” she hedged. “Can I talk to you mom?”

Mrs. Higurashi waved her daughter into the kitchen. Kagome joined her, leaning on the counter, watching her mom make tea. She didn’t know exactly what she wanted to say. The English words stuck in her head. Old enough to know better.

“Are you proud of me?” Kagome blurted out.

“Honey, where is this coming from?” Mrs. Higurashi asked. “Is Inuyasha being callous again?”

A random conversation should not affect her so much. But even her mother’s first response was about Inuyasha’s attitude. What had the foreigners said? Critical Analysis.

“I was just thinking. I am back and forth so much. I try to keep up on my schoolwork.” Kagome gestured with her hands, using them a scale.  “I try to find jewel shards. Balancing it all is not easy.”

Kagome look at her mother, searching for answers in her expression, “Why?”

“Why what, Honey?” Mrs. Higurashi grasped her daughter’s outstretched hands.

“Why do you let me go?”

Dozens of hypothetical answers ripped through Kagome’s head even before her mother even answered. Because it is a miko’s duty. Because it is something you started and you need to finish. Because it is your responsibility.  Because I do not need you around. Because school is expensive and we save more money this way. 

The reasons Kagome came up with shocked herself.  Did she really think so poorly of herself? Or her mother? Maybe those teachers had a point. Was she contributing to the problem at hand?

Mrs. Higurashi hugged her daughter close. “You have to stop that, Honey.”

“Stop what, Mom?”

“Growing up when I am not looking.”

Kagome relaxed into her mother, trying to dampen the swirling chaotic thoughts. This was maturity?

“I loved your father very much. And when he passed, it was not easy. I was a young mother left with a toddler and a baby to raise. Do you want know how I got through it?” Kagome nodded.

Mrs. Higurashi settled her daughter back to look her in the eyes, and then tapped her on the nose. “You and Souta.”

Kagome furrowed her brow. “Really?’

 “I took you both everywhere. On every errand and grocery trip. You missed school anytime something needed to get done. Trust me honey, you missing school is normal.” Mrs. Higurashi smiled ruefully. “I could not stand to be alone. I could not stand to be without the people I loved.”  

Kagome tried to picture her childhood - a notable milestone or one special event. Not one image was clear, she only recalled the emotion. “I remember being surrounded. If that even makes sense.” Kagome snuggled closer. “You have always been there.”

“I do not want you to go,” Mrs. Higurashi admitted. “I want you by my side all the time.”

Kagome jerked away with a gasp. “Then why?”

“When you first told me about this fantastical event of being dragged into the past, it was the first time you were more than just my child,” Mrs. Higurashi brushed the side of her daughter’s face. “You were Kagome, a young adult who needed to fix something that she had broken.”

Suddenly, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. “You saw me for me?”  

“You are Kagome, my daughter, who goes to school in the year two thousand thirteen and fights demons in the sixteenth century.  You are intelligent, strong, and caring. There is no one else like you.”

Kagome took a deep breath.

“I can only assume that you are asking me these questions cause you are thinking about who you are and what you want,” Mrs. Higurashi turned back to her abandoned teapot, “which makes me proud of the person you are becoming.”

Kagome couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her face. Her mom always knew just how to make her feel better.

“Now I answered your question, so it seems fair of you to answer mine.”

Kagome nodded obediently.

“Is there a reason why you left the front door unlocked?”

 

INUYASHA © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan • Yomiuri TV • Sunrise 2000
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