InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Need You ❯ Birthday ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, its characters or any quotes I may use.

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN: BIRTHDAY

 

Rin sighed in frustration and fell back with a soft thud. Dust rose up from the old floor, making her sneeze and cough wildly. Covering her mouth and nose with her hands she sighed again. She'd been up in the attic for two hours, gone through seven large boxes and found nothing.

Needless to say, it was infuriating.

More so; because she had no idea what she was even looking for.

“Rin!”

Rin's head snapped up; Kagome was calling for her.

She stumbled over the boxes and raced down to the attic door. Flinging it open she ran to the top of the stairs; breathless she tried to yell back but it only came out as a strangulated squeak, “Yes?”

Rin cleared her throat again, “Yes?”

Kagome appeared at the bottom of the stairs, “Linda's on the phone”

Rin held her hand out for the phone but Kagome made to move to hand it to her, “She says you've got a study group tonight at the library. 20 minutes ago?”

Rin's eyes widened and she slapped her forehead with her hand, “Math test on Monday....”

Kagome chuckled, “Get your stuff, I'll tell Linda you're on your way.”

 

15 minutes later Kagome dropped Rin off at the library and the younger girl raced inside. Once she reached the inner lobby Rin skidded to a stop and walked carefully past the librarian's desk. Last time she had been there she got a harsh scolding for running.

She smiled slightly at the librarian and made her way to the back of the large library.

Linda and two other girls from school were sitting at one of the tables talking quietly with books lying open in front of them.

Rin sat down and smiled sheepishly at Linda, “Sorry I'm late” she whispered.

Linda glared, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, “Um...Rin. Did you look in a mirror before you came here?”

The two other girls, Naoki Oshiro and Hasoni Sato, snickered as Linda pulled a small mirror out of her purse. She handed it to Rin, who glanced at it and flushed bright red. Her dark hair was coated with grey and she had a black smudge on her upper cheek and the tip of her nose. Linda pulled Rin to the bathroom to wash up.

Linda took a wet paper towel and ran it over Rin's hair while Rin washed her face. Linda frowned, “Rin, is this dust?”

Rin looked at her friend in the mirror, then nodded, “Yes.”

“From where?”

“I was up in the attic. Looking for stuff.”

Linda threw the paper towel away and leaned against the counter, “Stuff?”

“Well yeah. After this morning I decided I needed to really look into this.”

“What about asking your parents? I mean, I know they never listen because it was just dreams. But if you tell them what Rachel said.”

Rin started shaking her head before Linda even finished, “They won't tell me anything. When I got home I was thinking they might; if I told them about this morning. But after what I heard when I got home...I know they won't help me.”

Linda raised her eyebrows, “What'd you hear?

Rin quickly repeated everything she'd heard before hiding in the attic.

Linda whistled, “Wow....I can't....I can't believe it....So they don't want you to remember...that means we're right! There is something you forgot!” she jumped up excited, “Rin, this is big...this is huge!”

Rin nodded slowly, “You have no idea Linda” she said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

Rin turned, her dark eyes serious “I mean, I forgot the first 10 years of my life. And my parents don't want me to remember.”

“Yeah?”

“They're the ones that made me forget. My family” she stressed the word `family' bitterly, “Helped block out part of my life.”

Rin stood and opened the bathroom door, “And I'm gonna find out why.”

 

Three hours later Rin looked at the clock and nearly fell out of her seat, “Oh crap. I gotta go!” She scrambled to get all of her books into her bag.

“What's goin' on Rin?” Linda asked.

“Tonight's Mom's birthday party” Rin answered without stopping, “And I promised Dad I'd help get everything ready.”

Naoki looked up from her book, “It's your mom's birthday?”

Rin nodded, “Yeah, she's turning 35...I think.”

Now Hasoni looked up, “35? Are you sure?”

Rin stopped at looked at her, “Pretty sure, why?”

Hasoni shrugged, “Well, my sister just turned 26 and I thought she and Kagome went to school at the same time.” She shrugged again, “I could be wrong.”

Rin felt her stomach drop slightly, but didn't let it show; forcing a smile she picked up her backpack, “Yeah, you must be. I'll see you guys on Monday!”

Linda stood, “Hey, I'll give you a ride.”

Rin turned and walked backwards, “Oh, no thanks. I need the exercise. See ya!”

With that she turned and ran out of the library, oblivious to the librarian's glare and scolding.

 

Half way home it started to rain, but Rin didn't mind. She'd always loved the rain. It was one of the things that always made her smile, she used to tell Linda she felt like all her worries and problems were just wash away with the rain; a shower for her soul.

Opening the door to her house she slid her backpack off and shook the rain from her hair. “Dad?”

She walked into the kitchen and found InuYasha and Sango arguing over what kind of cake to get. InuYasha wanted to get some weird flavored one and Sango argued Kagome liked plain white. Rin stepped in between the two squabbling adult and called a time-out, “Tell me what you want me to do then you can go back to your senseless barking.”

Sango snickered and InuYasha glared, “Funny” he growled. He looked around franticly and Rin grinned.

InuYasha never got flustered, and was usually not at a lost for words. But as he stood there in the kitchen trying to pull everything together, he looked like he wanted to pull his hair out.

“But...I don't really...umm...go and get a shower, so you don't catch a cold and your mother kills me, and then you…uh…can help Yanna put decorations up.”

Rin nodded and walked back out; sticking her head back in she grinned, “By the way Dad, as much as you like it, I really don't think Mom would appreciate Ramen flavored cake. And it is her birthday after all.”

InuYasha threw a rag at her and Sango started laughing, “I win!”

Rin grabbed her bag and dragged it up the stairs. Grabbing clean, dry clothes she kicking Kit out of the bathroom and locked the door. As she took ready for her shower she thought about Sango and Miroku. They had been friends with her parents for as long as she could remember. They were like a close aunt and uncle. Kagome said they all met at school. But now Rin was wondering if that was even true. Shaking her head she turned the water on and stepped into a hot shower; letting all of her thoughts and worries just run down the drain with the water.

 

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday Kagome! Happy birthday to you!”

Everyone finished singing and clapped wildly as Kagome blew out her candles.

She laughed as she picked all the candles out of the cake, “You know, just putting the numbers `35' would have been enough InuYasha; you didn't have to use so many candles.”

Sango and Rin snickered while Miroku laughed right out and clapped InuYasha on the back. InuYasha just growled and crossed his arms.

When he lost the argument about what kind of cake to get Kagome, he stubbornly insisted that on HE got to decorate it. It had at least three inches of blue frosting, with multicolored sprinkles and 35 black candles jammed onto it.

The younger children and InuYasha were the only one who weren't afraid to taste it.

“Don't worry” Sango whispered in Kagome's ear, “Rin and I grabbed another cake. It's in the car.”

Kagome smiled her thanks and relief.

She turned to the eager children and served them a big piece of InuYasha's cake; along with InuYasha who looked slightly disappointed nobody else wanted some. Kagome assured him she'd try some later that night.

Rin brought the other cake in from Sango and Miroku's car and helped Sango serve it to the rest of the family.

Sitting at the counter she picked at her cake instead of eating it. She was too deep in thought; about what Rachel had said that morning, and what Hasoni said before she left the library.

“Well, my sister just turned 26 and I thought she and Kagome went to school at the same time.”

She shrugged again, “I could be wrong.”

Rin looked over at her mother and watched her as she talked with Sango. Her dark hair didn't have one speak of gray, and her face looked smooth and young; like a young woman just starting in her life, not a ways into it with three children. One of which was nearly 18.

“You okay Rin?”

Rin jerked out of her thoughts to see Miroku standing next to her, a small look of worry on his face. Rin smiled brightly, “Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about Mom, and how happy she looks.”

Miroku smiled and nodded, but Rin could tell he didn't believe her. He had always had an eerie way of telling when someone was lying. She was grateful he didn't press her for the truth. When in fact she didn't even know what it was anymore.

 

After the children were put to sleep, Rin went back upstairs while the adult sat around and talked.

Miroku expressed his concern about Rin's behavior of late, and everyone else agreed.

“Is she remembering?” Sango asked.

Kagome half shrugged and InuYasha growled.

“Yes!” he snapped “You forget, she's never really forgotten. Her dreams are all she's got left, and now they're becoming more real. Hallucinations!”

Kagome sighed deeply, “InuYasha and I decided that-”

“No!” InuYasha cut in, “You decided. I want to tell her, but you won't.”

Miroku raised his hand, “Why not just tell her? She's practically an adult now, maybe she'll handle it better now then she did 8 years ago.”

InuYasha pointed at Miroku, “See? He agrees with me. I know you love her Kagome, but you're really being selfish!”

Miroku and Sango exchanged glances; this was going to get ugly.

Kagome's eyes widen, “I'm being selfish? I'm trying to protect her!”

“By lying to her? How is that protecting her?!”

“If she remembers, she'll want to go back.”

“Then let her go back!” InuYasha roared, “That's where she belongs!”

“Do you really want her going back to your brother?!” Kagome snarled, her patience worn thin.

InuYasha opened his mouth then shut it with an audible click; she was right. If Rin did return to the Feudal Era, she would more then likely seek out Sesshomaru.

InuYasha swore under his breath and got off the couch. Growling loudly he grabbed his keys and went out the door, slamming it loudly.

Rin poked her head out of her room when she heard shouting, before she could catch on to what they were saying she heard her father get up and slam the door. Sighing deeply Rin turned to go back to her room and finish studying, but the attic door caught her eye and she couldn't resist going back up. She quietly went up the stairs and looked around. She wanted to be more precise in her searching, instead of just picking a random box and looking through it. Walking to the back a smaller box caught her eye. Pictures.

“Rachel said to start with photos.”

Sitting down she pulled the box to her and opened it. There were large envelopes, labeled by year. Rin pulled out the earliest year and flipped through it; nothing special.

She went through each envelope, and after each one became more and more disappointed. Finally she pulled out a picture that made her stop cold. It was of Kagome with a little girl. It was the same little girl Rin had been seeing. Rin shivered and placed the picture next to her; she was going to keep track of that photo till she figured out what it meant. The very last envelop lay flat in the bottom of the box; it was labeled `baby pictures'.

“I didn't know we had these” Rin murmured as she picked them up.

Flipping through the picture she began to get a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach, one that made her feel nauseous. There were lots of picture of Yanna and Kit. At the hospital, at home, with the little girl holding them, or another family member. But what made Rin sick was there were no pictures of her as a baby. Not one. And that little girl was there too. “Is that...is that me?”

There only pictures that were up around the house we the most recent ones, so Rin never could really remember what she looked like years ago, as a little girl.

“So, I'm seeing myself? But why? And how? How did I know that man?”

So many questions flooded Rin's mind and she was starting to get a headache. Setting the picture's box aside she crawled along the floor, reading the labels. Not finding anything interesting she got up and walked over to the shelves. Tilting her head sideways she went down the shelves quickly, waiting for something to jump out at her.

“Miscellaneous hmm?” Rin pulled a flat box off the middle shelve and sat down with an “Ougf!”

Carefully opening the box she was surprised to see it was just full of papers. Certificates and such. Mostly awards and recognitions. Rin quickly flipped through it and was just about to set the box down when a smaller paper fluttered to the ground. Rin picked it up and turned it over. It was a birth certificate for Yanna, and stuck to its back was one for Kit.

Rin placed all the papers on the floor and carefully looked at each one again. Her heartbeat sped up when she couldn't find one for her. “What the hell is going on?”

Scoping the papers up Rin noticed her mother's name; pulling the paper out Rin realized it was Kagome's birth certificate. Her eyes widened as she read it.

“Oh my god.”

 

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