InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Last Summer ❯ The Cold ( Chapter 4 )

 

 

 

 

One Last Summer

 

Chapter Four

 

7:46 A.M, Monday, May Twenty-Sixth. (Taishou Manor)

 

The two girls sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen, a cookie in their left hands, and a sippy-cup of milk in their right. Mechanically, they took a bite of the cookie, chewed it five times, swallowed, and took a sip of milk out of their 'fancy' sippy-cups, which had pictures of dancing cartoon characters on them. After the procedure was fulfilled when they finished the cookie, they each reached for another cookie.

 

They watched as Sesshomaru scrambled back and forth through the kitchen, to the dining room, then into his office, and scramble back through all the rooms and into the kitchen. He growled every once in a while, alerting the servants to keep out of his way. It was the first time that something like this had ever happened.

 

Sesshomaru Taishou was late for work.

 

Apparently, he had had a very bad night the night before, after Kagome had left when he had come home for work, and hadn't gotten any sleep at all. The two girls cringed at the look he had. It wasn't just the scowl on his face that scared them; it was the way his silver hair was ruffled, the way his suit was wrinkled. Dark circles marred his perfect skin as they hung under his eyes, as if proving he hadn't gotten sleep at all. They did their job well.

 

All in all, he looked like a total mess. Looking closer at his face while he searched below them in the island for some papers, Kagome actually thought she saw a bit of something yellow dripping out of his nose. His eyes were bloodshot and if one were to look very closely, they would see his whole body was shaking.

 

Reaching down to him, Kagome placed the back of her hand against his forehead. It appeared he had a fever, since he was burning up! She brought her hand back up with a fake hiss, and Sesshomaru looked up at her with his puffy red eyes. Not from crying. It was from all the mucus that was dripping down his throat and his nose. Grabbing a tissue from a nearby box, she put it to his nose.

 

"Blow." She stated calmly, and he did as she said. She handed him a tissue box, and stood up, placing her unfinished cookie on the island counter. Rin looked down at Sesshomaru awkwardly as he began to sway back and forth on his feet.

 

The young girl cried out, and Kagome glanced at her silver-haired boss. "That's it. What's the number of your secretary?" She asked, and he stood up to look at her.

 

"Why?" He asked quietly, most of his energy to keep himself from toppling over.

 

"Because you can't go to work today. You're sick." She explained, picking up the phone and searching around the phone numbers pasted to a bulletin board for his secretary's number.

 

"They need me there; I'm the boss. I don't have a choice not to go."

 

"Well now you don't have the choice to go either. Just look at yourself, you're sick." He grabbed her wrist as she began to look in his expensive briefcase, and her soft brown eyes gazed back up into his golden amber ones.

 

"I'm fi -" His sentence was cut off as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

 

"So much for that phrase." She went over to Rin, who had screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw her adoptive father fall to the ground. For all she knew, he could be dead!

 

'Kagome-chan wouldn't let Sesshomaru die… would she?' She clutched onto the older girl's arm as she was lifted into the air, and Kagome carried her out of the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hall, and into Sesshomaru's bedroom. The older girl had given instructions to a servant, but Rin hadn't heard them, her vision too clouded with confusion and worry for Sesshomaru.

 

"Don't worry, Rin-chan… Sesshomaru will be just fine. He's just tired…" Kagome soothed, setting the girl down on Sesshomaru's bed. In came to large servants, who looked like they were part of the mansion's security, and placed their master on his bed, next to Rin.

 

The young girl scrambled up and grasped onto the unconscious man's shirt, not caring that he had mucus dripping out of his nose. Reaching for another tissue, Kagome wiped his nose of the mucus, and tried to tuck the two under the blankets. The bed hadn't been made yet, since it was only quarter to eight, and those servants didn't come to work until eight thirty.

 

"He'll be awake soon, Rin-chan. You go back to sleep, you were up too early this morning." Rin shook her head no, but was tucked under the regal-looking blankets anyways, Sesshomaru as well.

 

"Go back to sleep, and when you wake up, I promise Sesshomaru will be awake." Kagome whispered. She turned off the lamp on Sesshomaru's bedside table, and the room was swathed in darkness. Softly she kissed Rin's forehead, and went to go get Sesshomaru some medicine for his fever.

 

"Don't worry, Sesshomaru-sama… Kagome-chan will take care of you…"

 

"Kagome-chan… Kagome-chan… Kagome-mama…"

 

 

 

12:08 P.M, Monday, May Twenty-Sixth. (Taishou Manor)

 

 

 

Slowly and softly, Kagome prodded Sesshomaru awake. As his eyes squinted open, and his breathing quickened to the pace it was when he was conscious, she held her hand to his forehead before pressing a cold clothe to it. The cold water was squeezed out of the cloth, and dripped down the sides of his face, making him groan with the sudden coldness.

 

Taking the chance as his mouth opened, Kagome shoved a spoonful for red liquid into his mouth. Sesshomaru sputtered and tried to spit the disgusting, cherry-flavored liquid out, only to find that the procedure was very hard, considering the fact that he was laying, back down, in his bed.

 

"What is this vile liquid you feed me?" He asked, sputtering again as another spoonful made its way down his throat.

 

"It's just something to make sure your fever doesn't come back. It went down a few hours ago, but we want to make sure it doesn't come back for Rin's party tomorrow!" The cheerfulness almost made him wince because of the pounding headache that shooed all thoughts away.

 

"Rin's party…" He whispered unsurely, trying to remember through the cloudiness of his mind.

 

Suddenly, the memory came back to him through the confusion, and he understood what she was talking about. Two weeks ago he had sent out invitations to Rin's birthday party, which was to be held at their summer vacation cottage up north by the lake, and would be in session for three days. InuYasha and his four friends had been invited, which meant that Kagome was to come as well.

 

Many relatives were invited, which included his own and InuYasha's father, some random aunts that lived nearby, and one crazy cousin, who we all know as Kouga. The terrible trio would be coming as well, meaning there would be entertainment galore throughout the whole ordeal, as well as hired entertainment. Rin wouldn't clap any louder than when she did for the trio, though, since they were her best friends.

 

"Yes. We leave for it tomorrow, on her birthday, and will arrive a few hours later. You rest up today, because we leave early." Kagome poked at his throat again, making sure that all the liquid was completely down his throat.

 

'How does she know when we're leaving?'

 

"How do I know when we're leaving? Well, just because someone forgot to tell me when, I had to ask Myoga." She answered his question unintentionally, but it worked for him just the same.

 

He sat up a bit, and she pushed him forward so that his head was against his knees, which had been drawn up to his chest. Sesshomaru felt her fluff the pillows behind him, and Kagome pulled him back to rest against the pillows. She disappeared into the hallway, but a few minutes later she had brought back a tray for his lap, which had everything he could need at a time like this.

 

"I asked a servant what you liked to read, and they ran away screaming. So I don't know. I brought you a business one of some sort." She whispered, placing the tray on his lap. A bowl held delicious looking soup of some kind, and a small plate off to the side held a strange looking bread and butter. A mug of hot, steaming tea was set on the nightstand next to his bed.

 

"Don't be too loud, though, Rin's sleeping." Kagome smiled at him again, and brought a tissue up to his nose. With another saying of 'blow,' he blew his nose free of the mucus that had collected there, and she smiled again, throwing it away.

 

"I'll be right over here if you need anything." Kagome pointed to a chair she had set up a few feet away from the bed, in reach if anything were to happen, or if he needed anything.

 

Sesshomaru sipped his soup slowly, making sure the heat of it didn't burn his tongue and kill some taste buds. He watched Kagome as she flipped through a magazine, tearing out coupons and ads once in a while, or marking a page by bending the corner. She laughed softly when she came across a funny article, and marked the page.

 

He gazed at the small form of a child that lay beside him, slumped against the pillow next to his own. Her breathing was soft and regular, and every so often a smile would form on her small lips, signifying that her dreams were happy ones. She was the one that looked up to him like he was a god, like he had been her savior. He had rescued her from that horrible orphanage, but he was no guardian angel.

 

He remembered the words that she had spoken to him before, just as he had barely regained consciousness, just for a second. For a moment, he had just froze, searching through her words and hoping that he had only heard wrong. Maybe he had thought the word -sama sounded like the word -mama. And in his strange, feverish state, his mind had been confused and had heard the wrong thing. Yeah, that was it.

 

The only real problem, was that he knew he hadn't. Distinctly the words had fallen from her small mouth.

 

"Don't worry, Sesshomaru-sama… Kagome-chan will take care of you…"

 

"Kagome-chan… Kagome-chan… Kagome-mama…"

 

"Is something wrong? Do you feel worse?" A soft voice broke him away from his memories and his thoughts. Sesshomaru looked up into the worried brown eyes of Kagome, who was leaning over him and his tray. Silently she moved it out of the way, his meal having been finished, and he needed enough room to rest.

 

She sat down on the edge of the bed next to him, smoothing out the blankets before she sat. A small, soft hand made its way to his forehead, checking his temperature for the fourth time that day. Slowly her hand moved back and forth across his temples, massaging his stressed mind free of the turmoil that resided in his mine when thinking about work. Maybe it wasn't a cold, just pent up stress…

 

"I'm fine. Just a bit thirsty again." He said quietly, turning is head into her soothing palm. Kagome smiled at the small action, but then took her hand away and stood up.

 

"I'll get you some more tea." As soon as she left the room, Sesshomaru made himself comfortable in the mass of blankets surrounding him, preparing to go back to sleep when he heard a noise next to him. Rin was softly breathing, and muttering something or other in her sleep. Something he really wanted to hear, though.

 

"Stop… Fluffy… no, Jaken… no more mad-town… please stop…" Her mumblings stopped as she turned over to her other side, leaving a confused Sesshomaru to ponder over her words.

 

When Kagome came back with a full mug of tea five minutes later, she found that Sesshomaru had fallen back asleep. Resting the tea on the nightstand next to his bed, she smiled and leaned over the tuck the covers up to his chin. Upon just plain instinct and reaction, she stayed where she was leaning over him for a moment and stared down at his peaceful slumber.

 

Placing a small kiss on his brow, she whispered, "Sleep tight, Maru-chan. Don't disappoint Rin. Don't disappoint your daughter." With that she sat back down in her chair and flipped through the magazine while sipping at her own tea, like nothing had just occurred.

 

Little to her knowledge, Sesshomaru had been awake the whole time, silently contemplating Rin's words. When she had entered the room, he had pretended to be asleep, only because he had wanted to be left alone. He had expected it when she had tucked him under his blankets, upon being the natural instinct to do so, and had expected the 'sleep tight,' but he had not predicted the kiss.

 

The imprint of her lips still burned at his skin of his forehead where she had placed the kiss on his brow. How much he yearned to feel the place where she had kissed him, to wipe away the hot feeling that was slowly covering his whole body like a blanket, seeping through his blood like hot chocolate on a cold winter night. It wasn't bad that she had kissed him, because she had only really kissed his brow. It was just that he hadn't been kissed in so long.

 

The last time he had kissed a woman besides Rin herself - which he didn't really kiss, more of her kissing him - had been her. The last time had been that night. The night that when she had left, the night that he didn't want to remember. It had been the night that he had told her to leave, so fiercely and so loudly that it had scared Rin to tears.

 

Not that the young girl hadn't warned him beforehand that she was a bad person. Over and over Rin had told him that she was mean, that she was just faking it, and that Sesshomaru-sama deserves someone better than that wicked witch of the wind. Yet he had never listened to her cautioning words, he had brushed them off as a childish phase, or that Rin disliked the attention he was giving her.

 

No. He didn't want to remember any of that. The plain reminder was just the effect it had had on Rin. The young girl was just… different since she had come and gone. There seemed to be a sense of longing that the young girl had in her eyes. If only he knew what she wanted, what would make her the happy young girl she once was…

 

Now it was just best for him to drift of into the land of unconsciousness, forgetting - even if it was just for a moment - that anything had ever happened. Sleep…

 

Dreams…

 

He perched atop the soft white clouds, gazing down at the world below with his golden eyes, his chin resting atop his hands. The world below him - Tokyo specifically - surged with action and life that he longed to join. Yet it seemed that he was stuck up here, lying down in the clouds, watching the people wind in and out between the cars that crowded the city streets.

 

He saw a bright, raven-haired, brown-eyed girl that jumped through the streets, a young girl hanging on to her wrist. They laughed and giggled all the way, attracting more than a little attention with their bright colored clothing and loud giggling. He watched them closer than he did the others below him.

 

The small girl whispered something in the older one's ear, and a bright grin appeared on both their faces as they passed a group of boys the younger girl's age. Two of the three boys had dark brown hair, one with freckles, and the other with a soccer ball under his arm. The third had the strangest hair, and was the tallest of the three, walking around arrogantly, like he owned the street.

 

'Hey! Shippou! Souta! Kohaku!' he didn't like the two girls being so familiar with those boys. They had bad news written all over them. Literally. The one with the freckles was wearing a T-shirt with 'bad news' written on it.

 

The group of five talked for a bit, before parting again, the three boys heading towards the north, and the two girls heading south. He watched as they resumed their game of giggling and pointing things out to one another, trying to get the other to laugh. He watched them as they made their way to a large mansion.

 

The young girl was quite comfortable with the mansion, running around the place like she owned it. While the other, older girl, who looked to be in her early twenties, walked around carefully, wary of breaking something, and then having to pay for it. The thought seemed to be running through her mind, since she avoided going near any major artifact that looked fragile.

 

A stoic character walked through the door, looking like he had just gotten back from a horrible day of work. His long silver hair swayed around his knees, and he shut the door behind him. The man said something to the two girls, but he - up in the clouds as he was - couldn't make it out. His face stayed impassive, and emotionless, as he spoke and moved around. The young girl smiled and ran upstairs.

 

He found his vision blurring until the mansion disappeared from view, and so did the world active with people below him, they all faded away until all he could see was the blank whiteness of his ceiling.

 

Consciousness…

 

"Sesshomaru-sama! You are awake!" A voice cried from his side, and he turned his head to face Rin. A large grin on her face, as usual, she stopped shaking him. The only reason he was awake was because she had woken him.

 

"Kagome-chan said you would be awake when Rin - I woke up, and you were! You are!" Latching her arms around him, the young girl held on tightly to the older man, worried that if she let go, he would become sick again, and miss out on the three-day birthday party of hers that was coming up tomorrow, for the following three days.

 

"How are you feeling? Your old tea got cold, would you like me to get you some more?" Kagome's soft, light voice asked tentatively from the side of the bed. She smiled down at his face, her eyes sparkling with rejoice that he was well. Sesshomaru was about to shake his head no, when he stopped himself.

 

"Take Rin to the park. I'll be fine, but Rin needs to run around a bit." He spoke softly, his voice hoarse and dry from a long time of not eating or drinking anything. Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was three, and about time for him to check in with his secretary to see what he missed at work.

 

"Can Sesshomaru-sama come with us?" Rin asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on the bed next to him. Kagome looked hesitantly at him.

 

"Only if he feels up to it, and wants to go, but we'll need to bring lots of tea!" Both girls looked at him with wide, pleading eyes, hoping he would say yes, and spend the rest of he day with them. He sighed. There was no way in hell that he could say no the those large, watery eyes that begged him to say yes.

 

"Fine…" Before he even finished saying the word, the two girls were out the door to his room, and into Rin's, leaving him the privacy to dress, and going to get Rin herself dressed.

 

A few minutes later, Rin and Kagome zoomed back into the room, Rin now fully changed into shorts and a T-shirt instead of her nightgown, making sure they knocked first. After all, what a horror it would be for them to walk in on Sesshomaru, changing! The poor girls' eyes would burn with the terror of the sight, and they would be scarred for life! As if…

 

"Don't tell me you're wearing that to the park." Kagome covered her eyes after taking one look at what the silver-haired man was wearing.

 

"I am wearing what is suited for a day at the park." He responded icily, and the older girl peeked through the fingers that were covering her eyes.

 

"Suited for a day at the park? People wear casual clothes for a day at the park." She fully uncovered her eyes, and walked over to him, so she could reach out a finger and poke him in the chest. "And let me tell you something; dress pants are NOT casual."

 

Walking over to his closet door and opening it, Kagome only took a small minute to marvel at the sure size of it all, before she searched through the racks of clothes. A lot of things were tossed around, before finally a pair of khaki shorts were thrown his way, as was a plain black, button-up T-shirt with a white tank top. He had to duck when a pair of running shoes was tossed to him, for fear he wouldn't be able to catch them with the shorts, button-up, and tank top in his hands.

 

"You change. We'll wait down stairs and make some tea for you to carry around." She demanded, and pulled Rin out of the room so he could change into the more casual clothes. The young girl was giggling all the way to the kitchen, where Kagome made more tea, and put it into a thermos for Sesshomaru.

 

"Sesshomaru sure has bad taste in casual clothing, Rin-chan." Kagome said while they waited for the water to boil.

 

"Sesshomaru-sama doesn't like to wear casual clothing! He says it makes him look too young." Rin replied, grinning a small grin as Kagome poured the burning water into two separate thermoses, one for Sesshomaru, and one for herself.

 

"Oh? And how old is Sesshomaru-sama?" She had always wanted to know, but had never had the guts to ask anyone, not even InuYasha. Better try now, or else she'd never get the guy to answer for himself.

 

"I think Sesshomaru-sama is twenty-six!" Kagome choked on the tea she had been sipping.

 

'TWENTY-SIX? I thought he was surely in his early to mid thirties!' She cleaned up her spilt tea, and decided that it was just the business suits he always wore that made him look a lot older than he actually was. 'He's only a few years older than me…'

 

"Let's go." Sesshomaru called from the entranceway, and they made their way out the side door and into the garage. Kagome almost choked on her tea again. The garage was almost as big as her, Sango, and Kikyo's apartment they shared! Forgetting about that, she gazed at the ten, magnificent cars that shined before her.

 

"Uh huh… which one do we take?" She asked uncertainly. How was there a way for rich people to choose which car to drive to work each day? Kagome herself would drive a different one every day if she had any say in it! But alas, she had a rusty old Ford that she drove everywhere.

They decided - well, mainly Rin decided - that they should take a large, yet sleek, black car that had a foreign name that Kagome couldn't pronounce. With this car, and Sesshomaru driving, it only took ten minutes to get to the park, when it usually took three times as long. Despite the fact that he was icy and cold, seemingly ten years more mature than he actually was, Sesshomaru drove cars like a mad speed man.

 

"Remind me to let Rin to drive us back." Kagome gasped as she got out of the car, clutching the side for her dear life.

 

"But Kagome-chan, Ri - I can't drive -"

"Better you than Sesshomaru…" Kagome muttered under her breath, not aware of the glare sent her way by the driver of the car as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car as well.

 

"C'mon Kagome-chan! Let's play!" Together the two girls ran to the large park, where they ran around the playground, sliding down slides and climbing up the monkey bars. Sesshomaru sighed, locked the car with a click of a button, and sat down on a bench to watch as Kagome pushed Rin on the swings. The two then took turns chasing each other around, making a flock of pigeons scatter when they ran through them.

 

"It's like having two children… except for one is a big, twenty-three year old girl who gets hyper off vanilla ice cream." Sesshomaru muttered to himself, remembering the time he had given her vanilla ice cream the week before. Which would have been alright, had it not been for the narrowed set of eyes that watched him and glared at the gilr that had dared take Sesshomaru's attention away from her.

 

 

 

Sorry for the lateness of the third chapter, but I was hanging out with my friends.

 

Sorry, the dream doesn't mean much now, but it will later, I promise.

 

I don't care about the amount of reviews. I just like to know that a few people are faithful, and I'm good…

 

Sorry, this chapter was sort of a filler. So will the next chapter. Happy New Years, Love Cat.