Neighborly: A SessKag Fanfic

Chapter 2

~*~ Chapter 2 ~*~

        A few light ‘taps’ took her attention away from the half-eaten bagel that rested on the kitchen table, just in front of the newspaper-wrapped stack of plates and saucers. The woman lifted her face from her palm and turned towards the noise. It was so faint that, for a moment, she fancied it a creation of her still groggy mind. But still she waited patiently with ears trained on the direction of the front door, and surely enough the faint knocks sounded again, a little louder than at first. Rising at the signal, she tried to compile a list of anyone who would have a reason to call on her this early, but she could not come up with a single name as she padded barefoot to the large, white door.

        Rin could hear the footsteps as soon as the lady had left the kitchen and awaited the telltale jiggling of the doorknob. She was absolutely bursting with excitement, smiling ear to ear. ‘Okay, okay… calm down. I have to be ra-… uh…rationa-… what was it? Fine, calm. Gotta be calm!’ A few deep breaths would do the trick. She thought more on how she would go about conducting her investigation, but soon found herself lost in giddiness again. The girl had become so immersed in her own inner musings that she barely registered the lock ‘click’, leaving her with only a fraction of a second to dial back the large grin on her face and appear normal.

        Just as she lifted her head to say ‘Hello’, the soft whoosh of air from the opened door brought the scent of honey and cut flowers wafting over her. She got her first good look at her target and found herself gripped by an uncomfortable bashfulness that she had not been expecting. The woman was indeed very pretty, but not in the way of a fairytale princess or a TV star. She looked… no felt… familiar in some way. Like her father or her grandmother felt. It wasn’t the woman she was nervous of really, but the startling feeling of such an intense closeness even though she had never even heard her voice. Her small hand twitched imperceptively, as if her body wanted to reach out and hug this strange new person. She didn’t know what had come over her. Rin noticed the dark-haired woman’s peaceful expression turn to one of mild confusion and mentally kicked herself for losing focus. She had a mission, after all!

“Hello, are you alright? Are you lost, sweetie?” the elder of the two enquired, a line of concern showing on her forehead. The girl in her yellow dress briskly shook her head and regained her customary grin.

“Hello, ma’am! My name is Rin, and I live in the house next door,” she pointed to emphasize her statement. The lady followed the girl’s gaze to the large, beautifully landscaped residence beside her own. She had been quite surprised to see such lavish homes when she first arrived in the neighborhood, but then again she had not had much information about where she would be living up until a few days ago… At any rate, this little girl certainly did live a charmed life. ‘I suppose I will be, too, now…’ she thought to herself before meeting large chocolate eyes again.

“Rin, was it? That’s a very pretty name!” She saw Rin’s whole face light up and resisted the urge to chuckle. “My name is Kagome Higurashi. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kagome said, bending slightly and extending a hand downward for her to shake. The little youkai shook her hand and beamed at the grown-up feeling of it. It was strange not being simply patted on the head or brushed aside; she liked it. Straightening her posture more with renewed confidence, she continued on with her script, having regained her original focus.

“Miss… Higurashi?”

“Miss Kagome is fine, but you’re very polite. I like that, you know,” Kagome responded with a smile. Rin could not stop her face from reddening a bit at the compliment.

“Miss Kagome…” she repeated quietly to herself, trailing off. Kagome took her distraction as a sign to continue the conversation herself.

“I suppose you’re my welcoming committee, are you?” Rin snapped back to the present and beamed up at her.