The Trouble With Boys (Updated Version) by amemerson

Prologue

A/N: Hi! So this is actually a really, really old story I had first written on here--my very first fanfic I had ever written, actually!

Going back and re-reading the original though, I felt that it needed some serious tender and loving care. So, I have spent quite a few days now just rewriting and replanning most of what I already had written, updating some stuff--changing a lot--but still attempting to keep the overall spirit of the original in the hopes of giving it better justice now that I'm a little older, and hopefully a little wiser.

I'm not going to delete the original, still found in my profile, because well...I don't want to erase that part of me as a writer. The one when I was still so young and not very good, but still very hopeful about posting something I really enjoyed creating. It took a lot for me to post it, and even though it didn't get very far...and life got in the way...I will always be grateful for the people who still give it a chance, who commented, gave me constructive criticism, and just all around supported me. I guess this is just a lame way of saying, I'm way too sentimental to just delete that old version.

Anyway, super long authors note, I know. I promise I wont continue to bore you with another one of these again, haha!

Happy reading, and I hope you'll let me know your thoughts on my little "take two" project!

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In a large city, in a small town, somewhere deep within one of its many bright and happy neighborhoods, a little girl about five years old, and quite small for her age, visibly trembled.

Her mother, who could only smile encouragingly each time, met yet another one of her daughter’s wary gazes, and once more laid a soothing hand—the one that wasn’t at risk of being clutched half to death—over her child’s head reassuringly.

“…and the playground is right at the end of this hall here”, the assistant director of her new pre-school, an older, worn looking lady with a gentle smile, spoke as she lead them through yet another bright, color popping hallway.

“This is usually where the children your little girl’s age will be in the mornings”, she added, gesturing them forward and coming to a stop before a large white glass paneled door.

Behind it stood what looked like a beautiful and large gated yard, chuck full to the brim of play sets just as colorful as the rest of the building. There were slides as far as the eye could see, several bright red swings, a sandpit, and even a few small scatterings of trees.  

And of course, there were just as many, many more kids. All of them running around screaming their little heads off without a care in the world.

Feeling the little girl at her side tense up even more so, the doting mother gave her daughter’s much smaller hand a comforting squeeze.

“It’s okay”, she assured, bending down to meet large, heavily misted cerulean eyes.

Cute short bangs shifted violently above creased dark brows, as the child shook her head no with much more determination than should have been warranted.  

“Now, Kagome”, Mrs. Higurashi warned, bringing her thumb down to gently wipe away huge crocodile tears, whilst also attempting, with very little success, to ignore the heavy sentimental ache growing within her heart.

“Remember, you promised to be a big girl today for your first day of school.”

At the mention of such a promise, Kagome nodded her head at last, yet could only cry harder.

“I don’t want to go to school”, she whimpered, “I want to stay home with ba-chan!”

“Oh sweetheart”, caving at last, Mrs. Higurashi pulled her little girl into a big hug, and sent the concerned teachers eyeing them an apologetic look, “this is only for a little while. Look—look around you—see all the other children having such a fun time! Soon you’ll be playing too, and before you know it you’re gonna have lots and lots of friends”

“I don’t want friends”, Kagome begged, pulling her mother closer still in order to rub her face against her neck soothingly, “I want to play with baby Sōta!”

The young mother sighed softly as she rubbed her little girl’s quaking back soothingly.

Maybe singing Kagome up at the cute, new little daycare all the mom’s at her office kept raving about, Mrs. Higurashi reasoned as she worried her bottom lip, had not been such a good idea after all.

Well, so much for early developmental socialization.

“Any luck?”

Just as a deep voice spoke from behind them, a large hand settled comfortingly over the mother’s left shoulder.

Mrs. Higurashi turned to look up at her smiling husband, who met her desperate gaze with an assuring wink.

Hadn’t he promised to stay and wait at the car?

She sighed again, this time it was coated in slight annoyance.

“Papa!”, the child in her arms sobbed even harder.

Now Kagome would surly never relent.

“She doesn’t want to stay”, Mrs. Higurashi replied, encircling her arms around her daughter to bring her up with her as she stood.

Mr. Higurashi nodded, and though his demeanor was solemn in the face of this new milestone, his dark eyes were bright as they faced Kagome.

“What’s wrong, little bird?”, he asked, holding out his arms to welcome the little one as she flung herself onto the safety of his embrace, “don’t you like your new school?”

“No”, the little girl sniffed, leaning into the warmth of the large, rough palm that wiped at the sad trails of tears that coated her red chubby cheeks.

Her own tiny pale hands came up to meet her father’s much tanner face as well, though she pushed at his cheeks rather than stroked them, pulling him to meet her eyes as she sobbed.

“It’s okay, Kagome, take a deep breath”, the man gently coached, ignoring his wife’s fierce ‘I told you so’ dagger filled glare.

The little girl made the effort to gulp as much air in between her words as she could, though her crying did not subside

“I-I w-wanna s-stay w-with y-you a-and m-mama!”

Finally in sync, Mr. and Mrs. Higurashi shared a wary look.

“I know my little bird, but your mama and I need to go back to work”, the father gently reasoned, his long tan fingers suddenly coming down to tickle at a cute protruding belly.

He watched with warm amusement as the child in his arms shook with sudden laughter despite herself.

“How else will we be able to buy you and Sōta toys and nice things?”

Small giggles shifted into loud sobs just as quickly once again, and her small arms clung tightly as they wrapped around his neck.

“It’s o-okay, papa!”, little Kagome begged, “I don’t w-want any nice things!”

Mrs. Higurashi resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at her struggling husband’s steadily blue tinged cheeks, and instead turned to smile pleasantly at the assistant director, whom lifting a an unimpressed brow, merely checked her pocket watch to spare her the humiliation.

Having worked many years as an educator for small children, she’d already seen everything.

Mrs. Higurashi though, was not so assured.

“Ahaha anata~”

Finally prying little Kagome’s deathly grip from his abused larynx, her husband sent her a withering sigh, before finally taking a look at the playground around them.

Surly there was bound to be something he could work with.

Setting the child back on the ground proved to be a task of its own, and though she fought valiantly kicking all around her to impeded the process, Mr. Higurashi let out a sigh of relief once little Kagome’s pink rainbow sneakers gently hit the floor.

“P-a-p-a-!”

Chuckling at how adorable she looked stomping her foot in protest, the father could not help but ruffle her bangs, before offering her his hand.

She was just so cute!

Together they walked along the shaded path towards the one area devoid of screaming and playing children.

Here the grass was soft and green, and farther towards the short bright yellow gates stood a tall cherry blossom tree, its long branches waving in the wind as if beckoning them closer with its pretty blooming flowers.

Inspiration striking him at last, Mr. Higurashi lead the wallowing child in that same direction until they both stood right underneath the glow of its warm shadow.

Pulling her into his arms once more, he was satisfied to find that the little girl’s whimpers slowly subsided, until only a few hiccups were all that was heard.

“Do you see what I see, Kagome-chan?”, he asked, voice full of wonder.

As if pitying his plight, the tree shook softly with the wind, allowing a few pale pink petals to rain over them softly.

Pointing a finger up for emphasize, the father watched as the little girl lifted her head from his shoulder to observe with amp attention the beautiful tree and its numerous flowers.

“Remember what I told you about cherry blossoms?”

“…if…you pick the perfect one…”, Kagome finally replied, her voice slightly raspy from all her crying, “…you can make a wish on it!”

The excitement coloring her voice at last, made Mr. Higurashi grin.

“Yes! Exactly!”, he exclaimed, tickling her once more, and this time his little girl’s laugh was as authentic as her sweet smile, “do you want to help me try and find the perfect one?”

His request was met with much enthusiasm.

“Uh-huh!”, Kagome responded energetically, deep blue eyes the color of the sky already searching the tree branches for her prize.

Mr. Higurashi too scanned the tree, admiring each and every bloom fondly, silently appreciating how all of them brought fond long lasting memories of his own childhood.

It didn’t take much longer until he spotted a particular beautiful one attached to a low hanging branch, however.

‘And the wind is perfect as well’, he thought with a smile.

“Look, Kagome-chan!”, he gasped in the exaggerated manner that never failed to make her giggle, pointing at the branch, “Isn’t this one perfect?”

“Get it, papa! Get it!”, the little girl screamed her excitement as soon as she saw the flower, once judging for herself that it was indeed perfect.

Mr. Higurashi chuckled, lifting his free arm up indulgently, but secretly feigning at being too short to grab it.

“Uh-oh”, he pouted, pinching the tip of Kagome’s little nose the second her expression soured, “I think you’re going to have to help me”

Scrunching her nose and rubbing it, the little girl nodded.

“Okay, papa”

Lifting her up to his shoulders, the father tried not to wince as soft plump fingers pulled on his dark hair with a loud squeal of delight, and instead basked in the joy of those cheerful cries.

“Okay, little bird”, he spoke once Kagome reigned in the happy hysteria she always felt whenever she found herself so up high in the air.

With much care he held her up to the tree branch where she could easily lean forward to grab the soft pink flower herself.

“You have to be very gentle”, Mr. Higurashi cautioned, observing as the little girl reached out with her small hand, and with the greatest of care, plucked it from its place on the tree.

“Got it!”, she called, cheeks shining with pride and grinning widely as strong arms lowered her back down to press against an equally strong chest.

“Good girl”, her papa’s praise made her giggle, “now all you have to do is close your eyes and make a wish, and when you’re ready…”

As his words trailed off, the father’s warm dark eyes grew softer still as they landed on the child in his arms.

“…Let it go in the wind…”, a small, almost comically pensive voice supplemented.

Her own eyes closed so tight that they squinted, Kagome concentrated as if she were focusing all her energy onto this one small, little flower in her hands.

So much so that Mr. Higurashi, despite his biased fondness, was kinda surprised she hadn’t managed to squeeze it into a pulp yet.

That…that would be bad.

After a moment, cerulean eyes finally opened up to the heavens, and kissing the cherry blossom just as softly as it had been plucked, little Kagome opened her small palm and allowed the sweeping breeze to carry it away into its gentle path.

Feeling her papa peck her forehead tenderly with a kiss of his own, they both followed, with bated breathe, the blossom as it carried high into the air.

Neither taking their eyes off it, until it seemingly disappeared into the sky.

It was little Kagome who spoke first, breaking the silence with her sweet baby voice lulled into a deep serenity.

“You and mama can go now, papa”, she whispered, her blue gaze still very much captivated by the clouds, “Kagome-chan is okay”

A skeptical dark eyebrow lifted, though knowing not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Mr. Higurashi merely nodded.

 It was as if the wild screaming child of before had been snuffed out and replaced by an angel.

A rare occurrence as of late.

Heh.

He smirked, gazing over his shoulder to send his exasperated wife—all the way back by the main school building, and whom kept pointing at her wristwatch—an arrogant yet tastefully superior look.

Maybe he really was just that good.

“Alright, my little bird”, he whispered back, unable to help himself from kissing the top of the little girl’s round head once more, before finally setting her down again, “you have fun okay?”

Kagome barely spared him a glance as she nodded her head, running to find her mother for a kiss goodbye.

“How do you do it?”, Mrs. Higurashi asked her smug husband a few minutes later, watching in awe as her child headed at full speed towards the slides, not two seconds after saying her last bye-byes.

Mr. Higurashi simply grinned, mischievous eyes glinting despite the casual shrug of his shoulders.

His wife scoffed, and had she not chosen to wave from a distance at the smiling teachers overlooking the playground time, she might have rolled her eyes.

Her smile was just as earnest however, when she was presented with his warm and inviting hand, and accepting it immediately, she allowed him to lead her back inside.

Very first days of school were tough, even for parents, but Mrs, Higurashi was glad he was there after all, to share the experience with her.

Together.


…..


Farther away, Kagome watched her parents leave, biting her plump lip just as her eyes started misting again.

She was still very sad to see them go, but she knew they would never abandon her—her wish would make sure of that!

“Hurry up!”, someone yelled, just as she turned to look back at her spot in line for the green slide, only to find that her turn had come up—though before she had a chance to step up on the ladder, a pair of hands pulled her away by the back strap of her overalls.

It was a boy about her age, maybe older if his height had anything to say about it, and that was all she saw, before tumbling to the floor with a loud cry.

Looking up to find extremely dark blue eyes, dark hair, and a cross shaped scar on the forehead gloating down at her, Kagome glared.

Picking herself up, she dusted her backside, ready to give him what for—

Only someone else beat her to it.

“Hey! Look at what you did, ya big dummy!”, this voice was loud, grating, and defensive.

Both the tall boy and Kagome turned in its general direction—one annoyed, the other somewhat bewildered—only to find another boy, this one much shorter.

With a mop of unruly silver-almost-white hair, and bushy dark brows set in a deep scowl, his amber eyes flashed dangerously.

Well, as dangerously as a five year old—four year old?—could be, anyway.  

Seemingly already bored with the girl pulling at his shirt, the dark haired boy pushed her aside and faced the newcomer.

“Who’re you calling a dummy?”, he snapped, coming to stand at almost a head taller than the other kid, once face to face, “you’re smaller than my littlest brother, and he’s two and a half!”

“Yeah well”, the fair haired boy growled, dirty sneakers kicking up sand as he stepped forward to press his nose against him, “you’re still dumb, and your brother is a poop face!”

Little Kagome gasped at such language!

The last time she called someone a poop face—Ayame from next door—her mom had threatened to wash her mouth out with soap.

“Oh yeah?!”, the older boy hissed.

“Yeah!”, the younger snapped.

By now a few of the other kids also stopped their playing if only to watch with curiosity as the two of them took turns pushing the other, back and forth like a seesaw.

A few cries of “Teacher! Teacher!”, ran somewhere in the background, though the two mini brawlers seemed happily oblivious to all around them.

For a moment, Kagome, who’s fight had been stolen right from under her, warily wondered if they even remembered why the started this argument in the first place.

However before any real action took place, a hand from somewhere above them managed to grab the taller of the two boys by the scruff of his t-shirt, right before he swung at the shorter one.

“You again, young man?”, one of the teachers chastised as she dragged him away with an exasperated sigh, tutting disapprovingly when he threw an outraged fit at being caught.

 “Aren’t you interested in making friends with anyone other than the time-out wall?”, another teacher questioned, taking the reins from her colleague, who sent her a pleading look.

“Teacher!” A small girl with the reddest shade of eyes Kagome had ever seen skipped past her with a sing-song voice,“are you gonna call his mommy again?”, she inquired, following after them, the white feather shaped ornament on her hair tinkling like a bell, “Can I have his gold star?”

Bemused, little Kagome observed the whole spectacle from the same spot on the ground she had been launched to since its initial stages, too overwhelmed to move.

Just what in the name of the great Doreamon was this place!

Out of the corner of her eye a blur of red approached, and before she realized what was happening, a dusty pudgy hand had been extended towards her.

Kagome’s baby blues met fiery amber and a self-satisfied smirk.

Somewhat unimpressed, she eyed the dried ketchup stain on the side of of his palm for a second or two, before placing her own paler one over it.

“Why’d ya let him push ya?”, her defender probed, pulling her back up on her feet.

“I didn’t!”, Kagome snapped, sniffling lightly, yet trying her best not to cry—she’d just gotten here and already she hated pre-school more than carrots.

The boy sighed dramatically, as if greatly inconvenienced.

“Come on”, he grumbled, pulling on their still intertwined hands as he dragged her towards a nearby empty set of swings

After letting go of her, Kagome watched him warily as he proceeded to fumble with the pockets of his shorts.

“Here”, he said, seeming to find what he was searching for, “you can have one of my candies”

Handing her one of his lollipops, pride coated his gruff voice, “I took this one from my brother this morning when he wasn’t looking”.

They both shared a grin as she accepted it.

“Thanks”, the little girl muttered, feeling a sudden tinge of bashfulness.

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t cry. Okay?”, her companion grunted, scratching the back of his earlobe absentmindedly, wondering briefly why her cheeks turned so red.

Shrugging it off as a weird girl thing, the boy used his front teeth to gruffly rip open the wrapper, and wasted no time in stuffing the candy in his mouth.

The girl nodded and did the same.

“My name’s Kagome, what’s yours?”, she asked, after a while.

The pale haired boy gave her a big grin before responding.

“Inuyasha”

Kagome nodded, but the previous sweetness of the watermelon flavored ball of sugar in her mouth melted into sand on her tongue as she glanced around the park with uncertain eyes.

The boy called Inuyasha took notice of this, “Ya still scared of that dummy?”, he asked, holding up his pudgy hand into a small fist, “Want me to fight him for ya?”

Kagome shook her head no, sighing deeply, “My papa says fighting doesn’t solve anything”

Spitting out his lollipop in shock, Inuyasha turned to look at her with bulging, heavily bewildered eyes, as if she had all but insulted his very mother.

“Nah uh!”, the boy practically barked, and he suddenly reminded Kagome of a cute yapping puppy.

“Fighting makes ya strong!”, he argued, “One day, I’m gonna be super extreme strong, like my dad! You’ll see!”

‘My papa is strong too!’, Kagome wanted to argue right back, but instead she heaved a not so small sigh.

Not wanting to squabble with the only kid she currently knew in the playground, she chose to simply let the matter drop.

Inuyasha huffed, very disappointed in such an anticlimactic end to the argument, and instead settled on observing her as she went silent again.

Girls were weird, he reasoned. Some didn’t shut up, others barely talked. And they all cried sooo much.

He rolled his eyes.

He couldn’t believe even his own mom was one.

Taking note of how Kagome’s blue eyes kept scanning the yard as she absentmindedly tapped her shoes while her feet hung above the ground on her swing, he scowled.

He didn’t know why he kept bothered with someone who didn’t even pay him any attention.

Kicking up some sand as he swung on his belly in his own swing, the boy snorted.

She probably just wanted him for his candy, he reasoned sagely.

It wouldn’t be the first time someone pretended to be his friend to get something from him.

“Whatcha looking for?”, he asked after a while, having nothing or anyone else to spend what little remained of his precious playground time with anyway.

‘She doesn’t even like fighting’, he grumbled to himself.

His brother was the meanest, ugliest, most stinkiest butt in the WHOLE wide world, and even he liked fighting.

In fact they fought everyday—during breakfast…before dinner…after watching Power Rangers…

Inuyasha sniffed in contemplation, rubbing the Indian burn on his forearm absentmindedly.

“I dunno…”, the girl confessed, finally talking again, and reminding him that he was in fact, not alone, for once.

Inuyasha shrugged, rolling the candy over his tongue casually, and leveled her with an exasperated glare.

“Don’t ya have any friends?”

Kagome shook her head no, her big sad eyes growing even more miserable.

Caught off guard for once, Inuyasha hesitated.

He stared at her for a while, and as the wheels in his head slowly turned, something in his stomach fluttered.

Maybe they did have something in common, after all.

A little unsure of himself, he finally opened his mouth but only after reciting the ‘figs and carrots’ song in his head.

He stopped at the number eight, mostly because that’s how far he knew how to count, and braced himself.


“…Wanna…be my friend?”, he asked.


Her attention caught, little Kagome’s smile was soft, but very bright.

She nodded, “Okay…”

Her new friend’s grin was so comically wide and goofy that it made her giggle so hard she dropped her lollipop.

Both kids gasped as they watched it roll miserably on the sand, before bursting into another set of giggles.

Wordlessly, Inuyasha pushed himself off his swing and offered her what was left of his.

Kagome shook her head no—much to the sugar lover’s relief—but she did accept his hand when he extended it towards her.

“Wanna go play?”, he asked, already pulling her after him and towards the monkey bars as soon as he felt her her short fingers curl over his own.

Enjoying the feel of the wind going through her dark hair as they ran, the little girl let out a wild jubilant shriek, and picking up her speed to match his own, soon it was she who was dragging Inuyasha behind her.

And just like that, Kagome felt that this new large playground didn’t seem so big and scary anymore.

It was at almost an hour full of play and laughter later, that she sat up to observed the small sand castle they were trying to build—both kids already worn out and coming off their sugar high, from pretending to be monkeys, and astronauts, or hiding and seeking—and she had to admit, this was the mostest fun she’d had in a long time.

As much as she loved Sōta, and despite how cute he was, with how much he resembled a baby doll…he wasn’t a very good playmate lately, on account of all the drool.

Kagome scrunched her nose at that, before continuing to scoop up more sand into the bucket Inuyasha had stolen from some kid named Jinenji.

The younger boy had cried for a little while, but Kagome had made him promise he wouldn’t tattle on them if she helped him tie his shoes.

It was just too bad she didn’t know how to tie shoes, so they all got to spend some time facing the wall for five minutes with the tall kid from earlier.

It wasn’t so bad with her new friend there with her, and they even got to have a juice break—only Inuyasha threw his cup at that mean kid after he was called a baby for spilling a little on his shirt.

The assistant director threatened to send the two boys home with a red sticker if they kept it up—whatever that meant.

But then one of the teachers let her take the bucket with her after they were finished with their sentence, so she and Inuyasha agreed it was all worth it in the end.   

Kagome beamed, she couldn’t wait to go home and tell her papa all about it!

Though for now, she was content in supervising the fair haired boy next to her as he very carefully impaled one final stick on the tallest tower of their Disney Princess-Dragon Ball Z castle.

And she very graciously clapped indulgently, when he whooped at his own success.

“Hey, Kagome”, her new partner in crime declared, wiping the sand off his little crusty hands as he surveyed their handy work with pride, “lets be friends forever, okay?”

Dark bangs shifted as the little girl who had only so long ago thrown a tantrum upon her arrival, nodded in full agreement.

“Forever and ever!”, she promised, and held up her pinky finger for emphasize.

Normally against all things girly and sappy, Inuyasha wrapped his pinky around hers nonetheless.

“Forever and ever.”