WookieeBeta

Part I: Moving Stinks
Crash.
"...OWW!! Ow ow ow ow ow..." The raven-haired girl hopped on one foot, making an heroic but unsuccessful attempt to remain vertical while massaging her other toe. She turned a baleful glare on the offending box. "Stupid china," she spat.
Kagome stopped to think about those words. Her face paled noticeably as she bent down and hesitantly lifted the cardboard box. A subdued rattle confirmed her suspicions, and she set it back down with less than considerable gentleness.
"Shimattta..."

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"So, how's everything going so far?"
Kagome sighed. "I think my mom is going to kill me. That, or ban me from coming within ten feet of anything breakable. I dropped two boxes of her china, and another one with framed pictures."
She could almost hear Sango wincing on the other end of the line. "Ouch. Hint for the wise: Run. Fast."
"Feh. I'm not running."
"Brave words."
"I'm stealing the car. That way I'm moving at ninety, and she can't follow me."
Sango chuckled. "Good luck with that one, my friend. Seriously though, how do you like it so far? I mean, America's supposed to be the best country around - is it?"
"It's...okay, I guess," Kagome said with a small sigh. "I mean, I've only been here a few hours, and Galveston certainly isn't the center of the country, so I really don't know, but it's...well, intimidating. I know I'm fluent in English and all, but there's a difference between understanding what people say and knowing what they mean. You know?"
"Eh...no, not really, but I'll just go with it."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious, Sango! Everything here is just so strange. It's all mixed signals and broken traffic lights. I already miss home."
"Don't worry about it, Kagome," Sango assured her. "You'll get used to it. And everyone'll call you all the time. And as soon as you get the computer set up we can e-mail each other, too, and you can send us pictures of all your American friends."
"Yeah, I guess," Kagome said.
"Look, I've got to go before Miroku kills me - I'm on his cell phone, and you know how he is about his minutes. Sayonara."
"Sayonara, Sango," Kagome replied, and then the line went dead. She sighed again.
"Kagome?"
"Yes?"
Her mother's head appeared around the door, and she glanced at the room appraisingly. "You've certainly moved fast," she said, looking at the already unpacked boxes.
"I didn't feel like waiting until tomorrow," Kagome said, shrugging. Besides, it was dirty. I hate dirty.
"Anyway, Souta and I were thinking of going out for dinner, since we still haven't unearthed the kitchen stuff... Do you want to come?"
"Do I have a choice?" Kagome muttered under her breath. Then, more loudly, "Sure. Just let me grab my jacket, and change into something a little less...ah...dusty."
"Come to the living room when you're ready," her mom said, closing the door.
Kagome glanced at her current outfit and scowled. It was American-style jeans and a t-shirt, which she didn't mind, but it was dirty from her long day of carrying boxes back and forth. That she did mind. Rummaging through her semi-organized dresser, she found a pair of plain black slacks and comfortable light-blue blouse, thin but warm. It had been a gift from her one-time boyfriend Sesshoumaru. They had just gotten back together when her mom told her they were leaving the country; in order to make the departure a little less painful they had mutually agreed to break up.
Kagome slammed the door on that train of thought and snagged her sweater from the doorknob, brushing her hair out of her face as she walked to the living room.
Dinner was an akward affair. In a moment of extreme hyperness (and cuteness) Souta had managed to persuade their mother to take them to a local Mexican restaurant called Salsa's, so in addition to being uncomfortable with the American way of doing things they had to order from a menu that for the most part they couldn't read.
"What's a 'case-a-dila'?" Souta asked, peering at his menu.
"I think it's...um...it's..."
"The description is right under the title," Kagome said, sweatdropping.
"But I can't read it!"
Kagome sighed. It was going to be a long night...
"Please, Kagome? Tell me?"
"Look, they have hamburgers," her mom said, pointing to something on the back of the menu. "How about one of those, Souta?"
"All right! I love hamburgers!" The young boy's face lit up with a beaming smile, and he fairly bounced in his seat.
"What are you having, mother?"
The older woman glanced over the menu, brow furrowing in concentration. She was much less adept with the language than Kagome, and it didn't help that fully half of the text was in Spanish. "I think I'll try one of these," she said, pointing at something on the menu. Kagome leaned over to see, and promptly facevaulted.
"...That's a drink, mother."
"But it says right here - "
"Look up. It says 'Beverages'. Just trust me, it's a drink."
"...oh....then how about one of these?"
"That's an appetizer."
"Oh, you're right...well, how about this? An...how do you say...inch-a-lada?"
Kagome gave a small sigh of relief. Finally, something real... "Sounds good. I'm having a chimichanga, with a coke."
"Coke?"
Oh yes, it would be a long night indeed...

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Part II: Life Goes On
Kagome sighed and threw herself backwards onto her bed. Since they'd arrived near the beginning of the summer vacation, she and Souta really hadn't been able to meet that many people; as a result she'd been babysitting him all summer. This meant she had to chase him around in the hundred degree weather.
"I hate summer," she moaned, wiping sweat off her forehead. Even in the air-conditioned house the heat was almost unbearable. "I don't know how these people can stand it..."
"Hey, Kagome," Souta said as he popped his head around the door. "I want to go to that museum place."
"We've been to Moody Gardens a thousand times this week!" Kagome protested. "You know that place like the back of your hand. Why do you want to go again?"
"Because it's fun!" her little brother replied with a bright grin. "Besides, it's cool, and there are people there. Come on, you don't have to come all the way with me - I'll go to the aquarium, and you can sit in the lobby like usual. Please?"
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?"
"No."
"Pretty please? With a Hershey's bar on top?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes, and she hesitated.
Don't fall for the kiddie eyes, she berated herself. Be strong...don't give in...be strong...
"Oh, all right," she sighed. "Go ask mother for some money and we'll go."
"Yippee!" The short boy nearly danced down the hall to their mother's room.
Curse the eyes, Kagome thought darkly.

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Well, at least it's not hot, Kagome told herself reluctantly as she took a seat in the public seating section of the Moody Gardens main building. Souta had already run off; he was absolutely in love with the aquarium, and knew that it was pointless to try to get his sister to accompany him. The curved glass gave her headaches anyway. She was happier just sitting down and watching the other tourists.
One in particular caught her eye. He was a tiny boy with extremely busky hair; if they'd stood back-to-back he would have barely reached her waist. She recognized him from the last few times she'd been here. He was always running around, almost bouncing off the walls, but today he seemed sullen. He was sitting on the raised ledge by the theater entrance with his back turned to her. It took her a while to realize he was crying.
"That's strange," she said to no one in particular. Snagging her purse in one hand and tying her sweater haphazardly around her waist, she got up and walked over to the kid. "Hey, are you all right?"
He looked up, fear in his eyes. "Yeah...yeah, 'm fine," he muttered. He stood up and made as if to leave.
"Wait, don't go," Kagome blurted. "What's wrong? You were crying."
"It's...it's nothing."
"Come on, tell me," she coaxed. "I promise I don't bite."
He looked up at her again, as if weighing his options. After a moment's hesitation he shook his head and said, "I told you, it's nothing. Besides, I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." He turned and nearly ran off down the hallway, heading to the side exit.
"Don't worry about him," an elderly woman said, coming to stand next to Kagome. "He's the manager's friend's son, so we see him a lot here. He just gets moody. Best to let him be; in another day or two he'll be back to his normal hyper self."
"Are you sure?"
The woman nodded. "You bet I am. I've known him since he was born, he's always been like this. I'm Kaede, by the way."
"My name's Kagome," the younger girl said, holding out her hand. The woman looked at her quizically for a moment, and Kagome blushed as she realized her mistake. She switched to her right hand. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm new to America. I'm not quite used to your customs yet."
"It's okay," Kaede said with a laugh, "there are plenty of native-born Americans who haven't figured it out either. You're what, Chinese?"
"Japanese, actually."
"My mistake. I should have known, I have Japanese friend on the mainland. It's too bad you weren't here a month or two ago. There was a very nice display of Oriental dolls here, I think you would have enjoyed it. Say, are you hungry?"
"Er, not really," Kagome said. "I ate before I came. Why?"
"Then do you mind if I get something to eat, and we sit down and talk? All this standing around is a killer to an old lady like me." Kaede flashed a brilliant smile, and Kagome couldn't help but return it.
"Sure, why not?"

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The rest of the day passed quite quickly. Kaede turned out to be quite fun, and as she's all but grown up on the island she was able to tell Kagome quite a bit about the less well-known attractions. She even knew a few words of Japanese that she'd picked up from her "mainlander friend." (She referred to everyone from off the island as mainlanders, but the way she said it never sounded at all deragatory.) She also knew a fair bit of Spanish, and she was teaching Kagome a handful of common words when Souta ran up.
"Hey Kagome!"
The raven-haired girl turned and waved to her brother, motioning for him to come over. "This is my little brother Souta," she said in introduction. "Souta, meet my new friend Kaede."
Souta eyed the white-haired woman suspiciously. "She's old," he finally said. Kagome turned an interesting shade of pink and hurried to apologize, but Kaede just laughed.
"Well, at least he's observant," she said, still chuckling. "But watch what you say, kid. If you weren't so cute I'd have to yell at you." Souta favored her with an embarassed half-smile, and Kaede ruffled his hair.
"We should go, it's getting late," Kagome said, picking up her purse. "Ms. Kaede, thank you for such an enjoyable afternoon."
"And thank you for listening to an old woman's rambling," Kaede said, also standing. "I'm here fairly often, so if you ever want a chat just stop by."
"I'll be sure to do that," Kagome promised. "Come on, Souta, time to go home."
"Awwww..."
"Mother said she's making real dinner tonight, rather than ramen..."
Souta's face lit up. "No more ramen? Real food? All right, let's go!" He sprinted to the door, leaving Kagome to stare openmouthed at where he'd been just a second before.
"He is never, never, never allowed to meet that other little kid," she vowed.

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Part III:
Was it so much to ask? Really, was it?
Apparently it was.
Kagome let out a long sigh and swiped uselessly at the sweat that had long ago broken out on her forehead. All she wanted was a bit of air conditioning. That was all! But no, their tiny air conditioner had to overheat and die just as the hottest week so far began. One hundred and two degrees in the shade and not a cool breeze for a hundred miles. And according to the weatherman, it was only supposed to get worse.
She couldn't imagine how that would be possible. She'd never been so hot in her life. She'd actually had to stay outdoors during the day because it was a few degrees cooler. Of course, she hadn't realized just how bright the sun was; her SPF30 sunscreen hadn't lasted minutes, and her shoulders were now a brilliant shade of pink.
Which just made her day.
Even Souta was feeling the heat. He'd picked up a lot of English in their few months in Galveston, and had made a few friends, nearly all of which had backyard pools; needless to say, he'd been spending a lot of time there.

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[A/N] Don't ask. Jimmy Buffet songs plus Yu-Gi-Oh fanfics plus sugar equals badness. (Where'd the Inuyasha part come from, you ask? The plot bunnies. Random electrical impulses in my brain. The square root of Yu-Gi-Oh!. I don't know.) Partly done because I want to try writing my hometown from someone else's PoV (practice for an HP fic I'm working on), partly because I've wanted to do a Buffet songfic for a long time... If it becomes a songfic, I'll include the titles and link to the lyrics. I know Love in the Library will be in there, since that's the song that inspired the whole shebang, but other than that it'll probably be completely random. We'll see.

Random Quote of the Day:
"Sit, boy!"
- Kagome, from Inuyasha