InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Gray ❯ An Irish Blessing ( Chapter 29 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

 

 

 

The sun bore through the dark brown curtains of InuYasha's room as the dog demon twisted once in his bed trying to escape the mid day awakening. With a few incoherent grumbles about the exposure of his apartment bedroom and Miroku being one lucky mother fucker, he dragged himself out from under his down comforter to stumble to his dresser. Glancing into the mirror once, InuYasha groaned loudly and ran a hand over his face. He looked like hell. The bags under his eyes said it all; last night had been one hell of a ride. After returning to their car at the Red Bank train station, the boys had decided to take a night on the costal town to celebrate their narrow escape from the club and their seemingly unnecessary presence in the night's affairs. They drank to Kagome's strength and Bankotsu's idiocy, they drank to their friendship and to the truths they had learned of each other and themselves and when they ran out of things to toast to, they drank to the unnamed hero who invented Jager and to the bar tender who told them that their last two shots had been water because they were way past flagged. That same wonderful trickster, who later became the `fucking asshole who stopped giving us booze', called the boys a cab and sent them on their way, promising that nothing would happen to InuYasha's Hummer in the parking lot overnight. InuYasha could barely remember someone opening his apartment door at four in the morning and getting them inside and to their respective rooms with a very hostile and demeaning manner. He could only assume Sesshoumaru had yet to vacate the premises.

 

Turning from the dresser, he made sure that he was fully clothed before attempting to make his way to the bathroom. Stumbling once into the wall, he could only assume that he was still drunk nearly seven hours later. Sitting down on the toilet, the world continued to spin for the college student. `I should not have done those last four shots,' he thought to himself while making his way from the bathroom to the kitchen. Coming to a rest against the frame of the kitchen doorway, he tried desperately to suppress the urge to vomit. Did those last four shots count? Trying to do math in his head but failing miserably, he decided in earnest that he could have drank Lindsey Lohan under the table in the previous night.

 

“You look like shit.”

 

InuYasha groaned a reply that was completely disjointed before making his way to the counter to grab a cup of coffee. The task of getting the coffee into the cup was troublesome but well worth its reward. After taking a long gulp of the liquid, he turned to his older sibling that was sitting at his kitchen table. “You look like someone I told to get the fuck out of my house.”

 

“If I had not of been here last night, you idiot, you would have woken up in the flower beds,” Sesshoumaru sipped at his coffee, enjoying the darkening aura of his younger brother. “Or worse,” he added after a moment, “you could be in bed with that harlot who lives next door to you.”

 

“You know, it's really improper for you to talk about Sango that way, you piece of shit.” InuYasha ran a hand over his eyes; why was it so bright in the God damned room? “Besides, Miroku is a lot of things, but a swinger he is not. I do not think I would have been sleeping with her.”

 

“I was speaking of that crazy bitch who is obsessed with hair.” Sneering once, Sesshoumaru's disposition seemed to grow more agitated. “She was attempting to draw both you and Miroku into her apartment sprouting something about pretty long hair and what she could do to it…and you.” The glimmer of a smirk passed through Sesshoumaru's cold eyes as InuYasha shuddered. “Needless to say, I do not believe that she will be bothering either of you two again.”

 

InuYasha groaned and staggered to the open chair at the table. Throwing his weight into it and managing not to tip over, InuYasha glowered at his brother. “What did you say to her?”

 

“Enough to make sure she understood how improper it was to make suggestions to two drunken men and how even drunk, the largest scumbag on the northern hemisphere wouldn't go within ten feet of her.”

 

InuYasha winced, remembering the many times that he had to collect Miroku from that girl's grasp. “Still don't explain what the hell you're doing in my apartment.”

 

Sesshoumaru cut another piece of the grapefruit he was eating and shoved it into his mouth while staring blankly at his brother.

 

InuYasha blinked once slowly then stared down at the food in front of him. “Is that fruit? We don't buy fruit.” Lifting his eyes to his brother, he stared in confusion.

 

“Just because I'm residing here does not mean that I am in any means poor or broke, InuYasha.”

 

“Then why can't you just buy a life and get the hell out of mine?”

 

Sesshoumaru cut another piece of the grapefruit and picked up the newspaper that was lying next to him on the table. “Again I pose the question to you, little brother; if I had not been here last night, where would you be now?”

 

“Do you really think last night was the shittiest I've ever been? Sesshoumaru, please, I'm a professional.” Trying to take s sip of his coffee, he groaned as he nearly missed his mouth.

 

“You're an alcoholic.”

 

A shadow breezed through the kitchen past both brothers as the third member of the household began to dig through the refrigerator. Inserting himself into the conversation before InuYasha had a chance to utter the exact same thing, Miroku added, “Actually, he's not an alcoholic at all; Alcoholic's go to meetings and confess their `problems' to their peers, professionals go to bars and have a lot more friends. They have sex more often too.”

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he turned very slowly from where he sat to glare at Miroku. “And it is that logic that will forever keep you in subservient jobs while others with an actual brain bring home something worth calling a paycheck.”

Miroku glanced at Sesshoumaru and then smirked proudly. “As long as my wife's income can pay the bills, I'll continue to be subservient to her. Hell, whips and chains are no longer a big deal; I have conquered fishnet.”

 

Sesshoumaru stared aghast at the boy before him before blinking very slowly. “There are some things that are better left unsaid.”

 

“Hey,” Miroku turned his full attention to InuYasha, “speaking of; last night I masturbated into a grapefruit…have you seen it?”

 

And that was how the coffee magically went from the inside of InuYasha's mouth, out his nose and all over the kitchen table. InuYasha spent the next five minutes snorting out the remains in a fit of laughter while Miroku spent the time wondering why they hadn't installed windows in the bathroom that he was barricaded in, attempting to escape the wrath of Sesshoumaru.

 

Watching with a smirk that could only be described as cynical, InuYasha had moved in on the rest of Sesshoumaru's breakfast before the older sibling could return. As Sesshoumaru eyed his brother with contempt, InuYasha shoved a piece of the fruit into his mouth.

 

“So Sesshiles, tell me, what's good? What's on your day planner for today?”

 

Sesshoumaru grit his teeth as he refilled his cup of coffee, trying to keep control of his rage. He had always prided himself on how well he could ignore his obnoxious sibling without losing his mind, but today seemed like it was going to be impossible. “I'm meeting with my lawyer at noon. Maybe that will repair some of the sanity I am losing by living here with you nitwits.” Chancing a glare back at the locked bathroom, Sesshoumaru realized that this was the reason he hated his brother; not only was he ridiculous, his friends were retarded.

 

“Birds of a feather, Sessh…birds of a feather,” he reiterated while finishing the grapefruit.

 

Sesshoumaru returned to the table lethargically, eyeing the empty plate. “So he was…”

 

“Joking, of course. Miroku is a lot of things and great for laughs, but the fuck he would ever do something like that.” After a moment of awkward silence, InuYasha's eyes slowly drifted to the plate before him. `No, he wouldn't of…' making a face, he decided to not think about it. It was safer that way.

 

Sesshoumaru couldn't help the twist of his lips at his brother's disposition. Shaking his head twice, he sat back in his chair. “Why did you want Kagejiro's number the other day, InuYasha? Why are you searching for that miscreant?”

 

“Says the man who has his number.” Seeing Sesshoumaru's eyebrow arch, InuYasha shrugged. “There were a few things we needed to clear up.”

Sesshoumaru turned his full attention to the boy before him. “Again I ask; what business do you have with him?”

 

“The kind I don't need your input on.”

 

Sesshoumaru eyed the younger boy for what felt like eternity. “Anything that involves Kagejiro cannot end well. You would do well to rid yourself of that business as soon as you can.”

 

InuYasha smirked and shook his head. “It's a little more complicated than that. Besides, I'm not like you; I'll make my own judgment of him when time's right.”

 

Sesshoumaru was lifting his cup to his lips before his brother spoke. Freezing in his spot, Sesshoumaru stared at InuYasha darkly. “Why does the tense you speak in make me believe that you will be seeing our estranged relative soon?”

 

With a roll of the eyes, he grunted loudly; “What does it matter? I know you won't speak to him regardless so what does it really fucking matter?”

 

Forcing his calm, Sesshoumaru continued to glower at his brother. “Maybe you have missed all of father's warnings, as well as my own, but in case it needs to be said once more; Kagejiro equals a headache that will take you to the grave. Avoid him, InuYasha, lest you want to ruin what little is left of your life.”

 

“Hey Sessh, here's a thought; go fuck yourself.”

 

Sesshoumaru shook his head and stood up. “I'm above telling you that I warned you…but…” shaking his head again, he turned and walked from the room.

InuYasha sat at the table a moment longer, brooding over his brother's warning.

 

“Who's Kagejiro?”

 

Snapping his head around, he met Miroku's questioning gaze. “That's…complicated.”

 

Miroku snorted once, glanced around to make sure that Sesshoumaru was gone from the area, and took a seat at the table. “What in your family isn't? Go on…”

 

InuYasha made a face and attempted to figure out a way to explain his brother. “Miro…you know that I'm…”

 

“Gay? Yes, I do. I'm just proud that you came out of the closet.”

 

“No, cockbag, that I'm a demon…well, partly. My dad is a full demon.”

 

“What of it?”

 

InuYasha cracked his neck and leaned back against the wall. “Miro…my dad isn't going to be fifty five this year. He's umm…well, that is…” seeing Miroku's basic uninterested glare, he sighed heavily. “He's going to be five hundred and fifty five…I think. I always lose count of the smaller numbers.”

 

Miroku did a double take and shook his head. “Come again?”

 

“Demon's basically live forever until they are killed or until they reach the point of being older than dirt.” Seeing Miroku's blank stare, he struggled for a better answer. “I can't tell you why, but apparently, they do. My step-mother is somewhere around five hundred and thirty years old.”

 

Miroku put a hand to his head. “Wow, and here I thought my folks were ancient. Damn…at least she looks good for her age.” Leaning back to stare down the hallway, he snapped his attention back to InuYasha. “Dude, so in reality, how old is Sesshoumaru?”

 

InuYasha laughed before taking a sip of coffee. “He's really only twenty-seven, that wasn't a lie. And before you ask, yes, I'm really only twenty-three.”

 

Miroku crinkled his nose and shrugged haphazardly. “Damn…so your parent's waited for…” Dropping his mouth into an `O' form, he slowly nodded. “So they didn't wait…did they? Damnit, you mean there are more Sesshiles running around this planet? Dude that is so not cool…”

 

InuYasha made a face that shut Miroku up immediately. “I do have an older brother, but he's the only one who survived.”

 

Miroku's mood instantly sobered. “I'm sorry…I didn't mean…”

 

InuYasha waved a hand. “It's all right.” Seeing Miroku's interest still peaked, he held out his hand. “I don't know the dates, I'm really bad at this game, but what I can tell you is that before Sesshoumaru, my dad and step-mom had four other children. The first one, Kenren, died when he was only a few months old because of the plagues that were sweeping Japan back in the Feudal era.” Seeing Miroku's eyes widen, he elaborated, “How do you think my dad has so much shit from that time? It's his personal collection of art and armor and memories.” Scratching his neck, he continued, “My dad kind of lost it and got himself involved with the battle of the Daymio's when Notobunga and Usagi Kenshin were rising to fame. He became friends with Kenshin and attempted to help win him more power in Japan for about thirty years. But Kenshin died, as all humans do, and my great and powerful Father realized that all of the old ways were starting to die. He didn't want anything to do with the Shogun or the rise of the collective power, so he started a personal war to keep his control over his land and his people. This was when demon's still held a great amount of power over the world.”

 

InuYasha glanced up and was amazed to see how entranced Miroku was with the story. With a shrug, he got to the points he knew little of. “I know from there that Dad decided it was time to take on an heir to his throne. Launia got pregnant again and had another boy. Now in Inu-Youki custom, we name the first born son Kenren after a God like myth for prosperity and power, and being that his son named Kenren died and you can't name a child that twice, he decided to take on a western tradition of using a middle name. The second child was named Kagejiro Kenren.”

 

Miroku held up his hand, pausing the story as his nose scrunched up. “Wait…isn't your father's name Toga?”

 

InuYasha nodded once. “Yeah…”

 

“And he was powerful enough to hold his own. Why did he think it would be anything different?”

 

InuYasha smirked at his friend's question. “God I love you,” he muttered while rubbing his face. “My father's an asshole. He feels that everything needs to be done by tradition or nothing will ever come of it. It's true that his name isn't Kenren, but he felt that there would be no success for his family if there was no heir with Kenren in the name.” Seeing Miroku about to object, he waved his hand, “Don't ask, I really don't know. Anyway, Kagejiro lived despite the adverse conditions of the day. When he was fifteen, his father threw him into his army to make him learn commitment and courage. That's when things go a little fuzzy.”

 

Miroku tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

 

“Well, it depends who you ask. I've only heard my father's version and my brother's version so I can't even say anything with any validity. What they say is this; the army was sent on a mission, it was one of Kagejiro's first missions in the higher ranks on a specialized team, I think he was like twenty-six or twenty-seven at the time. Well, they say he turned on the team and disclosed that he had been working with the other side, with the rogue samurai's of the time, and started killing his own men. He then fled the scene for about twenty years with this huge uprising of angry samurai who wanted to strip Daimyo's of their power. Well, they went after my dad years later and `Jiro supposedly showed them a back way into the castle. In the mean time, my step mother had their third child and was bed ridden and couldn't evacuate the castle. Dear old dad and company were out front waging a war on the samurai while Jiro and his platoon entered from behind and burnt the castle to the ground. It's been said that he slit the younger son's throat with all the intention of killing his father and claiming all of his lands and power for himself as the only successor.”

 

Seeing the disdain growing by the second on Miroku's face, he rushed on; “here's where it doesn't make sense. In a vast multitude of recitations of the story, my father's story always changes. What I've gathered is that Jiro led my mother from the castle and into the camp that my father had set up. He claimed to my father that he killed the younger son and my dad lost it and took a sword to Jiro's face and then banished him. He went as far as to give the order that if he is ever found near the castle or a member of the family, he was to be killed on sight and his body hung from the front of the castle. So my brother vanished.”

 

Miroku shook his head, looking nearly as perplexed as InuYasha always did after a conversation about his brother. “So…wait…he killed the younger heir and then just walked up to your father and allowed him to mutilate him? That doesn't sound right at all.”

 

InuYasha nodded in agreement. “That's what I say. I know that there is a completely different story out there and I've been searching for it for years. I have never really gotten to talk to my brother though. I'll hear from him once in a blue moon, but that's about it. I plan on actually talking to my brother about it when I see him. I want the truth.”

 

“But your step-mother was in the castle that day, why can't she verify what happened?”

 

InuYasha's face fell slowly, as his frustration gave way into the conversation. “She can't talk about Kagejiro without crying hysterically, and she's normally to drunk to tell you what she did the day before. Besides that, she spent the last three hundred years hearing Dad's side of the story. I don't think that she even knows what really happened that night anymore.”

 

Miroku made a face and snorted. “Wow, that's just…wow. I'm sorry? I don't even know what to say to that….I got nothing.”

 

InuYasha shrugged. “It just bothers me that I don't know the real truth. This guy is running around who seems cool as shit and I don't have anything to do with him.”

 

“That's really rough. So you're trying to get in touch with him?”

 

“Not trying…I did. We have a few things we need to cover and I have questions that I can't wait to have answered.”

 

“Such as?”

 

InuYasha smirked, “I'll tell you when Sesshiles ain't here. I really don't want to hear his mouth.”

 

Silence lingered in the air as the brother whisked through the living room to grab his shoes and brief case.

 

“So, asshole, when are you packing your bags?”

 

Sesshoumaru turned to glance out of the corner of his eye at the two younger boys sitting in the kitchen. “I will leave when the dust settles. If another opportunity comes up sooner, however, I will have no problem vacating then.”

 

InuYasha put a hand to his forehead, knowing that there was a headache somewhere in the making. “Wait, so you're here until the divorce is finalized?”

 

“No, baka, I am here until I get the tenants out of my summer home in Red Bank.”

 

Miroku glanced to the side at the calendar. “When are we expecting this illusive move, because I would really like to plan my next party in my day planner. Because dude…I know every party needs a pooper, but you're so far past that, you're like having a parent home. No college kid wants to party with their dad…at least the boring corporate dad's that say we're going no where in life. You're not even a fun dad. Dude, you should just kill yourself now.”

 

Sesshoumaru stared dead panned at Miroku for a moment before picking his coat off the back of the couch and walking to the door. “If I were to kill myself then I would not have the satisfaction of tearing out your larynx while you sleep.” Not waiting to see Miroku's face, Sesshoumaru walked out the front door.

 

InuYasha slowly stood up from the table and stretched his arms over his head. Snickering at the look still engraved on Miroku's face, he walked to the sink with the plates from the table. “He was kidding dude, he was just fucking with you.”

 

“Last I checked, your brother was tragically born without a sense of humor. How can he just grow one now?”

 

InuYasha cringed knowing that Miroku had a point. Piling up the plates, he turned to the refrigerator and riffled through it for a moment. “I think we're going to need more food.”

 

Miroku leaned back in his chair, finally wiping the petrified look off his face to glance into the empty white box. “Damn, that's one helluva empty fridge. So…uhh…Yash….this other brother who hates or is hated by Sesshiles; he's coming out now?”

 

“Yeah,” InuYasha answered while breezing about the kitchen.

 

“Where are we going to put him? Because…you know, Sesshiles and his rejected ass is sleeping on our pull out. There ain't no where else for this third person to go, unless you're bunking up with him. And didn't you say that he and Sesshoumaru and Daddy Lumpkins hate each other? I've dealt with World War Three between you and Sesshiles, but shit, another one in the mix? New Jersey might just explode from the pressure.”

 

InuYasha paused and considered Miroku's question for a moment. “Fuck, dude, he's been alive for over three centuries, I'm sure he knows how to get a motel. Can't be half as hard as, I don't know, building your own house from the trees in your backyard.”

 

Miroku shrugged, “so why is he coming out?”

 

InuYasha plopped down on the other chair and leaned closer to Miroku, “he has a lot of power and a hell of a lot of connections…”

 

“Which you know how?”

 

InuYasha grunted heavily, “If you were alive for three hundred freaking years, wouldn't you?”

 

“Touche.”

 

“Anyway, he has a lot of connections and can probably be one scary mofo. I figure if I have him here, it might do a lot to deter Bankotsu from pursuing Kagome.”

 

Miroku sat back in contemplation. “You really don't think it's over? I mean, he let her walk away…”

 

“For now he did. Trust me when I say that the whole mess is so far from over. I want someone to make him understand that it is over, and the only one who can really do that is Jiro.”

“Are you forgetting Sesshoumaru? All he has to do is walk up to Bankotsu, make a fist and say, this is your heart, utter the words Mola Rom and I'm pretty sure Bankotsu would get the hint.”

 

InuYasha shook his head, “no, it's going to take a lot more than that to get him to leave her alone.”

 

Miroku's eyes darkened the minute the words left InuYasha's mouth and all the humor seeped from his voice instantly. “Yash, you're not ordering a hit on this guy, are you?”

 

InuYasha frowned pointedly. “That's what I'm hoping to avoid having to do.”

 

Seeming very uncomfortable, Miroku sat up straight in his seat; “threatening him is one thing, Yash…but asking someone to kill him is completely different. I was only fucking around when I said that, you can't honestly be serious, right?”

 

“What the fuck else am I supposed to do, Miro?” InuYasha asked in a sudden explosion of anger, “He fuckin' pulled a gun on Kagome last night! You were there, dude, you saw that he had every intention of putting a bullet in her brain! I can't let him walk away.”

 

“InuYasha, this isn't your fight, and if you do this…” shaking his head, Miroku sat back and ran his hand over his mouth, “This is serious shit, dude. You can't just have people whacked, you're not the mafia. It would come back to you and how can you explain your involvement? How can you just take life like that?”

 

InuYasha could easily see how troubled Miroku was becoming with every passing second and decided to end the conversation dead. “Look, that's the far left option. Right now, we should just take a breather and figure that everything is all right for the time being. I'll work it out with Jiro and get advice from him. There are other reasons I need him here as well, but I'll tell you about those later. Right now, I want to go out and get my fuckin' car from that bar and then get some food for this house. I'm hungry.”

 

Miroku frowned but agreed nevertheless. Standing up, Miroku shook his head, watching InuYasha retreat from the kitchen and muttered, “God I hope you know what you're doing.”

 

 

*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*

 

 

As the sun dipped below the horizon, tires sped down the dirt road that led to the tiny complex in the back. Stopping briefly to flash a badge to the man at the guard booth, the Santa Fe barreled into the deserted parking lot. Skipping out of the car with barely enough time to close door, the driver dashed into the first building.

 

Nearly sliding around a corner, Rin ran into the daycare's main office. “I'm here, I'm sorry, I am so sorry,” she panted as she dropped her purse on the counter. Taking a few more deep breaths, she glanced around from the bewildered receptionist to the bemused teachers. With a sigh, she righted herself and turned to the first secretary who sat closest to the door. “Hi,” she muttered, Turing red around her ears, “I'm here to pick up…”

 

“Mama?”

 

Turning to glance over her shoulder, a smile that glistened brilliance erupted from the young girl's face. “There's my baby,” she whispered. Patting the receptionist's desk, she met her son's teacher at the doorway. Collecting the twenty month old in her arms, she kissed his rosy cheek and hugged him tight. “Were you good today?” It was as if the entire other world faded away the minute she had her boy in her arms. He was and would always be the only thing that truly mattered to her.

 

Chewing on his bottom lip with one shiny white canine, the white haired toddler nodded quickly. “I goo', mama, I goo' boy.”

 

Rin laughed and kissed the boy once more on the forehead. She had spent a lot of time with him as he entered the hitting phase of his young life sitting with him on the steps in time out petting his hand telling him that he was a good boy. To hear him reiterate it in context was elating and yet also devastating at the same time. He was growing up so fast. Holding him tight, she slowly turned her eyes to the teacher. “I am so sorry,” wincing, she could see the frustration in the day care owner's eyes, “class ran late and I hit a traffic jam…”

 

Holding up a manicured hand, the panther demon stopped the young girl's rant. “Honestly, Rin, the first time you were late to pick him up was only ten minutes and was overlooked. Each offense since then has grown considerably in time. It's nearly five thirty; you should have been here a half hour ago.” Shaking her head, the demon seemed highly agitated.

 

Rin looked down at her son, forcing down the tears of stress that dared to surface. “I'm sorry Toran, I know that I'm late more often than I should be…”

 

Toran, the toddler's teacher, sighed heavily and tossed her blue hair over her shoulder. “It's not just the lateness Rin, that's starting to become a problem.” Watching the human girl lift her head, the daycare teacher beckoned Rin to follow her to one of the abandoned class rooms. “Rin,” she spoke softly after closing the door, “you have start thinking about the future of your son.”

 

Rin wrinkled her nose, instantly taking a strong defense against whatever barrage of comments the demon was about to throw at her. Placing the toddler on the floor, she went into her purse and took out her cell phone. Handing it to the baby to keep his attention abided, she returned to the conversation. “I think about the future of my son every day.”

 

“But you don't understand, Rin, you don't get how severe this is. There is no male youkai in your son's life; he has no father figure to look up to. This is a horrible start for any youkai child. They become unruly, especially when left in the care of, and I will ask you to pardon my directness, but in the care of a negligent human.”

 

Rin's eyes widened as all the muscles in her back straightened her to her full height. If she had feathers, they'd be ruffled by this point. “Excuse me?” There was no way that she heard the woman correctly. How dare she call Rin a negligent human!

 

“Rin, you don't know anything about raising a half blooded son. You don't have a concealment charm for the child, so not only is he going to be rejected by humans and shunned for his entire life, but no full blooded youkai will ever want him in their circle. You son is facing a very serious and difficult life, Catherine. It's time that you start considering your options.”

 

As Rin's world slowly began to spin faster and faster around her, she attempted to keep up with the conversation with as little animosity and hostility as she could. “What the hell are you talking about?” She couldn't help the way her teeth clenched with every word and her jaw felt like it was going to pop off from the pressure being exerted. If this woman was about to suggest what she thought she was, there would be blood.

 

“Catherine, you cannot raise this child on your own. You're not ready to handle the tantrums of a demon child. He will bite you, and will probably hurt you severely when he does. He will lash out and in doing so; he can seriously inflict harm on you, your family, friends and even himself. If you cannot control him, it could get very messy, very quickly.”

 

The deadpanned response that bellowed from inside the young girl's chest left no emotion with the exception of rage in her tone. “What are you suggesting?”

 

The panther demon tipped her head back and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. “If you cannot bring his father back into his life, then perhaps you should start thinking about adoption.”

 

And the world stopped dead. Gawking for what felt like an eternity, it took the baby throwing Rin's cell phone to the ground to break the trance. Swooping him and the phone off the ground, Rin stood and made haste for the door. “If you are quite done,” she hollered on her way out, “then please make your way straight back to hell.” Stopping at the door, Rin whisked around to stare aghast at the woman who seemed completely calm to the subject. “Who the hell do you think you are? This is my son, God damnit; I made it through the birth, many didn't think I would. I have fed him, clothed him, and housed him for almost two years while going to school full time and holding a steady job. Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here telling me I can't raise my own son?”

 

“Don't you see how tired you are? Don't you see you stressed out you are? Rin, you are not ready to handle what this boy is going to be throwing at you. In class today, he bit one of the other students who tried to take the rings he was playing with. He nearly chewed through his hand with two bites. If that had been you, you could have bled to death. Luckily, this child was youkai and healed within minutes with no scarring. What if he did this to a friend of yours or another child on a playground? The state would take him from you and lock him away in a room that he would never see the outside of again. You are not ready to handle this and he should not be left to face that terrible fate!”

 

“It's called being a mother, for starters.” Letting out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding, Rin knelt down and placed Kenren on the floor. She took one threatening step towards the teacher then recoiled. “I know I am damn well that I am tired at the end of the day, when I come to pick him up. I know that I go home, and cook him dinner, read with him, play games and then put him to bed and tuck him every night. I know that no matter how tired I get, or how stressed out I become, I will always tuck him in and tell him that I love him. There won't be a god damned day that goes by that my son does not know how much I love him or what he means to me. How dare you think that you can tell me any different? Yes, I know there will be complications, and I know that there will be problems, but I'm ready to handle them. I found you, didn't I? I'll find others who will take him into their schools as he is, and as he grows older, he will be accepted because of his character, not his looks.”

 

“I wish I lived in that proclaimed fantasy world with the two of you,” Toran spoke harshly; “it seems reality has no sway there.” Walking back to Rin, she cornered the teary eyed girl, “you don't get it. Your son will not be accepted, he will not be liked and eventually it will rip away your sanity and his as well. If you consider adoption now, you can get him into a family that takes in half breeds that will care for him and love him like he was their own. They will give him so much of a better life style than you can, and then you can go back to being a teenager.” Her lip curled by the end of the sentence, vehemence and obvious disdain coloring her words. She had seen these situations more and more frequently as the years progressed; Youkai that mated with humans and later, for whatever reason, abandoned them. These children were starting to flood the system and were a stain on the youkai races. Young girl like the adolescent in front of her thought they could handle the child like they would a regular human not understanding the risks and hardships that youkai faced.

 

Wishing nothing more than to strike the woman before her dead, Rin held her ground. “I would never give him up, so you can sit on that idea and rotate. This is my son, he is my blood, and he will accomplish great things with me by his side.”

 

“Half breeds never accomplish anything besides being a waste of space and in the end, a waste of life. He will spend his life hating you for whoring yourself to a man you hardly knew.”

 

Rin swallowed down the array of insults that were sitting on the edge of her tongue, sharper than any knife known to man. “You'll get my check in the mail for the services you provided this month. He won't be back after today.” Slamming her hand against the wall, she spit back venomously, “I know a few hanyou's who are successful in life, just as he will be. Just because their blood is mixed, doesn't make them less of a person. It just makes you a bigoted asshole for thinking less of them.”

 

“Ask that hanyou of yours if he would ever take off his power limiter in a room full of friends. When he laughs at you, just remember what I warned you about. Without a limiter, your son is doomed.”

 

“Go to hell,” Rin seethed as she picked up her son once more and walked from the classroom. Storming out the main doors, Rin walked to her car in tears. Strapping young Kenren into the backseat, she took a moment to kiss his forehead and stare into his light honey colored eyes. “Mama loves you, baby,” she whispered hoarsely, “And I know what that witch said was bull. Your blood might not be one or the other, but you were made from love, and that's what matters.” Forcing back her tears, she kissed his small nose and wiped his silvery down bangs from his eyes.

 

“Love mama,” he cooed while reaching up one clawed hand to run the pads of his fingers over her cheeks. “No cry,” he whispered, as if almost as pained by her tears as she was.

 

Kissing his hand, Rin forced a smile. “No tears, baby, just love.” Backing away from the door, she shut it and climbed into the driver's seat. Adjusting her mirror to see the boy in the backseat, she drove from the compound, throwing her badge at the guard on the way out. It was halfway down the dark forest road that the tears began to spill from Rin's eyes. For so long the daycare had pushed the knowledge that Rin was merely a human and her son a muddy blooded cross breed. They had stared down their noses at Rin from the first day they had stepped foot into their center; namely for the fact that Rin had joined with a youkai but had not married him. But to even consider the thought of handing her son to a stranger to raise; nausea followed quickly in lieu of the thought. They were wrong, the world was wrong, and Rin prayed every night that it would not be her son who suffered for her mistakes. That was her darkest fear and people like the bitches at the day care center only forced her to come to the rationalization that something needed to be done.

 

What was the most ironic piece of information about this whole mess of life, Rin always thought, was the fact of who Kenren's father really was. If those stupid panther demons knew that Sesshoumaru Taisho, heir to the throne of the Taisho reign and lord of all Youkai, was Kenren's father, they would have bent over backwards for her. And it was something she vowed never to tell and never to use to her gain. `How ironic is life,' she thought sadly as she stepped on the gas to try to make it out of the woods faster.

 

The chiming of her cell phone from her purse broke her depression flawlessly. Welcoming the distraction, Rin shoved her blue tooth onto her ear and answered the call. “Yeah?”

 

InuYasha's voice answered her call. “Yo, what are you doing tonight?”

 

Rin couldn't help the tight smile that graced her face, despite her current brooding. At least now she had InuYasha to rely on, and he could greatly help her through this mess. “Are you asking platonically?” she couldn't help teasing him a little, it made her feel better.

 

She could hear the smirk through his voice. “Yeah, dummy, I ain't into seconds. Besides, you ain't my type, you got a rug rat.”

 

Sighing heavily, Rin wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Today's a little hectic, Yash,” she muttered as the world once again crashed down around her. She was going to need to find another day care center to watch Kenren while she was in class, and that could take forever. It had taken nearly a year to locate a Youkai centric school that was lesser known in the fifty mile radius of her house, how would she find another?

 

There was a pause on the end of his line. “What's wrong?”

 

Rin could hear it in his voice. He could sense her desperation. “Nothing,” she lied.

 

“Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining, bitch. What the hell is going on?” On the other end of the phone, InuYasha cheered that he was finally able to use that line.

 

Rin stifled a callous laugh that threatened to rip its way from her throat. “It's a long story for another day, Yash. I can't make it out tonight; I got a lot of stuff to do and am on a deadline to get it done by.” God how the hell would she find a daycare program now?

 

“Tough shit,” InuYasha mocked, “You're coming to my place tonight at eight. I need you here.”

 

Rin sighed heavily, “And who will watch my boy while I do that? I can't just make myself available. I have priorities in life that I can't just walk away from right now. You need to give me more notice.”

 

“And you need to be here tonight. I'm sorry its short notice but you can't miss this.”

 

“And what, prey tell, is this?”

 

“You'll see tonight. My place, eight o'clock, be here.”

 

“And if I can't?”

 

“I'm sorry, that wasn't an option,” InuYasha bit back before hanging up the phone. Though he felt like an ass for not being able to talk to Rin about whatever was bothering her, he needed to be sure that she would make it to his place tonight. After all was said and done, he'd apologize for the short call and find out what was eating her.

 

Snapping her phone closed harshly, she dashed it to the passenger side floor. “Asshole,” she bellowed at the top of her lungs. Could her day get any worse from this point forward?

 

“Asshole,” she heard parroted from the back seat with a loud fit of giggled following. And that answered her question.

 

**X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X**XX*X*X*X*X*X*X**X*X*X

 

 

As InuYasha pulled into the driveway of the house in his Hummer, he gawked at the car sitting across the street. Nearly falling out of the driver's seat the minute he could throw the car into park, he rushed to Miroku's side, who had just pulled up simultaneously in his 89 I-Roc Camero. Together the boys approached the car hesitantly, staring at it like deer in headlights. Both paused about five feet from the beautiful contraption and took in its sleek blue and black flawless exterior. InuYasha paced to the back of the car and attempted to find an emblem. After being unable to locate anything, he returned to Miroku's side.

 

“What…is it?”

 

Miroku's mouth moved a few times but no words came out, just meek whimpers like a frustrated boy unable to get off. After a moment and a lot of sputtering, Miroku ran a hand through his cropped black hair. “It's a….Bugatti. To be more specific, if my car knowledge is up to date, it's a Veyron. I didn't even know they were importing these to the Unites States yet.” Whistling lowly, he shook his head. “This car is almost worth two million dollars!” Glaring up and down the street, jealousy entered his tone, “Who the fuck is driving this?”

 

InuYasha shook his head for a moment before his jaw slowly slacked open. “I wonder…” Glancing quickly back to the house, his eyes widened. “I wonder if Jiro's here.”

 

Miroku met InuYasha's inquisitive gaze and glanced back to the house. “That…or Sesshiles' Lawyer did a good deed.”

 

InuYasha glanced back at the car and then leaned back to look in through the drivers window. “Holy hell…does that speedometer go up to…”

 

“Two hundred and forty miles an hour…yes, yes it does.”

 

Turning to glare at Miroku, InuYasha shook his head. “How can you remember all this shit?”

 

“Because I'm an elephant.”

 

“Remember, you said it…fat ass…” Snorting, InuYasha turned and walked slowly towards the house.

 

Catching up to his side, Miroku nudged his friend with his shoulder. “Do you think he'll let me drive it?” He seemed completely oblivious to the jibe.

 

“Maybe? If it is Sesshoumaru's though, he'll probably be willing to run you over with it.”

 

“I will not complain about that; I'd go out being a thorn in his side.”

 

InuYasha, hardly paying attention to Miroku and more attention to the unlocked front door of his apartment, asked, “How so? He'd hit you and you'd be dead.”

 

“Yeah, but I'd take forever to peel off his bumper.”

 

InuYasha paused and sighed heavily, grunting as he did so. “You're a piece of work, Miro…a real friggin' piece of work.”

 

Miroku shrugged and walked in front of InuYasha. Opening the front door, he walked into the house and past the man slouching on their lazy boy with a bottle of beer in his hand. . “Sup' Sesshiles?” Miroku continued down the hallway and into his bedroom, paying little heed to the other tenant.

 

InuYasha let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Entering the house, he closed the door behind him before addressing his brother on the couch. “Is that your car out front? Fuck, you weren't kidding about being broke. So really, was that financed by your kid's college fund?” Rounding the corner, he paused dead in his tracks the minute his eyes locked onto the figure lounging in his living room. That was defiantly not Sesshoumaru.

 

The silver haired demon lifted his head and gold eyes clashed against Amethyst. Clothed in a pair of wrangler jeans and an oversized brown leather bomber, the youkai smiled at the estranged relative. “A beaut' she is, ain't she?” With the smirk growing wider, the older youkai stood up slowly, towering over his younger brother by about six inches. Cracking his head to one side to make a sickening snap, his grin widened to a full toothy smile. “So…ya got my attention, Yash. What do ya want?”

 

InuYasha's eyes traveled part out of curiosity part out of the necessity of knowledge, to the left side of his oldest brother's face. Stemming from a little below his left eye up into his hairline, a scar marred his otherwise perfect countenance. Both eyes, however, were indeed intact and staring impatiently at him. “I uhh…that is…” His mouth dried out and he found himself wanting to shrink away from the insistent gaze of his brother.

 

”Fuck,” the older man muttered with an odd taint of an Irish accent, before reaching forward and grabbing InuYasha's arm. Pulling the stunned boy forward he put him into a loose headlock and ran his knuckles through InuYasha's hair. “you gonna' stand there like a bloody gom or are ya gonna give your brother a hug?”

 

InuYasha pulled back, bewildered and completely awestruck, “Ka…Kagejiro?”

 

Kagejiro raised both his eyebrows and tilted his head to the left, “What, was you expecting Da, perhaps?”

 

InuYasha attempted to find his voice, his mouth moving up and down repeatedly. “I…no…that is….well…” Though he had rarely seen his father out of his concealment charm, he knew that the man before him and his father looked nothing alike. Jiro had a five o'clock shadow gracing his features, his eyes colder than his father's but somehow more vibrant. He was handsome and the air of mischief swirled about this man like a vortex of doom. That…and his father never smirked. “I just…didn't expect…you here now.” Glancing at the clock, he grimaced. Rin wasn't supposed to show up for a while; how the hell was he going to keep his mouth shut for that long?

 

`Jiro shrugged and dropped back down onto the couch. Finishing off the Guinness in his hand, he shrugged haphazardly. “Got in a bit early, I did. Figured I might as well take a gander at what the hell I was walkin' into'.” Pulling a cigar out of the front pocket of the bomber, he shoved the one end into his mouth and sat back against the couch. “So tell me boy, what the fuck am I `ere for?”

 

InuYasha shook his head, his entire world shifting off its axis about two degrees towards the sun. “I'm sorry?” This was not his mercenary, assassin, thought-to-be the roughest man on the face of the planet brother, there was no way that was possible. He spoke like a drunk…like an average college kid…there was no way this was the man who had survived centuries, had taken down half of his father's army and still evaded his father's radar to this day. There was no possibility that they were one in the same. Shaking his head again, InuYasha wondered where they had shoved the camera. This had to be a bad joke.

 

“Stop fuckin' around, there are a thousand things I could be doin' right now.

Ya said ya needed help. Low and behold, I am here for your salvation.” Cocking an eyebrow, the smirk never left his brother' lips as the older man seemed to revel in his sibling's confusion.

 

InuYasha closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Kagejiro was not supposed to be here yet. Rin should have arrived first, that way he didn't need to explain the said situation as much when `Jiro arrived. `Jiro would have walked into the room, seen Rin and the two of them would have caught up and she would have time to explain the mishaps. Having Kagejiro there first though…that changed everything. This could get very awkward. InuYasha knew one thing for certain; there was no way he was telling Kagejiro about Kenren. “I…it's a long story. Do you want something to…” glancing to the table, he saw to bottles of Guinness and a bottle of Jack already sitting out, “oh…you…helped yourself.”

 

`Jiro smirked and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Though he was still smirking, his eyes darkened to a hue that made InuYasha want to swallow his tongue rather than speak out against him again. “Seriously though….” The older man began, before pausing to lift an eyebrow, allowing InuYasha time to answer him.

 

InuYasha glanced back to his estranged brother. He hadn't counted on how obscenely awkward this was going to be. Sitting here without really being able to explain himself properly was making the hair on his neck stand straight up. He was starting to see that fierce character he assumed his brother to be breaking through the cracks. Attempting to stall for time, and to save his own neck, he continued on his own side rant. “I though…you had a New York accent?” InuYasha was positive when he spoke with his brother that the raspy tone gave way to a thick Brooklyn accent, not an Irish one. Could this really be the same person?

 

Obviously irritated by the questions, and the divergence of his original inquiry, `Jiro responded shortly; “When ya look ta the phone, and see that ya have a call from Japan, do you answer it in English?”

 

InuYasha shrugged his shoulders, finding the question completely irrelevant. “No, I'd answer in Japanese, not that anyone ever calls me from Japan. What's your point?”

 

Sighing heavily, Kagejiro responded, “When I see a call coming in from America, you get my American accent. I never know who the hell is ringing me, so I got ta play the part, you see. When I get a call from Japan, they get a Japanese response, and when I get a call from England, I tell em' to fuck off. The accent ya get depends on where you're calling from. This, however, is a much more relaxed state of mind.”

 

InuYasha fidgeted, shooting his brother a quick smirk while doing so. “So…let me get this right; you're a Japanese Tai-Youkai's son…with an Irish accent? Why Irish?” Why did he feel like he had stepped into the twilight zone?

 

“Why bloody well not? Ireland is the greatest of the motherlands. Though I may not have been breed there, you better damn well believe my heart and loyalty will always belong there. I've spent the better part of two centuries in Ireland. Its much more home ta me than Japan ever will be.”

 

“Seriously?” This was defiantly not the man he was expecting. InuYasha had assumed the man who would come barraging through his front door would be some rough and tough estranged New Yorker who loved guns and longed to deliver the black hand of death to any naysayer. Instead he had this hippie-looking, unshaven Irish-want-to-be who had already taken a hit to his liquor cabinet.

 

Stifling yet another sigh, Kagejiro slowly removed the cigar from his mouth and leaned forward to rest his elbow on his knees. Leveling a dark glower at InuYahsa, he coolly responded with a dead panned stare; “Boyo, if you don't come clean on what's happening, you're libel to get a foot up your ass. Ya best start explaining.”

 

InuYasha's mouth moved a couple times but before he could gather a full answer, Miroku breezed back through the living room and headed into the kitchen, once again with complete negligence towards the visitor in the other room. “Hey Sesshiles, about that spiffy new ride of yours...” shoving his head into the refrigerator, he continued. “If I swear to stop jacking off into your food, will you let me drive it?”

 

Kagejiro blinked and turned his head to the slightest angel to glance in the direction that Miroku vanished. Blinking, he spoke to InuYasha without looking at him. “Who the fuck is that and why the bloody hell does he keep callin' me Sesshiles? Does he want me to break his legs?”

 

InuYasha glared wildly back towards the kitchen and made a giant X over his neck with his hands. “Miroku,” he hissed loudly, “This…isn't Sesshoumaru.”

 

Snapping his neck around, Kagejiro stared at InuYasha and then turned back to Miroku, “Why the hell does he think that I'm…” Pausing for a moment to take a long gander about the apartment, Kagejiro shot to his feet. A smirk very slowly worked its way onto the eldest son's lips as he stared down at InuYasha. “Wait a minute, wait a fuckin' minute! Tell me that the bogger's living here with the both of ya. That would make this day glorious. Tell me daddy's little pissant fell off the golden pedestal that Da placed him on all them fuckin' years ago.”

 

InuYasha and Miroku exchanged glances before Miroku took a few steps into the living room. Scratching his head, he offered Kagejiro an apologetic smile. “I feel like an ass, I'm sorry. I'm Miroku, his roommate…you must be…”

 

Kagejiro waved him off with the flick of his hand. Keeping his sole focus on InuYasha, his smile only widened. “Is it true?”

 

For the first time in his life, InuYasha almost felt bad bashing his brother. “Yeah, he's staying here for the time being.” Grimacing, he attempted to do the one thing he had never done in life; cover for Sesshoumaru. “It's not that he fell off his `pedestal' per say, it's more that his wife…”

 

Kagejiro cut him off with a very boisterous laugh. “That's rich; daddy's prodigy is living in a fuckin' apartment, shackin' up with you nonetheless.”

 

InuYasha crinkled his nose, apparently not liking where this was going, let alone the insinuation that was being made. “Wait, what the hell does that mean?”

 

Miroku, on the other hand, derived a completely different definition from the statement. “Yo, no one is shacking up in this household together. At all. Unless it's InuYasha and his girlfriend's cousin, that is.” Stifling a laugh, he seemed rather proud of himself.

 

InuYasha flipped off Miroku and continued to press the matter with `Jiro. “Look, Sesshoumaru aint' here by choice, he's here cause he needs to be for the time being. He's still functioning just fine and you really should cut the guy some slack. He's going through some rough times.”

 

The other two parties in the room simply gawked at InuYasha in stunned silence. Then, as all time bombs do, they both exploded simultaneously.

 

“You can't be fucking serious! You're covering for that—“

 

“—Good for nothin' scum who can't detach himself long enough from ma's tit to face the real world without Da's money? That pisser ain't spoke one—“

 

“—decent word to any of us here in this place since he stepped foot through that door. He's the fuckin' devil incarnate and you're gonna stand here and take his side—“

 

“—after all the shit he's said to you and put you through? I know Da and I know the shit he poured into the kid. He don't know his ass from his mug. An' if he ain't changed since the last time I saw him, he is still just as much of an asshole as Da is.”

 

If anything, Miroku seemed more infuriated with InuYasha standing up for Sesshoumaru than Kagejiro was. “No, no no….Fuck him and his couch. No, fuck that…that' our fuckin' couch, he ain't even got that much to his name! Just fuck him in general! Mola Rom, hello? He wants to kill me, did you forget that fact? What, now you're condoning it? Is this how much my life is worth to you now?”

 

InuYahsa turned very slowly to shift his focus from his brother to his best friend. He wasn't sure if Miroku was joking anymore or if he was serious. Wishing he had something to hit Miroku with at that moment, he threw up his hands and yelled back, “can you calm down for one fuckin' minute? Damn, Miro, no I ain't condoning his death threats to you, but that's all they are. Grow up, he won't reach into your chest and tear out your heart! He'd get his manicure all fucked up!” Pointing wildly at `Jiro, he continued, “you'd have more of a chance of this one ripping out your intestines and strangling you with them than Sesshoumaru ever soiling his hands with your blood.”

 

Kagejiro shifted his attention from boy to boy in the last bit of the argument, calming down for the time being over the matter. Enjoying InuYasha's last stated assumption, he shrugged haphazardly when Miroku's head turned fearfully in his direction. “eh, I'm strangely comfortable with it.” The smirk that radiated from his face shined in the typical Taisho family way.

 

And silence ensued. Miroku stood gawking at Kagejiro and InuYasha, while both other boys went about their business. Kagejiro collapsed back to the couch and lit the cigar he had been chewing on while InuYasha entered the kitchen to begin assembling some type of dinner. Once InuYasha glanced over his shoulder back into the living room nearly five minutes later, Miroku was gone and Kagejiro was leaning in the doorway.

 

“So is it Da? Is that bastard givin' you a hard time?”

 

InuYasha frowned pointedly and turned his gaze back to the simmering pot of water on the stove. “I…no, not really.”

 

Kagejiro moved the cigar to the side of his mouth and spoke harshly. “Then honestly, lad, what the hell am I doin' here?”

 

Never in his life had InuYasha been so glad to hear a quiet tapping on the front door. `God Rin, don't let me down!' holding up a hand to Kagejiro, he nodded towards the door and walked in that direction. “I got to…”

 

Kagejiro followed the boy with his cognac-colored eyes, his frown darkening as he took in his brother once again managing to evade his questions.

 

Opening the door, InuYasha could have hugged the pint-sized human. “Hey Rin,” he stated quickly, “come in.”

 

Brushing past her friend, Rin began her rant almost immediately. “This better be damned important InuYasha. Not only did I have to make my father drive forty miles to come watch the baby, but I had to play twenty questions. He thinks I'm going out to drink myself retarded and to come home knocked up. Like I said, this better be fuckin' good. I'm talking Bankotsu's head on a stick important!” Taking an exaggerated glare over her shoulder towards the front yard of the apartments, she added, “and being that I see you haven't turned into Vlad the Impalerer overnight, I'm going to guess that that's not the case.”

 

Sighing heavily, InuYasha wrapped an arm around Rin's shoulders to help support her on the walk around the foyer corner into the living room. “Rin, just understand that I love you like a sister, at times, and that I really am only doing this for your own good. You would never have gotten this far without this. So again, when you think of castrating me for taking these liberties, just remember; I love you,” he added in a rather cartman-esque tone.

 

Turning the corner, Rin felt her heart skip a beat. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Had InuYasha really contacted Sesshoumaru? It would make all the sense in the world as to why she had to be there tonight. Feeling her heart leap up into her throat and her stomach drop out of her body painfully through her ass, she rounded the corner and froze. Waving a hand in front of her face, she tried to rid the cigar smoke from her presence. Before her stood a man she could have easily confused for the boy's father, if it hadn't of been for his style of clothing. The black points to the beautiful silver hair also were a dead give away that this man was neither her ex-lover nor their father. It was his posture, his composition and his attitude that warned her that something was highly amiss in the situation. Glancing around once to see if Sesshoumaru was at all present, she turned around completely baffled to stare at InuYasha. “Yash…what's going on?”

 

InuYasha paid absolutely no heed to Rin's body language or tone as he kept walking next to her. Thinking himself higher than God at the moment, he gently squeezed Rin's shoulder with a reassuring smile. “Rin, I know that this may seem underhanded, but honey, I love you like a sister and I had to force the meeting. So I did the impossible, now it's all up to you. I'll leave you two to some time to catch up.”

 

Rin crinkled her nose and glanced back over her shoulder to the equally stunned male. “Umm…” glancing back to InuYasha, a thousand questions poured through the girl's mind. Why did he think this was his brother? Had she the right family? There was no doubt to Rin's mind that InuYasha was Sesshoumaru's younger brother…but this man, sure as the day was long, was not Sesshoumaru.

 

Kagejiro removed the cigar from his mouth and watched his brother make a complete ass of himself. Putting out the cigar on his forearm, he placed it on the counter of the pass through from the kitchen to the living room. Walking a few steps towards InuYasha, he took immediate note to the scent that lingered on the girl. As his mouth slowly began to curve up, he was very quickly coming to the conclusion that this day could never get any better. “I think, lad, that you've gone and bejinxed the situation.” How was it that he had assessed the situation within two seconds and his brother was running off some bulloxed idea that he was the father of the girl's apparent child?

 

Rin glanced back once more at the stranger, her eyes wide in confusion. “Can someone tell me what is going on here?” He looked the part of a Taisho but Sesshoumaru had never mentioned having another brother. Was it possible? What the hell was going on?

 

InuYasha stood in front of the duo, staring blankly at the couple. Rin had told him that Kagejiro was the father of her child and he needed to find his brother because she needed help with the Kagome situation as well as help telling the said brother that she had his child for two years and never told him. But…she was staring at Kagejiro like he was a complete stranger. Blinking slowly, he tilted his head to the one side. “What are you confused over? I don't understand.”

 

Kagejiro snorted once and crossed his arms, moving to take a stand next to Rin. “You're confused? Try comin' across the ocean to a situation that apparently doesn't involve you at all.” Glancing down to his left side, he shook his head slowly. “I love the boy but sometimes he's a bit of gom. I'm Kagejiro, by the way, brother by the wayside if you would.”

 

Rin stared up at Kagejiro and then slowly turned her attention to InuYasha. It was as if the proverbial light bulb went off over her head. “InuYasha…” she spoke slowly, “I think you misunderstood me…somehow.” Pausing quickly, she turned to look at Kagejiro. “You're related to this idiot?”

 

InuYasha still seemed as confused as before, as if his brain could not simply wrap around the knowledge that was being presented before his very eyes and ears. Shaking his head again, he blinked rapidly. “Wait….if `Jiro isn't the father to your child…”

 

And the front door opened punctuating the thought before it could be finalized. Sweeping into the room like a man on a mission, Sesshoumaru only hesitated once he passed InuYasha and caught sight of the five foot girl standing in Kagejiro's shadow. The clattering of his briefcase hitting the carpeted floor was enough to finish InuYasha's thought and catch him up to the rest of the party's knowledge.

 

Gawking obscenely, InuYasha spun quickly from Rin to Sesshoumaru in rapid succession. “Wait a minute…wait a fuckin' minute! Sesshoumaru…it's Sesshoumaru? No, that's fuckin' impossible! There is no way that he would have…that he would stoop to…that he….no!” Turning back again, InuYasha felt as if his jaw was about to come unhinged. “No!”

 

Rin felt all the color drain from her face as she once again stood face to face with the man she had once loved with all of her heart…and her teenage naivety. Slowly looking up to meet his gaze, she felt as if the last two years of her life had simply been a hellish dream that she had just woken from. Swallowing thickly, she took a hesitant step forward. “Sess…Sesshoumaru?” was he really here? It was a moment from her greatest dreams…and darkest nightmares. Was this really happening? Was she at all ready for it? Her heart hammered against her chest as she felt her hands shaking at her side.

 

Sesshoumaru felt just as flabbergasted. His mouth moved but nothing could come out; it was like constipation of the vocal cords. Looking from his brother to the girl to the other man standing in his presence, he felt like his head had long ago exploded. “What…” shifting his eyes from Rin's thunderstruck expression to Kagejiro's amused mug, he felt every muscle in his body tighten. “Kagejiro.”

 

Kagejiro couldn't help the smile that stayed on his face. His brother's life was about to be crapped on royally…and he had nothing to do with it. This defiantly made his day. “ `allo Sessh, it's been a while.”

 

InuYasha simply balked. Ignoring the staring contest that had been ignited between the estranged brothers, InuYasha was still solidly stupefied. “Wait a minute,” he shouted, “Sesshoumaru's the dad? You fucked that fuck-tart?” Snapping around to stare at Sesshoumaru despite the collected groan from Rin and Kagejiro, a smile erupted across his face like Mt. St. Helen's, “oh, you done gone and fucked up.”

 

And that was roughly about when hell broke loose in that tiny apartment.

 

*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X**X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X

 

I am so sorry that this took forever to get out; things have been really hectic without ever really being home. I've been writing this on the go. So…yup, so truths are coming out. Woohoo. I hope the next update won't take as long but I can't honestly promise anything. I love you all and I am sorry. ^__^;;

 

mm.org shout outs:

 

time for a change: so here enters Kagejiro. Hope he was everything you were hoping for!! Let me know!

 

Xcuteanimegurlx: thanks! I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. It was rough to write but it was awesome. Sorry it took so long for an update!

 

Drakey: no, no darling, it's going to be a while before an ending. A Mexican standoff? Do tell. Lol. Displacement, I am off to read it, I swear. It's been so long since I've had time for much of anything. Sorry it's taken forever.

 

Sovereignty: you got to love the idea of Miroku in leather, I do! LOL. Thanks!!

Tendor Ardor: LOL, thanks! That really is such a compliment. I'm really happy that you enjoy this so much! Hope this chapter really nipped that want for Sessh and Rin's meeting. More will come but this is the beginning of it all.

 

Langus: oh god, I am so sorry. I guess now wouldn't be the greatest time for an update either; finals must be coming up. I apologize, but at least you got the assignment done. ^__^ Thank you, I really appreciate you continuing on with the story. I'm glad that you went back to reread the story. It's been so long since I wrote it, I've had to go back to reread it time and again. COTD was all within a year, it's been nearly two and a half (and that drives me crazy). You know, I'm not a huge fan of flip cup (haven't ever really played it to be honest). Explain it to me and we'll see about a party game.

 

ChibiRin: Rin has a collection of problems now to worry about.

 

Blaccwolf123: lo and behold, we got a jiro. Hope you enjoyed his entrance. Let me know your thoughts!

 

Leilachan: LOL, sorry it's taken so long to update. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Yes, Bankotsu is an asshole. Oh there is going to be a lot of yelling. Lol.

 

New Fan: thank you, I'm glad you realize that. It is very far from over. LOL. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter

 

Radhika: it means a lot of trouble as time goes on.

 

Hahahha: glad you're enjoying it!

 

Malitiadixie: oh no, Bankotsu will not get off that easy. Yes, Bankotsu will get his just deserts. As for Sesshiles and the jiro, it's gonna explode eventually!

 

Loulou4729: oh yeah, he went there. LOL. Don't worry, I never exactly stop writing but it's just a matter of getting enough together to post.

 

Silveraloria: Kagome had a lot of strength in that chapter, I will give you that a hundred times over. Jiro is going to be an interesting character to play out. We'll see how it goes.

 

Broken Butterfly: Kagome is different in this, but then again, is she really? Hmm…

 

Peachkeen14: exactly, he is so far from being done with it all. Yeah, there are a lot of secrets that need to come out over time. As for her finding out about Sha…well….we'll see.

 

Kschultea: I love midsummer nights dream. It is one of my favorite plays as well.

 

Madjax36: Thanks! I try to keep it to the generational references. It's sad though to feel almost like I'm losing touch as I age. It's hard to write anything highschool anymore. So…Jiro…thoughts? I really hope you enjoyed the character. He'll be around for a while. Kagome is Helena (who was Titania in metaphorical speaking when the sun went down) hence me using the reference to the story. I will be touching more on Shakespeare as I go, hopefully, if not just simple quotes or taking it to context. As for plot, I probably won't be using the plot from the others but more just iconic symbolizations. Thanks! I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story!

 

mistressKagome4U: LOL, thank you! I am really glad that you enjoy the story. It's always awesome to hear from you, knowing that you've been with me from COTD. As for Rin and SEsshiles, does this answer that for you? LOL, and the shit has hit the fan. LOL.

 

InuYashacutie: LOL, it might seem like she's free but…you never know fully. Bankotsu wouldn't be one to stand for pubic humiliation.

 

Girl X 16: wow, half a year without a computer? I'd die! I am so happy that you're back though. Hope you are enjoying it!

 

Thisismesmiling: so not over yet. Good call! LOL. Hc? What is that? Sorry to keep you waiting but time really doesn't permit much extra space for writing. I will do my best to keep up with this all though, promise.

 

Blackr0s3: LOL, I am really glad that you checked this one out. I'm much more happy with the outcome of this story than Curse of the Dragon. Oh no, like I said, this is far from the end. We have a lot more to go and a lot of secrets to reveal. LOL, thanks, I'm really glad that you enjoy this one!

 

Hawaiian stoner: it's not so Kagome/Sha centric, but it's something right now. Sorry for the delay!