InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Gray ❯ Memories of the past ( Chapter 32 )

~<>~ Shades of Gray ~<>~

 

~<>~ Chapter 32 ~<>~ Memories of the Past

 

 

It was like walking to your death; Kagome knew the fate that hung drearily above her head and wrapped about her like cellophane. She knew back at the dorm she would find her cousin, undoubtedly crying for things she lost years before. She knew that she had to approach Kikyo and that there was a need for words to be said. Kikyo had caught her, the act was up and the game was over. The reality of the world had crushed down on her small fort of happiness and taken it without regard. The cold bitterness of the night stung at her body as well as her heart. She had gambled and lost everything. The question now, however, was how to approach this entire situation. That alone was what kept Kagome company on the long walk home.

 

Kagome could play this event from two different angles; it just mattered as to how much of an asshole she wanted to seem like. She could either stand by the fact that she did nothing wrong; Kikyo had long ago denounced her relationship with InuYasha, the only one who did not know that was the boyfriend himself. Or she could take the stand that she knew what she did was wrong, but Kikyo was just as wrong due to her affair, hence going with the kettle calling the pot black. All together, Kagome was being thrown under the bus on this one and there was no way to avoid it, all she could attempt to do was manipulate the speed in which it hit her.

 

What she could say, as she walked down the dark streets of Eatontown, was that this was a very lonely trek. Having ridden to the bar with Kikyo, and then dismissing InuYasha flat on her way out of the establishment, she now had no choice but to walk by herself. Jak's bar was about four miles from campus, and she had considered calling Sango to come get her, but there was so much she had to mull over that she needed the alone time. How to approach this, where to go from here and how to keep both relationships functional were the questions of the night that swarmed her mind like an angry hive.

 

Coming out of the club, she had walked into yet another cluster fuck. Having left Jakotsu on the floor, blood pouring from his nose, she had found InuYasha standing on the side of the road, watching Kikyo drive off at Mach 3 looking like a lost puppy. The new guy, Kagejiro, was standing with a man who Kagome assumed to be Sesshoumaru Taisho, staring in what looked like commiseration in their direction. When Kagome made her appearance, InuYasha had turned to her with a lost look in his eyes. She knew the words without them needing to be spoken; what did we do? What Kagome had feared had happened and now it was her mess to clean. She had blown off InuYasha's offer to drive her home with a very snide `I think we both know we shouldn't be seen together anymore.' Tears filled her eyes at the knowledge that it was over, they had gambled on fate and lost; what had they done?

 

This was her just punishment; she concluded as she came within sight of the dorms, she had made her bed a long time ago. Oberon had been her instigator, her gateway drug, but she had done everything on her own, she had changed herself into an uncaring and selfish bitch that wanted what she wanted. With a pit in her stomach, she came to some self rationalizations that were anything but pretty. The only one who mattered for anything in her life was herself. She didn't give a damn about anyone else as long as she profited in the end. If she had cared about others then she would have never continued her tryst with Bankotsu, she would never have put herself in the position to return to her mother with more shame to the family name. Instead, knowing what wrath Bankotsu could have inflicted upon her family, she had played the odds and played with him. She lost in the end. If she had cared so much about Souta and her mother, she would have stayed at home, worked a full time job, given up school and focused more of her attention on her child. Instead she handed over the baby to her mother the first time he cried through the night. She never looked back from that day nor regretted it. She was more than happy to shrug off her burden onto her mother, her emotional problems on anyone who would listen and played the victim card enough to make herself sick. She went to Bankotsu at night to continue feeling like a victim, so that she could place herself on the pedestal where she was not responsible for her actions. She allowed InuYasha to pretend to rescue her from that pedestal, like Rapunzel to her prince, only to be the one who had banished herself to that tower in the first place.

 

And then there was Jakotsu. What he had done was nearly unforgivable, and she prayed sadistically that she had broken his nose, but she understood why he did it. He thought he was saving her, he thought he was doing the right thing. He had exposed their tryst to get Kagome away from a man that Jakotsu had thought would hurt her as Bankotsu had. He had told her once that he felt responsible for not stopping Bankotsu before he went psycho on her; he was trying to head this one off before she once again could become the victim. But the way he did it…the knowledge he had that she planned to stop this; he knew how much InuYasha had meant to her and he had torn it away. Like pulling a safety blanket away from a child, he had ripped out the last good thing in her life.

 

Would she have ended it, she wondered as she staggered into the elevator of the dorms. Could she have ever of said goodbye to InuYasha? What was it about that man that drew her like a moth to the flame? Looking back at all the years past, it wasn't as if she had harbored anything but a strong disgust for him, there was never a feeling of butterflies or a need to have him in her, she never longed for his touch or his caress. Now…that was all she could think of, all that consumed her. She wanted to be with him every moment of every day. And it was wrong. It was all so wrong. As tears threatened to storm her cheeks once more, she threw a wayward punch to the side of the elevator. How could it all happen this way? The only answer she got was a resonating pain that shot through her hand like a knife.

 

Kikyo, regardless of being a bitch, was her friend. Kagome could never blame Kikyo for her upbringing or her emotionless countenance. Kikyo's mother, Chiyo, was the least favorite of people in Kagome's life, next to Kagawaki and her father. Chiyo was colder than any glacier in Antarctica, more emotionally stinted then the Grinch. She had raised Kikyo to believe everyone else in the world was dirt on her daughter's shoe. Kikyo had struggled with a conscience for years, mostly because of Kagome's mothers counter-teachings. Though she had come out of the battle with much more of a personality than her mother, she still was a bitch. In the end though, Kagome was sure it could have been worse. Regardless of these facts, Kikyo was Kagome's family and her friend. And she had betrayed her. There was no excuse for sleeping with InuYasha and she would be able to offer Kikyo no explanation towards her actions. It was the highest of all treachery and Kagome knew she would soon face the gallows for it. All she could hope for was a fair trail.

 

Reaching the dorms, Kagome's hand trembled as she pushed the button in the elevator. What was she going to say to her cousin; what could she say? Knowing that she was falling towards certain doom and there was no longer an up option, Kagome braced for impact as she trudged down the dimly lit hallway. Raising her fist to knock at her door, she hesitated. Was this truly the right way to go? Should she give Kikyo time to relax, time to think things through logically? Maybe Kikyo wasn't even at the dorm, maybe she went crying home to mommy and daddy. And to Kagome's father.

            ;

Kagome's gut wrenched at the thought. What if Kikyo dragged her father into this; what if Kikyo became the bitch Kagome knew she could be? Another scandal, another disgrace, Kagome was positive she couldn't endure it again. The shame that was in her father's eyes the day she told him, with the aid of her mother, that she was pregnant…

 

            ; Catching herself before she knocked, Kagome reached into her pocket and pulled out the key. She felt more like a drone, synchronized in its motions and actions, rather than a human being. Forgetting what she was doing, drifting off to memories best forgotten; it was amazing that she even functioned at any level currently.

 

            ; Clearing her throat, Kagome shoved her key into the lock and opened the door. Save for a shallow light shining out from under the door of the bathroom, the room was pitch black. The stars that had guided Kagome home had abandoned her, leaving her to the abyss of her cousin's wrath. Nothing was safe from the dark vortex, Kagome rationed, as she quietly closed the door behind her. As she turned, she tripped over a pile of clothing that lay square in the middle of the doorway. Grasping in the dark, Kagome lifted what felt like a sweatshirt and turned it to the light of the bathroom to see if she could distinguish any markings. The first thought that ran through Kagome's head was that her cousin returned to the dorm and went on a rampage, dissimilating all of Kagome's clothes from her closet. But as she brought the article of clothing to her nose, she recognized the scent immediately; InuYasha.

 

            ; Hesitantly, Kagome reached for the light switch. In a very languid and pained motion, she flicked her finger over the tiny knob, scared shitless on what disaster she would behold under the florescent sun. 

 

            ; Blinded momentarily, Kagome hardly held back her gasp. The room was a complete disaster; pictures that had once adorned Kikyo's desk of InuYasha and her or of the three of them were crumpled in little balls of hate, decorating the floor listlessly. Clothing that was undoubtedly the boy's was strewed across the room, some things in the garbage can, others sticking out of bags. A necklace that Kikyo cherished, what InuYasha had bought her on their three year anniversary, was lying on top of the trash, the diamond sparkling amidst the garbage.

 

            ; Taking a step towards the bathroom, she paused when the toilet flushed and there was a very loud sniffle, one that ripped through Kagome like an air hammered spike. She had once again managed to hurt someone close to her. How many more people would she cause heart ache to? Maybe Bankotsu had been right all along; she didn't belong to this world any more than a ghost did. Heartache and misery seemed to follow her like a plague.

 

            ; “Go away.”

 

            ; Kagome turned to face the bathroom door, barely hearing the mumbled words through the wooden planks.  Opening her mouth and then shutting it once, then again, she stared helplessly. What could she say?

 

            ; “No.” that seemed like a good choice at the time.

 

            ; Kikyo sniffled again, on the other side of the door, and called back, “I don't want to see you right now.” Though her voice was strong with emotion, her words were shattered; Kagome couldn't tell if that was a lie or if she was just overtly furious.

 

            ; `Right now,' thought Kagome, `does that mean eventually you will want to see me?' Kicking a pile of InuYasha's discarded wardrobe from her feet, she moved towards the door. “Kikyo…we need to talk.”

 

            ; “No we don't. You need to leave.”

 

            ; Kagome closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. How could she get through to her cousin, how could she make her understand? “I'm sorry.”  `Lie,' she thought with disdain.  The she that she regretted was that she had hurt someone she loved once more. Maybe in some great circle of doom, she did regret it all. Who knew?

 

            ; That must have ruffled a tail feather or two, Kagome reasoned much later. The door was just about ripped off its hinge as Kikyo barreled out of the bathroom. Her eyes were surrounded in a cloud of black makeup that ran down her cheeks in messy lines, her actual pupils were an iridescent red, and her cheeks were rubbed raw. Her hands shook as she approached Kagome, anger searing off the top of her head like water on an iron. “You're sorry? You're sorry!” Kikyo threw her hands up and stopped her charge a foot from Kagome. Going nose to nose with her cousin, Kikyo let it all out. “How dare you!” rearing back, she slapped Kagome once clear across the face. “How fuckin' dare you!”

 

            ; Kagome turned her head with the blow. It hurt more that her cousin would raise a hand to her rather than by the actual blow itself. Turning back slowly, she kept her calm as Kikyo continued screaming at her.

 

            ; Kagome held her cheek from where she was struck, tears brimming in her eyes. “I know I can`t make this right, I know I can't just say a few things to make this better but…”

 

Kikyo shook her head swiftly, anger leading her motions. “No, Kagome, you're right. There isn't a damn thing you can say to me to make any of this better but the fuckin' truth.”

 

Kagome swallowed thickly and chewed on her bottom lip. Lying to Kikyo was proving to be so much easier than offering her any truth to the situation. But if Kikyo ever found out the real truth…if Jakotsu had told her more than what met the eye…

 

“Just tell me the truth, Kagome,” she spoke with broken syllables, mingled with intermittent tears, “tell me if you slept with him.”

 

Kagome stared as blankly as a corpse watches the ceiling of a casket. What could she say? Apparently nothing spoke louder.

 

Pursing her lips, Kikyo nodded a few times, as if she was listening to the wall tell the story for her. “I see,” she said plainly. Staring to the side, the two girls were met by a thick silence of digestion. Kikyo huffed once, a small bubble of humor in the terrible situation playing in her mind. “I guess that's why he didn't seem so into it these last few weeks.” Grinding her teeth, she lifted her eyes to meet Kagome's deer-in-headlight stare. “When you're getting your dick sucked by two girls at once, it's hard to keep their names straight.”

 

Kagome's bottom lip quivered as she just watched the immense pain ripple through her cousin's face. “Kikyo…I….”

 

“What, tripped and fell on his dick? How long has this been happening Kagome? Have you been sleeping with him since I started dating him? Does he fuck me, let me fall asleep and then come up there and bang you as well? How can you handle fucking him knowing…hearing….” Squeezing her eyes shut, she held up her hand, “what is wrong with you? Seriously, you know…you hear…how could you….”

 

Kagome took a few deep breaths, knowing that her cousin deserved all the answers in the world, but feared delivering them. “No, we haven't…I wasn't…”

 

“Don't lie to me, Kagome!” Kikyo suddenly screeched at the top of her lungs.

 

Kagome flinched, as if physically struck, and collected her thoughts. “After Bankotsu did this…” she made an imaginary circle around her face with her hand, “I turned to Sango and Miroku for help. With Miroku came InuYasha and I…I…” looking away, she took a few steps back and wrapped her arms around her body, hugging herself as if cold. That wasn't far from the truth; a chill had snuck up her spine and send a wave of uncomfortable shivers across her body. Why had she slept with InuYasha? What had spurred on this tryst? Kagome had dismissed it as for years she had wanted him but talked herself out of it, but was that the truth? Everything had spiraled after meeting…. Shaking her head, she handled once problem at a time; Sha was a concern for another day.

 

“It just happened.”

 

“It just happened,” Kikyo mocked back snidely, “you just happened to fall on his cock, or did he just happen to put it in your mouth? Are you going to try to say he raped you too?”

 

Kagome snapped around to face Kikyo, her eyes widening for a fraction of a second before a death glare consumed her, “Don't you dare fucking say that! I would never….” Taking a deep breath, she tried to control herself. Kagome had, once apone a time, told Kikyo about Kagawaki in Japan. Kikyo had actually held it against Kagome, telling her that it wasn't rape; he wouldn't do that….and a whole list of other bullshit that led down to Kagome was making up stories. Kikyo had always crushed on Kagawaki and the fact that he slept, or raped, Kagome, she couldn't handle it. Apparently, she now felt it was viable to hold it over Kagome's head.

 

Kikyo snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Somehow I doubt that.”

 

Kagome stood staring for what felt like an hour; if lasers would have come from her eyes, Kikyo would have been incinerated on the spot. The urge to slug her cousin was consuming her by the moment; how dare she?

 

In a much quieter voice, Kikyo suddenly asked; “How can you come in here and say you're sorry? You made out with my boyfriend, that's not something you say you're sorry to. You say you're sorry to breaking my mirror, or ripping my favorite pair of jeans. You say you're sorry for being late to a dinner date. You don't fuckin' make out with your cousin's boyfriend and then say you're sorry! Fuck you!”

            ;

Cringing once, Kagome tried to ration poorly, regardless of the hurt. She had been angry before, now she was bitter, nearly as much as Kikyo. “Kikyo, you're drunk,” she said harshly.

 

            ; “And you're a whore. I tried not to listen to them,” She seethed, “I tried not to ever listen to a word that your father and my father said about you. I went off your indictment that they were assholes and that you weren't a slut who would put out for anyone.” Snorting, Kikyo crossed her arms and stared down her cousin. “Guess I was mistaken. You are a whore, every bit as your father described.”

 

            ; Never would Kikyo know how those words ripped into her like a butcher's blade. Trying to keep from crying, Kagome let her cousin rip her apart. That would be a conversation for another day, when Kikyo was less drunk and even less mad. Her father said… Steeling herself to bar out that emotion, she stood a little bit taller. She would withstand this storm, just as she had the rest of her life.

 

            ; “You hate him; you have said so a million times yourself! Was that a cover? Is this something that's been going on forever? How long,” she hollered at Kagome.

 

Kagome inhaled deeply and counted to five before answering, “Tonight we were drunk and…things got carried away. It's not what I wanted…I would never…”stopping short, Kagome couldn't even bring herself to finish that lie.           

 

Kikyo shook her head and back away from her cousin. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you've never let him fuck you.”
           ; 

Kagome lifted her eyes to stare into the dark mahogany orbs of her cousin and couldn't even hold the gaze. Closing her eyes, she exhaled slowly. “I…can't…we…” hesitating, she opened her eyes to catch Kikyo walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

 

“Whore!”

 

Kagome was nearly sure that the entire floor heard that exclamation. Numb to the pain, she was shocked to find tears rolling down her face. When had she started to cry? Swallowing thickly, she turned and walked to the door. Grasping at her cell phone in her pocket, she dialed the first number she thought of. It only hit her on the second ring that it was past three in the morning.

 

Three rings in, a voice that seemed nearly as broken as Kikyo answered the phone.

 

“Kagome?”

 

Kagome paused, her suffering being cut short. She could hear the pain in her voice and could just about see the tears on her face. “Rin, what's wrong?”

 

There was a short pause, a possible sniffle or a muffled sob. “Hey, you called me, remember?” There was room for laughter that never came forth.

 

Kagome swallowed again, feeling as if her throat went dry. “Yeah…but you sound as good as I do. Umm…what's wrong? Why are you crying?”

 

There was a very long pause, undoubtedly Rin attempting to get her emotions under control. “I…really…don't want to talk about it. Why are you upset?”

 

The last thing Kagome wanted to do was burden the girl who was already in pain. “I…I'm sorry, I'm a little drunk,” she lied, “and just bummed. I'm sorry Rin, I didn't mean to disturb you. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?”

 

Sitting in the dark, curled up in a ball in the corner of her bedroom, Rin shook her head in the negative, “Thanks but no thanks, Kagome, I just…” she paused, not wanting to talk at all about him or her night. “I think I should get some rest.”

 

Kagome knew that was the furthest from the truth. “Are you sure?”

 

Rin nodded, regardless that Kagome couldn't see it.

 

After a moment, Kagome gave in. “Look, if you want to hang out tomorrow, maybe do breakfast…”

Rin smiled weakly, “I'd like that. How about I call you?”

 

`Nothing like a leave me alone,' Kagome thought. She knew she wouldn't hear from Rin tomorrow. “Sure Rin,” she said from closed teeth, “sounds good.”

 

“G'night”. Rin hung up before Kagome could answer.

 

Kagome stared at her phone for a moment, pondering if she should just show up at the house. Rin was in pain and undoubtedly, it had Taisho written at the source. Wasn't that the story of the night?

 

Getting to the dorm elevators, she pressed her back against the concrete wall, where not more than a week ago, InuYasha had gone ballistic on Bankotsu. What she wouldn't give to be in his arms right now.

 

`No,' she thought sourly, `I can't…not anymore. If I want this to be right with Kikyo, if I want to be able to put this behind us, I can't be with him anymore.' The knowledge was like a shot through the heart. She had to let him go. Disregarding the shaking of her hands, the tremor of her body, and the breaking of her heart, she made a steel resolve. She wasn't going to see him anymore.

 

Opening up her phone, she made one last phone call for a place to sleep tonight.

 

*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*

 

Stretching as he got out of bed, Miroku ruffled his black hair into a more tangible mess that he would deal with after coffee. Stumbling from his room in a pair of sweat pants, he barged into the kitchen with only one thing on his mind; mind numbing caffeinated black goodness in large quantities. The room was still spinning from his alcohol consumption the night before and for a moment, he wondered if he was truly still as drunk as he was when he had gone to bed the previous night. Grasping into the dish rack, he pulled out a cup and fumbled with the coffee pot, attempting to get as little of the hot liquid on himself as he could manage. After assuring that his cup was filled to the brim, he carefully slid across the room to a chair. The three foot walk felt like a mile to the drunken mortal. Slipping down in the seat, some of the liquid splashed from the cup onto his hand.

 

A barrage of vulgarities opened the morning as tradition ran.

 

Leaning back over the couch, InuYasha glanced into the kitchen to his friend, his eyes nearly bloodshot. “It's hot,” he quipped in a monotone nature, “do you need a fuckin' sticker to tell you that?”

 

“You think,” Miroku shot back. Taking a long savoring swig of the coffee, he swallowed it down and sighed happily. “That's good.”

 

“Of course it is; I made it.”

 

Miroku smirked at InuYasha, his eye sight becoming a little more defined. Eyeing his friend, his smirk fell from his lips, instantly replaced by a scowl and what looked like a glimmer of worry. “Were you up all night?”

 

InuYasha shrugged and turned away from Miroku. “Something like that,” he mumbled.

 

Taking one last good gulp of the coffee, Miroku battled his better judgment and relocated himself into the living room, spilling only a few drop of coffee on the way. Plopping down on the recliner, he wasn't shocked to find Kagejiro sitting in the corner of the room, his chin tucked into his chest and the know-all golden orbs closed. In the man's hand was a nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Turning his attention to InuYasha, he made a face. “Does he normally sleep sitting up? That could be why he's so defensive. I know if I had to sit up all the time…well...my ass would hurt for one…”

 

InuYasha waved him off. “How the hell should I know? This is a family reunion in the making, remember?”

 

Miroku hated the chiding tone that colored his friend's voice. “Look, just because you couldn't keep your dick to yourself, doesn't mean you need to be an asshole to the rest of us. Don't include us on your path of destruction; I'm just the comic relief.”

 

InuYasha bared his teeth at Miroku. On hindsight, it would have been more threatening if he hadn't had his concealment charm on at that moment.

 

“Down boy,” Miroku muttered. Staring into the cup of black liquid uncomfortable silence ensued.

 

“I'm sorry,” InuYasha spoke suddenly, “I don't want to take this out on you.”

 

Miroku shrugged and sipped his coffee. “So then don't.”

 

“It's not that easy.”

 

“Sure it is, just make a decision.”

 

InuYasha clenched his fist around the pillows of the couch, attempting to count backwards from ten. “It can't be solved in a decision, Miroku. Besides, it seems that my decision was already made for me.”

 

Miroku raised an eyebrow. “So it would seem. But you know that's horseshit. If you want something different, demand it. Make her see it your way.”

 

“It's not like that.”

 

“Because you don't want it to be.”

 

A throw pillow became just that as it sailed inches past Miroku's head. InuYasha was on his feet in a second, his hands digging into his mess of long black hair. “I can't just walk up to Kagome, Miroku, and tell her that I don't give a fuck about Kikyo. I can't tell Kikyo I will leave Kagome alone. There's no simple solution.”

 

Miroku eyed the pillow for a moment then looked back to his friend. “Do you need to ruin the upholstery to tell me how you feel? For a moment, I thought you were actually aiming that at me.”

 

InuYasha refused to even acknowledge the comment. “I don't know what to do,” he admitted.

 

“Who do you want to be with?”

 

“Kagome.” InuYasha paused, as if shocked by his own answer, before chuckling darkly and shaking his head. Was it really that simple? Could it be that simple? Nothing was like that for him. Everything came with a price tag that taxed both his and Kagome's lives. This price tag was out of both their budgets.

 

“And there's your answer. What's the worst that happens? She gets into a huge fight with Kikyo and has to move out. Fine, she can come stay here. We're already becoming a hotel; all we need is a permit for this many bodies, so it seems.”

 

InuYasha fisted his hair. “It's not like that. That's her cousin; I can't expect her to choose me over her. She already made it apparently clear that she isn't going to do that.”

 

Miroku considered that for a moment. “Does she know you want this?”

 

InuYasha nodded then hesitated. “At least I think she does.”

 

“Well that's step one; you need to let her know you want to fight for her. If she is worth it to you, then go for it.”

 

InuYasha seemed very preoccupied by the thought. “But…there's so much more at stake. What about my father and the business? What about our fathers' business merger. Something this…deep…has the complete potential to blow up everything they have worked for. I could ruin…”

 

Kagejiro grunted in his sleep and, with his eyes closed, dragged the bottle of Jack to his mouth and finished it off. Dropping it to the side, he repositioned himself against the wall and mumbled, “Fuck Da', he doesn't give a shit about you, why are you protecting him?”

 

InuYasha snapped his head in his brother's direction, shocked to find him still awake. “I…he…” snapping his mouth closed, he had no real answer. He didn't want to be the prodigal son, he didn't want that reputation. One day, he wanted his father to look at him the way he did Sesshoumaru; he wanted to be more than a broken condom in his father's eyes. But after this tryst, after everything was added together, he was just that.

 

Miroku raised his eyebrows in agreement. “He has a valid point, Yash.”

 

InuYasha looked at his friend then back to his older brother. “How do you stand it? How can you take that the old man hates you?”

 

A light snore was his answer.

 

Both boys gawked for a moment before turning to look at each other with a shrug. Miroku flipped on the television and InuYasha stretched out on the couch. “I don't think I can do that to him. I mean, Dad has financed everything in my life and I owe him a lot. He's paying for the apartment, he's paying for class, hell, and he's paying for my fuckin' gas. Screwing him in the end just doesn't seem…right. I mean,” He nodded towards his slumbering brother, “'Jiro has a point but I want to believe my father has faith in me.”

 

Miroku grimaced and tore his eyes away from Oprah. “Yash, your dad made a mistake once that I'm sure he doesn't fully regret. Yeah, it might have been tough to face, but from everything you've told me, he was dead in love with your mother. He knows what true love is—“

 

“—and he let it drink herself to death. Dad can pretend he was in love with my mother, but I don't buy it for one fucking moment. If he was in love with her, he would have been there for her, protected her and me. She wouldn't have dug her own grave. Instead he's now letting his wife of five hundred years and seven children do it.”

 

Miroku shook his head viciously, confounded by all the information. “It's just you, Sesshoumaru and Jiro left out of the bunch, right?”

 

InuYasha nodded heavily. Eyeing his brother, he wondered about the truth of it all. He wondered about the battle, about the death of his third half-brother and if it had been Kagejiro's fault at all. He felt that, in the last day, he had gotten to know his brother fairly well. After spending a full day talking to him, he could never see Jiro killing a helpless child. Something didn't add up and InuYasha didn't doubt for a minute it was on his father's end.

 

Miroku shook his head and relaxed further into the recliner. “I say fuck it; you're happiness wins out at the end of the day. It's your life, Yasha, and if your father can't recognize that, then he's a shitty father.”

 

InuYasha nodded. “Speaking of shitty fathers…do you know if Sesshoumaru came back last night?”

 

Miroku glanced around the small apartment. “He wasn't here when I got up a minute ago.” Seeing InuYasha's deadpanned look, he remembered that InuYasha was up longer than he was. “If he made it home? I have no idea. He and `Jiro got into a real heated argument at the club after you left; there was a whole lot of yelling and even more swearing. I thought Jakotsu's men were going to call the police. Finally Kagejiro grabbed me and demanded that I drive us home. I was piss drunk so of course I agreed. He then demanded that I stop the car less than half a mile up the road and switched out. I guess demon senses aren't phased by alcohol.”

 

Both boys paused and glanced to the empty bottle of Jack in Kagejiro's hand.

 

Cracking open one eye, the older demon shocked them both. “It does too knock you for a fuckin' loop. I'm just used to being drunk; it's a profession for me.”

 

InuYasha grunted non to happily. “You've been awake this whole time and haven't said a word?

“I felt no need to contribute beyond what I did,” he replied honestly before working his way to his feet. Walking past the boys, he made his way into the bathroom silently.

 

InuYasha grabbed the sides of his head and grunted loudly. “I don't know what to do.”

 

“You're making this way harder than it needs to be. Shut up, stop being a pansy, take control of your life, and go talk to Kagome.”

 

InuYasha shook his head. “Even if I make that decision, she has to make hers.”

 

“So then make up your mind, tell her and let her take it from there.”

 

“It's not that easy.”

 

“Why?”

 

With a huge grunt of frustration, InuYasha yelled, “Because love never is!”

 

Miroku's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs as silence swallowed the room. Both simply sat, staring at one another in awe. Had InuYasha just verbally admitted to being in love with Kagome?

 

“That's some heavy shit,” `Jiro drew as he walked from the bathroom.

 

“No kidding,” Miroku muttered.

 

InuYasha dug his face deeper into his knees.

 

Kagejiro leaned against the living room wall. He seemed to weigh reality for a moment before sighing heavily. “Do you want me to talk to dad for you?”

 

Lifting his head slowly, InuYasha's glower was incredulous. “Why would I want you to do that?”

 

Kagejiro sighed heavily and pushed off the wall. Walking around the room, he squatted next to his brother. “Because you are ill-equipped to do it. I can ration with the old man because I don't fear his control.”

 

“Having you talk to him would be like walking myself to the gallows. He doesn't want you to have anything to do with the family, remember? To admit that I brought you in on this would be like shoving a lit firecracker up my own ass.”

 

Kagejiro blinked then fall backwards to sit beside the couch on the floor. Resting his back against the base, he rocked his head back and closed his eyes. Leaving behind his Irish accent, he spoke in a more Americanized standard. “Yash, there are two viable paths you can take from here out. You can take the one that you know is safe, the one worn from wear. It's the same path both you and Sesshoumaru tip toe on around this man, because you know it works. It's the path that you fall to his whim, doing what's best for him and his company to pad his pockets a little better for hopes of him throwing you a bone. Live your life to his standards and his approval in prayer that it might one day lead you somewhere. With this path, you'll see heartache from not choosing your own life, despair and ultimately, one day you'll look in the mirror and only see dad. He will consume you.” Giving it a moment to set in, he continued, “or you can take the other path. The one that will lead you away from Dad, stray from his hand but give you that ability to lead your own life. You can be happy and free and, in time, you'll cross his path again and maybe with age, he will come to accept it. Robert Frost once wrote, `two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference'. It's your decision now, Yash, just know that where you go will affect your life. It's time to start taking control.”

 

InuYasha slowly nodded, understanding filtering in through his brain. Kagejiro was right; it was time for him to stop living in his father's shadow. That was a place Sesshoumaru had chosen to dwell, but it was not the life for him. He was to free of a spirit to be held down like Sesshoumaru. To hell with the family business, he had a life to live and he was done doing it for his father. If his father wanted to disown him, so be it; he would get himself a full time job, drop is classes for a while if he needed to. With a firm nod, he looked to Kagejiro. “You're right.” Why was the answer so simple now? For years he had batted it around, fearing for his life and his sanity to stay with him over questions like these. All the times he wanted to ditch Kikyo and live life for himself, all the times that he wanted to throw it back in his dad's face…he had resigned himself to death without knowing it, and it took a disowned brother to make him see it.

 

It was a knowing smile that touched his brother's lips. “I know I am.” Seeing a lot of doubt clear InuYasha's face, he quickly added, “I know I haven't been around much. To be honest, I wasn't sure what you believed of dad's stories and how you would receive me. I've tried, unsuccessfully, to get Sesshoumaru to become willing to listen to me, and I thought it would be the same. If I had known…” hesitating, he shook his head. “If you need help, Yash, on anything, you let me know. I'll have your back in an instant. If dad pulls funding for schooling for you, you tell me. I got enough cash to repay the national debt. I can help you without a worry.”

 

The awkward big brother moment was weighing heavy on both boys, but there was more underneath it, more to this, and InuYasha could sense it. He hadn't known his brother, ever, and when he made that phone call, he was expecting hell to walk through his door. But this…man…was different than he expected, and suddenly, he found himself sorry for the years he could have known him.

 

InuYasha nodded towards his brother. “That really means a lot.” As silence lingered in the air, InuYasha realized Miroku has disappeared from the room at some point. With a smile, he shook his head. “I guess this is that bonding moment that we should have had years ago.”

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

InuYasha blinked and glanced down to his brother. “No, I didn't mean…” The last thing he meant was offense.

 

“No, you don't understand.” Standing up to move into the abandoned recliner, Kagejiro stared off into nothingness. Without a bottle in hand, InuYasha took a good look at his brother and was amazed at what he saw. The indestructible demon that had been so strong and so opinionated looked nearly human. Dark circles bore their way under his bloodshot eyes, his chin was covered in a unshaven five o'clock shadow and his hair hung limply past the top of his ears. But it was the look in his amber eyes that stopped InuYasha cold. The cockiness had drained and in its place was something horrific. He was a sentient being wracked with pain that seemed fathomless; it was like staring into a void of nothingness. Closing his eyes slowly, Kagejiro sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world was pushing the breath from his lungs. “I'm sorry.”

 

InuYasha tilted his head, unable to find words at that moment. Seeing his brother seem so…mortal…was mind blowing. Though he had known him, in physical definition, for a little under twelve hours, this seemed so wrong. Maybe this was why he always drank; he had demons he couldn't hold at bay within him.

 

“I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that Dad has become this creature that is only concerned with himself; this tyrant that you have to live in the shadow of. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save you and your mom, or my mother for that matter. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to give you the proper advice that an older brother should be able to bestow, and I'm sorry that Sesshoumaru ended up being just like that shit brick.” Silence ensued for a moment before Kagejiro slowly let his neck tilt back. “I'm sure you've heard…stories…of why I don't speak with the family anymore. I want to know…I want to know what kind of monster they told you I was.”

 

“The kind that killed children,” InuYasha replied evenly, though he knew that wasn't the case at all.

 

With a dry, bitter laugh, Kagejiro shook his head. “That's the furthest from the truth.” Closing his eyes, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Do you have time?”

 

“Of course, it's the least I can do.”

 

With a rigid sigh, Kagejiro was suddenly on his feet. “No, forget it,” he said sharply, “it won't do any good. Besides,” he smirked, the broken man hiding once again behind the well placed façade, “this was a brotherly intervention for you, not for me. Go get your girl, lad, and fuck dad once and for all.”

 

Before Kagejiro could make it to the door, his planned method of escape, InuYasha asked loudly, “Did you kill Taizo?”

 

It was as if his misery was infectious; InuYasha could feel it seeping through his body as his brother turned slowly.

 

Kagejiro stalked back across the living room and was a foot from InuYasha in a moment. The hatred that laid in his eyes was reserved for one man alone, and InuYasha could taste the need for vengeance. The anger lasted but a second before it drained from Kagejiro, and with it, his strength. “I never laid a hand on that boy, but I may have well swung the sword. Did I kill him, no…did I get him killed; yes.” Sinking into the couch, it was his turn to burry his head in his hands. “I was young and I though I could control the world. That was what Dad taught me,” he replayed, as if reliving the memory. Lifting his head to face his brother, InuYasha was amazed at the age displayed on his brother's face. He looked like a man who had weathered four centuries.

 

“The year was 1636, three years earlier the Shogunate had banned, by penalty of death, all travel into and out of the country, with exceptions to the Dutch Indian Trade Company coming out of Nagasaki. There were uprisings all over the country side, and Tokugawa claimed it was from Christian influence. Father knew it was that ass hat of a self-crowned dictator attempting to deal with the demon population. Though the Taisho and the Tokugawa clans were at `peace', Da' didn't trust him. He started training his army to be stronger and more perceptive to the thought of a raid. He enlisted me into his ranks, for in Da's opinion, everyone serves their master. I'm sure it had to do with me being his son, but I like to contribute it to the fact that I was a better fighter than any of the sods, but I was quickly upgraded into a command position in Da's little `black-ops' army.

 

“In 1639, we got wind of a training camp not far from the Taisho boarders of a group of militants intent on taking over Dad's thrown and killing us all. He sent out the special team to dispose of them.” Placing his head into his hands, he spoke clearly and with pain that InuYasha could not understand. “When we arrived, and immediately fell into battle, I was at a stop loss. It wasn't a camp at all but a temple recently built by Suzuki Shosan. The children, not even young men, who were there, were studying Buddhism.” Shaking his head, he dug his fists into his hair.

 

There was a feeling building in InuYasha's stomach very quickly; one that warned him that he didn't want to hear this story. This was the truth, he could tell it through the pain he felt radiating from Kagejiro. This was what his father never wanted him to learn, or wanted him to know. He had asked his father a million times growing up what it was like centuries back and his father would merely frown and dismiss him like the child he was. This was why.

 

“They never stood a chance,” `Jiro spoke suddenly; “the army started cutting them down instantly. Children, InuYasha, no older than thirteen, unarmed and terrified. I was so thunderstruck that I couldn't move. One of my men, and I say my men hesitantly because I was not the one in full command of the group, cornered a young child in front of me. The boy must have been about eight years old. He asked the child if he was ready to serve the God he worshiped. The child said yes, through a slew of tears. Leveling his sword, the guards told him that they only way to serve God was to be in his presence, and he would send the boy there. Before he could swing, I moved. I grabbed the blade,” Kagejiro looked to his right hand where, when glancing over, InuYasha took note of the dark red scar that marred the inside of his palm. “Holding the metal, I stabbed my own guard through the throat with the hilt of his sword. When he collapsed, I found myself surrounded by my father's men. I had saved one of the fifty two children.

 

“The leader of the battalion, Gumiho, called me out. He demanded to know why I was protecting the enemy and what kind of treachery I was embarking on. Without pause, I told him that if anyone was to lay a hand on the boy next to me, I would destroy them. I made some long drawn out speech that I thought meant something to them. I told them that though we were demon, we possessed a heart and a conscience that told us killing children was wrong. They were not warriors, not a single one lifted a hand to try to harm us; there was no fight here, only shame and dishonor. No one listened; their eyes were set solely on killing the child I saved. It was like attempting to ration a slice of meat with a ravenous tiger. I argued with Gumiho that father was wrong, and his information was tainted, but he told me the truth. Father knew what this was, what was happening, and he wanted to see it destroyed. He spoke suddenly about religion being just as dangerous as any warrior, and anyone who questioned my father deserved death.

 

“I cast down my sword and told him that I would stand against my father. That I believed killing children was wrong, and the only enemy of my father was my father himself. If he was going to ostracize all of Japan, he would fall. As my sword left my hand, Guimho attacked. It was a long fight, one that none of the other men joined in on. They were too afraid to kill their Daimyo's son. Without a weapon, I defeated Guimho and left his body among the children he had slaughtered. I asked the other men to join me, to returned to my father and ask why he sent us here. The other leader of the group, a less brash man by the name of Takumaru, told the men to return home. When they were out of the vicinity, he told me that from now on, I was dead to my family. If I ventured near their land, he would kill me himself. He said it was for the good of the nation.” Exhaling slowly, Kagejiro shook his head. “I never understood how he could see it that way, until much later in life.

 

“I made my way to Nagasaki with the child I saved, intent on getting the fuck out of Japan. Religious persecution was at its all time high and they were now targeting demons. A decree was passed by the Inu no Taisho, that all demons should take safety in wearing a concealment charm. It was not a law yet, but it was a good suggestion. I ignored it, as I did anything that came from my father. I got the kid out of the country through friends we made in Nagasaki. I planned on getting to the mainland and moving along from there. I had no want to be in Japan any more. That was when they found me.

 

“It was a group of warriors, pieced together with demons, samurai and Ronin. They all had one goal in common; the destruction of anything corrupt. It was a time when political corruption was at its highest and with no end in sight and no one to keep the Daiymo in check, besides for the other dishonest warlords; this group felt the need to take power into their own hands. The anger I had towards my father for his disregard for human life led me through their ranks. Keeping my true identity a secret was little trouble, for if they learned I was the son of a daimyo, it could have spelt out disastrous. I had no problem ransacking palaces and mansions of those who fed off the poor. A robin hood, if you would; except we killed the bastards and everyone associated with them before letting the town loose inside of the confines to raid and take what they wanted.

 

“Fifteen years passed and with it, many leaders. Eventually I started an offspring of the main army. We were a task force, not much unlike the one I had been on with my father's team, and called ourselves The Gaiden. I trained each of them, and they became my family. We were twenty strong and no one dared to intervene with our plans. We were infallible.”

 

Looking down, InuYasha could see this was the climax of the story; this was where everything fell to pieces. Grabbing the abandoned cup of coffee that Miroku left, InuYasha took a sip and leaned in to his brother. This was the stuff they made movies out of, not the life people led. But listening to his brother's recanting, he could just about visualize his brother, three hundred years earlier, standing on a grassy hill in the lush countryside of feudal Japan, training with men of equal strength and agility. The powerful Kagejiro that he had been led to fear stood out amongst all of the warriors, anger and hatred in his amber eyes.

 

“Even the holy, InuYasha, get corrupted. The leaders of the group soon sought out to much power for their own good. They no longer wanted to fix corruption, they wanted to control it. It wasn't the want for money or fancy living; it was the need for power.

 

“The elders of the group decided on their next target in 1654. They wanted to take down Toga Taisho and acquire the Inu-no-Taisho title for themselves. Ruling the demon class would give them the power they wanted, no, that they craved to fix Japan and then rule it with an iron fist. They became no better than the Shogunate and the Gaiden realized this.

 

“When I learned of their next target, I knew I had to warn my family. Though I didn't care for my father, he deserved the right to know. And mom…she didn't deserve any of this. Without informing our superiors or explaining myself to the team, we left in the middle of night. We snuck around the back of mountain that surrounded Dad's castle while the army marched on to meet his. The war began as I searched for the back entrance to the castle. Though father was ready for the attack, he was not ready for the mass number of our army.

 

“My men thought I was leading them into the castle through secret to launch a surprise attack. When I found the secret door, and we entered the chambers below, I explained to them that no one was to be hurt. I was looking for the queen and that was all. If any of them killed a living soul, they would face me in death. We broke up to search the castle more efficiently. Eight of my best accompanied me, rendering any guard who came at us unconscious. As we ran, I explained myself to them. Surprisingly, they understood and some even knew the truth already.”

 

Pausing, Kagejiro grabbed his cup of water and drank from it like a dying man. InuYasha was shocked to see the tremor in his hand as he attempted to finish the story.

 

“I found mother in her bedroom, sitting in front of her mirror like it was another sunny day. The only light in the room was the fire from the battle fields. When she saw me, she thought I was sent from heaven to save her. To save her. What does that tell you about my father and her life? It explains why she drinks all the time now.” With a grunt, he shook his head, “It took a while for me to convince her that I was still alive, and I recanted my exploits very quickly, as I tried to usher her from the house. It was then that she told me that there was another child, Tazio. She begged me to save the baby, and that he was all she had left. I sent her with my men and ran through the castle to the room that was once mine. Inside, I found…them.” There was a twitch to his hand now, and InuYasha was not sure if it was nerves, or him reliving the memory and searching for the hilt to his sword.

 

“I knew the baby was dead before I stepped into the room. The look Alucard gave me was enough to confirm it. Lazarus, one of our newest and more deadly recruits, stood by the crib, cleaning his knife. `The heir of the throne is dead. We will stake his head, along with his families, for the world to see. We should display them for all to fear us'. Alucard saw my expression and took a few steps into the corner of the room. He muttered that he had been too late to stop him.

 

“`Are you going to put my head on your stake as well,' I asked him bitterly, watching the blood pool on the floor beneath the crib.

 

“`Of course not, my glorious leader, you brought us here to our deserved victory. We will feast over the Taisho's carcasses.'”

 

“`Then you have one in front of you to kill,' I replied. Before anyone could blink, I grabbed Lazarus by his shoulders and head butted him and threw him through the window. The two hundred foot drop may not have killed him, but being impaled on the spiked rocks below, and becoming food for the roving animals, did. I couldn't bring myself to look into the crib at the baby's headless body, and before I really could see anything besides of red, I found Alucard guiding me out of the burning castle.

 

“Switching onto auto pilot, I navigated behind the scenes once more, avoiding the battle field where our troops were being slaughtered; I reached Father's base camp. Taking my mother on my arm, I explained to her before we reached Toga that Taizo was dead and it was my fault. She tried to proclaim my innocence, that an angel would never take the life of a child. I told her I was a demon by birth and would be a fiend in hell as well. I walked her to the guards, who were stunned into submission. I knew them both from my days in the army and seeing me, they must have thought themselves dead as well. When we reached my father, we learned that they had pushed back the invaders and reclaimed the burning castle. He had though mom and Taizo were both dead. He was only half wrong. When he saw Launia and myself, he fell to one knee. It is the only time in history,” pausing, Kagejiro looked up to the ceiling, his voice cracking once, like the walls of his impenetrable fortress.

 

“It is the only time I have ever seen him shed a tear. He grasped onto his wife and held her close. Emotions I never thought him capable of burst from his eyes. He then turned on me.. Standing, he waited for me to address him like a solider, not a estranged son. I refused to bow, salute or whatever the hell kind of groveling he wanted.

 

“'You're still alive,' he spoke with no emotion and dead eyes, like he already knew the truth. I guess seeing Ma without the child answered his questions.

 

“'I am, and so is your wife,' I replied just as monotone.

 

“Where is my son?' and it was then that I realized I truly was dead to him. I was only a solider of the enemy in his eyes. He had known the truth of the attack all those years ago and had chosen to exile me as his heir.

 

“'He was lost,' I replied as evenly as I could. I saw the rage, anger and then pain wash over his face as he gazed down at me. `I was too late,' I added before looking to the ground. As strong as I was, I could not help the guilt that tore through my gut then, as it still does now.

 

“'why did you come back,' he asked me.

 

“'Because I knew what they were planning and I could not sit by and let them destroy my family.' Was my honest reply.

 

“'You have no family here,' Da' replied, `you gave that up when you killed two of my men and fled like a coward. Did you bring this army to my land? Is this your doing?'

 

“'They came to stop a tyrant. I came to save my mother.'”

 

“'Admit it, you came to see us destroyed so you could take what is no longer rightfully yours. That is why you killed the child.'”

 

Pausing for a moment, Kagejiro recollected himself, his fingers absently tracing the scar on the right side of his face. “I remember hearing mom screaming at him over the sound of metal scratching along the inside of its sheath. `His death is my responsibility,' I replied, for it was the truth.

 

“'Did you kill him yourself?'”

 

“'I may as well have. I brought my men into the castle to save them, but you cannot always control what you wish to.'

 

“And then I felt pain; lots of pain. I don't think in all fifty-seven gun shot wounds, five hundred and thirty two stab wounds and two hangings have I ever felt that much pain. I don't know if he was trying to kill me, or trying to maim me, but whichever it was, he succeeded at both. Knowing that I was dead to my family and had once again been the cause of death to an innocent child, I couldn't take it. I wished for death in the moments of the fatal blow, but instead of death, father chose another fate. Carving open the side of my head,” he pointed to the scar on his face, “father warned me to never come near the family again. On punishment of death, he barred me from ever seeing my mother. He truly feared that I wanted the thrown and would overthrow anyone to get it.

 

“I remember hearing her screaming and crying, cursing my father for taking away all of her children in his mindless wars. Someone put a bottle to her mouth and she was quiet a minute later. Two of his men threw me out of the camp, and those that were supposed to drag me into the forest, probably to kill me, suddenly disappeared. Alucard, Brahm and Gojyo were there, three of my top men in The Gaiden, and they brought me to safety.”

 

He stopped talking and after a moment, InuYasha wondered if he was done. Lifting his eyes to his brother, he was shocked to find actual tears on the demon's cheeks. Opening his mouth and shutting it again, InuYasha couldn't find the right words for anything. His father had murdered children for the sake of power and turned on his own son. Was this the father he had grown to know? Was this the man that had raised him? For so many years InuYasha had wondered just how his father could leave him and his mother desolate on the side of the road; now he understood. His father had one person that mattered to him in life; himself.

 

Suddenly an uncontrollable rage gripped at InuYasha's heart and clenched. He was able to take his father loving and leaving his mother, casting her into an early grave because he was unaware of her feelings for him. But to believe that his father could not care for another person at all…to know that he had knocked her up with a half bred child and left her without a worry in the world…

 

“That mother fuckin' son of a bitch!” InuYasha spewed out angrily. “All these years of letting Launia drink herself silly, of letting my mother drink herself to death…it was all just because it was easier than facing a problem, wasn't it?”

 

Kagejiro glanced up from his moment of despair. Seeing the sudden anger on his brother's face brought him back to reality. Standing up, he took two strides and knelt down in front of InuYasha. “Yes, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it, besides for live for yourself. He wants you to serve him, just as I was supposed, just as Sesshoumaru does. He wants drones to obey him, to do his will…when you can break away from that, cast your gauntlet and demand that you have had enough. That will be the revenge that you are thirsting for. You cannot hurt him, InuYasha, it is physically impossible. Many have tried, all have failed. To tear a part of him off, for revenge for your mother and you life, is to simply walk away. If you want to get at him, that's the way to do it.”

 

Meeting InuYasha's gaze, he held it. “I'm sorry, InuYasha, because I was not able to be here for you. I made my decisions in life; I took the path that I needed to. When I learned of your mother's death, I…”

 

InuYasha shook his head and stood up. Brushing by his brother, he stormed for the front door, cutting off anything more Kagejiro wanted to say. “I need some time.”

 

Kagejiro stood slowly, his eyes focused solely on his brother. “Take your time, InuYasha, but think about all of this. I want you to have your life; I want you to understand why I told you this. I don't want you to make my mistakes; I don't want you to think that Dad is an innocent party in any of this. He has his plans, and God help the poor bastard who stands in his way. If you are going to walk away, just do it.”

 

“Tell Miroku I'll be back later,” he muttered as he grabbed his coat. Slipping into his flip flops by the door, he slammed the door shut behind him.

 

Slowly Kagejiro sat back on the couch, his head resting back against the head rest staring up at the ceiling. After a moment, he stood and stared down to the floor. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he wanted to hit something. He hadn't told InuYasha the story to turn him against his father; he had wanted the boy to know what his father truly was and what he was willing to give up his happiness for. He also wanted to explain why he was never able to be a part of his life. When he had learned about InuYasha's existence, he knew the controversy it would create in the family. He had returned home, for the funeral, with all intent on taking InuYasha back overseas with him. It was bad enough that Sesshoumaru's soul belonged to their father. He was not going to allow that to happen to InuYasha. But he was too late. His father cornered him at the funeral, demanded for `Jiro to leave immediately and never return; he even went as far as to remind Kagejiro of the three hundred year old bounty he had on his head. `Jiro had left without saying goodbye to either of the boys.

 

Now, as he stood rummaging through the kitchen counters, desperately needing a bottle of Jack to drown his memories once again, he wondered if maybe he wasn't too late to save both Taisho boys.

 

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

 

Sorry that this took forever to get out, I hardly have the time with the holiday season becoming a full swing operation, I'm always working. I will endeavor to get another chapter out before the end of the month, one that will begin the summation of the story. Three years is WAY to long to be writing this story and I want to see a proper ending soon. There are a lot of plots to begin stitching closed, and I know where to begin.

 

R&R

Ninjagurl512: Thank you, I figure this chapter would be a bit easier on the heart before getting into more shit. Thanks!!!

 

Drakey: Jakotsu is piecing it all together. Miroku was his give away. As for him switching back and forth, don't worry…that won't be an option soon.

 

Malitiadixie: LOL, I love `Jiro's character, he's so much fun to write. If I could do a spin off of him and his adventures, it would be amazing. But sadly, I don't think it would have much of a following and I really need to get my original stuff done. LOL. LMAO about meddlers anonymous. That's to good!!! Thank you!

 

Thisismesmiling: YESH!!! Someone else who knows the InuYasha Parodies! That's great. I agree, but that's why he acted; he doesn't want to see Kagome be hurt all over again. He knows he waited to long last time, he just picked a shitty time to intervene. I know, a likeable Kikyo, it's scary. Don't worry, that won't stick for long…or will it? Thanks!!!.

 

Thesims1231: Thank you!!!

 

Kagome313: Thank you, I think Jiro's pretty sexy myself. LMAO!!!! Yes, Sesshoumaru has been so tainted by his father that he is partial to that mind frame. Don't' worry, Sesshiles has some growing up to do. Miroku is my comic relief that I can only use in moderation (that God I have a live source for him that I just keep getting material from). Thanks for reading, I'm glad you are enjoying Jiro.

 

Tamara: Unfortunately Kikyo was only a small part to the problem of being together. There are a few larger pieces that will come unhinged as we move along. As for Jakotsu, he thought he was doing the right thing by saving her from another possible Bankotsu. When you think you are right, it can cloud your judgment. Thank you!!!!

 

Crazykiss; Thanks!!!

 

Sovereignty: I'm going to gather that these were the parts of the chapter you liked the most? That was a fun chapter, and my boy helped a lot with Jiro's lines. I know, media miner review sections can be the pits. Thanks!!! I'm glad you enjoyed!!

 

Langus: I'm glad that someone enjoyed the history in that one. That means that you'll probably enjoy the shit out of this chapter. I spent a LOT of time gathering historical information for Jiro's characters life. Yes, Kagome does deserve a happy ending, I can't agree more. Thank you so much for the review, I always love hearing from you!!! I agree that Sesshoumaru is a brooder, just wait until him and Jiro have to have it out.

 

Blackr0s3: LOL, sorry for the wait. Hope this one is as good.

 

Hamsterbatallioncommander: see, I'm more of a sub myself, and knowing the dom in InuYasha, it needs to be exerted every now and then. Yes, I can go dark places easily, and I agree, it can get creepy. But hey…that's what makes it interesting, ne?

 

Darksaintofchaos: the fun of that scene was pushing of the limits. It was pivotal, as it will be seen later, to have him with that control, and the merge of the two personalities. If he hadn't…well…you'll see. I agree in most ways; Jakotsu did what he felt was right. And yes, InuYasha and Kagome need to get their shit together, it's just going to take some time.

 

Oyuki: because if they just ran away to vegas, what would be the point of the story? LMAO. It would be an easy fix; just like if forest Gump had a cell phone in the movie, it would have been a half hour long movie. Oh, you haven't seen half of the way Kagome's family treats her. Just wait for daddy an appearance.

Mistresskagome4u: wow…my writing is like crack. I love that line. It makes me smile. I'm glad that someone is addicted. LOL. Man, I'll tell you; I just finished the Twilight series (that's another hold up, but that was only a two week block) and THAT was like crack for me. I couldn't put it down at all. If you haven't, I would highly suggest for you to go and read that as soon as you can. Thanks! Sorry that you had to explain this. I wish I had more time to go through the chapters, but maybe with more of the fluff and direction out of the way, I can get right to it, ya know? Yeah, I know, it's been forever that I've been writing this one. But you followed me through COTD also, didn't you? Wow…then we're going on five years. LMAO. That is a crap load of a long time. Yeah, I know about the Nazi's…but I thought the event was from WWII, not I and then I figured it out and I guess that's one slip I forgot. Thank you though, that will be fixed.

 

Leilachan: it is, isn't it? LMAO, I was waiting for someone to realize that. It's all valid points, and there is no right to anyone in this. I think that's a major point. LOL. Yeah, Sesshoumaru was still outside, but that was a convo for another day.

 

Peechkeen14: Jak did what he thought was right. He thought he would be protecting Kagome, even if it meant hurting her at first. In the end, he saw it to her benefit. As for Sesshoumaru, yes, he deserves shit. Thank you !!!!

 

Zeveran: ding, ding ding! Good call. No, Onigumo is Naraku's cousin. He is a senior member of Tek. If your right? Well… you know.

 

Lonely_girl: yeah, I noticed the lyrics when I went back for a re-read. Thank you though, I will have to go back and change that. Thanks!!

 

Blaccwolf123: that they are. LOL. Very true. Jiro is going to be a lot of things that people probably aren't ready for.

 

Inuyasha baby bre: Bankotsu will get his by the end, don't worry. I'm glad you like Jiro, he's fun.

 

Beckyducky: LOL, it's not a problem, don't worry. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 

Eriste: sorry for the delay! Life and all. But here we go!!

 

Silveraloria: all of it will come out with time. No worries.

 

Sovereignty: Thanks!!! I'm glad someone else does as well.