InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Grenade ❯ Sanctuary ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter Three
Sanctuary



“You do heal quickly.” Ichigo commented quietly as he cleaned out the already mostly healed wound on Inuyasha's shoulder. “I still feel better doing this though, it would be my fault if that wound got infected.”

“I've had worse,” The white haired hanyou replied. “Fast healing is one of the benefits to being what I am, they're not many, so I take what I can get.”

“Seems like there are plenty of benefits, you can see spiritual beings, and are far stronger and faster than a human. Sounds like a good deal to me.” Ichigo commented, cleaning up the mess he had left with the supplies, his father didn't mind Ichigo doing the occasional patch job for a friend but hated coming in and finding his orderly clinic a disaster area.

“I suppose it does sound that way, but you have only seen one side of this problem. I am a half breed. Humans fear me and demons look down on me. Hell my own brother has tried to kill me ever since I was a child.” Inuyasha had gotten used to modern humans' immediate assumption that being a hanyou was a great thing, Kagome had thought so too. Being a hanyou had kept him alive, that much Inuyasha knew, but the cost of that strength was almost more than he was willing to pay. Now though he had another chance to bridge the gap between his two worlds. Maybe in this time and place things would be different.

“Your brother would do such a thing?” Ichigo was horrified at the thought, barely restraining himself from running and checking up on his sleeping sisters. He could never imagine letting anything hurt them, and it sickened him to think of ever hurting them himself.

Inuyasha laughed harshly, “Sesshomaru is a full blooded demon, he has no desire to let the half-breed spawn of our father survive. I am a stain on the family blood line that he wants to wipe clean. I give as good as I get though, I took his arm the first time I fought him with Tetsusaiga. The loathing between us is entirely mutual.”

“I have two little sisters, nothing could ever make me hurt them. I'm not sure I can ever understand the desire to hurt family members. I realize I don't know anything about your situation, but it seems so wrong to me.” Ichigo admitted, not sure saying anything was a good idea so soon after meeting this unknown entity, but unable to keep quiet.

Another harsh laugh, “I hope you never understand it. Suffice it to say there are very dark things in my past involving my brother and it is for the best that those memories stay in the past.”

Ichigo nodded as he finished putting the supplies away. “I know some memories are better left alone, I will give you your privacy. Do you have some where to stay tonight? I don't know how long you have been in town for.”

“I don't have anywhere yet. I arrived this evening and was attacked by that thing before I could find a place to stay.” Inuyasha admitted, glad to be leaving the subject of Sesshomaru behind.

“You can stay here, at least for the night. My family should be used to different people showing up at odd hours. Its been happening more frequently lately.” Ichigo offered on impulse, after all Toushiro had asked him to keep an eye on Inuyasha, and the hanyou himself admitted he was dangerous until he got whatever he needed from the Vizards. As far as how Ichigo rationalized letting Inuyasha stay near his family he wasn't really sure to be honest, but he hoped he wouldn't end up regretting the decision later.

Inuyasha seemed to think on the offer for a little while, not jumping into anything too quickly, unknowingly raising Ichigo's confidence in him. The teenage vizard would have been more concerned had Inuyasha immediately jumped at the opportunity. Threats didn't usually take the time to look a gift horse in the mouth.  “Alright, I will stay for the night. After that I will try to find something for myself. I can earn my keep.” Inuyasha finally decided.

“Follow me,” Ichigo ordered, leading Inuyasha out of the clinic side of his home and into their living quarters. Glad Rukia was now staying with his sister and not in his closet like the first time they had shared his home together he was able to take Inuyasha into his room without being hounded by questions. Pulling his spare sleeping mat out of his closet, plus a blanket and pillow from the time Rukia stayed there, he quickly made a place for Inuyasha to sleep on his bedroom floor. “There isn't a whole lot of room here I apologize, but it will be more comfortable than sleeping outside or wondering around all night looking for an open hotel.”

“I've slept outside for a large part of my life, it wouldn't be that odd to me, but it might draw attention and I don't want that. Thank you.” Inuyasha was not into overly flamboyant thank yous, but he knew when to show a little appreciation, Ichigo was trusting him around his pack. That was something Inuyasha had a lot of experience with.

Ichigo nodded his acceptance of the thank you, before going over to the bed, and roughly shaking the sleeping Kon awake. Inuyasha watched with shock as what looked, and smelled, like Ichigo's twin was awoken and forced to relinquish a small green pill of some sort. The now empty body was on its way to becoming a boneless heap on the ground when Ichigo stepped into it, fading into the shell of a human until there was only one Ichigo standing in front of Inuyasha, now dressed in night clothes with no sword in sight.

“What just happened?” Inuyasha asked with a growl and a hand on Tetsusaiga, unsure just what he had gotten himself into.

“The form you met tonight was my Shinigami soul, a state where I have only a spiritual presence not a physical one. I can still move and touch things, like those healing supplies, but a human without spiritual pressure of their own would not be able to see me. Because I am still alive, I have to remove my soul from my body each time I am needed to preform my duties as a Soul Reaper. The little candy you saw me take out of the body is the container for a modified soul that animates my body when I have to leave it or people would think I was in a coma or dead. The mod soul's name is Kon, and when he is not in my body I normally keep him in a stuffed toy lion so he can interact with us, but I think for tonight it would be best to keep him like this until I get the chance to tell the others that you are here.” Ichigo did his best to condense the story down, but wasn't sure how much of that Inuyasha would be able to follow.

Inuyasha slowly lowered his hackles, he understood most of what Ichigo said, but was having a hard time getting used to the surprises this night was bringing at every turn. “Is there anything else I should know before the morning? There is a lot more happening here than I was warned about.”

“There is another Soul Reaper staying here, besides the team members scattered around the city, her name is Rukia and she is probably going to have questions for you. She knows more about Soul Reapers than I do anyway as it was her that got me into this mess in the first place. I don't know what the Academy may have taught her about hanyou, but since Toushiro didn't know what you were it might be possible for you to pass as human if you don't want to draw too much attention to yourself.” Ichigo figured it was polite to warn Inuyasha about Rukia, that woman could be like a blood hound when it came to finding out something she wanted to know.

“I have passed as a human for the last three years, I can do it again.” Inuyasha decided, feeling his Youkai grumble at having to cover up his heritage again. It hadn't been easy to convince him to do it in the first place, and traveling in his true form had only made the desire to show himself for what he was all the stronger.

“We had better think about getting some sleep, my family usually wakes up fairly early, and there is no sleeping in with my father awake.” Ichigo warned with a tone of loving exasperation in his voice when he told about Isshin.

Not having slept in more than 24 hours, plus the fight an the wound, Inuyasha was more than ready for sleep. So without protest he carefully unhooked Tetsusaiga, leaving it within easy reach as he slipped under the blanket Ichigo had laid out for him. He heard the rustle of bedclothes as Ichigo slipped into the bed near him, not having to turn out any lights because they had been using the moonlight streaming through the window to see by.

Ichigo's last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were musings on what tomorrow would bring.
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