InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Falling ❯ Chapter 3

Weeks later, Kikoru finally returned to her travels, much more informed than when she'd set out. She had tried to leave the day she'd arrived but for Rin's insisting upon Kikoru teaching her to fight. Agreeing to teach Rin led to finding out she had an uncle. And the reason she didn't stay longer? She had finally found the end of her quest.

 

The day of her arrival had been a rather hectic one. Rin had frolicked onto the scene, too busy looking for wildflowers to even realize she was there. Jaken was a bit more observant, and shot a fireball at her before Kikoru could wave the prodigal white flag. She pounced on him in fury, and had him trussed up tighter than a blowfly in a spider's web before he could say “uncle”. The irony of the situation? A rather large, silver-haired demon picked her up as if she were a feather and glared into one eye.

 

“Who are you to accost this Sesshoumaru's manservant?” he demanded, aristocratic voice irking his captive to no end. Rin was untying the unfortunate sidekick as he spoke.

 

“Am I right to assume you're the Lord of the West?” Kikoru demanded right back. He didn't answer, so she went on. “You wouldn't by chance know the identity of Kikyou's lover, would you?”

 

And that's when he dropped her in shock.

 

“Uncle?” Kikoru had queried a few weeks after their meeting. She wasn't sure if he had recognized her by sight, smell, or name, but she was bound and determined to find out.

 

“Yes? What is it?” His amber eyes had pierced her grey ones, his silver hair falling gracefully down his back.

 

“Who are you in relation to my parents?” She had related what she knew of her birth when she'd first arrived.

 

Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, gazing off into the distance. “I was…I knew your mother by reputation,” he said finally. “She was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama and I a full-blooded demon, so we didn't `mingle' often.” Sesshoumaru tended to lose his formality after a while. And just when she was getting used to it, too!

 

“That makes you my father's brother then?” It wasn't quite a question, though the almost-tangible hope made it so. “Can you tell me who he is?”

 

“I should think you would know, living next to him all your life.”

 

“What in the seven hells are you talking about?” she demanded, a slight tremor to her voice now that the answer was so close.

 

“Exactly what I said.”

 

“You're just saying that to spite me,” she hissed, angry he hadn't just said it outright.

 

“Why would this Sesshoumaru spite you?”

 

Kikoru let free an exasperated sigh. “I give up! What is it with you people? You know! Kaede knows! Anyone who knew him would know I am his daughter! I've waited fifty years, Sesshoumaru! Granted, seventeen of those years were the only lucid ones, but still! Why won't anyone give me a gods-forsaken straight answer?!”

 

Sesshoumaru looked over at his ward, not deigning to answer his niece outright. “Rin, who does she look like? The one whom I loathe?”

 

Rin giggled, infuriating Kikoru even more. “Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama! He's with Kagome-chan! I think his name was…was…Oh! InuYasha! That's it!” She giggled again. “Yep! InuYasha!” All the pent-up anger and betrayal inside her flooded out instantly. She finally knew his name. How could she have been so stupid? Kikoru hardly paused to pick up her satchel before she bolted for home.

 

~*~

 

Running, running, running; past houses, people, farms, forests, plains, bushes, youkai. On and on she ran, not even stopping for food or water. She arrived at her village a day later, exhausted, and pounded on Kaede's door incessantly. “Aunt Kaede! Open up!” Kikoru half-whispered, completely drained.

 

The old woman came to the door, unfazed. “Good. You're home. Come in.”

 

Kikoru flopped into an extra chair and glared at Kaede in the firelight. “How could you?” she asked indignantly, voice barely above the `whispering wind' decibel.

 

“How could I what?” the woman asked, genuinely bewildered.

 

“Seventeen years, and you never told me?! How could you?! He was right there!” She wouldn't allow herself to cry. Kaede wasn't worth that, no matter what secrets she'd kept.

 

“I am truly sorry,” Kaede whispered, understanding now what she was hysterical about and wondering idly who had finally gotten up the gumption to tell her.

 

“Truly sorry?! If you were `truly sorry', you would have told me ages ago! You wouldn't have let me go off and waste all these years of my life when he was right there!!!” Lacking the energy to remain perched in the chair, she collapsed on the floor, curling her arms around her knees as tears fell silently onto her arms. Well damn, there went that resolution. “How could you…?”

 

“If you had known, you would have interfered with the delicate balance of events. There would be no point in her coming if you had tried to wake him; you would have succeeded.” Kaede hated having to explain the fates to youngsters - they believed too much in their own will, and not enough in those of the gods.

 

“Who? Who is `she'?” she asked, her voice muffled by the shadow wolf pelt encasing her torso.

 

“I shan't tell you just now. They should return soon anyway--” There were shouts outside “--Ah! Here they are.” Kaede rose and went to the window, and Kikoru followed, drying her eyes.

 

“InuYasha! How many times have I told you to use my name?” The girl was livid, eyes filling up with angry tears, even at this distance. “Especially when your terrible attempts at groveling go awry! Right after I save your ungrateful ass, you not only insult my person but go running off to that dead-bitch priestess of yours!”

 

“I wasn't chasing her, wench! I was following her to see if she'd found any shards!” InuYasha attempted an indignant snarl, but fell somewhat short of the mark.

 

“Oh, yeah, of course! You just happened to be searching with your mouth and not your eyes!”

 

“I was not! And anyway, when did you start cursing, woman?” A triumphant glee crossed his face, thinking he'd pulled a fast one and changed the subject.

 

“The moment I met the bastard who wouldn't use my gods-forsaken name! Since you're so keen on Kikyou, why don't you just SIT and think on her?” InuYasha face-planted the dirt with a thud, and the human took off.

 

The girl ran toward Kaede's hut, never pausing, never looking back, even when InuYasha was filling his hole with curses. “Kaede-san!” The girl burst through the door, much the same way Kikoru had done earlier. She slammed the door behind her, falling to her knees. Her wavy black hair fell around her face, sticking to the tear tracks. “Kaede-san, forgive me for being so stupid!” She buried her face in her hands.

 

Kikoru immediately went to her side, feeling a strong connection to the girl. “Hush…” she crooned, pulling the girl against her. “Shh…that's it. What's wrong?” Kikoru asked, pulling strands of hair away from her face. She looked very familiar…

 

“That bastard InuYasha. He doesn't want me to go home…Who are you?” she asked, looking up with tear-filled eyes. She looked no more than fifteen. Anything to get off the subject of her tormentor.

 

“I am Kikoru, Kaede's ward.” She preened a bit.

 

“Oh. Kaede-san, I didn't know you had a ward! Oh - Excuse my manners, Kikoru. I'm Higurashi Kagome.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Kagome. Kaede, InuYasha's eating dirt wouldn't be from your interference, would it? I know you so hate to interfere.” Kikoru shot her aunt a dark look with the barb, noting the wicked gleam in the old woman's eye. `Speak of the devil, here he comes now.' “What's the key word?”

 

“Oh, it probably won't work for you,” Kaede's raised eyebrows went unnoticed, “but it's `sit'.” There was a *thud* outside, a mere three feet from the door. A sixteen-foot-deep hole now decorated the path.

 

Three figures and a cat jumped over it before entering, locking the door behind them. “Kagome-chan, don't worry. He'll pull the stick out of his ass someday soon. I hope.” Another girl about Kikoru's age walked into a strand of fading sunlight, blocking her face from view momentarily. “Hello!” she greeted the hanyou kneeling next to her friend. “I heard Kaede-san got a new ward. Stand up, so I can see you better!”

 

Kikoru complied, shock decorating her features. “Sister? You - You've grown taller!”

 

“And you haven't, it seems. What are you now, Koru-chan?” Sango asked, hugging her tightly.

 

“Still 5 foot even. Jeez, Sango, you don't need to lord it over me! I could still grow!”

 

“I don't think so. You're as tall as you'll get,” the monk behind her said. “My lady Kikoru, I am Miroku. Would you bear my chi--”

 

Kikoru started at him, muttering a dark “No,” in the process. Sango slapped him across the face before Kikoru could, leaving a slightly purplish hand print.

 

“Jeez, Koru-chan. When'd the temper arise?” Shippou asked, attaching himself to one leg.

 

“In the last weeks since you left, Kit. You should've been born a chicken youkai. It would've suited your personality better.” She ruffled his hair. “Good to see you.”

 

“I agree completely,” said a deep voice from the doorway.

 

Kaede lit a lamp as the final rays of the sun left the sky, plunging the room into darkness for a moment. Gold-speckled grey orbs met amber in the twilit room. She had sat, but rose again, keeping her eyes on his.

 

“Who are you?” came the rude question from the owner of the amber eyes. “You smell…familiar.”

 

“Well duh!” Kaede coughed, and Kikoru growled a bit. “I played under the Goshinboku every day for eleven years.” The two grey lights gleamed, filling. “It's quite amazing you remember my scent at all.” She sniffed, desperately wanting to pelt his face with all he'd done wrong, just barely holding back.

 

“Who are you?” he asked, persisting. It wasn't just her scent that was familiar. Something about her face that he couldn't quite put a finger on…

 

She sighed, not really wanting to answer now that the confrontation had officially arrived. But someone beat her to it. “She is Kikoru, daughter of the Guardian and my only living relative.” Kaede had purposefully dealt him a low blow.

 

“Only…living…relative?” InuYasha's jaw dropped. “But that means…”

 

“Yes. She was my sister's only daughter.” Kaede smirked a bit.

 

“What?” all but Sango cried, looking a bit confused.

 

“I am Kikyou's daughter,” Kikoru reiterated. The dawning realization of those words sent everyone into silence, but no-one more so than InuYasha.