InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dogs in Tokyo ❯ Chapter 31 ( Chapter 31 )

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"Where else does a Daemon lord keep anything, Kagome?" Inuyasha looked quite smug. "The only question is: 'what were his intentions?'"

" How about it, Sesshoumaru? What was it; 'possession', 'prey', or 'mate'?"

Sesshoumaru scowled and fixed his gaze on the floor as he shouldered past Inuyasha. "What does it matter?" he muttered. "In this era, she shouldn't even be alive."

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Chapter 31

The feeling around the city and environs of Tokyo was decidedly up-beat on this clear morning. The crossing guards gave an extra snap to their batons as they pretended to conduct traffic. The pink-clad parking ticket ladies were out in force ticketing cars that had been left carelessly in (or moved to) inappropriate locations. The monsters were gone and the prime minister had been found asleep tucked onto a ledge deep in the sewer system and was now firmly advocating for a full clean-up of the city's sewers and for him going away for a little rest.

His quote on the subject; '"These things could have rats!"' took the town by storm and was being repeated throughout the city in reference to everything from office buildings to piles of visitor's shoes left at the entrance to a shrine.

One of those shrines where the quote was repeated was the Higurashi Sunset shrine. When the family returned from their sudden trip to Roppangi Hills they found a crowded scene of bustling activity. There were people stopping for prayers that hadn't stopped by the shrine in years and the forecourt was crowded with people rinsing their mouths at the dragon fountain and buying incense sticks. Two of the shrine members who had stopped for their daily devotions had ended up staying to cover for Higurashi-Jijii's inexplicable absence. The family's arrival in Sesshoumaru's sedate gray Bentley was greeted with cries of relief. It was just as well Jijii-Chan arrived dressed for work even if he was a little more rumpled and cranky than usual.

Souta was enthralled to find that the day had been declared off from school. However, he felt a bit cheated as he had promised faithfully not to reveal the events of the past night and he had to content himself with just listening to his friend's stories. He comforted himself with high expectations of future profit. He figured a bribe from such a person as Sesshoumaru would probably be worth it since he was thinking along the lines of a personal hovercraft.

Higurashi-San found Buyo in sole possession of the kitchen table and all of her work from the afternoon before crumpled and oddly water-stained. She sighed and stared at the ruined mess of wedding invitations, her mind going to the couple of family members still in Roppangi Hills.

:::0:::

Sesshoumaru had taken his opportunity to head down the hallway towards the bed rooms with Inuyasha right after him. The doors into the rest of the apartment were all open and everyone was looking at him.

"How about it, huh, Sesshoumaru? Wanna tell us what you were thinking? Did she have a choice in the matter?" Inuyasha's voice had an unreal quality as it echoed off of the walls and ceilings of the rooms that they passed. It was like some kind of sonic map of the apartment and all those listening heads. Heads that were shamelessly poking into the hallway from the side doors with both youkai and human ears aquiver with interest.

Goaded beyond endurance, Sesshoumaru spun around. "What do you think? Do you think you have any business regarding what I keep in my own home?"

After an instant of shocked looks from his audience the full weight of his own admission struck him. He stared at the hanyou in silence.

He didn't feel like he knew this stern young youkai at all well. Not only were the clothes on his back different but so was the expression. Previously, the whelp from his father's second marriage had always struck him with an obvious short-sightedness and a total lack of care for anything but his own personal honor. Now, the hanyou's eyes reflected a concern for him of all things. "Impudence…" was all he could say in response. 'impudence'.

Inuyasha held his brother's gaze steadily as he answered, "The child with you was weak and without a defender. But she was the one who chose to follow you and she kept her own identity. Now she is in your household, a living possession, and unable to speak for herself." Inuyasha hesitated for a moment before continuing. The older youkai's look was shuttered and as blank as an old wall with something hidden behind it.

When Inuyasha spoke again; it was carefully. "You never thought you were in the wrong before, Sesshoumaru: never concealed from yourself or me what you were doing regardless of what your minions said. Now you flinch away from the truth. Why is that?"

"Inuyasha, pardon me, but…Konnichiwa, Sesshoumaru." Kagome slid herself along the wall and insinuated herself between them, facing Sesshoumaru squarely but grabbing at Inuyasha's hand. She looked earnestly into the tall youkai's face, noting the traces of red in the irises and the faint deformity of the cheeks. "is Rin-Chan ready to see visitors?"

Sesshoumaru could not even answer that.

"May we go and see her? I know it is not easy…. But, I am your brother's wife, after all. From what I understand, all you need to do is invite us in."

The breath of seven breathing creatures was held. Sesshoumaru's own not the least. 'What am I going to say?' He wondered dreamily as he stood at bay in front of the door of his own bedroom. He wondered if any, in known history, had ever felt so cornered over something so small? Any youkai of his stature, at any rate; he could well imagine lesser individuals…

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes!" He snapped, coming to attention.

"Yes!" Kagome repeated, clapping her hands and turning around to beam at the others. "You see, Inuyasha, all you need to do is ask politely. Sesshoumaru is very reasonable. When can we see her Sesshoumaru?" she said, turning back to him.

Under the flood of words Sesshoumaru considered his options. He knew the human girl would not shut up and Jukuryo was standing in the doorway to his study with a sardonically expectant look on his face that mirrored Inuyasha's. He recalled having once announced to a different hanyou that he did not allow himself to be forced into anything. But, like all such absolute statements, there comes a time when it is disproved. With a mental shrug, Sesshoumaru gave himself up to the inevitable and cut across Kagome's line of chatter with an abrupt announcement; "It can only be in the company of Inuyasha that you can enter my domain, Miko. The others will have to wait for your report."

With a sense of reluctance that he did little to conceal he dragged his eyes from Kagome's limpid pools to the blankly astonished stare of his brother's eyes. "Will you enter, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha bit his lip then caught at Kagome's hand with a sharp nod. Sesshoumaru opened his bedroom door and stepped inside, followed by the other two, before he shut it again sharply behind them, locking it with a definite snap. He led the way across the sparsely decorated bedroom to a set of sliding glass doors that opened onto his private balcony and stepped through them.

Faint noises of the traffic below them filtered up but the view was carefully screened by plantings and only clear sky was visible. Sesshoumaru reached into the open neck of his shirt and drew out a small bag remarkably similar to the one around Inuyasha's own neck and reached a pair of claws into it. With a deft flick he tossed a shiny pebble down in front of him and grabbed Inuyasha's free hand in a death grip that made the hanyou wince as he was yanked forward, Kagome in tow.

:::00o00:::

The group left waiting in the hallway stood about staring at the locked bedroom door for a minute, but, whatever was going on inside, there was nothing to be heard. Jukuryo turned to the two humans and beckoned them into the study with him while Jaken settled down to wait outside of his master's door in solitude.

Jukuryo directed Ryosei and Houjou to seat themselves and took the chair behind the desk for his own use. He steepled his fingers and looked at the two humans over the tops of them, "I have thought about this for some hours now, and I think I have a way for us all to go home satisfied with the current situation without anything so very drastic needing to be done. Ryosei, please pour some tea for us all. You will find the kettle waiting over there."

Ryosei looked about herself and finally spotted one of the ubiquitous insulated carafes that are to be found in every Japanese home and office waiting on a small trolley by the door. Three cups sat next to it and she filled them and passed them around before re-seating herself. Jukuryo nodded his thanks and put several packets of sugar in his before commencing to speak.

"Youkai have a long and noble history in Japan which has become a matter legend in human society rather than fact. It is more comfortable to believe that the illustrations of daemons and demi-gods to be found on old Buddhist wall scrolls to be mere artistic representations of philosophical thought rather than reality. The monsters are seen by modern man as symbols of untamed nature and an attempt to explain away night fears. These days, many such things only see the light of day in the form of animated children's shows. And so it should be." The stirring spoon paused and Jukuryo used it to point at the pair across the desk from him. "Drink your tea now; it's getting cold."

Surprised, they both recollected themselves and took hearty swigs. The tea was bitter but neither of them made a move to get any sugar; Jukuryo was speaking again and slowly stirring the tea in his untasted cup as he spoke.

"I well remember how frightened I was of the first human I ever met," he chuckled reminiscently. "I may have been frightened but the human was terrified and dropped his pack and everything he was carrying to run in the other direction." Jukuryo paused for a moment and sighed. "He shouldn't have run like that; it did him no good, no good at all."

The pair across the desk stared at him owlishly and Jukuryo made an impatient gesture with the hand holding the spoon. "Fell off a cliff. Never mind all that; drink up. Now, where was I?" he mused as he watched the young man and woman empty their cups. "Oh, yes. It seemed to me in later years that not every human is cut out to know about youkai. You two, for instance, feel very threatened by the mere thought. You both would rather go to sleep and wake not knowing about all this. Houjou could well wake up and find he met a lovely young lady at the amusement park the other night and she has picked him up for a date. He will have accepted that Kagome is happy with her new husband and he wishes them well. And Ryosei works as my office assistant and has a somewhat shady past that she doesn't remember well and never thinks about. She is too happy in her job and she rather thinks she may pursue this new young man she met who would give her a pleasant steadiness in her life. We can get in my car, which should be arriving to pick us up about now and I'll wake you from your pleasant naps when we arrive at my office. Shall we go?"

Jukuryo stood and watched as the other two got out of their chairs with similar dazed expressions. He rather thought they would last nicely until he got them into his car and he gestured them out before him. He quietly took the tea carafe up as he followed them out of the apartment. No point in leaving that around. Not everybody wanted their memories tampered with.

:::0o0o0:::

Kagome stumbled a bit on some unevenness in the footing and fetched up against Inuyasha's back. They found themselves in a torch-lit courtyard before an ancient villa. Its wings swept forward surrounding the area with their deep verandas. Behind her she could just make out a Chinese moon gate that seemed to give onto nothing. Fir trees of a particularly old and twisted appearance were scattered about and the grass grew long with only a single worn path through it. It was darkest night and no stars were visible overhead. She watched as Inuyasha looked about him carefully but he offered no comment as Sesshoumaru led the way up the steps to the main entrance.

Kagome wondered at the dreary appearance of the place and followed slowly behind. Curls of mist wandered between the trees and she fancied she could make out the sounds of waves breaking against rocks in the distance. The sound was oddly muffled though, and made her think more of the noise of the ocean heard in seashells than actual waves. The torches burned with a clear flame that gave off no smoke and no heat that she could feel when she passed under them. She was obscurely relieved to note that their shadows on the floor were the usual ones.

Sesshoumaru was waiting for them in the main hall; a stylish and impassive presence that fit oddly well with his grim surroundings. His face continued to be remote and the only movement observable was the glitter of his golden eyes.

"She's in there." Sesshoumaru's abrupt speech startled Kagome and she jumped. Her elbow was in close contact with Inuyasha and she felt an equal involuntary flinch from him before he led her to a shoji screen depicting waves braking on a beach. Sesshoumaru did not stir from where he stood and did not follow them but studied the walls about him as if he had never seen them before.

Inuyasha looked back at his brother and concealed a sigh as he slid the screen open and stepped onto the thick tatami mats of the room. There was a wooden arras before them with hangings in heavily-embroidered silk which obscured the view of the rest of the room and the two made their way around it in silence.

Beyond it a pair of standing lamps cast their light on a figure lying on a futon under a thick quilt, dark hair fanned out over the white cotton of the cloth. Kagome gave a faint gasp and knelt down to peer into the figures face. So here, finally, was Rin.

Rin lay as if she were sleeping on her side; one hand tucked under a cheek and the other stretched out before her and slightly curved as if holding something. Or as if she had been holding hands with someone as she dropped off. If Kagome had met her on the street she would not have recognized her. For Rin was now a young woman of about twenty and little trace of the pretty child Kagome had seen once or twice remained.

There was no life support equipment in the room, and no feeding tubes. Kagome supposed she was supported by the preservative power of Sesshoumaru's house. But why was she here? Looking at Rin now made her understand Inuyasha's apparent dislike of what his brother had done. Was Sesshoumaru just keeping her here like an object? Unchanged and unchanging did he come here sometimes to look at her?

Kagome rather thought he did; that his whole life had become derailed and concentrated on this one object of regret. It was all so very sad, and Rin had grown up to be so very beautiful. Kagome blinked at the girl lying before her and felt tears welling up. The drops of salty water blurred her vision for a moment and made the face before her waver and shift as if in normal sleep. The moist pink lips parted and the veriest wisp of black smoke came out and dissipated immediately in the air.

Kagome rubbed her eyes and leaned forward, staring in disbelief at what she had seen. There it was again! In a sudden lunge, Kagome grabbed at the other girl's shoulder and started shaking it as Inuyasha gave a startled shout: "Kagome! What are you doing?"

The arras went over in a crash as Sesshoumaru burst into the room and sent one of the lamps flying. He found Kagome apparently assaulting the unresponsive sleeper as Inuyasha batted ineffectually at her hands. "Leave me alone! I know what I'm doing!" she was yelling as she punched with doubled fists at Rin's unprotected stomach.

With a roar, Sesshoumaru was upon them. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and swung her out of the way as he lunged up to take Sesshoumaru's slash in his lifted arm. He had no idea what crazy thing Kagome had been doing but this was Sesshoumaru's home turf and there would be no getting out of there without his help. He was just casting his eyes about to size up the situation when they widened at what they saw and he lifted an already bloodied arm to point. "Rin!"

This was too much, Sesshoumaru turned to look before he settled down to the business of killing his brother to see Rin sitting up in bed and gasping for breath. In a flash, he was on his knees before her and supporting her by her upper arms. With a couple of loudly indrawn breaths Rin sighed and dropped her forehead against Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

Forgetting everything, Sesshoumaru stared down at the girl leaning against him, "Rin…"

Rubbing her face with one hand Rin spoke in a muffled voice; "I must have had the wind knocked out of me. What an awful feeling. I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-Sama…" She lifted her head and met the lambent, wondering look in the golden eyes so close to her own. She had seen that look once before, so very long ago. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

"Rin." He said softly and smiled.

Inuyasha looked on in disgust. Sesshoumaru hadn't been sparing with the poison and he was feeling a little sick along with the arm hurting like hell. "Well good. That's just fucking great. Can we go home now?"

Kagome laced her fingers with his and just beamed.

:::00o00:::

Oh, the waff! The waff! I need to clear my mouth out, somebody get me a beer.