InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Legacy ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

 

Chapter 2: Legacy

 

The anger on Sango's face rapidly gave way to surprise. “Your sister?”

 

Miroku nodded weakly and shifted his weight, trying to appear calm despite the anxiety about what could have possibly happened to Kimiko. His friends would insist on hearing the whole story. He had been traveling with them long enough to know that.

 

“I didn't know you had a sister, Lord Miroku,” Kagome commented, walking back to where he and Sango had stopped. Hachi stared at the ground, heartily wishing that he were elsewhere. This was not going to be a comfortable conversation.

 

“Why didn't you tell us, Miroku?” Shippou hopped onto Miroku's shoulder, gripping his robe with small, sticky hands. At least the lollipop was long gone.

 

“I--“ Miroku started and then coughed lightly, unsure of how to begin. “It's a long story,” he finally said, holding onto the faint hope that they would take the hint.

 

Kagome and Sango exchanged glances, obviously reluctant to push. Every member of the little party harbored secrets that they would rather not talk about. Miroku admitting that he had a sister was shock enough. Inuyasha solved the dilemma in his usual manner by stalking out of the middle of the road and dropping into a cross-legged seat under a tree growing by the roadside.

 

“We're not going anywhere.” Inuyasha shifted to make himself comfortable, plainly intent on not moving until Miroku talked. “Start talking, monk.”

 

Within minutes, the small group was settled on the grass. Kagome carefully laid her bicycle on the ground and sat down by Inuyasha. Shippou snuggled next to her while Kirara hopped into Sango's lap and curled into a furry ball, purring contentedly. Hachi cast one last miserable glance at Miroku before sitting down with everyone else.

 

Miroku took several deep, calming breaths, drawing upon his spiritual training to help him find the right words. Talking about Kimiko wouldn't be easy. He had spent years convincing people that he was the only surviving member of his family in order to protect her.

 

“So, is she younger or older than you?” Kagome prodded when it began to look like Miroku wasn't ever going to say anything.

 

“She's my twin.” Miroku kept his eyes on the ground to avoid looking at any of his companions. “I am the elder by almost an hour.”

 

“What happened to her?” Sango prompted. “Why have you never mentioned her? Are you ashamed of her?”

 

“No!” Miroku jerked his head up to stare at Sango reproachfully. Did she really think so little of him? “She's my sister! I--I never mentioned her for her own protection. How long do you think she would last if Naraku or one of our other enemies learned of her existence?”

 

“Does she have a kazaana, too?” Shippou piped up. “Is she a priestess or something?”

 

“Talking about my sister isn't easy,” Miroku grumbled, a hint of irritation in his voice.

 

“Why don't you start at the beginning?” Sango's eyes held his, understanding in their quiet depths. Only someone who had lost a beloved sibling could know this difficulty.

 

“Many years ago,” Miroku began slowly, “my father traveled through the villages belonging to a powerful daimyo. He had heard how beautiful the daimyo's young wife was and he desired the chance to gaze upon her beauty. With the promise to rid the castle of all demonic traces, he gained entrance.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “Your father was as lecherous as you. He didn't want to just gaze at this woman. Tell the story right.”

 

Miroku sighed. “Everybody knows that, Inuyasha. Just let me tell it my way.”

 

“If you're bored, go find something to do.” Kagome leveled a glare at the hanyou that usually preceded a sit. “I want to hear this. It sounds romantic.” Inuyasha grumbled, but didn't leave. He picked up a nearby stick and began peeling the bark off with his claws.

 

“As it turns out,” Miroku continued, “there was a slight infestation of termite youkai in the walls. A few more months and the castle would have started crumbling around them. Father's status was changed from traveling monk to honored guest. The young wife was just as beautiful and kind as the villagers claimed. He was quite intrigued with her and she returned his feelings.”

 

Kagome abruptly clapped her hands over Shippou's ears. “Is this the kind of story that kids should be hearing? Shippou doesn't need to be corrupted more than he already is.”

 

“Your father didn't seduce the daimyo's wife into his bed with false promises, did he?” Sango looked slightly disgusted. Kirara, sensing her mistress' change in mood, raised her head and growled at him.

 

Miroku made a great effort to relax, grinding out between clenched teeth, “If you'll let me finish, I'll tell you what happened.” With grumbles and suspicious looks, the others subsided.

 

“Now, the daimyo wasn't stupid. But he was very old and he had a very young wife. One day he approached my father with a proposition. He was childless and this woman was his third wife. His first two wives had died without producing the needed heir. If he died without any heirs, his lands would fall to a greedy and unscrupulous cousin. He wanted my father to dispel the evil aura surrounding his wife. Obviously, that was why she had been unable to conceive. My father was wise enough not to argue.”

 

Kagome sighed happily, her eyes shining. “How romantic. Isn't that romantic, Inuyasha?”

 

“Feh.” Inuyasha looked up from the stick he had been carefully shredding. “If he was passed off as the heir to this daimyo, then why is he wandering around as a monk? I think that story is just a load of hot air.”

 

“Miroku wasn't the only child,” Kagome reminded Inuyasha. “Obviously, Kimiko was chosen to be the heir. It makes sense.”

 

“Stupid.” Inuyasha tossed what remained of the stick aside and leaned back on his elbows. “Girls can't inherit. Everybody knows that. They don't have the brains for it.”

 

“They don't, do they?” Inuyasha realized at least part of his mistake as soon as Kagome spoke, deadly venom coating her words.

 

He rolled to a sitting position and scooted backwards until his back was pressed against the trunk of the tree. “I didn't mean it like that! Women don't have the ability to govern large areas of land. And no man would respect another man who takes orders from a woman. You're good, Kagome, but only with the small things.”

 

Miroku listened as Inuyasha dug himself deeper into a hole. Judging by the fire in Kagome's eyes, he was setting himself up for a really painful sit. Mentally, he began counting.

 

“OSUWARI!”

 

Amazing. That had only taken about 10 seconds. Nobody could offend a woman faster than Inuyasha just by talking.

 

“May I continue?” Miroku took the groan from the prostrate hanyou as assent. Inuyasha levered himself out of the hole his body had created and sat down, striving to pretend that nothing had happened.

 

“As I was saying, it didn't require much persuasion for my father to agree. The daimyo didn't even questions why the exorcism required my father to be alone with his wife for hours at a time. When she conceived at last, it was just assumed that the evil aura had been broken. My father did impose one condition of his own. The firstborn child would be his to raise, and the second would be the heir the daimyo desired. It turned out that the daimyo was so desperate that he didn't care if the child was a boy or a girl. A boy would grow to inherit the lands in his own right, while a girl would be wed to a neighboring daimyo who possessed a surfeit of sons. This would bind their two lands together through the marriage of their children and make it easier for them to withstand the greedy advances of the daiymo's cousin. Before the year was out, the bargain had been fulfilled. I left to be raised by my father while Kimiko remained behind.”

 

“It must hurt,” Sango commented softly, “knowing that you have a sister and are unable to see her.”

 

“What about the kazaana?” Shippou chirped impatiently. The romantic entanglements were lost on the young kit. Other aspects seized his attention. “If you have one, doesn't that mean that your sister would have one, too?”

 

“I am the elder,” Miroku repeated patiently. “I inherited the kazaana from my father. Kimiko doesn't have one and never will unless I die without destroying Naraku or siring my own heir first. That's the way the curse works.”

 

“How did you find out about this sister of yours if you were separated shortly after birth?” Inuyasha had recovered from his sulk and seemed genuinely interested in the answer.

 

“Mushin told me. Apparently, my father had confided the circumstances of my birth to the old monk. I don't think my father ever wanted me to know about Kimiko. Probably wanted to spare me the heartache of knowing I had a sister and never being able to meet her. They used to have rather heated arguments after they thought I was asleep. Mushin told me the day before I set out on my own--told me everything he knew. I asked Hachi to keep watch on Kimiko. If I couldn't go see her, I at least wanted to know that she was doing well.”

 

“How sweet.” Kagome gazed at him with that starry expression she usually reserved for cute, fuzzy animals or the kitsune kit.

 

Sango's eyes were harder to read. They met his with a quiet intensity that was rather unsettling. She scratched Kirara between the ears, earning a sleepy purr in reply. When she didn't say anything, Miroku wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved.

 

Abruptly, Inuyasha climbed to his feet. He squinted in the direction of the sun. Almost casually, he walked over to lift Kagome's bike off the ground. His companions remained where they were, watching him.

 

“Well, what are we waiting for?” he demanded, irritation in his voice. “If we don't get going, we will never reach the monk's sister before the sun goes down.”

 

“You don't have to involve yourself in my problems,” Miroku said quietly. Inside, he was touched that Inuyasha was still willing to travel out of his way even after hearing the entire story.

 

Kagome regarded Miroku as if he had grown a second head. “Don't be silly. You're our friend. Of course we'll go with you and we'll help with whatever trouble has happened to your sister.” The kit nodded enthusiastic agreement.

 

Sango shooed Kirara out of her lap and stood. The firecat trotted over to Miroku and rubbed against his leg, purring loudly. “You have always helped us, Lord Monk. Do you think so little of us that you do not think we would help you when you needed it?”

 

“I--“

 

“Then it's settled.” Inuyasha shifted Kagome's bike into a slightly more comfortable position. “We won't get much shard hunting done until we take care of your little problem, so we might as well deal with it.”

 

Miroku didn't rise from his spot on the ground, only regarded the impatient hanyou for a long moment. “I am really flattered by your offer, but there is one thing I would like to ask first.”

 

“What's that, Lord Miroku?” Kagome asked.

 

“Is this your usual question, Lord Monk?” Sango sounded irritated. They weren't any closer to finding Naraku and, as time wore on, the monk managed to ask young women `to bear his child' several times a day.

 

He shot Sango his best wounded look. “I'm hurt that you think so little of me. Don't you trust me?”

 

“Of course I trust you.” By the look on her face, she wasn't falling for the innocent act. “But lately, you seem to have only one question on your perverted brain.”

 

“Can we get on with this?” Inuyasha demanded irritably. “What is it you want, Miroku?”

 

Miroku grinned, feeling more cheerful than he had all morning. Baiting his friends was one of his favorite hobbies. “Could we have some lunch? I'm starved.”

 

“You want food at a time like this?” Inuyasha growled and muttered loud enough for Miroku to hear, “Weak humans.”

 

“I'm hungry, too.” Shippou ran over to Kagome, holding up his arms in a demand to be picked up. She complied automatically. “Can we eat here, Kagome?”

 

Inuyasha protested, but Miroku could see that his heart wasn't really in it. His nose started twitching as Kagome pulled sealed containers out of her bag and when she triumphantly held up a ramen cup, he practically started drooling.

 

Dropping Kagome's bike unceremoniously on the ground, he positioned himself at her shoulder to supervise while she heated the water and prepared his noodles. “I guess we can take the time to eat. Would you hurry up with that water, Kagome?”

 

“A watched pot never boils, Inuyasha.”

 

“I'm not watching it!”

 

Miroku's smile faded even as he tuned out their bickering. The cloth covering his cursed hand felt rough against the sensitive skin and the clacking of the beads sounded loud in his ears. A new worry emerged, set free by an innocent kit's questions. Could he be wrong?

 

Could the curse be affecting Kimiko?

 

^**^

 

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Food for thought:

 

Miser: A person who lives poor so that he can die rich