InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Incarnations: Inuyasha 2030 ❯ Hirugashi Shrine ( Chapter 3 )

Hirugashi Shrine

Inuyasha had not seen Kagome at Tokyo University for the rest of the day. So he followed his instincts and instead of heading home, he went once more to the Hirugashi Shrine. He walked up the steep steps and glanced at the Torii posts marking the entrance to the shrine. This place seemed so familiar. He had been there yesterday, but it now seemed like it was a place out of a dream--a place hidden in mist and shadows. Momentarily his mind seemed to glimpse himself being there long ago. He was holding some koi and pigeons for a girl to cook. She was a pretty girl. She was wearing an old-fashioned school girl's uniform with a mini-skirt. And she looked like…she looked just like Kagome.

 

Inuyasha stopped for a second and tried to focus on the brief vision of déjà vu that had chanced upon his mind. But just as soon as it came upon him, it disappeared and he was left wondering if it had ever been real or just some delusion that he had imagined.

 

His first stop was at the fountain in the front of the shrine where he ritually purified himself by drinking the fountain water and pouring water over his hands. Of course, he was part-demon. He could never be truly purified without getting injured. But the silly water ceremony that he had to go through before he entered a temple or shrine never affected him.

 

He had hoped to catch sight of Kagome there, but there were no miko's in sight. He would probably have better luck over the weekend, when she was not at the University during the day. Still perhaps she was selling items at the shrine shop. It wouldn't hurt to look.

 

He glanced over at the shop curiously to see an elderly woman with short hair and Kagome's expressive eyes. She looked up at him and her eyes quickly went from a casual glance to instant recognition and shock.

 

“Inuyasha!?” she yelled as she ran out of the side door to the shop and ran up to him.

 

Inuyasha was befuddled to see this old woman who was the same height as Kagome, with gray short hair and her eyes. She had Kagome's eyes.

 

“My daughter! Where is my daughter! Where is Kagome, Inuyasha? Is she alive? What happened to her?” asked the elderly woman pleadingly.

 

“Kagome?” Inuyasha was at a loss as to why the elderly woman knew him or why she was asking about Kagome in such a fashion. “I haven't seen her since this morning when she was going to Tokyo University,” said Inuyasha still perplexed. “Is there something wrong? Did something happen to Kagome?”

 

The elderly woman grimaced in frustration. “Not my granddaughter Kagome, I meant my daughter Kagome. She would be in her late 40's by now. What happened to her? She never returned when she left to see you last. She never returned…” the old woman wailed as she started to cry.

 

“Man, is everyone at this shrine crazy?” thought Inuyasha. “What in the hell is she talking about?”

 

Soon a man came around the corner wearing traditional Shinto priest robes. He was in his 40's and had some grey peppering of his black hair. His brown eyes and expressive face also looked like Kagome's. “Mother, is something bothering you,” he said. Then the man turned and looked up at Inuyasha. “Kami!” he screamed in delight and then he ran towards Inuyasha like he was a long lost friend.

 

“Inuyasha! You've returned! Where's Kagome? Where's my sister?” said the man.

 

“You are all seriously wacked out over here!” said Inuyasha. Then he thought, “Still how did they recognize me and know my name. Oi,” he thought. “Maybe this was some sort of joke on Kagome's part.” It wasn't as if he could be easily recognized from a simply description of long white hair and amber eyes.

 

The man continued to stare at him as Inuyasha looked at him perplexed.

 

“What happened to your ears Inuyasha?” said the man. “What happened to your dog ears, they're gone and you have normal ears now…” The man was getting way to close to Inuyasha and was examining his ears.

 

“Now wait a minute…,” said Inuyasha. Then he blinked. “His ears…?” He had never told Kagome or for that matter anyone past his family about how he was born with weird dog-like ears and how the surgeons had sliced them off and had re-created normal looking ears for him on the sides of his head. “How do you know about the ears I was born with, I didn't tell anyone…”

 

The man paused for a moment and then chuckled. He looked at the elderly woman who was his mother.

 

“Oh mother, we were both fooled. Doesn't he look just like him?” said the man.

 

“He looks just as he did 30 years ago, except for the ears,” she added.

 

“So,” the man said. “I guess what we have here is a simple matter of reincarnation at work. Wouldn't you agree mother?”

 

The old woman got closer to Inuyasha and peered at his eyes and ears. “Yes, I think you are right Souta. It seems that Kagome isn't the only reincarnation to show up at our shrine.”

 

“It makes perfect sense,” said Souta. “You could never keep the two of the apart—even when you were fighting! If one was going to reincarnate, then the other couldn't be far behind. It's too bad that it took this long to find you,” said the man sincerely as he bowed slightly to Inuyasha.

 

“What in the hell are you talking about?” growled Inuyasha.

 

“Oh, still the same old temper and language,” said Souta who was not the least bit perturbed by the foulness that radiated from Inuyasha. “Why don't I give Kagome a call and get her to come over? In the meanwhile you can come in for some tea. Why don't you close up shop early today, mother. I think we need to catch up with Inuyasha.”

 

“Hai,” said the older woman pleasantly as she turned to lock up the shop.

 

The man guided Inuyasha inside of their home. Again a bizarre déjà vu feeling overtook Inuyasha. He felt like he had been here before, but he still couldn't place when or how. They took off their shoes and the man offered Inuyasha some slippers.

 

“Stay right here!” the man said. “I have some pictures to show you.”

 

“This better be good!” thought Inuyasha. “If it weren't for Kagome I would have already left this crazy joint.”

 

Soon the man came inside with a laser thin laptop in one hand and a slim phone in the other. “Yes, Kagome. You are to come home at once. No buts! Now! This is really important! “ there was a pause, “No, I can't tell you why. You'll find out when you get here.”

 

“She should be here in a few minutes,” said the man. “I'm sorry. I never introduced myself. I am Hirugashi Souta. But you can just call me Souta. I am Kagome's Dad.”

 

Inuyasha was a little taken aback by the man's casualness with him. Normally people wouldn't let you address them by their first name unless you were a family member or a close friend. “Strange family,” Inuyasha thought. But then his own family was rather weird as well. He was thinking briefly about the Moroboshi family and life at the temple when the elderly Mrs. Hirugashi showed up at the kitchen table.

 

“Inuyasha,” she said with reserve and a note of fond kindness, “Would you like me to make you some ramen?”

 

“Ramen? Yes, it's my favorite! How did you know?” asked Inuyasha now feeling more and more uncertain about these two people who knew more than they should know about him.

 

“It was always your favorite,” said Mrs. Hirugashi. “You would often beg Kagome to pack some for you. I will also make you some tea, you seemed to like sencha tea.”

 

Iuyasha just sat back perplexed as the woman started to make him some ramen and poured him some tea. Souta then put the thin laptop on the table and started to boot up the razor-thin computer. “I have many pictures to show you,” he said. “But we'll need to wait until Kagome gets here.”

 

Mrs. Hirugashi put a bowl of steaming ramen and a cup of tea in front of him. She also poured three more cups so that herself, Souta and her daughter would also have tea. She then sat down and sipped the tea. After taking a sip she turned and looked at Inuyasha. Her composure was fully restored. She had gone from a wild-eyed frantic woman to a calm and serene grandmother in a matter of minutes. It was a little unsettling.

 

“So Inuyasha,” said the grandmother. “You said that you saw Kagome on her way to Tokyo University this morning?”

 

“Um…yes, she said that she was an undeclared major and that she wanted to change the world,” said Inuyasha.

 

“That's my daughter!” said Souta proudly. “And I can tell you that she has the power to do it.”

 

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows.

 

“Are you also studying at Tokyo University Inuyasha or was there another reason that you ran into her this morning?” asked Mrs. Hirugashi.

 

Inuyasha scratched his head. “I am studying Criminal Justice at Tokyo University. I just happened to be on the same subway magna rail this morning. The pushers shoved me right into her…” He blushed momentarily at the memory.

 

“Oh and just as shy as he used to be,” observed Mrs. Hirugashi.

 

“I'm not…” said Inuyasha as he pounded his fist into the table.

 

Souta chucked, “and just as unruly…man I missed you Inuyasha! It's good to have you back!”

 

“Dad! Grandma! I'm home!” called Kagome pleasantly as she took off her shoes in the hallway and put on some slippers. “Now what exactly was so important that I had to show up immediately…?” asked Kagome as she rounded the corner and stopped short when she saw Inuyasha.

 

“You!” she declared. “Not you again! You rude jerk!”

 

Souta took the disgruntled teenager by the shoulders and gently pushed her down to sit at the kitchen table. “Now, now dear…,” said Souta.

 

“Jerk am I, at least I'm not an obnoxious wench!” said Inuyasha a little too quickly. He regretted his words almost immediately. He really wanted to be nice to her. It was just so hard when she kept on insulting him. She looked at him momentarily with a look of hurt before she grimaced at him again.

 

“Just like old times? Eh, Souta!” said Mrs. Hirugashi. “My, my I do declare that the two of you sound like an old married couple the way you carry on! Now will the two of you sit down and be quiet for once. Souta has a lot to tell you, I believe.”

 

Neither Souta nor Mrs. Hirugashi were the least bit perturbed by the emotional outbursts of Kagome and Inuyasha. In fact, they seemed to be expecting it.

 

“Yes, now,” said Souta as he turned the razor thin computer screen to Inuyasha and Kagome. “Let me show you a few pictures from 1997 and 1998. You see we lost Kagome, that is my sister Kagome, in 1998 when she was 16. We never saw her again. These are the only photos we have of her. I named my daughter Kagome, in her memory and as crazy as it seems that are almost exactly alike.”

 

Inuyasha stared at some pictures of what looked to be the girl sitting next to him. But the date stamp of the pictures were from over 30 years ago, so it couldn't be her. Still the resemblance was uncanny. Of course, they were related by blood, but still—it seemed to be more than a coincidence .

 

“This is a picture of all of us together,” said Souta. He quickly showed them a photo of a teenaged Kagome in the same old fashioned school uniform that he had just imagined when he had walked through the Torii gates. She stood next to a young boy who was about 6 years old, a matronly woman of thin build and short black hair and an old man wearing Shinto priest robes. “This is Kagome, that is me as a small boy, that is my Mom and there is grandpa. He passed away some years ago.

 

“Now this picture, I think you'll find this picture interesting…,” Souta started showing him pictures of the same girl and a teenaged boy in a red suikian and hakama pants. But the most intriguing thing about the boy was not only that he looked exactly like him all the way down to the amber eyes and long white hair, but he had strange dog-like ears on the top of his head. Those ears! They could have been what his ears would have looked like if the surgeons had not surgically removed them and created new ears for him. He stared at the boy in disbelief. He noticed that the boy was also wearing a strange necklace and had an old sword by his side.

 

Souta went through several pictures which were dated from 1997 and 1998 on the laptop. There were not too many pictures of the girl who looked like Kagome and the boy that looked like him. But it was enough to be unnerving.

 

“What is this?” asked Inuyasha. “Is this some sort of a trick?”

 

Souta sighed and sat down. “I was hoping that showing you these photos would convince you. But perhaps there is more that I need to do and perhaps you just need some time to realize your past. Too bad…mother and I really missed you…”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” demanded Inuyasha.

 

This time it was Mrs. Hirugashi that spoke up. “You know Souta was only 6 years old when he first met you. He idolized you. And I adored you for the simple reason that Kagome loved you.”

 

“Loved me?” Inuyasha quickly looked up at Kagome. They both blushed vividly.

 

“Grandma. I am not in love with this jerk! How could you say that?” asked Kagome as she stood up and pointed a finger at Inuyasha.

 

Mrs. Hirugashi smiled at Souta and then spoke to Kagome. “I am not saying that `you' are in love with Inuyasha. But my daughter Kagome and the Inuyasha from long ago were in love with each other. It was endearing to see. And it was especially endearing because they never seemed to even admit to each other that they were in love. They would fight and then make up. Then they would fight again. But they always danced around the topic of love. I wonder if they ever did admit to each other that they were in love. I hope that they did. But I will never know…,” said Mrs. Hirugashi as her voice trailed off.

 

This was all a new experience for Inuyasha, but apparently it was something that Kagome was intimately familiar with.

 

“I'm sorry Grandma,” she said as she stood up next to her grandmother and hugged her gently. Inuyasha was surprised to see her gentleness. He had only seen Kagome angry and upset. Her loving side seemed very sweet. He was staring at her without meaning to.

 

Mrs. Hirugashi patted Kagome's hand which was resting on her shoulder. “I've always wondered what happened to them. Kagome went to be with him after she graduated from middle school in 1998. She said that she needed to defeat an evil demon called Naraku. We never saw her or Inuyasha again.”

 

Kagome seemed to nod, this was old news for her. But for Inuyasha it was crazy and at the same time seemed to scratch at the fog in his mind. The déjà vu he had been feeling earlier started to re-surface again. All of the sudden he got a quick glimpse of him holding a huge sword that glowed while he stood in the kitchen. A young boy was screaming about a cockroach and Inuyasha brought his large sword down on the little insect. Soon the entire kitchen was awash in water as the sink busted open.

 

Inuyasha turned around and put his hands on the sink. “Here. Did I…ever…take a sword to this sink…?” asked Inuyasha perplexed.

 

Souta stood up beaming. “Yes, yes Inuyasha. Maybe you remember? My sister Kagome was making you a fine dinner that night. I think that she wanted to impress you with her cooking skills while mom was sick. She had almost the entire dinner done when I called you into the kitchen to squash a cockroach that was running around. I hadn't expected you to take out your Tessaiga to kill the insect. You destroyed the entire sink! Boy, was Kagome angry that day. You had ruined the entire meal.”

 

Inuyasha was still patting the kitchen countertop near the sink. Somehow it all seemed familiar--like an old hazy memory that had been long forgotten.

 

“Do you remember Inuyasha?” asked Souta.

 

“I…I only see flashes of things…it's not a true memory. I'm sorry,” said Inuyasha.

 

“Well then we have to help you jog your memory,” said Souta.

 

“Dad!” yelled Kagome. “This is ridiculous. Even if he looks like that guy you always talk about, you can't just go off and say he's a reincarnation! It's just wishful thinking on your part.”

 

“No Kagome,” said her mother. “It isn't just Souta's wishful thinking. It isn't just his appearance. It's also his mannerisms, his way of speech, the way he stands. And you Kagome. You are my daughter's exact image. You have her temper and her compassion. The sooner you both learn to accept that you are reincarnations of your earlier incarnations, then the smoother your life path will be.”

 

She continued, “Inuyasha. Where did you get that name?”

 

Inuyasha paused. His name was very strange—it meant dog demon, but he had never thought twice about it.

 

“My father gave it to me. At least that is what my mother told me,” said Inuyasha.

 

“So was he also a demon?” asked Mrs. Hirugashi.

 

“I…what do you mean a demon?” said Inuyasha.

 

Souta continued. “If you are Inuyasha's reincarnation, you are also most probably a hanyou. A half-demon.”

 

Somehow Inuyasha winched when he heard `hanyou” even though he had never heard the term before.

 

“Your appearance, your eyes and hair—seem to mark you as having some demon blood. So your father must be demon as well,” said Souta. “What do you know of him?”

 

“I know...almost nothing. I don't remember his face. I only know the name my mother told me. Whether he was a demon or not, I do not know…,” said Inuyasha.

 

“I see,” said Souta. “Well, there's no delaying it. We need to give you what is rightfully yours. Or should I say that Kagome here needs to give you what is rightfully yours.”

 

“What father? It can't be his. You found them long before any of us were born,” said Kagome.

 

“It is his,” said Souta. “They were his before and they will be his again. When I found them in the bone eater's well, I knew that I would see Inuyasha again and that we needed to return them to him.”

 

Souta stood up and spoke to Inuyasha and Kagome, “Come with me.”

 

Then Kagome and Inuyasha walked in measured silence as they followed Souta to a storage shed. Mrs. Hirugashi followed along behind as she watched the two people before her silently.

 

Souta stopped at the shed. “Kagome you know where the items are. Please get them out and return them to Inuyasha.”

 

Kagome seemed to be fighting an inner turmoil. She didn't seem to be happy to be following her father's instructions. She made her way to the back of the storage shed and took out a long rectangular black lacquer box. She carefully brought the box up to Inuyasha and put it down in front of him as she kneeled. She first unwrapped an old sword which was enclosed by a white cloth. She took out the sword, which was sheathed in a wooden scabbard and handed it up to Inuyasha. “Here is the Tessaiga,” she said.

 

Just as she gave him the sword he briefly had images in his mind from the dream he had that morning. He had forgotten that a girl, who looked just like Kagome had given him a sword just like this one. Then just as suddenly as the image sprang to his mind, it was gone. All that was left was a dull ache of his heart.

 

Inuyasha gingerly held the sword. It was disappointing to look at. It was old and battered. It had evidently seen better days, but it somehow felt right in his hands. He unsheathed the sword and looked at it's battered blade. He looked at the blade closely--his disappointment was palatable.

 

He sighed as Kagome brought something else out. It was a curious prayer bead necklace. There were black beads and white magatama beads. She then stood up and placed the beads around his neck. It was the same beaded necklace that he had seen in the other Inuyasha wear in the old photos. It felt right around his neck, as if the weight of the beads should always be there. Kagome then picked up the box to put it away. Inuyasha looked at the sword and fingered the necklace.

 

“The sword doesn't always look like that Inuyasha,” said Souta. “I saw you use it before. It's a magic sword. It can transform in battle. Normally it has the appearance that you see now. But once you join in battle it will transform to a sword that is over three meters long.”

 

Inuyasha tried to experimentally swing the sword around him. Luckily he had been taking kendo classes since he was a boy. So he tried a few experimental kata moves. However, it was still an old battered sword. He could tell by looking at it, that it was truly ancient. However, the blade was so dull and battered that it could never amount to anything in a real battle.

 

“A magical transforming sword. Feh,” said Inuyasha. He handed it back to Kagome who took it back with a surprise on her face. “I think you're dreaming Mr. Hirugashi. This is just an old beat up sword.”

 

Souta's eyes just gleamed. “I thought that you might think that way. It's more than what you think. Please take it. It does not belong to us.”

 

Kagome just stood there in front of him, holding the Tessaiga. She looked so much like the girl in his dream, the one who said that he needed the sword. Here she was, giving it to him again. Somewhere deep inside, he felt a need to protect the girl in front of him. He didn't know where the feelings came from—but they were there nonetheless. He also felt instinctively that the sword would help him to protect this girl.

 

He sighed and he gestured to Kagome for the sword. She gave it to him again and he put it in his pants belt loop. At least this was Japan. Though it might seem a little strange to be walking around with a sword by his side, it wasn't completely strange. He would just need to tell people that it was for his kendo classes. The fact that it was so battered and dull would also do a lot to help alleviate anyone's fears that the sword was for anything other than practice.

 

Inuyasha looked up at Kagome and smiled. He was slightly astonished to see her smiling back at him.

 

Souta then spoke. “Inuyasha, I need to ask a favor of you. Could you please protect Kagome?” he asked.

 

“What?!” said Inuyasha and Kagome in unison.