InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ It Must Be Destiny ❯ Chapter 4

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 4

Inuyasha led the way home over the rooftops with Inusouta carrying the unconscious girl in his arms. (“I am… grateful… that you agreed to let her stay with us,”) the younger hanyou remarked to his father.

(“Keh! She would've ended up worse than raped if she went back to that crappy apartment complex.”)

(“I know.”) Not to mention that strange scent I caught after that guy had cut her. Where had I smelled that before? It's so familiar…

He glanced down at the pale girl again, his ears drooped worriedly. She was so very fragile- just like any ordinary ningen. Those bastards could have killed her so easily!

Inuyasha grunted as he jumped down to the ground with his son following close behind. (“Hurry and take your friend inside. Your mother will want to pull out her first aid kit as soon as she sees her.”)

Inusouta grinned briefly before overtaking his father and racing up the shrine steps to the house. He slid open the door, calling for his mother.

Kagome entered the kitchen, clad in her nightgown and robe. (“Inusouta? What's wrong?”) Her gaze landed on Amber, unconscious and bleeding in his arms and she gasped. (“What in Kami's name happened to her?!”)

(“She was attacked on her way home. Three bast- uh, three ningen males tried to rape her at knife-point.”)

Kagome turned around and immediately led him to her grandfather's old room, which was a guest room now. He laid her on the quilted coverlet, her golden hair spilling like a waterfall over the pillow, while his mother fetched her first aid kit.

He stared at her silently. I hope she will be all right…

Of course she will! She is safe now. Your mother will get her fixed right up, and then you can help her settle in here.

We need to find her a new apartment. She cannot stay here.

Why not?

Inusouta paused. Indeed- why not? They could offer her room and board while she was conducting her research on her ancestors. Then she wouldn't have to worry about not being able to afford the cost- his mother wouldn't charge her much anyway.

And we can work on her Japanese while she is here, so she can find her ancestors and solve that mystery her grandmother left her.

The voice snorted. If you say so.

Kagome came back into the room, first aid kit in hand. She ordered Inusouta to get warm water and some towels while she inspected the cuts on her neck and hand.

When he returned, Kagome quickly grabbed one of the towels and dipped it in the warm water, then gently cleansed the shallow cut on Amber's neck.

(“Luckily this one isn't too deep. The other one on her hand might require stitches, and we'd have to take her to the hospital for that.”)

He blanched. He didn't want her out of his sight. She couldn't speak the language- just her luck she'd end up getting an appendectomy instead of stitches. (“Just do what you can, Okaasan. I know you can help her.”)

Kagome gave him a reassuring smile.

A few minutes later, the cut on the girl's neck was now nothing more than a nearly invisible line. Inusouta narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the wound. (“That looks almost healed,”) he murmured.

His mother glanced up from the more severe hand gash to the neck cut and raised an eyebrow. (“You're right. It does look better than it did when I cleaned it earlier.”) She shrugged and turned back to cleaning the young girl's hand. (“She must either be a fast healer or the cut wasn't really that bad.”)

(“Perhaps,”) he mumbled as his gaze shifted up to Amber's closed eyes.

Abruptly he was gazing into those sapphire depths again. Amber blinked several times in confusion as she struggled to focus.

“Amber-san? How are you feeling?” he asked softly, stepping closer to the head of the bed.

Several more blinks. “Wh… wh-where… am I? What happened?” she whispered.

Inusouta reached out unconsciously and lightly caressed her cheek with his knuckles. Kagome hid a smile. “What do you remember?”

Amber closed her eyes for a long moment. “Three men. On my way home.” Her eyes opened. “They… they wanted to…” she trailed off, unable to continue the horrible thought.

He nodded. “You are safe now. You are back at my house. My okaasan is taking care of your wounds.”

She turned her attention to Kagome, who was just finishing up wrapping Amber's hand in snowy white gauze. (“A-ar-i-ga-tou, Mrs. Higurashi-san,”) she murmured softly.

Kagome smiled warmly at her. “Don't worry about it, honey. I was glad to be of some help.”

Turning her eyes back to Inusouta, Amber's sapphire eyes focused on his face momentarily before something odd caught her attention. Her gaze drifted upward to rest on the strangest sight she had ever seen. She blinked a few more times.

Black triangular dog ears.

The strange but adorable appendages poked up through his jet-black hair on top of his head. They were constantly twitching and swiveling, acting like furry radars.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Kagome caught the direction of her stare and caught her breath in dismay. (“Inusouta! Your ears!”) she hissed under her breath.

Gold eyes turned to his mother. Ears? The subjects of speculation twitched again in confusion. His own eyes went wide in panic as comprehension dawned. (“Shit!”)

He shifted quickly to human form, focusing his energies on maintaining the subdued appearance while Amber was awake. When he looked back down at the girl, he let out a sigh of irritation. She had either passed out or fallen asleep. He suspected the former.

(“Nice going, baka,”) Kagome admonished as she closed her kit. (“Now I'm pretty sure she's going to think she's going crazy.”)

(“I did not mean to, Okaasan!”) he protested weakly as he relaxed his concentration and shifted back to normal hanyou. (“I was not expecting her to wake up so suddenly like that!”)

She snorted skeptically. (“And don't think I didn't hear what you said. I told you I don't want you talking like your otousan, remember?”)

(“Hai, Okaasan.”)

With a final look at her son, she nodded and exited the room, leaving the young girl and the hanyou alone.

Maybe it would be best if I left her alone until morning. That way I will not forget to shift to human if she wakes up like that again.

Agreed.

He went to the closet and pulled out a spare blanket, then returned to the bedside and carefully covered her with the warm, fuzzy material. She sighed in contentment and his thoughts briefly turned toward dangerous ground.

She is a ningen! Remember that! She has probably never heard of youkai or hanyou outside of fairy tales before- let alone being able to travel 500 years into the past through a well in your backyard.

Amusing. Too bad she is not hanyou.

He smiled before he left her side to leave the room. Still- there was something about her that seemed vaguely familiar. He shrugged and closed the door behind him.

(“Let me get this straight- you want her to move in here?”) Kagome asked slowly.

(“It is for her own safety, Okaasan! The area she has been living in is a total disgrace. I mean, if I had not followed her last night, she would have been raped and perhaps even killed.”)

His mother sighed as she handed him his omelet. (“I agree, but you don't know anything about this girl. You don't even know if she'll agree to stay here.”)

Suki had already disappeared for the day, saying she was going shopping with her friends. Izayoi still had to make an appearance, and Amber was still asleep in the spare room.

Inuyasha snorted as he picked at his own omelet. (“If what the pup says is true, then she'll have to agree- she can't afford anywhere else, and I know you won't charge her very much.”)

His mate smiled at him. (“How well you know me.”)

(“Keh! I should, after 517 years of being mated.”)

Inusouta rolled his eyes. In truth, they were mated- youkai marriage- for 17 years, but since his father had mated his mother in Sengoku Jidai, he viewed it as 517 instead. They had married in a traditional human ceremony when he and Izayoi were about a year old and their adopted sister Minako was almost two.

Kagome glared at Inuyasha. (“You knew me for a long time before we got married, dog boy.”)

(“Just a grain of sand in the millennium of our relationship, wench,”) he replied with a mouth full of omelet.

Izayoi took that moment to saunter into the kitchen, garbed in a very short navy blue skirt and a rather tight white and blue 3/4-length-sleeve shirt that had an adorable silver-white Chihuahua on the front with the caption “Wanna pet me?” in navy blue scrawl underneath it. Her hair, black again now that it was daytime, was up in two long pigtails tied with navy blue ribbons. The overall effect was a mixture of innocence and mischief.

Inuyasha choked on his omelet.

(“What in all the hells do you think you're wearing?!”) he roared.

Izayoi blinked as she looked down at her ensemble. (“What? Do I have a stain on my outfit?”)

Kagome gave her daughter a once-over. (“I think your otousan is suggesting that your outfit is a bit… revealing.”)

Izayoi turned to her father and whined. (“Aww, come on, Chichi! This was a present from Nika! I haven't had a chance to wear it yet!”)

The disgruntled hanyou stood up and glared at his daughter, his golden eyes flaring in fury. (“I don't care if Kami himself had given it to you! You are not leaving the house looking like that!”)

She gave a huff that sounded mysteriously like a “Keh!” and stomped off upstairs to her room to change.

Kagome raised an eyebrow at her mate. (“My school uniform skirt was about the same length as her skirt was, you know,”) she reminded him.

(“Thank Kami they've changed that rule now. I don't need any more snot-nosed little punks drooling over my little pup.”)

(“She already has a multitude of males `drooling' over her, Otousan,”) Inusouta added. (“And I think that it is because she is not a `little girl' anymore.”)

(“Your son has a point. She's almost a woman now.”) Kagome flipped the omelet.

(“She's my little girl and ain't no one gonna tell me otherwise!”) he growled.

Izayoi growled right back as she stomped through the kitchen. She was now garbed in a pair of low-riding jeans and a form-fitting long-sleeve red t-shirt that claimed “Bite Me.” Her hair was still up in the pigtails, but now they sported red ribbons.

(“How am I supposed to find a mate with you constantly ruling my life?”) she snarled as she slammed out the door.

("You're not supposed to.") He nodded in satisfaction at the closed door. (“That's the idea.”)

Kagome turned to Inusouta, who had finished his omelet. (“Why don't you go check on Ryoushi-chan? Maybe she's awake and would like some breakfast.”)

The young hanyou nodded and headed for the guest room. He knocked softly on the door before opening it and poking his head inside. “Amber-san? Are you awake?”

Amber was sitting on the bed, the blanket that had covered her was now neatly folded and resting at the foot of the bed. She was gazing at the bandage on her hand. She didn't look up when Inusouta entered the room.

“Is something troubling you?” he asked worriedly.

She shook her head slightly. “I'm fine.”

He moved to sit next to her on the bed. “You do not seem to be fine. Does your hand hurt or something?”

Amber's sapphire eyes lifted to meet his golden ones. “No. My hand… it doesn't hurt at all.”

He could see something was on her mind. It was clear in her gaze. “Then what is the problem? You seem upset.”

She sighed and looked back down at her hand. “It's… it's just too weird. It was probably just a dream or my overactive imagination or something.”

Something inside him clenched. “What was?”

Her cheeks flushed as she looked back up at him. “I… had a dream… that you… this is silly, really… but that you were… a hanyou.”