InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ It Must Be Destiny ❯ Chapter 16

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

Chapter 16

Kagome and Inuyasha sat silently across a fire pit from the old headman. He threw a log on the fire before taking a deep breath. His grey eyes were distant, sad.

(“A young boy of about thirteen years of age came to our village about twenty years ago, I believe, completely alone and defenseless. He was barely an adolescent, as I've said, but his eyes- they seemed so much older, like he had seen too much of the pain of this world for one so young. I suspect his family, possibly his village were destroyed either by war or rampaging youkai.

(“He stayed in our village for a few weeks, helping out the elderly with their crops and chores. He seemed to be very polite and we were all grateful for his help. We all grew extremely fond of him and began to think of him as one of our own.

(“One day, he met with the daughter of one of my best hunters. Her name was Kuri-chan and she was quite lovely, although only thirteen years of age herself. They began to spend time together, getting to know each other.

(“The day before he left here, the boy asked Kuri-chan's otousan if he could court his daughter. He explained that he did not have long to live, and wanted to experience life and a family before he died. Her otousan agreed, saying that if he survived alone in the wild for a year, the boy could return and marry his daughter. He would be deemed worthy enough to marry Kuri-chan with his blessing.

(“The boy agreed and many tried to dissuade him. We felt he was committing suicide- the wilderness was no place for such a gentle boy. Many mourned him as he left us, taking no supplies with him whatsoever.”)

Kagome gave the man a sympathetic smile and it seemed to give him the energy to continue.

(“A year later, when Kuri-chan was fourteen, the boy returned. He was still a boy in many ways, but it was obvious that the year spent surviving in the wild had helped him to grow up into a young man with great promise. Kuri-chan still proclaimed to be in love with him, and the young man agreed that he still felt the same. Her otousan nodded his approval and they were wed, with the entire village celebrating.”)

The headman's face grew even sadder, creating a knot in the pit of Kagome's stomach. Inuyasha could smell the grief on the old man like a blanket. Whatever was coming wasn't going to be good.

His voice broke as he continued his tale, as if the sorrow were still too much to bear after all these years. (“Two months after they were married, the young man disappeared. He had told his young bride that his time was up, that he could no longer stay here with her. She had begged, pleaded with him to stay, but she knew that he was going to die. There was nothing anyone could do. He was gone, with no one knowing where he had went to die. It was said that he had a terrible sickness or disease, but that never stopped us from caring about him.”) He smiled wistfully. (“When the majority of your village is elderly, disease and sickness are not something to be afraid of- it is simply a part of life.

(“Soon after the boy left, Kuri-chan discovered she was with child. She held onto that little piece of her husband with all her love and hope, and eventually delivered a perfect little girl. The infant looked just like her otousan, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. So Kuri-chan decided to name her daughter after the child's otousan, in his memory.

(“Kuri-chan and her daughter stayed here in the village for fifteen years. Kuri-chan never remarried, staying true to her husband's memory. When her daughter turned fifteen, they left and never returned. We believe they now live somewhere in the forest to the east.”)

Kagome blinked away tears that had formed in her eyes at the sad story. (“So you think they're still alive?”)

The headman nodded. (“They've only been gone four years, I think, and our hunters have all said that there is a dwelling, far to the east of here, that seems to be protected by a benevolent youkai. They say it appears to still be inhabited, although they will not venture close because they do not want to anger the youkai.”)

Inuyasha exchanged a glance with Kagome. (“Why would a youkai defend two women, alone in the forest?”)

She pondered that. (“Perhaps it is a female youkai, and the three of them are friends?”) she asked softly.

Inuyasha thought about that for a moment. (“So you think that there are now three women, two human and one youkai, living alone because they're friends?”)

Kagome nodded. (“It's possible. Look at Sango and Kirara. This youkai could even be a two-tail youkai cat like Kirara.”)

The headman looked concerned. (“You don't think that this youkai will harm our Kuri-chan or her daughter, do you?”)

Inuyasha gave him a direct stare. (“You said yourself that your hunters claim it to be a benevolent youkai. If it wanted trouble, you'd know it.”)

Kagome hesitated before speaking. (“Headman-sama… the young man's name… was it Kohaku?”)

(“Hai. And Kuri named her daughter Kohaku in his honor.”)

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

With their stomachs full and their supplies restocked, Kagome and Inuyasha headed out once again, this time through the forest, heading east. The distance wasn't too great, for a hanyou, but Inuyasha needed to talk to his mate about something.

(“Kagome.”)

She looked at him askance as they walked. (“Hai? What's wrong?”)

(“I think… we need to talk about Inusouta.”)

Slight alarm flickered across her brown eyes. (“What about him?”)

He sighed. (“I'm… pretty sure… his crests have appeared.”)

Her jaw dropped in complete surprise. (“His crests? He's only a quarter youkai… how in Kami's name can he even have crests?”)

The hanyou shrugged. (“I don't know, but he's got blue streaks on his forearms, right below the elbow. Unless he went out and got tattooed, which I doubt, it means his youkai has found his mate.”)

Realization dawned. (“Amber-chan.”)

(“Probably.”)

Kagome sighed this time. (“This… it feels like it's too soon. I know he's almost grown up, but… I still see him as my little boy.”)

Inuyasha fell silent for a while. (“You know… it's weird.”)

(“That he's got crests?”)

(“Yeah. I mean, it was daytime, and he was human- if they are his crests, they shouldn't appear when he's human. Mine don't.”)

His mate mulled that over. (“That's true. When you turn human, your crests disappear completely. Right now, when you're not… well, when you're not… interested in certain activities… they're almost invisible.”)

(“Inusouta's were quite obvious. A dark blue line, drawing to a point on the outside of his elbow.”)

(“Kinda like Sesshoumaru's stripes? The ones on his wrist?”)

(“Hai. Except there was only one.”) He raised an eyebrow at her. (“Are you sure he isn't Sesshoumaru's whelp?”)

She punched him in the arm. (“Baka! You know very well he's 100 percent yours!”)

(“I dunno. He talks like him, acts like him, and now his crests even resemble his. If I hadn't been there when the pup was born, I'd swear someone switched him.”)

His mate rolled her eyes. (“Sesshoumaru's son is full youkai, dog boy. It's quite obvious Inusouta is only quarter.”)

Inuyasha snorted at the mention of his nephew. (“Still…”)

Sesshoumaru and Kagura had, indeed, gone out on a date, set up by Kagome and Sango nearly 18 years ago. The results had been… less than promising, yet something had sparked between them and the tai-youkai took the wind sorceress as his mate within a year. Less than a year later, the heir to the Western Lands, Kanamaru, was born. Now the lad was sixteen, and acted more like Inuyasha than Sesshoumaru would admit to.

Someone in the gene pool definitely got some wires crossed.

Kagome smiled. (“Come on. You know you adore Kana-kun as much as he idolizes you.”)

It was true. Kana-kun, as he was affectionately known by everyone except his expressionless father, looked up to Inuyasha with some sort of hero-worship, much to Sesshoumaru's disgust. Still, the brothers had reconciled somewhat over the years, and they seemed to tolerate each other for short periods of time so that their children could visit with each other. Family, Sesshoumaru had actually admitted, was more important than old grudges.

The hanyou's chest puffed out with pride. (“Of course. Who could blame him, with such a cold bastard for an otousan?”)

Kagome giggled. (“So Sesshoumaru is a chili dog?”)

He raised an eyebrow at her. (“You think you're funny, wench…”)

(“So what are we going to do about our son and the American girl?”)

The silver-haired hanyou looked forward, obviously thinking. (“I think… that if his youkai has already chosen his mate, then there is very little we can do.”)

(“Does it bother you? That he chose an American ningen rather than, say a youkai or even just a Japanese ningen?”)

(“Don't see how that matters. She's got ancestors here in Sengoku Jidai, so she's got some Japanese blood in her, even if it is a few hundred years back. But that doesn't really matter- she is… tolerable. That's what counts.”)

She smiled. (“I think you're impressed with his choice. Admit it- you actually like the girl.”)

He snorted, then crouched down so she could get on his back. (“Come on, wench. I want to find Kuri and her daughter before it gets any darker.”)

A small, comfortable-looking hut was partially hidden in the foliage of the lush forest. A clear stream flowed nearby, an easy, clean source of water. It was an ideal place to hide away from the rest of the world in coziness.

Inuyasha sniffed as they approached the building. (“I can smell lingering traces of two humans and a youkai… no blood, no violence. It looks like the youkai must be living with the two women. You might be right in thinking that it might be a protector/companion like Kirara. The scent is certainly familiar, but I can't place it.”)

Kagome looked around, wishing desperately for her bow and some arrows. She felt safe with Inuyasha, but still… old habits died hard. (“I wonder if it is Kirara… or if she had kittens and one of them grew up and is guarding these two…”)

A fluttering of wings caused both of them to turn around suddenly. Inuyasha sniffed again. (“They're coming back.”) he muttered, cracking his hand.

(“Stop that! They're just ningen women,”) she hissed.

(“The youkai is with them.”)

Kagome swallowed hard. I hope the youkai is friendly to strangers…

Faint talking could be heard, growing closer with each passing moment. Kagome stepped closer to Inuyasha, drawing strength and courage from his presence.

A few moments went by and the foliage in front of them parted, revealing an extraordinarily lovely woman, accompanied by a younger, more petite woman, both dressed in simple summer kimonos. They laughed and joked, obviously not worried about the threats of the youkai in the surrounding forest that might come out in the encroaching darkness.

They stopped when they saw Inuyasha and Kagome standing outside their home. The older one, obviously Kuri, stepped in front of her daughter. (“Who are you? How did you find this place?”)

Kagome stepped forward. (“Excuse me… are you Kuri-san?”)

The woman's eyes went wide with surprise. (“I am… How do you know that?”)

Inuyasha sniffed. (“Where's the youkai? I know it's around here somewhere.”)

The younger woman- Kohaku, presumably- gasped with worry. (“Why? What are you going to do to my husband?”)

Both the hanyou and the miko stared at her in shock. (“H-husband?”) Kagome managed to sputter out.

Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged a glance. That changed some of their speculations. No wonder the daughter's husband's name wasn't listed. Who would want to admit to having a youkai in their family tree of ningens? Look at Inuyasha's family. If his mother's family had kept a record of their family, more than likely Inuyasha and his father were not on it.

That must have been the secret Amber's grandmother insisted she find out about: that there was a youkai in her ancestry. But how would that affect Amber, 500 years and multiple generations later? Perhaps it was just the knowing that mattered to the old woman.

The silver-haired hanyou sniffed. (“Here he comes,”) he said with a perplexed look on his face. What did he smell? Was it a male cat-youkai, one of Kirara's kittens all grown up? Nothing made sense anymore.

(“Kohaku? Itoshii, what's wrong?”) a worried, masculine voice drifted out of the woods.

(“There are two people here,”) she called back nervously. (“A hanyou… and a strangely garbed miko.”)

(“Nani??”)

Foliage rustled as the youkai stepped out of the trees. He was tall, slender, and athletically built, not to mention extremely handsome in the way of most pure-blood youkai in their humanoid forms. His amber-red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and it was so long it nearly reached his waist. Forest green eyes sparkled as he gazed at them. A fanged grin broke out across his face, reaching nearly from pointed ear to pointed ear.

He was garbed in a turquoise haori under a gold fur vest with dark blue hakama, and a long, fluffy tail, about three feet long, trailed behind him. A small child, a hanyou boy with large, golden triangular ears with black tips poking out from his gold-colored hair and matching fluffy tail, was held in one arm and clung to his father's chest with tiny claws. The hanyou had to be only about two years old and wore similar clothing to his youkai father. Kagome gasped in shock as the child looked at her with an old familiar face.

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. Kagome stepped forward, reaching out a hand toward the youkai as tears fell copiously down her cheeks.

(“Shippou…”)

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

A/N: Kanamaru- Powerful. Also in honor of Kanna, who gave up her body to Kagura's soul in Fate after Naraku was defeated.