InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Overcoming the Past ❯ It's Genetic ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and Co. (But I do own Nika, Yukio, Katsuga, Hana, Reiha, Yukino, and Tsukino ^_~.)

'…' Indicates thoughts.

"…" Indicates words.

"Overcoming the Past"

Chapter 16: It's Genetic

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Last Time:

"Kagome, it is your responsibility to recover the Shikon Jewel shards… you were the one to shatter them after all-"

"Yes, and someday, when I am ready, I will finish what I started. It is my duty and my destiny. I am not one to ignore or abandon such things…but I have another duty to perform here and until I do that, I cannot return to you and the others. Your presence only slows me down now Inuyasha," she took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "Please leave and don't come back." Inuyasha stared at her incredulously. Sesshoumaru stepped into the room when he sensed possible trouble.

"Well, Inuyasha, you heard her. Leave and do not return," he commanded, his voice dark and solemn. Inuyasha didn't move and Sesshoumaru approached him, watching as the occupants of the table all stared at him in fear. He knew that his presence commanded such fear and wordless obedience, but he really couldn't care less about that now.

"Why? Father will be here soon enough and I want to be here to see your lands stripped away from you."

This Time:

The tense silence that laced the room was deafening. Sesshoumaru glared at his younger brother, portraying no emotion except hatred toward the hanyou.

"What do you mean, 'father will be here?' Father is long gone Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru's voice was laced with venom and Kagome visibly winced at the sound of it. She saw Inuyasha smirk, knowing he felt superior to his brother because of his knowledge, and feared for his life.

"I just spoke with him. He once told me he would be back when it came time to remove you from power and make me the new lord of the west. You can ask him when he gets here in a few hours," he said arrogantly, his smirk widening at Sesshoumaru's soft growl. "What's the matter? You know I'm telling you the truth, so why fight it? You might as well start packing and accept your fate." While he was talking, Kagome slowly made her way around the table to the babbling idiot and was watching his with a sour expression. Then, she smiled so sweetly at him that it sent a chill up the spine of the Taiyoukai of the Western Lands.

"Inuyasha…" she trailed off pleasantly. Inuyasha stopped his rant and looked at her, annoyance evident on his face.

"What is it now, wench?" he barked.

"OSUWARI!" she yelled vehemently, taking a sadistic pleasure in seeing him smashed through the ivory floor. Sesshoumaru raised a delicate brow and looked at the miko.

"You have destroyed my floor, Kagome. Now I will have to suffer seeing his figure in the floor three times a day during meals until I can get that repaired." Kagome smiled nervously.

"Gomen ne… heh heh…"

"What the fuck was that for, you bitch?" the hanyou bellowed furiously when the spell wore off. He shot up and glared at Kagome.

"Osuwari." BAM! Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru and smiled kindly.

"Sorry about this, but he needs to be disciplined," she explained before turning to Inuyasha and speaking to him with a voice that would suggest he was a young child with a comprehension impairment. "Now Inuyasha… what have I told you about calling people names? What have I told you about using foul language? What have I told you about being an arrogant jerk?" Inuyasha just stared at her spitefully.

"Fuck you, wench… and fuck you too Sesshoumaru! Go to hell!" Kagome shook her head with feigned disappointment.

"Some people never learn… Osuwari." He fell to the floor again. "Okay, I've had enough. You can play with him now, Sesshoumaru-sama," she said and saw Sesshoumaru smile winningly at her. She blushed lightly, but quickly recovered and skipped out of the room after waving to Nika and Yukio to follow her, to which they happily complied.

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Inutaisho arrived at his old home to find a human, accompanied by his niece and nephew, strolling down the path to the garden. He took a moment to examine the girl and noticed how sad and guarded her eyes were, much like Sesshoumaru's, only her mask was overly cheerful instead of stoic. He watched her, graceful and unhurried as she slowly closed the distance between them. When she was close enough to notice his presence, she froze where she stood, the two taiyoukai instantly at her side and watching her in concern. Inutaisho smirked proudly; his invisibility spell was flawless...other than the fact that powerful humans could see it. Then again, he hadn't really expected any humans to be anywhere near Sesshoumaru's fortress.

"Ano...Can I help you, sir?" she hesitantly offered, clearly confused that no one else was acknowledging him. Yukio and Nika began to survey the area and looked at her strangely.

"Kagome, who are you talking to?" Yukio asked her out of concern. "There is nobody there." Kagome ignored him and continued to stare at the taiyoukai.

"You...are you Inuyasha's father? I heard that he was on his way here... or are you his ghost?" she insisted. Inutaisho smiled at her out-going nature and uttered a chant under his breath to dispel the veil of deception.

"You are very persistent, young lady. I am Inutaisho, lord of these lands, just as you said. I didn't expect to find any observant humans like you around here," the demon lord replied jovially as he materialized. Nika and Yukio instinctively took a defensive stance in front of Kagome, but soon relaxed when they saw his face.

"Welcome, Inutaisho-sama. We are honored that you would grace us with your presence earlier than planned." Kagome stared at Nika in disbelief.

"You planned for someone to come back from the land of the dead?" she exclaimed. Nika glared at her and Yukio smiled nervously.

"Well, Kagome-san, from what I understand even humans can return from the land of the dead these days...ne?" Kagome thought about it for a moment before she remembered Kikyou and Rin; they had both been dead once. She nodded in agreement to the neko youkai's statement.

"Yes...but he doesn't feel the same as them. He doesn't feel like he has ever had so much as a taste of death." Kagome looked Inutaisho in the eyes and her own gaze took on a darker, more serious glint. "You never truly died?"

"Not exactly...my body was destroyed, but my spirit remained in this world beyond the time of my death. I had a temporary body made to suit my purpose." Inutaisho couldn't figure out why he was explaining this to a strange human girl. "However, I don't see how it concerns you, human." He was surprised when her energy flared and her aura became filled with irritation.

"Well, it's definitely genetic," she mumbled. Sighing, she tried to calm her anger. "My name is Kagome. I am pretty sure that human is not a part of it...neither is wench, girl, brat, bitch, or anything else you may be tempted to call me, got it?" Her tone was resolute, brooking no opposition. "...and I don't care who you think you are, but you have no right to assign me such titles. If you do, I will make sure you pay...milord." Her friends backed away slightly at the furious look on the demon lord's face.

"How dare you? Who are you to speak to a taiyoukai with such disrespect?" His tone was clipped and barely restrained. It didn't help when Kagome began to giggle.

"The temper is genetic, too," she laughed softly to herself. Nika and Yukio exchanged worried glances; not even they would dare to stand against Inutaisho under normal circumstances...when he was amiable. Whatever Inutaisho was going to say was drowned out by rich laughter, deep and warm. Everyone turned their gazes to Sesshoumaru, who had entered the scene after Inutaisho had made the fatal error of calling Kagome 'human.' He was pleased with the expressions on the faces of the people before him. Nika was still panicking and Yukio was scared shitless. Kagome was staring at him blankly while Inutaisho watched in disbelief as his emotionless son shamelessly laughed at him and an arrogant human child.

"She is very spirited, isn't she father?" he said when he had calmed down. "I haven't seen you so angry since I called the hanyou's mother a 'fucking whore with a foul stench that would destroy the family.'" Kagome raised a curious eyebrow.

"Is the foul language genetic, too?" she prodded agreeably. Sesshoumaru nodded.

"In all honesty, yes. It's just that Inuyasha has no reign over his tongue, or his temper for that matter."

"He isn't so bad unless you provoke him," she countered defensively. Sesshoumaru frowned.

"As he was 'provoked' a few moments ago in the dining room? The hanyou came of his own volition and verbally attacked you without substantial reason. It's inexcusable." Kagome frowned at first, but soon smirked when a thought came to mind.

"I got him back, didn't I?" Nika giggled at that, and Yukio tried not to chuckle.

"Kagome-chan, you did more damage to Sesshy's floor than to Inu-baka's thick head," Nika said. Yukio nodded in sympathetic agreement.

"The poor floor..." he added. Kagome rolled her eyes at their crude jokes and turned to Sesshoumaru, who was glaring daggers at his father.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she said softly, nudging his shoulder and repeating his name a few times when she received no response. She pouted for a moment before grinning insanely. "OH FLUFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Her voice echoed loudly throughout the entire western lands, but the silence that followed was even more deafening. Kagome noticed that everyone, including Sesshoumaru, was now looking at her in shock.

"Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's better than Sesshy! Oh, how cute! I love it! I wanna call him fluffy from now on!!!" came Nika's shrill voice, breaking the intense silence. Yukio began to laugh and point at Sesshoumaru. Said taiyoukai just stood in utter disbelief, switching between glaring at the blushing Kagome and the shrieking Nika.

"I guess that was a little loud..." Kagome said. She laughed nervously when Sesshoumaru didn't say any thing. After a long moment, he finally spoke.

"I'm doomed," came his short response as he watched Nika dance about like a mad woman screaming 'fluffy' at the top of her lungs. He turned back to Kagome. "I hate you." As he said this, Nika climbed on top of him and began to cling. Kagome said nothing but smirked evilly.

"It's going to get better. Inuyasha's on his way over here," she chirped. She turned to Inutaisho and bowed before running in the direction of the garden before the hanyou had a chance to harass her. Inutaisho turned to his older son with a raised eyebrow as his younger son arrived at the scene.

"Are you going to allow such behavior and disrespect from that human to continue? She needs to learn her place. She clearly has no respect for her superiors." Sesshoumaru chuckled.

"I once thought the very same thing about her, father. However, upon closer acquaintance, it becomes evident in her every word that she shows respect to those who deserve it, regardless of class or position. She judges from within." Inutaisho looked at him in amazement. Inuyasha likewise stared in awe at his usually heartless brother. He would never dare tell anyone, but he took great pride in the fact that such a powerful and great taiyoukai was his brother. He even looked up to him... to a certain extent. "Wouldn't you agree, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha looked at his brother incredulously. He was addressing him? And by his name? With respect?

"Why are you asking me?" he questioned warily, not wanting to humiliate himself in front of his father just for Sesshoumaru's twisted pleasure. The taiyoukai sighed in exasperation and rubbed his temple wearily.

"Because you have known her much longer than I. Besides, she was once able to allow others to see her heart, and for some reason, she chose to reveal it plainly to you. Clearly, you were to ignorant to realize such a profound submission." With that, Sesshoumaru began to stalk down the path Kagome had just taken moments before, with Nika clinging to his arm and Yukio trailing close behind. Inuyasha was about to pursue him when he heard a young girl's voice.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, where are you," the child called. When the girl came upon Inuyasha and his father, she looked between the two curiously before grinning. "Hi! Rin's name is Rin and Rin is looking for Sesshoumaru-sama! Have you seen him sonewheres?" Inutaisho narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you? What are you doing at my son's fortress?" he asked coldly. Rin's smile dimmed and she looked at him in confusion.

"Rin is Rin. Sesshoumaru-sama rescued Rin from wolves and takes care of Rin and beats up Jaken-sama when he hits Rin on the head with the ugly staff and Rin picks flowers for him all the time and he pats Rin on the head and lets Rin hug his leg and he played with Rin the other day! We played hide and seek with Shippou-kun and Kagome-chan! Rin liked it and had lots of fun playing with Sesshoumaru-sama the game that Kagome-chan taught Rin and Sesshoumaru-sama had never played with Rin before but he did because Kagome-chan wanted it!" Rin paused and drew in a deep breath, preparing to continue her rant. Inutaisho noticed this and cut her off.

"That is quite enough. Quit your incessant nonsense," the taiyoukai said icily. Inuyasha visibly flinched at his father's harsh tone, but noticed that the little girl was unfazed.

'Well, if she's able to put up with Sesshoumaru for a long time, than I guess she's used to all the coldness...but why would Sesshoumaru care for this little girl? Then again, how couldn't he care? She's so cute and innocent. Heh. Who would've thought that Sesshoumaru had a soft spot for kids?' Inuyasha allowed a soft chuckle to escape his lips, earning a curious look from both Rin and Inutaisho, who had been glaring daggers and the little human smiling up at him.

"What is it you find so funny, Inuyasha?" Inutaisho exclaimed. "Could it be that when I finally manage to get home, I find it overrun by rude, arrogant, inconsiderate ningens? Is that what you find funny?" Inuyasha shook his head.

"I was just wondering how you could be so cruel to a sweet little girl who has done nothing but smile and be friendly," he replied, his tone filled with sarcasm and disdain. "I didn't remember much about your personality, but now I am not so sure if I want to. How can you hate humans so much when you took one as your mate? Or, have you forgotten that I have human blood coursing through my veins, father?" Inuyasha turned to Rin, who was watching them with wide, frightened eyes. His lips curved upward into a faint smile and his eyes softened. "My name is Inuyasha. You called yourself Rin?" Rin nodded and smiled prettily, a soft blush coloring her already rosy cheeks. Inuyasha's smile widened. "Why don't you show me around this place? I haven't been here for a long time and now I don't remember where anything is." He held out a clawed hand to her. Rin hesitated before placing her small hand in his large one and leading him off toward the castle, talking happily about random things like what she would do or play when she was in a certain area. Inuyasha couldn't help but feel happy, too. He already liked the genki girl.

'I guess it's genetic.'

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