InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Present Perfect ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

 

Chapter 18:

 

 

Sesshomaru's car came for them bright and early the next morning. That was fine with Inuyasha, who had been up before dawn. He still wasn't quite used to the time change.

 

Kagome slid into the car next to him with a yawn. She wasn't used to the time yet either. Last night he had held her on her pink bed in her pink room where he'd been a thousand times before. Somehow, with her mother knowing what could be going on, he didn't feel right doing anything else besides holding her close. She was so sleepy that it wasn't an issue in any case.

 

Sesshomaru wasn't in the car. The driver told them he was waiting for them elsewhere. Surprisingly, he stopped in the midst of busy downtown Tokyo, stepping out of the car and formally holding open the door for them. “Please go through there,” he said. “Your brother awaits you.”

 

Inuyasha wondered what was going on. The driver wasn't youkai, and he didn't seem to be aware that Inuyasha was, or at least he didn't remark on it. If he worked for Sesshomaru for any length of time, however, he was bound to know something. Still, this is why they had come here. He took Kagome's hand and walked down the narrow pathway.

 

Halfway through, Inuyasha smelled a faint odor of wolf. He put his hand near his hip where Tetsusaiga would be if it were visible, just in case. The alley opened up onto a tiny courtyard which contained a shrine totally hidden by the surrounding buildings. Kagome had never guessed it was here.

 

A young shrine maiden in traditional clothing greeted them. She looked human except for a streak of green in her hair which Kagome was pretty sure was due to hair-dye, rather than to any otherworldy inheritance. She also looked like Rin, especially when she smiled.

 

Inuyasha realized who she must be at about the same time Kagome did. That explained the wolf-smell. Kouga had said she was his descendant even though she was mostly human. This must be the hanyou Sesshomaru had told them about yesterday. He concentrated, trying to ascertain her level of power. It was at least as much as his new world youkai possessed. And she had miko powers as well.

 

“Welcome,” spoke the young girl. “My name is Mariko and it is an honor to meet you. Lord Sesshomaru has asked me to guide you to the inner shrine.” She bowed formally, and then spoiled it by giggling. As she led them through the outer shrine into yet another passageway, she added, “I can't believe I'm actually talking to you! I grew up on stories about the miko and the hanyou who saved the world not once, but twice.” Her eyes sparkled. “Did you really save the world twice?”

 

“Mariko.”

 

They had reached the inner chamber. Sesshomaru stood in the small space, frowning at the young miko. She was too much like her great-great grandmother. Mariko bowed again, then smiled at him. And, just like with Rin, he could never stay angry at her. “You will have a chance to talk to them later,” he told her. “Don't you have duties to attend to?”

 

“Yes,” she replied, and instead of going out the way she had come in, she left through another door on the opposite side.

 

“She's lovely,” remarked Kagome. “Is this what you wanted to show us? Is this where she is training to be a miko for youkai?”

 

“Very observant,” replied Sesshomaru. “Yes, the shrine you just saw is a safe haven for youkai in the city. There are several of them scattered about. You will see more of them later. Usually they are paired with an actual shrine, as is this one. Mariko practices at the shrine on the opposite side of this inner chamber, which caters to humans. She also comes here, to this shrine, to minister to youkai and hanyou who have need of her services.”

 

“Can we go through to the other shrine?” asked Kagome. She wanted to see where it came out, and if she would recognize it.

 

Sesshomaru's lips twitched. “Perhaps you can, if you wear the robes of a miko. However, I fear if Inuyasha or myself were to be seen coming out of the inner shrine, it might cause a bit of a panic.”

 

Inuyasha grinned at the thought. He imagined Sesshomaru striding out through the inner shrine in his traditional robes. People would probably mistake him for some sort of god and run screaming from the place. His smile faltered. Sesshomaru had said `Inuyasha or myself.' How could humans mistake him for a god? More likely, they'd attack him for his sacrilege.

 

“Ah, that's how it works,” said Kagome. “All this time, and I never knew.”

 

“Why didn't I ever sense other youkai when I came through the well?” asked Inuyasha.

 

“We're very careful, and we avoid crowds whenever possible, unlike you,” replied Sesshomaru, referring to Inuyasha's recklessness in front of humans. “Perhaps if we had known you had survived, we could have set a watch for you. As it was. . . .” Sesshomaru's voice trailed off.

 

Inuyasha realized that only Miroku, Sango and Shippo had known the truth about Kagome's time, and even they had no clear idea of exactly when in the future it was. He couldn't argue with Sesshomaru's reasoning. He did, however, silently berate himself for not having been more observant when he visited Kagome's world. No matter how careful the youkai tried to be, he should have sensed them. He and Kagome had just assumed that there were no more youkai in the modern age, and so he had never looked, either.

 

“Most of us live in villages away from the big cities,” Sesshomaru went on. “We don't have to hide as much in our own villages. Only those of us with ties to the outside world come to the cities on business.”

 

“Are we going to see some of these villages?” Inuyasha wondered if some of them were the same as he remembered—the slayer's village, for instance, or the twins' mountain village. The problem was, things had changed so much over the years that he was completely disoriented.

 

“Yes, but first I want you to meet some youkai who are currently in Tokyo.” He led them back out through the alleyway to the waiting car, and they drove in silence to their next destination, a high-rise office building much like Sesshomaru's office in New York. Odd place for youkai, but then again, if they had business in the human world, they would have to operate in human circles. Inuyasha tried to keep an open mind.

 

Instead of going to a particular office, Sesshomaru brought them to a large conference room on the top floor. The smell of breakfast wafted down the hall as they got off the elevator, along with something else. Even though Inuyasha expected it, he still sucked in his breath. Youkai. More than one.

 

“Hey,” Kouga greeted them. He sat at the long conference table enjoying a variety of breakfast items. “You finally got here—Inuyasha?” Kouga stood up and pushed his chair back. “You—you smell different, more like him.” Kouga gestured towards Sesshomaru.

 

Inuyasha ignored the insult, and stared instead at the person sitting on Kouga's right. His eyes and his nose told him two different things. Kagome walked right up to the young man who stared back at her apprehensively through bright green eyes.

 

“Shippo?” she asked, hardly daring to believe it was so. The young man, no longer a child, had reddish hair like Shippo, but he was tall, and handsome, and absolutely shaking with emotion. He nodded, and gulped. Kagome hugged him, her eyes welling over. “Inuyasha, it's Shippo,” she said, smiling through her tears.

 

“Shippo,” he repeated. It was him. Inuyasha felt his own face break out into a wide smile. “Shippo.” He stuck out his hand, like he had learned, and Shippo leaned over to shake hands with him. However, Inuyasha didn't let go. He pulled Shippo out of his chair and gave him a hug, too, patting him awkwardly on the back with his other hand. “You've grown.”

 

Shippo laughed at that. “Yeah,” he agreed. “It's been a long time. I thought you were dead,” he told Inuyasha. “And I couldn't remember—“ he glanced nervously at Kouga and Sesshomaru, and didn't finish his sentence. Even now, he kept their secret. Inuyasha was proud of him.

 

“It's Ok,” he said.

 

There were others at the table, too. He didn't know them, but he could feel their strength. Two of them were hanyou. Sesshomaru introduced them. It turned out that one of the hanyou men was Kouga's grandson, and one of the youkai was his son, the same son that Inuyasha had, would, save in a few weeks' time, give or take five centuries. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

 

The other hanyou was a descendant of Miroku and Sango as well, and the last person was a full youkai, very young but with tremendous power. Inuyasha sniffed, but he couldn't identify the scent. He had never met this youkai before. He could understand why Sesshomaru had gathered all the others here—they were connected to him in some way. But who was this new youkai and why was he included in this group? Inuyasha looked questioningly at Sesshomaru, who merely shrugged. It would have to wait.

 

They ate breakfast and reminisced about old times, as the younger youkai and hanyou listened raptly to stories that they had only thought legends till now. Kagome and Inuyasha spoke of Miroku, Sango and Rin as if it had been just yesterday that they had seen them. Only Shippo and Sesshomaru knew that, for them, it really was only a few months.

 

Finally, curiosity about the unknown youkai got the better of Inuyasha. “Ok, who, exactly, are you?” he asked the young man who practically radiated power.

 

The youkai looked startled, as if he didn't quite understand what Inuyasha meant. He realized belatedly that Inuyasha was referring to his ancestry in the feudal days they had been discussing. “Oh, uh, Kohaku and Rin were my. . .” His eyes rolled up as he tried to calculate the actual relationship.

 

Kouga chuckled. “I think that would be great-great,” he answered for the young youkai. He then clarified it for Inuyasha. “Kohaku and Rin were both human, so their kids were human. But we were all family. Some of their kids married youkai and hanyou, who married other youkai or hanyou, and so on and so forth.”

 

“I still don't get it,” said Inuyasha. “He's youkai. How can he be youkai if he has human blood?”

 

Kouga quirked his eyebrow. “How can you smell like a pure youkai when I know you're a hanyou?” he countered.

 

Inuyasha had no reply. His secret was out of the bag. He didn't doubt that it was possible, given enough generations, for a pure youkai to be born of such combinations. He couldn't even argue that someone born hanyou like him had the potential to become full youkai, since he had done that himself. But this kid had power, too. Was it because of his human blood that this kid was more powerful?

 

Kagome spoke up. “Rin was a miko,” she said. “I wonder if that had anything to do with it.” Sesshomaru nodded his head, pleased that she had made the connection. Kagome turned to the young youkai. “So, how are you related to Mariko, then?”

 

“We're cousins,” he admitted.

 

It made sense, thought Inuyasha. Mariko was mostly human, yet she was powerful, too. Maybe it was the combination of blood that gave it strength, instead of weakening it, as he had always thought. Maybe that's why his new world youkai were so weak.

 

Now he understood why Sesshomaru had included this youkai in their meeting. Not only was he a direct descendant of Rin who would never have been born if Inuyasha didn't go back, but he was also a powerful full youkai. Sesshomaru was making a point. Inuyasha glanced around the table. All the young ones who were present were alive because Inuyasha went back. He got it. He would have gone back anyway.

 

“Kagome, I'm tired,” he said. “Jet lag. Shippo, call me later today. I want to get together and talk. Kouga, later. It was nice to meet the rest of you. Your ancestors would have been proud to see how you all turned out.” He gave his brother a cold stare. “Sesshomaru.”

 

With that, he walked out of the conference room with Kagome in tow. He hoped she knew her way home from here, `cause he didn't.

 

In the elevator, Kagome asked him, “Jet lag?”

 

“I had to get out of there,” he confessed. “Do you know why he brought us here today?”

 

“I have an idea,” Kagome answered. “Inuyasha, he's scared. He's worried that you'll change your mind and refuse to go back. He doesn't know you like I do.”

 

Inuyasha sighed. “I know,” he replied. “But it still bugs me.”

 

They took a bus back to the shrine. Inuyasha wasn't surprised to get a phone message from Sesshomaru. He deleted it. He'd call Sesshomaru tomorrow when he calmed down. Right now, he really did feel a little tired. He'd take a nap with Kagome, then he'd contact Shippo in the afternoon. Let Shippo tell his brother that everything was still Ok. Or not. Let Sesshomaru sweat.