InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Someone To Watch Over Me - One Shots ❯ Benjiro's Last Night ( One-Shot )

~*~*~Benjiro's Last Night~*~*~

 

 

****November 24, 1986****

 

 

Higurashi Benjiro smiled warmly at the six year old girl that climbed into his lap. Taking the book from her hands, he shook his head and chuckled. Hugging her close to his chest with one arm, he kissed her hair and tucked her shiny dark locks behind her ear. Holding the book in his hand, he looked into her bright eyes and saw both his past and his future in the chocolate depths.

 

“Beauty and the Beast again, Kagome?” he asked her, watching as she nodded anxiously as she waited for him to read her the story. “Did you brush your teeth?” He chuckled when she smiled and drew back her lips as far as she could to show him her clean teeth.

 

“I'm losing my `ooth,” she said as she wiggled the tooth in question with her tongue.

 

“So I see.” He shook his head as he watched the second tooth behind her front left incisor wiggle slightly.

 

Benjiro cuddled her in his arms as they sat on the couch; a grey fur ball of a cat stretched out along the back of the couch behind them, one front and one rear leg hung down over the cushions. Looking down upon his daughter as she stared at the book waiting for him to read it, he was assailed by a memory that though strangely foreign was also familiar enough to be his own.

 

 

In another time so far removed he found himself to be sitting high up in a tree. His long silver hair was caught up in a tight pony tail, its length trailing down over his shoulder and across his chest. Twin lengths of fur, his Mokomoko-sama, were curled over his shoulder and seemed to become a part of the fancy silk kimono he wore that bespoke a high royal status.

 

“Papa!”

 

Looking up from his blue striped hands, he smiled down upon the silver haired child below him. He watched as a short green light came out of the boy's claws and formed a whip. Snapping his wrist, the boy used the whip to cut neatly through a pecan shell, leaving the nutmeat inside untouched.

 

“Excellently done, Sesshoumaru!” he praised his son.

 

 

 

Benjiro shook his head slowly as the memory faded. He'd had those dreams for as long as he could remember. Images, voices, memories of a past life lived so long ago; they'd always been there with him, reminding him who he was, a part of his life that had somehow become something akin to a best friend.

 

“Papa?”

 

He looked down at his daughter and a smile trembled on his lips. This little girl had the power to change the world, and she didn't even know it, so pure was her heart. Hugging her tight for a short moment, he opened the book and began to read. He knew the story by heart, having read it to her so many times that the pages were soft and slightly feathered from the constant handling, but he turned the pages anyway because Kagome loved the pictures.

 

Moments later Kina smiled upon father and daughter from her position within the doorway leading in from the main hall. She'd put their thirteen month old son, Souta, to sleep in his crib in their room and had come back down in time to see the ending of the story. Kagome was dozing lightly in her father's arms.

 

“Kina,” he called to her softly and watched her with passion burning in his eyes as she walked toward him. “What is it?” he asked, seeing the worried frown that crossed her face before she could hide it.

 

“I don't know,” she said, tucking her recently cut, jaw length hair behind her ear, only for it to spring forwards once more.

 

Taking her husband's hand, Kina sat beside him, tucking her leg beneath her on the couch. She tucked herself into his side as his arm wrapped around her shoulder. The worried frown once more marred her brow as she struggled to find the right words to express her thoughts, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

 

“It's just…Shiro.” Kina didn't bat an eye when Benjiro growled low in his throat sounding angry and protective all at once. “He's been acting strange…mumbling to himself and spending a lot of time in the store house. I think he and Patricia are fighting again…I called her this morning, and she said she was in Montana visiting her parents. But why wouldn't Shiro mention that she was gone? Why wouldn't he go with her?”

 

“You want I should talk with him?” he asked upon a whispered sigh and kissed her temple.

 

“I don't know,” she said, her voice uncertain.

 

“Take our little angel up to bed,” Benjiro told her, carefully setting Kagome on his wife's lap before standing.

 

“Ben,” he looked back at her, “don't forget to check for monsters.”

 

He gave a little half smile at the mention of his nightly ritual with Kagome and bent low, kissing both his wife and sleeping daughter.

 

“I won't, love.”

 

Kina watched her husband walk into the kitchen and listened as the back door opened and closed. The nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right wouldn't leave her alone.

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

Benjiro walked silently through the shrine grounds; funny how he could always see clearly in the dark. He stopped halfway to the storehouse, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. His eyes narrowed, and he could feel every single muscle within his body tighten and ready itself to spring into action. He didn't even realize he was growling until the sound reached his ears.

 

He flexed his hands at his sides; his nails and the tips of his fingers tingling as the blood surged through them. Had anyone looked out the window at him then they wouldn't have believed their eyes. Benjiro's form flickered as another seemed to superimpose itself on top the new image ghost-like but powerful nonetheless. Long silver hair that shined like the moon itself was caught up in a ponytail and hung down low to just below his hips. Fierce golden eyes stared out of a snowy white face adorned by two blue slashes on either cheek. A fancy kimono that bespoke the highest of royal status was covered by gleaming spiked armor as a source less light shined off the very tops of the hilts of the three swords that were strapped to his hips. Deadly claws extended from snowy hands that were adorned by the same blue stripes as his face; black boots rested upon his feet.

 

The soul within his own fought to break free. There was no question in Benjiro's mind that his family was somehow in danger and that it was Shiro who had brought the danger upon them. He growled low; his hands balling into tight fists at his sides. Benjiro's form stabilized, his eyes still flashing between his own dark brown and the gold of the inu youkai spirit within him. He walked with purpose to the storehouse, this would be the last time Shiro would be a threat to his family. The very last.

 

Benjiro entered the storehouse looking at once both regal and ready for battle. He saw Shiro standing near a table that didn't belong there. Papers were spread across its surface, some so ancient they were crumbling and others looking as though they'd just been printed off a computer, yet others still looked to be torn from inside books. One item though stood out like a beacon, catching and holding Benjiro's attention - a picture of Kagome.

 

“Shiro.” Benjiro spoke his brother-in-law's name like a command paying no heed to the deepening of his voice.

 

“Benjiro,” Shiro returned, not even attempting to hide what he'd been doing. “Or should I call you Inu no Taisho?” The man gave a disrespecting half bow, his eyes never leaving Benjiro's. “Great Dog of the West.”

 

Benjiro's jaw tightened, a muscle in his cheek ticking with irritation. Reaching into his pants pocket he felt for the envelope that held within the note he had written earlier that day when the feeling of finality had first begun. The envelope was address simply to Hikata Hakkaku, and only one line was written in the note - Protect my family.

 

“Think yourself not above my law, hanyou,” Benjiro growled, his voice not his own as his form once again began to flicker. “I know whose reincarnation you are…Naraku.”

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

The darkness of the room startled the child as she jerked awake in her bed. There was no moon tonight; she couldn't even see the stars outside her window. She could always see the stars out her window. Kagome could remember her father reading the story to her but not finishing it. He hadn't checked for monsters, either. Only her father could scare away the monsters.

 

The wind outside blew the bare tree branches against her window, the tips of the branches tapping and scratching against the glass like the claws of a hungry beast. Squeaking in fear, Kagome watched as the shadows moved across the floor of her room. Looking around the room, she searched for her one source of solace in the darkness and was scared to find that her Hello Kitty night-light had not been turned on.

 

“Papa,” her voice was a trembling whisper, “you didn't check for monsters.”

 

Kagome slipped from her bed and donned her robe and slippers before sneaking out of her room. The hallway was empty and dark, the house quiet. She knew without having to check that her father was not in the house. Somehow she had always known where her father was, never having to ask; it was second nature to her.

 

“Papa's in the store house.”

 

Slipping back into her room, she didn't bother turning on the room's light as she went to the bedside table and opened the drawer. Feeling around inside, Kagome found what she was looking for and wrapped her hand around the cylindrical object. Retrieving her Hello Kitty flashlight from the drawer, she slipped it into the single pocket of her robe.

 

Her slippers made a soft shushing slap sound as she shuffled down the hallway and made her way to the stairs. Her small hand clutched the smooth polished wood of the banister, keeping a tight hold on it even as she slid her palm down over the smooth wood. The sound of her slippers on the stairs were like gunshots in her ears as she tried her best to be quiet so that she wouldn't wake her mother or grandfather.

 

It was dark: an inky blackness that seemed to blanket the world and hide everything in frightening angry shadows. There was no moon tonight; even the stars seemed to be hidden from view. There was no wind, nothing to stir the dead leaves on the ground, wet from the rains the day before. Across the shrine grounds light spilled into the night from the sliding doors of the storehouse that stood open only a bare inch or two. There were voices inside, muted so as not to disturb those sleeping in the house; one angry, one protective.

 

Across the grounds a door opened; a soft beam of light from a child's pink Hello Kitty flashlight flickered into the yard. A small foot covered by a white cat faced, open toed slipper shuffled between the open door and the frame as a young girl slipped outside as quietly as could be. Her black hair disappeared in the darkness; only the two red elastic hair ties that held the locks in low pigtails could be discerned. A long pink and yellow robe with white flowers on it was wrapped around the girl's slight frame, hiding her body and nightclothes from view.

 

A soft mewl from near her feet drew her attention and with a sift hiss she bent down. Switching off her flashlight and slipping it into the single pocket of her robe, she waved her hands, fingers down, palm up as she pushed the animal back inside only to have it try to escape again.

 

“No, stay,” she whispered to the small grey cat as she closed the door with as little sound as possible, the click of the tongue in the latch sounding loud in her ears.

 

Removing the thin pink flashlight from her pocket, the young girl fumbled with the large pink cat head shaped switch. Shaking the device and willing it to work, she was nearly blinded when it finally turned on, the light shining directly in her eyes. Blinking rapidly as she directed the beam in front of her, she took a deep breath. Biting her bottom lip, she summoned up her courage, standing to her full six year old height and moved out into the shrine grounds. Her steps were slow, unsteady; her attention undivided as she focused on the light coming from the doors of the shrine house. A sense of foreboding hastened her steps. Her father was in that shed. He hadn't come in to check for monsters in her room before she was tucked in for bed. He always checked for monsters before she went to sleep.

 

 

 

 

Benjiro stood stiffly, in his eyes shone a dangerous protective gleam as he stared down Shiro. This man, this reincarnated monster, wanted his daughter. Although Benjiro knew whose reincarnation Shiro was, he didn't know, didn't understand what his daughter had to do with it all.

 

“You will not touch my daughter,” Benjiro warned, his voice rumbling as he growled low, his dark brown eyes ringed by a bright fierce gold.

 

“You weren't alive then to face me, Great Dog. Do you really think you can take me now? I'm more powerful than you are.”

 

 

 

 

“Papa?” her breath caught in her throat as she stopped cold.

 

Her eyes were wide, terrified, her body trembling with a staggering cold that only she could feel. She could fell it, couldn't she? The darkness: the evil. The overwhelming feeling that her father was in danger drove her forward, her feet moving faster than her mind could comprehend. She slipped, catching herself on the very next step and realized absently that she had lost her slippers and was now barefoot. Wet leaves stuck to her feet; small stones cut and scratched at her soles, but still she ran.

 

Sniffling back desperate tears, her breath coming in broken stilted gasps, she didn't notice when her flashlight fell from her hands clattering to the ground and shattering the plastic feline head that was the light switch. All the girl knew was that she wasn't moving fast enough.

 

 

 

 

Benjiro's form flickered again, the creed of the inu youkai ingrained in his spirit as well - Protect your family above all else. He moved to attack Shiro in the same moment that the doors behind him were thrown open, distracting him.

 

“Papa!” Kagome cried out, stumbling into the doors as she pushed them open.

 

Her eyes widened, her voice leaving her as she watched her uncle put his hand to her father's chest. A malicious sneer twisted the man's face as a dark shadow; a black sphere infused with a sickly dark purple light was pushed from her uncle's hand into her father's chest. Kagome watched as her father's face tightened in agony, Benjiro refusing to cry out for fear of scaring his daughter.

 

“Run, Kagome.” His voice was raspy, his eyes, so familiar yet not his own. “Run,” he commanded again, but the child simply stood there unable to move or look away.

 

“PAPA!!!!!” she keened, wailing as she fell to her knees in the same moment that his body fell to the floor.

 

“You will be mine, miko,” she vaguely heard her uncle say seconds before agonizing pain ripped through her skull, lights flashing behind her eyes.

 

Kagome fell on top of her father, her own body as still as his. Smiling darkly, Shiro gathered up the papers from the table and stuffed them inside his coat, hiding the table back against the far wall of the storage house. Stepping over the dead man, his daughter only unconscious on top of him, he took the papers from his coat and hid them beneath a loose wooden plank on the storehouse wall. Adopting his best tragic ridden expression he returned to the storehouse waiting as he listened to his sister's voice, calling out for her daughter as she came running across the grounds.

 

Long live the Great Dog, he thought snidely, absently stepping on Benjiro's hand.