InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Special delivery ❯ Tying up loose ends (part1) ( Chapter 89 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: saphira404 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.01.2011 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 226 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.01.2011 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 226 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 89: Tying up loose ends (part1)
A/N: Wow years in the making, but here it is, the first part of the last chapter (it was too long, so there will be a second part before the epilogue lol).
Thank you guys for the tremendous love and support you’ve given this fanfiction (and its overwhelmed author)!
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
‘ThinkingR 17;
Sesshoumaru Takahashi was bored. He stared blankly at the white wall opposite the bed he was still confined to as he tightened his hold on the small hand weight with the help of which he was working his injured left arm. He did one last bicep curl, and using his left hand, placed the weight on the bedside table of his hospital room. He was making fast progress with his arm. When he had first awakened from his coma close to a week ago, he had been unable to lift his arm without feeling pain, but now he was able to lift weights with his injured arm. Suikotsu’s extensive tests had shown that Naraku’s enchanted bullet had caused extensive muscle damage. However Sesshoumaru’s body was slowly but surely reconstructing torn muscles and damaged nerves. The dog demon was eager to make the process go faster, and exercised his arm any chance he got despite his doctor’s misgivings. He therefore only made extensive use on the weights when Suikotsu and Kagura were not around. This was why right now even if he wanted to keep working on his arm, he knew he had to stop because it was almost time for Kagura’s daily visit.
‘This damn arm has yet to function as before.’ He thought angrily and clenched his left hand, not even blinking when his claws dug slightly in the fleshy part of his palm.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door of his much hated hospital room was thrown opened.
“Daddy!”
“Dad!”
He smiled at hearing the usual greeting of his daughters. Rin and Kanna wasted no time climbing up into his bed to give him a firm hug as they had become used to in the past few days. He reached with both arms to caress their heads.
“I think we have to Olympians on our hands. Did you see how they ran up to your room? Soon enough we’ll have to make them run track.” Kagura chuckled as she walked over to her little family. She leaned down to press a quick peck on her fiancé’s lips, Rin and Kanna’s delighted giggles resonating in her ears.
“Well they are my nieces.” Hakudoushi boasted proudly. He then turned around to look at his older brother, who he was expecting to speak a snarky remark any time soon as per his habit, but to his surprise Byakuya stayed silent. The only sound which escaped his lips was a deep sigh.
“This is so embarrassing are you still not over this woman?” The youngest of the Fujibayashi children said in clear dismay.
“You’ve obviously never been in love otherwise you would understand the pain I am going through.” Byakuya retorted sending his brother a glare with his bright crimson eyes.
“Boys, boys, please don’t fight. Now especially.” Morio walked further inside the room, and strongly clapped both of his sons on the back. He, his wife, children and granddaughters had come to visit Sesshoumaru, and check on his recovery.
“Yes. Byakuya, Hakudoushi be on your best behavior. Do remember you are now role members for your nieces.” Sakura’s sweetly spoken words let her sons know that she would not allow them to horse around.
“Don’t worry Bya, Ai just isn’t the one for you. I’m sure you’ll find your one true love one day.” Kagura addressed her younger even as her crimson eyes rested on her lover’s golden orbs. She smiled faintly, her eyes glimmering in pure love.
Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes took in his new and extended family. Only a year ago the thought of having such a large boisterous group crowding around him would have grated on his nerves, but he had learned to appreciate having a family. All thanks to Kagura entering his life.
‘She has even managed to make me improve my relationship with my mother.’ The dog demon thought to himself as he easily recalled the talk he had had with Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi the day before she had left for Europe.
***‘Flashback’***
Asuka threw opened the door of her son’s hospital room. She strolled in with strength and confidence, her meltdown of the previous day long forgotten.
“Well Sesshoumaru, go ahead, speak what you wanted to tell me. My plane takes off in five hours, and I have some packing left to do.” The older woman placed her designer purse and scarf on the end of her son’s bed, and stared down into his amber eyes which mirrored hers perfectly. She did not know what her son wanted to talk about, but did not let that shake off her confidence. ‘If I allow him to see a crack in my armor, he will take advantage of it.’
The dog demon finally averted his gaze from his limp left arm to look at his mother. Earlier on today he had sent Jaken to tell the older woman to come see him because he wanted to talk to her. He had not particularly been looking forward to this conversation, but since he had promised his fiancée to make an effort, he was bound to do so.
‘Let us see if Kagura’s theory about mother will prove to be right.’ He thought to himself just before speaking. “Kagura told me that she saw you crying in the hallway yesterday.”
Asuka’s reaction was instantaneous: her face flushed and her eyes thinned in pure anger. “Why that little bitch. How dare she spread such obvious, disgusting lies about one such as…”
Sesshoumaru raised his hand to silence his mother as he really did not want to lay there and listen to Asuka bad mouthing the woman he loved. The fact that she was getting this angry was a pure sign to him that Kagura had been right. ‘Now isn’t that interesting…’
“I was lead to believe that my… dismissal of you has brought on your unusual reaction.”
Asuka scoffed in mock shock. She hated the fact that she had let Kagura, of all people, see her in such an embarrassing situation. ‘I should have expected that damn wind witch to use it against me… but I will not go down this easily.’
“How ridiculous. Contrary to what she may have you believe, your words do not have the ability to wound me.” She lied blatantly, hoping he would not see right through her; unfortunately for her, he did. In fact he did not like to see the closed off look that suddenly came over her.
“In any case I offer my apologies.” He may hate having to set his pride aside and apologize to his mother, but he had promised Kagura he would. For some reason unknown to him, she seemed to want to see a reconciliation between him and his mother. ‘Kagura never asks for much, I guess I could indulge her in this.’
Asuka was taken aback by his words. The last thing she had expected was to have Sesshoumaru apologize for his harsh words of the previous day. “Well that is unexpected.” She tentatively sat on the bed next to his left arm. “The last thing I would have expected would be an apology. Does that mean you have reconsidered my… hum… proposition?”
“Mother.” Sesshoumaru stared deeply in her hopeful golden orbs. “Do not be mistaken. I may have felt… guilt” He struggled to put his feelings into words “about hearing how upset you were yesterday, but I have no intentions of giving you shares of the agency. For some reason Kagura wished for us to reconcile. She believes the family could benefit from the two of us getting along.”
“And of course you would do anything for her. Even making up with the mother you despise.” She knew she sounded better, and wished that it did not hurt her so much to hear that the only reason why her son was now talking to her was because of Kagura. When Jaken had told her Sesshoumaru wished to see her, Asuka had truly believed her son had reconsidered, and would agree to work together with her.
‘How come is it that my own son would reject me was it not for his fiancée?’ She wondered in complete dismay as pain rippled through her chest.
“I do not despise you.” He spoke truthfully, surprise clear in his gaze at seeing she did not seem to believe him. ‘We may not be on the best of terms, but I never realized she believed I thought so lowly of her.’ An uncanny feeling of dismay coursing through him.
“So you claim.” She retorted dryly. “Well no one could blame you, it is not as if we ever had the warmest relationship.” ‘Nor have I been the best mother possible.’ After Sesshoumaru’s rejection of the previous day, she had gone back to her hotel, and with the help of two bottles of expensive old wine had engaged in some soul searching. As much as she tried pushing all thoughts of the wind sorceress from her mind, the older demoness had not been able to prevent herself from comparing her relationship with Sesshoumaru to the one Kagura had with Kanna and the newly adopted Rin. The fierceness for which she fought for her daughters, and the love she openly and so easily showered on them made Asuka envious. She only wished that she was able to have such a relationship with her son.
‘From the moment he was born, I didn’t know how to deal with him. Taisho hired nannies, so I never had to do anything for Sesshoumaru. Unlike my mother I didn’t have to spend all my time changing diapers or feeding and entertaining a baby.’ Thinking of her mother, Asuka could not help but feel that in many ways she was similar to Kagura: a hardworking woman willing to do anything for the daughter she loved. Since she did not want to dwell on her feelings for either her long dead mother, or the wind sorceress, Asuka forced herself to reflect back on her son. ‘Then as he grew up Sesshoumaru was a model boy. He never asked me for anything. He became so independent… since he did not need me, I was free to do as I pleased. And when Taisho left me for Izayoi, I wanted to have nothing to do with him or his son. I shut myself away from Sesshoumaru, and distracted myself with spending as much of Taisho’s money as I could. By getting back at that cheating bastard, I did not know I would be causing myself pain in return. I drove my own son away from me.’ Asuka felt tears pool in her eyes, but forced herself to hold them back. It was bad enough that Kagura had seen her breakdown, but doing so in front of Sesshoumaru was unthinkable.
His mother was not behaving like herself at all, and Sesshoumaru did not know how to handle it. Their conversations usually followed a simple pattern: she asked him for money, and he gave her less than she requested. However they never discussed their feelings or their complicated relationship as they were doing at the moment.
He attempted to lift himself up to look better in his mother’s eyes, but doing so with only one working arm was proving to be harder than he had anticipated. Asuka noticed Sesshoumaru struggling to get his left arm away from her, and her golden eyes thinned in surprise.
“What is wrong with your arm?” For the first time ever the inu youkai sounded genuinely worried, which surprised her son.
“The bullet wound seems to have resulted in some muscle damage.” He struggled to clench his fist in a show of anger. “My arm is weaker than it should be, and is paining me.” It cost him to admit such a thing to his mother, but since he had sworn to improve their relationship, he decided to be honest.
“What! You are an inu youkai. This wound should have healed a long time ago…” Asuka leaned forward to look at his pale stripped arm. “I knew this doctor of yours could not be trusted. This is it! We are going to go see a specialist.”
“Mother. There is no reason to be overdramatic.” He sighed. “Besides I will not let you arrange for me to be flown away to some foreign country. I have no intention of deserting my family again.” He still felt guilty for having stayed in a coma for so long, resulting in his fiancée and daughters being frightened and left alone.
Asuka frowned deeply at seeing her son’s reaction. She could understand and respect his need to want to be near his family, but she did not like the fact that he still refused to see a physician other than Suikotsu when in her eyes the young human had proved himself to be lacking.
“If in a week’s time you are not improved, then whether you like it or not, I will bring a French surgeon I have heard of to come see you.” Asuka returned her son’s fierce glare, letting know that she had no intention of taking no for an answer.
“There will be no need for this. I intend to be fully recovered by then.” Sesshoumaru lied blatantly. When Suikotsu had stopped by earlier in the day to inform his patient of his arm’s condition, the young doctor had pointed out to the dog demon that he did not know how long it would take for his arm to heal completely.
“Good. I am glad to see you have not given up. I would not expect any less from my son.”
Sesshoumaru scoffed slightly. This statement resembled more the mother he was used to. Now that they had reached a truce of some sort, he decided to address another thing he had wanted to bring up.
“I will have Jaken bring you a check later on today. It should be enough to cover your expenses for the next six months.”
Asuka stared at his son for a long time as she mentally wondered about her next action. “In truth, you have no need to worry. My good friend Hortense has begged me spend the winter at her mansion in the South of France. I simply could not pass up such an opportunity, you know how I hate cold weather.”
‘I remember perfectly mother telling me last year that her friend Hortense had moved to India with her husband, and did she not say yesterday that she had reconciled with her German baron?’ The dog demon thought to himself. ‘Why would she lie to me?’ He wondered quite puzzled by his mother’s behavior. ‘Could it be that she does not want me to worry about her…’ The idea that Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi could put him before her own concerns shocked her son. ‘Then is it possible that the reason she wanted shares in the agency was truly not for the money, but because she genuinely wished to help me?’ He was envisioning a whole new side of the mother he had always believed to be selfish and spoiled, and this shocked him beyond words.
“Nevertheless, I will write you a check. In exchange I would like you to take Jaken along with you wherever it is you are going.” ‘Mother will not have a way to spy on me anymore, and I in return will have Jaken appraise me of the going-ons in her life.’ He may hate the fact that her mother had made use of his retainer on several occasions to find out things about his private life, but Sesshoumaru was not above returning the favor.
“Ugh do I really have to suffer the inconvenience of the toad’s presence?!” She asked her son. As much as she was in need of his money to not only pay the hotel room she had been using in town, but also the credit cards she was close to maxing out. Asuka saw the determination burning in her son’s eyes, and gave a sigh of defeat; now that the idea had occurred to the young man, he had no intention of letting it go.
“Oh all right. I guess if he gets too annoying I can always send Jaken back to you.” She told her son as she thought to herself ‘Having a personal retainer to look after me 24/7 might not be that bad actually…’ She then decided that her first order for Jaken would be to have him finish pack up her trunks. The older demoness had always hated packing up despite her love of travels, and having, and was very much looking forward to having Jaken do it for her. “Well, this is probably the most honest conversation we have ever had. Let’s endeavor to do this more often.” Asuka stood up from her spot on her son’s bed. “Now, I do have a plane to catch.”
She picked up her purse and scarf, and walked towards the exit. After opening the door, she then turned around to look at her son lying in the all too white hospital bed.
“Goodbye Sesshoumaru. I do wish you well with that woman of yours.” He had not expected Asuka to thank Kagura for intervening on her behalf, but seeing her speak a sentence without insulting his fiancée, or making a mockery of their family brought him relief.
“Goodbye mother. Have a safe trip.”
Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi sent her only son a brief smile then left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
Sesshoumaru had not expected to hear from his mother until she had run out of money, but to his shock she had had a small parcel delivered to his room a few hours after her departure. He had been surprised and amused to see a small hand weight in it. Even if Kagura did not like it, ever since receiving it, the dog demon had started rigorously exercising his injured left arm. Asuka had had also joined to her gift a personal note that was so typical of his mother. ‘No son of mine will be left with one working arm. Take care of yourself.’
***‘End of Flashback’***
‘This is probably as close to my mother I will ever be.’ Sesshoumaru’s thoughts on his mother were interrupted by the arrival of more people in his hospital room.
“Keh! It’s a real party in here.” Inuyasha commented as he looked around his brother’s hospital room. The young hanyou held his young son in his arms, and had his fiancée walking alongside him.
“We have perfect timing.” Kagome agreed while sending a bright smile to her soon to be extended family. Just thinking about her fiancé’s expanding family she could not help but run a hand over her large pregnant belly.
“I hope there’s still room for more.” Miroku called out loudly as he and his girlfriend strolled into the room as well. Sango held a box of chocolates in her hands. She knew that her former boss would not appreciate such a gesture, but hoped Kagura would. She knew how much the young wind sorceress had suffered as of late, and hoped to brighten her up a little bit. Upon seeing how packed the room was, she placed her gift on the nearby table.
“You had no need to come.” Sesshoumaru’s eyes scanned the faces of all the people present in his hospital room. His sour, annoyed comment went on ignored by everyone except Miroku.
The young human male smiled in the direction of his friend and boss, and gently fanned himself with a thick manila envelope. “Hum does that mean you won’t be needing this? And Myouga put in so much effort to get it ready…”
“What is that human talking about?” The ever curious Hakudoushi turned his lavender eyes on his future brother in-law. Sesshoumaru’s face had turned into a frown after seeing the envelope. He had been waiting for its contents for a few days, but had not anticipated for Miroku and Inuyasha to come deliver it when so many people were in attendance.
“Keh! What’s it to you? Stay out of it kiddo.” Inuyasha retorted. Kagura’s youngest brother had rubbed him the wrong way ever since he had met him at the Fujibayashi mansion.
Kagome, who had always hated tense situations decided to cut through the obvious tensions rising by bringing up what in the past few months had become a beloved topic of conversation for the people around her: her pregnancy.
“Ah I sure could use some rest. My feet are so swollen.” The young dark haired woman walked over to her brother in-law’s bed, and sat next to Rin. The young girl looked curiously at Kagome’s large abdomen. It was her first time being in such close contact to an expecting mother.
“You can touch it if you want. Contrary to my poor feet, that doesn’t hurt.” Rin did as told, and her dark eyes sparkling in wonder placed her hand on the growing mound. Not wanting to be outdone, Kanna reached over her father’s body to touch the place where her future cousin was growing steadily.
‘Is mommy going to be this big when daddy and she have a baby?’ The young void demoness sent the flat stomach of her unsuspecting mother an interesting look.
Kagura looked at her friend suspiciously. This was the first time she had ever heard Kagome complain about her pregnancy ever since the night she had come to the penthouse seeking solace after finding out about her condition.
‘She’s about to start her third trimester, so it’s no wonder she’s tired. I can remember how exhausted I was towards the end with Kanna. Not that Naraku was making things easy for me.’ Only thought of her pseudo father could still fill her with rage, but she chose to focus on more positive feelings. ‘I know that next time will be very different.’ She had seen firsthand how solicitous Inuyasha was towards his Kagome, and Kagura had no doubt Sesshoumaru would be as attentive with her. ‘I can’t wait for us to add a new member to our family. Now that Naraku is no more, there is no threat hanging over our heads.’
“Are you alright my dear? Haku, Bya, go get her something to drink and something to snack on.” Sakura ordered her two sons. When she noticed Kagome open her mouth to protest, she quickly added. “Don’t worry honey, I can remember all too well how tiring a pregnancy can be.”
“Now, come on, off with the two of you.” Heaving a sigh Hakudoushi and Byakuya did as told by their mother and headed towards the door. Their progression was interrupted by one angry hanyou.
“I can take care of my own wench.” Inuyasha sent them a glare chilly enough to rival one of his brother’s famous ones. “Keh! Are you hungry?” He then addressed his fiancée.
“Oh no I just wanted to get off my feet.” Kagome smiled sweetly at her future husband.
“You have no need to explain yourself Kags, I know how irresistible my Sesshoumaru is. It’s no wonder you’d want to cozy up next to him. Just remember he’s mine.” The wind sorceress smiled when her fiancé arched a thin eyebrow in surprise and amusement. Now that Sesshoumaru was clearly improving, and that Naraku was not here to threaten her family, surrounded by her new found friends and family, the young woman felt free to tease the man she intended to spend her life with.
Kagura’s light joke caused Inuyasha to scoff loudly and Kagome to laugh nervously. She had always found Sesshoumaru intimidating, and treasured Kagura too much to want the other woman to mistake her intentions.
“Ah Kagura you’re so hilarious!” Kagome laughed a little too loudly. “Besides Inuyasha is all I need.” To emphasize her point, she struggled to get off the bed due to her growing abdomen, and walked in the arms of her own fiancé.
“Damn straight.” The hanyou beamed proudly, looping a protective arm around the woman he loved.
“You two are so adorable.” Miroku gently teased his best friend. “Would you like us to leave you alone.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Before Inuyasha had a chance to snap at him, Sango jabbed him strongly in the ribs. “Do not project your pervert tendencies on my friends; especially in the presence of children.” Her chocolate colored eyes darted firstly towards Shippou, who was next to his father, then Rin and Kanna. The two little girls were still sitting next to their own father in his hospital bed.
“What I would appreciate Miroku, would be you getting a certain half dog demon we all know to help a out more with wedding preparations. At the rate things are going, this child is going to enter preschool before his parents are married.” Kagome sighed, a frown marring her usually cheerful face.
“You couldn’t expect me to think about your wedding ceremony when my brother was in the hospital. The bast… jerk getting shot forced me to take on more responsibilities at the agency.” Inuyasha quickly defended himself.
Sesshoumaru scoffed at his younger half brother’s words. “Inuyasha, when will you stop blaming your inabilities and shortcomings on this Sesshoumaru.”
Kagura would have smacked her fiancé, and asked him to play nice, but the glint of pleasure present in the amber eyes of both brothers did not go unnoticed by her. ‘I guess things are getting back to normal. This is just the way these two will always be…’
“Your wedding?!” Kagome echoed, her thoughts not travelling upon the same road as her future sister in-law. “I didn’t know I was marrying myself.” Shippou, Hakudoushi and Miroku snorted in unison, earning each of them a scowl and a glare from Inuyasha.
“Feh! Why are you always twisting everything I say wench?!”
“Because you talk like an insensitive jerk.” Kagome countered.
“All this talk of marriage, love and pregnancies is getting me even more depressed than before. All you guys did was remind me that Ai dumped me.” Byakuya sighed mournfully.
“Can’t say I’m surprised seeing how you’re just mopping around all the time.” His brother quipped in response.
“Ugh! You two are behaving worse than children.” Morio shook his head in dismay. He was embarrassed to see his sons behaving so badly in the presence of the recovering Sesshoumaru and his friends and family. “Byakuya.” He turned towards his eldest son. “Ai did not break up with you since the two of you never even went on a date.” His plain statement of the truth caused his first son to sigh even deeper, and the second one to snicker. “And you Hakudoushi, need to adjust your attitude towards others. Don’t think you’re too old to get a spanking.” This time around it was Byakuya who let out an amused snort.
Sakura sighed upon hearing her husband put their sons back in their place. ‘I really cannot take these guys out anywhere.’ The door of the hospital room was thrown opened, and the void demoness smiled. ‘What a perfect timing for a distraction!’
When Suikotsu came in to look in on his most important patient, he had not expected to see his room be this full. Whispering apologies as he bumped against different bodies, Suikotsu managed to slither through the crowd of people to reach his patient’s bedside.
The young human doctor turned towards “I’m sorry to disturb everyone, but I’ll have to cut the visit short. I need to check on Sesshoumaru.”
“Just as well, we were about to take off. Inuyasha, Shippou and are going to meet up with Ji-chan to talk about the wedding.” Kagome smiled happily. Now that Kanna was back with her family and Sesshoumaru had awakened from his coma, the preparations for her upcoming wedding had resumed, and she couldn’t be happier. “We were just stopping by to see how Sesshoumaru was doing.”
“Which was unnecessary.” Her brother in-law to be interjected. His response caused Kagome to pout slightly, and Inuyasha to chuckle.
“Don’t tell me you’re hurt by his words. You know that my brother is an insensitive assh… jerk.” Inuyasha quickly amended when he remembered who was standing next to him. In order to help her fiancé get rid of his potty mouth, Kagome had put in place a system in which each time he cursed, Inuyasha had to pay their son.
“I guess that’s one dollar less into my pocky found.” Shippou lamented his father’s newfound ability to control his language.
“Feh! You’re not going to get any more money out of me, you little runt.”
Shippou grinned in response to his father’s boast. “You called me a runt, that’s five dollars for me.”
Inuyasha pretended not to have heard his son’s reminder that calling him a ‘runt’ had been forbidden by Kagome as well. “Come on wench, your gramps must be waiting for us. See ya later Sesshoumaru.” Dragging along his fiancée and son, Inuyasha made a swift exit.
“You should do the same Miroku. I do not pay you to stand around.” Sesshoumaru said in comment to his brother’s departure.
“Your wish is my command boss. I believe I am entitled to a lunch break, so before going back I’ll be taking my beautiful girlfriend on a celebratory lunch.” Despite his easygoing smile, he sent his boss a hard meaningful glance when he placed the heavy envelope on the side table next to the box of chocolates Sango had brought.
“What exactly will we be celebrating?” Sango asked her boyfriend as she allowed him to loop his arm around hers.
“The fact that I am madly in love with you of course.” He picked up her hand to give it a chaste kiss. Considering that they were surrounded by Kagura’s family he contented himself with that even if he was burning to have another taste of her delicious lips. ‘Well there’s plenty of time for that after lunch.’
Sango blushed. She loved her Miroku, but was still struggling to get used to his fondness for public displays of affection. “Goodbye everyone, I hope you make a full recovery Sesshoumaru.” On this note the young woman and her lover left the hospital room.
“Ah love if only…” Byakuya started, but his exasperated brother interrupted him.
“Ah I believe we should take our leave a well.” Hakudoushi suggested, hoping his parents would agree.
“Alright, let me take you home.” Morio shook his head in dismay before clapping his eldest son on the back. He who until he had met his wife had been a real Casanova could not understand how his son could turn out to be so overly emotional after being turned down by one woman.
“Hum I believe this would be for the best. Kagura, do you want me to take the girls home for now?” Sakura asked her daughter.
“No, please!” Kanna protested as she clung to her father’s arm.
“Can we stay longer?” Rin asked politely.
Kagura pondered on her mother’s question and her daughters’ plea. Just as she was about to let them know her decision, Suikotsu intervened.
“Not to worry girls. Soon enough you’ll have your daddy all to yourselves. I believe that in a day or two he’ll be able to go back home.” The young doctor smiled at seeing the joy plainly displayed on the girls’ faces. “That is if Kagura agrees to keep a close eye on him.”
“You know I will.” The wind sorceress vowed, her love filled gaze locking on the object of her affections.
“That’s marvelous! Come on girls, we have lots of work to do on the penthouse before your dad comes back home.” Sakura headed for the bed, and in a few moments held both Kanna and Rin holding on to her two hands.
“Work?” Sesshoumaru echoed. He did not like the idea of his would be mother in-law going into his house to arrange things to her liking.
“It’s a surprise daddy!” Rin smiled broadly in his direction, displaying a missing tooth.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise, ready to question his daughters further, but Kanna intervened before he could. “We can’t tell you or it’s not a surprise anymore.”
Since he could not argue with their logic, he simply smiled. ‘Besides I am sure any change they make can be undone if it is not to my liking.’ He reasoned with himself. He was just glad to know he would be getting home soon.
Kagura smiled blissfully at seeing the happiness shinning in her family members. ‘Soon everything will be as it should have been from the start.’
“I’ll go downstairs with you guys while Suikotsu looks over Sesshoumaru.” The wind sorceress addressed her mother and daughters. “I have to talk to Mukotsu anyways.” This time around she turned towards her fiancé. The previous day Sesshoumaru had written her a check to give to Mukotsu in payment for his services. When she had seen the amount scribbled on the check, she had been astounded, but as her dog demon lover had pointed out to her, the pudgy human had saved his life, and a price could not be put on that.
Sesshoumaru nodded back at Kagura as he suspected the reason why she wanted to speak with the potion master.
“Good all’s settled. Can we go now?” Hakudoushi sighed in exasperation.
“Fin, fine. We’re leaving.” Hearing and seeing his son’s reaction, Morio sighed as well, but in annoyance. He placed a big hand on both of his son’s shoulders, and steered them towards the exit.
“All right girls, kiss your dad goodbye, and we’ll go work on our surprise.” Sakura let go of her granddaughters’ hands, and both little girls reached up to press a kiss on their father’s stripped cheek. Giggling over their little secret, Sakura, Rin and Kanna followed after their three mal family members, and left as well.
“Kagura.” Sesshoumaru asked after everyone else had left. “What exactly are they planning.”
The wind sorceress chuckled at seeing the expectant look in his eyes. “I’m not going to let you know. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too drastic.” She blew him a kiss, and left the room before he could question her further.
Suikotsu chuckled at seeing the slight scowl on his patient’s face. The doctor’s reaction caused the scowl to deepen. “Just get on with this.” The dog demo raised his left arm for Suikotsu’s closer inspection. He wanted the other man to finish checking on the progress of his arm before Kagura came back. He had business to address with his fiancée, and did not want any witnesses.
‘I hope that Kagura will take this news well.’ He thought worriedly as his amber eyes rested on the thick envelope Miroku had left on the table for him.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000000000000000000
Touran looked one more at the address scribbled on the piece of paper clutched in her clawed hand.
“Yep, here it is.” She muttered to herself. The young demoness opened the door of her car, and got out in a swift motion. In a matter of minutes she had crossed the small residential street, and was standing in front of a typical white picket fence suburban house.
‘Why would anyone ever want to live in such a depressing place?’ The young woman had always lived in suburban areas, and could not imagine living away from the fast paced city life. After all she did rely on it in order to get the information needed for her line of work. Greasy shady bars were often full of people willing to spill their guts for enough money, or a few drinks.
‘Hopefully this guy will be just as forthcoming when it comes to giving me the information I need.’ Touran mentally went over the information she had on the young man she was going to speak to. ‘Divorced father of a six year old son. Boring accountant living a boring life in the boring suburbs…’
Upon reaching the blue painted front door of the house she had been looking for, she wasted no time ringing the bell repeatedly. Her keen ears heard a shuffling noise on the other side of the door before it was thrown opened.
“Hello! Who are you?” A young brown eyed and brown haired boy asked looking up at her.
Before she had a chance to answer, loud steps came from inside the room. “Jin-chan! How many times have I told you not to open the door?!” An older version of the little boy appeared in front of Touran.
“My name is Touran, and I have a few questions for you.” She told the man, who she recognized as being her target from the pictures she had encountered during her research. ‘Hum he doesn’t look as boring in person.’ Her sharp pale blue eyes lowered to his lean hips encased in a pair of well worn jeans.
“No thank you.” The man responded as he pushed his son behind him, and readied himself to close the door.
“Do you know a man named Jinsei?” Her simple question caused the man to pale considerably and halt all movement.
“Dad, how did she know my name?” The boy piped up from behind the man’s larger form.
“Jin, go in the kitchen to get a snack… Miss Touran and I are going to talk.” He knew his voice was shaky, but did his best to sound as normal as possible not to upset his young child.
“Awesome!” Jin exclaimed before scampering towards the kitchen to get cookies before his father changed his mind. It was after all very rare that his dad would allow him to eat in between meals.
“He’s gone now, we can talk… What about my brother is he… is Jinsei alright?” The young father ran a tongue over his suddenly dry lips. He had longed for an answer to this question for so long, that the prospect of finally finding about his younger brother’s fate scared him.
“Well Mister Akio, your brother now goes by Jakotsu, and he has done quite well for himself.”
“Oh thank God!” Akio Sato was overcome by such relief that he could almost feel his knees buckle with relief. “Where is he? I need to see him.”
The more Touran looked at the man Sesshoumaru had charged her with finding the less she believed he was related to the flamboyant Jakotsu. ‘These two brothers are as opposite as possible… not unlike Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha…’
“Well that would depend entirely on you.” Touran smiled broadly, revealing her sharp fangs. As fun as toying with the distraught human male might be, she knew that she had to follow her boss’s plan sharply.
To be continued…
A/N: As I said before there was just too much stuff I wanted to include in the last chapter, and had no choice, but to cut it in two. Part two will be available soon enough. Then there will be the much awaited epilogue. There’s still some drama to come Tying up loose ends (Part 2).
Converting /tmp/phpQasCMb to /dev/stdout
A/N: Wow years in the making, but here it is, the first part of the last chapter (it was too long, so there will be a second part before the epilogue lol).
Thank you guys for the tremendous love and support you’ve given this fanfiction (and its overwhelmed author)!
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
‘ThinkingR 17;
Sesshoumaru Takahashi was bored. He stared blankly at the white wall opposite the bed he was still confined to as he tightened his hold on the small hand weight with the help of which he was working his injured left arm. He did one last bicep curl, and using his left hand, placed the weight on the bedside table of his hospital room. He was making fast progress with his arm. When he had first awakened from his coma close to a week ago, he had been unable to lift his arm without feeling pain, but now he was able to lift weights with his injured arm. Suikotsu’s extensive tests had shown that Naraku’s enchanted bullet had caused extensive muscle damage. However Sesshoumaru’s body was slowly but surely reconstructing torn muscles and damaged nerves. The dog demon was eager to make the process go faster, and exercised his arm any chance he got despite his doctor’s misgivings. He therefore only made extensive use on the weights when Suikotsu and Kagura were not around. This was why right now even if he wanted to keep working on his arm, he knew he had to stop because it was almost time for Kagura’s daily visit.
‘This damn arm has yet to function as before.’ He thought angrily and clenched his left hand, not even blinking when his claws dug slightly in the fleshy part of his palm.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door of his much hated hospital room was thrown opened.
“Daddy!”
“Dad!”
He smiled at hearing the usual greeting of his daughters. Rin and Kanna wasted no time climbing up into his bed to give him a firm hug as they had become used to in the past few days. He reached with both arms to caress their heads.
“I think we have to Olympians on our hands. Did you see how they ran up to your room? Soon enough we’ll have to make them run track.” Kagura chuckled as she walked over to her little family. She leaned down to press a quick peck on her fiancé’s lips, Rin and Kanna’s delighted giggles resonating in her ears.
“Well they are my nieces.” Hakudoushi boasted proudly. He then turned around to look at his older brother, who he was expecting to speak a snarky remark any time soon as per his habit, but to his surprise Byakuya stayed silent. The only sound which escaped his lips was a deep sigh.
“This is so embarrassing are you still not over this woman?” The youngest of the Fujibayashi children said in clear dismay.
“You’ve obviously never been in love otherwise you would understand the pain I am going through.” Byakuya retorted sending his brother a glare with his bright crimson eyes.
“Boys, boys, please don’t fight. Now especially.” Morio walked further inside the room, and strongly clapped both of his sons on the back. He, his wife, children and granddaughters had come to visit Sesshoumaru, and check on his recovery.
“Yes. Byakuya, Hakudoushi be on your best behavior. Do remember you are now role members for your nieces.” Sakura’s sweetly spoken words let her sons know that she would not allow them to horse around.
“Don’t worry Bya, Ai just isn’t the one for you. I’m sure you’ll find your one true love one day.” Kagura addressed her younger even as her crimson eyes rested on her lover’s golden orbs. She smiled faintly, her eyes glimmering in pure love.
Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes took in his new and extended family. Only a year ago the thought of having such a large boisterous group crowding around him would have grated on his nerves, but he had learned to appreciate having a family. All thanks to Kagura entering his life.
‘She has even managed to make me improve my relationship with my mother.’ The dog demon thought to himself as he easily recalled the talk he had had with Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi the day before she had left for Europe.
***‘Flashback’***
Asuka threw opened the door of her son’s hospital room. She strolled in with strength and confidence, her meltdown of the previous day long forgotten.
“Well Sesshoumaru, go ahead, speak what you wanted to tell me. My plane takes off in five hours, and I have some packing left to do.” The older woman placed her designer purse and scarf on the end of her son’s bed, and stared down into his amber eyes which mirrored hers perfectly. She did not know what her son wanted to talk about, but did not let that shake off her confidence. ‘If I allow him to see a crack in my armor, he will take advantage of it.’
The dog demon finally averted his gaze from his limp left arm to look at his mother. Earlier on today he had sent Jaken to tell the older woman to come see him because he wanted to talk to her. He had not particularly been looking forward to this conversation, but since he had promised his fiancée to make an effort, he was bound to do so.
‘Let us see if Kagura’s theory about mother will prove to be right.’ He thought to himself just before speaking. “Kagura told me that she saw you crying in the hallway yesterday.”
Asuka’s reaction was instantaneous: her face flushed and her eyes thinned in pure anger. “Why that little bitch. How dare she spread such obvious, disgusting lies about one such as…”
Sesshoumaru raised his hand to silence his mother as he really did not want to lay there and listen to Asuka bad mouthing the woman he loved. The fact that she was getting this angry was a pure sign to him that Kagura had been right. ‘Now isn’t that interesting…’
“I was lead to believe that my… dismissal of you has brought on your unusual reaction.”
Asuka scoffed in mock shock. She hated the fact that she had let Kagura, of all people, see her in such an embarrassing situation. ‘I should have expected that damn wind witch to use it against me… but I will not go down this easily.’
“How ridiculous. Contrary to what she may have you believe, your words do not have the ability to wound me.” She lied blatantly, hoping he would not see right through her; unfortunately for her, he did. In fact he did not like to see the closed off look that suddenly came over her.
“In any case I offer my apologies.” He may hate having to set his pride aside and apologize to his mother, but he had promised Kagura he would. For some reason unknown to him, she seemed to want to see a reconciliation between him and his mother. ‘Kagura never asks for much, I guess I could indulge her in this.’
Asuka was taken aback by his words. The last thing she had expected was to have Sesshoumaru apologize for his harsh words of the previous day. “Well that is unexpected.” She tentatively sat on the bed next to his left arm. “The last thing I would have expected would be an apology. Does that mean you have reconsidered my… hum… proposition?”
“Mother.” Sesshoumaru stared deeply in her hopeful golden orbs. “Do not be mistaken. I may have felt… guilt” He struggled to put his feelings into words “about hearing how upset you were yesterday, but I have no intentions of giving you shares of the agency. For some reason Kagura wished for us to reconcile. She believes the family could benefit from the two of us getting along.”
“And of course you would do anything for her. Even making up with the mother you despise.” She knew she sounded better, and wished that it did not hurt her so much to hear that the only reason why her son was now talking to her was because of Kagura. When Jaken had told her Sesshoumaru wished to see her, Asuka had truly believed her son had reconsidered, and would agree to work together with her.
‘How come is it that my own son would reject me was it not for his fiancée?’ She wondered in complete dismay as pain rippled through her chest.
“I do not despise you.” He spoke truthfully, surprise clear in his gaze at seeing she did not seem to believe him. ‘We may not be on the best of terms, but I never realized she believed I thought so lowly of her.’ An uncanny feeling of dismay coursing through him.
“So you claim.” She retorted dryly. “Well no one could blame you, it is not as if we ever had the warmest relationship.” ‘Nor have I been the best mother possible.’ After Sesshoumaru’s rejection of the previous day, she had gone back to her hotel, and with the help of two bottles of expensive old wine had engaged in some soul searching. As much as she tried pushing all thoughts of the wind sorceress from her mind, the older demoness had not been able to prevent herself from comparing her relationship with Sesshoumaru to the one Kagura had with Kanna and the newly adopted Rin. The fierceness for which she fought for her daughters, and the love she openly and so easily showered on them made Asuka envious. She only wished that she was able to have such a relationship with her son.
‘From the moment he was born, I didn’t know how to deal with him. Taisho hired nannies, so I never had to do anything for Sesshoumaru. Unlike my mother I didn’t have to spend all my time changing diapers or feeding and entertaining a baby.’ Thinking of her mother, Asuka could not help but feel that in many ways she was similar to Kagura: a hardworking woman willing to do anything for the daughter she loved. Since she did not want to dwell on her feelings for either her long dead mother, or the wind sorceress, Asuka forced herself to reflect back on her son. ‘Then as he grew up Sesshoumaru was a model boy. He never asked me for anything. He became so independent… since he did not need me, I was free to do as I pleased. And when Taisho left me for Izayoi, I wanted to have nothing to do with him or his son. I shut myself away from Sesshoumaru, and distracted myself with spending as much of Taisho’s money as I could. By getting back at that cheating bastard, I did not know I would be causing myself pain in return. I drove my own son away from me.’ Asuka felt tears pool in her eyes, but forced herself to hold them back. It was bad enough that Kagura had seen her breakdown, but doing so in front of Sesshoumaru was unthinkable.
His mother was not behaving like herself at all, and Sesshoumaru did not know how to handle it. Their conversations usually followed a simple pattern: she asked him for money, and he gave her less than she requested. However they never discussed their feelings or their complicated relationship as they were doing at the moment.
He attempted to lift himself up to look better in his mother’s eyes, but doing so with only one working arm was proving to be harder than he had anticipated. Asuka noticed Sesshoumaru struggling to get his left arm away from her, and her golden eyes thinned in surprise.
“What is wrong with your arm?” For the first time ever the inu youkai sounded genuinely worried, which surprised her son.
“The bullet wound seems to have resulted in some muscle damage.” He struggled to clench his fist in a show of anger. “My arm is weaker than it should be, and is paining me.” It cost him to admit such a thing to his mother, but since he had sworn to improve their relationship, he decided to be honest.
“What! You are an inu youkai. This wound should have healed a long time ago…” Asuka leaned forward to look at his pale stripped arm. “I knew this doctor of yours could not be trusted. This is it! We are going to go see a specialist.”
“Mother. There is no reason to be overdramatic.” He sighed. “Besides I will not let you arrange for me to be flown away to some foreign country. I have no intention of deserting my family again.” He still felt guilty for having stayed in a coma for so long, resulting in his fiancée and daughters being frightened and left alone.
Asuka frowned deeply at seeing her son’s reaction. She could understand and respect his need to want to be near his family, but she did not like the fact that he still refused to see a physician other than Suikotsu when in her eyes the young human had proved himself to be lacking.
“If in a week’s time you are not improved, then whether you like it or not, I will bring a French surgeon I have heard of to come see you.” Asuka returned her son’s fierce glare, letting know that she had no intention of taking no for an answer.
“There will be no need for this. I intend to be fully recovered by then.” Sesshoumaru lied blatantly. When Suikotsu had stopped by earlier in the day to inform his patient of his arm’s condition, the young doctor had pointed out to the dog demon that he did not know how long it would take for his arm to heal completely.
“Good. I am glad to see you have not given up. I would not expect any less from my son.”
Sesshoumaru scoffed slightly. This statement resembled more the mother he was used to. Now that they had reached a truce of some sort, he decided to address another thing he had wanted to bring up.
“I will have Jaken bring you a check later on today. It should be enough to cover your expenses for the next six months.”
Asuka stared at his son for a long time as she mentally wondered about her next action. “In truth, you have no need to worry. My good friend Hortense has begged me spend the winter at her mansion in the South of France. I simply could not pass up such an opportunity, you know how I hate cold weather.”
‘I remember perfectly mother telling me last year that her friend Hortense had moved to India with her husband, and did she not say yesterday that she had reconciled with her German baron?’ The dog demon thought to himself. ‘Why would she lie to me?’ He wondered quite puzzled by his mother’s behavior. ‘Could it be that she does not want me to worry about her…’ The idea that Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi could put him before her own concerns shocked her son. ‘Then is it possible that the reason she wanted shares in the agency was truly not for the money, but because she genuinely wished to help me?’ He was envisioning a whole new side of the mother he had always believed to be selfish and spoiled, and this shocked him beyond words.
“Nevertheless, I will write you a check. In exchange I would like you to take Jaken along with you wherever it is you are going.” ‘Mother will not have a way to spy on me anymore, and I in return will have Jaken appraise me of the going-ons in her life.’ He may hate the fact that her mother had made use of his retainer on several occasions to find out things about his private life, but Sesshoumaru was not above returning the favor.
“Ugh do I really have to suffer the inconvenience of the toad’s presence?!” She asked her son. As much as she was in need of his money to not only pay the hotel room she had been using in town, but also the credit cards she was close to maxing out. Asuka saw the determination burning in her son’s eyes, and gave a sigh of defeat; now that the idea had occurred to the young man, he had no intention of letting it go.
“Oh all right. I guess if he gets too annoying I can always send Jaken back to you.” She told her son as she thought to herself ‘Having a personal retainer to look after me 24/7 might not be that bad actually…’ She then decided that her first order for Jaken would be to have him finish pack up her trunks. The older demoness had always hated packing up despite her love of travels, and having, and was very much looking forward to having Jaken do it for her. “Well, this is probably the most honest conversation we have ever had. Let’s endeavor to do this more often.” Asuka stood up from her spot on her son’s bed. “Now, I do have a plane to catch.”
She picked up her purse and scarf, and walked towards the exit. After opening the door, she then turned around to look at her son lying in the all too white hospital bed.
“Goodbye Sesshoumaru. I do wish you well with that woman of yours.” He had not expected Asuka to thank Kagura for intervening on her behalf, but seeing her speak a sentence without insulting his fiancée, or making a mockery of their family brought him relief.
“Goodbye mother. Have a safe trip.”
Asuka Watanabe-Takahashi sent her only son a brief smile then left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
Sesshoumaru had not expected to hear from his mother until she had run out of money, but to his shock she had had a small parcel delivered to his room a few hours after her departure. He had been surprised and amused to see a small hand weight in it. Even if Kagura did not like it, ever since receiving it, the dog demon had started rigorously exercising his injured left arm. Asuka had had also joined to her gift a personal note that was so typical of his mother. ‘No son of mine will be left with one working arm. Take care of yourself.’
***‘End of Flashback’***
‘This is probably as close to my mother I will ever be.’ Sesshoumaru’s thoughts on his mother were interrupted by the arrival of more people in his hospital room.
“Keh! It’s a real party in here.” Inuyasha commented as he looked around his brother’s hospital room. The young hanyou held his young son in his arms, and had his fiancée walking alongside him.
“We have perfect timing.” Kagome agreed while sending a bright smile to her soon to be extended family. Just thinking about her fiancé’s expanding family she could not help but run a hand over her large pregnant belly.
“I hope there’s still room for more.” Miroku called out loudly as he and his girlfriend strolled into the room as well. Sango held a box of chocolates in her hands. She knew that her former boss would not appreciate such a gesture, but hoped Kagura would. She knew how much the young wind sorceress had suffered as of late, and hoped to brighten her up a little bit. Upon seeing how packed the room was, she placed her gift on the nearby table.
“You had no need to come.” Sesshoumaru’s eyes scanned the faces of all the people present in his hospital room. His sour, annoyed comment went on ignored by everyone except Miroku.
The young human male smiled in the direction of his friend and boss, and gently fanned himself with a thick manila envelope. “Hum does that mean you won’t be needing this? And Myouga put in so much effort to get it ready…”
“What is that human talking about?” The ever curious Hakudoushi turned his lavender eyes on his future brother in-law. Sesshoumaru’s face had turned into a frown after seeing the envelope. He had been waiting for its contents for a few days, but had not anticipated for Miroku and Inuyasha to come deliver it when so many people were in attendance.
“Keh! What’s it to you? Stay out of it kiddo.” Inuyasha retorted. Kagura’s youngest brother had rubbed him the wrong way ever since he had met him at the Fujibayashi mansion.
Kagome, who had always hated tense situations decided to cut through the obvious tensions rising by bringing up what in the past few months had become a beloved topic of conversation for the people around her: her pregnancy.
“Ah I sure could use some rest. My feet are so swollen.” The young dark haired woman walked over to her brother in-law’s bed, and sat next to Rin. The young girl looked curiously at Kagome’s large abdomen. It was her first time being in such close contact to an expecting mother.
“You can touch it if you want. Contrary to my poor feet, that doesn’t hurt.” Rin did as told, and her dark eyes sparkling in wonder placed her hand on the growing mound. Not wanting to be outdone, Kanna reached over her father’s body to touch the place where her future cousin was growing steadily.
‘Is mommy going to be this big when daddy and she have a baby?’ The young void demoness sent the flat stomach of her unsuspecting mother an interesting look.
Kagura looked at her friend suspiciously. This was the first time she had ever heard Kagome complain about her pregnancy ever since the night she had come to the penthouse seeking solace after finding out about her condition.
‘She’s about to start her third trimester, so it’s no wonder she’s tired. I can remember how exhausted I was towards the end with Kanna. Not that Naraku was making things easy for me.’ Only thought of her pseudo father could still fill her with rage, but she chose to focus on more positive feelings. ‘I know that next time will be very different.’ She had seen firsthand how solicitous Inuyasha was towards his Kagome, and Kagura had no doubt Sesshoumaru would be as attentive with her. ‘I can’t wait for us to add a new member to our family. Now that Naraku is no more, there is no threat hanging over our heads.’
“Are you alright my dear? Haku, Bya, go get her something to drink and something to snack on.” Sakura ordered her two sons. When she noticed Kagome open her mouth to protest, she quickly added. “Don’t worry honey, I can remember all too well how tiring a pregnancy can be.”
“Now, come on, off with the two of you.” Heaving a sigh Hakudoushi and Byakuya did as told by their mother and headed towards the door. Their progression was interrupted by one angry hanyou.
“I can take care of my own wench.” Inuyasha sent them a glare chilly enough to rival one of his brother’s famous ones. “Keh! Are you hungry?” He then addressed his fiancée.
“Oh no I just wanted to get off my feet.” Kagome smiled sweetly at her future husband.
“You have no need to explain yourself Kags, I know how irresistible my Sesshoumaru is. It’s no wonder you’d want to cozy up next to him. Just remember he’s mine.” The wind sorceress smiled when her fiancé arched a thin eyebrow in surprise and amusement. Now that Sesshoumaru was clearly improving, and that Naraku was not here to threaten her family, surrounded by her new found friends and family, the young woman felt free to tease the man she intended to spend her life with.
Kagura’s light joke caused Inuyasha to scoff loudly and Kagome to laugh nervously. She had always found Sesshoumaru intimidating, and treasured Kagura too much to want the other woman to mistake her intentions.
“Ah Kagura you’re so hilarious!” Kagome laughed a little too loudly. “Besides Inuyasha is all I need.” To emphasize her point, she struggled to get off the bed due to her growing abdomen, and walked in the arms of her own fiancé.
“Damn straight.” The hanyou beamed proudly, looping a protective arm around the woman he loved.
“You two are so adorable.” Miroku gently teased his best friend. “Would you like us to leave you alone.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Before Inuyasha had a chance to snap at him, Sango jabbed him strongly in the ribs. “Do not project your pervert tendencies on my friends; especially in the presence of children.” Her chocolate colored eyes darted firstly towards Shippou, who was next to his father, then Rin and Kanna. The two little girls were still sitting next to their own father in his hospital bed.
“What I would appreciate Miroku, would be you getting a certain half dog demon we all know to help a out more with wedding preparations. At the rate things are going, this child is going to enter preschool before his parents are married.” Kagome sighed, a frown marring her usually cheerful face.
“You couldn’t expect me to think about your wedding ceremony when my brother was in the hospital. The bast… jerk getting shot forced me to take on more responsibilities at the agency.” Inuyasha quickly defended himself.
Sesshoumaru scoffed at his younger half brother’s words. “Inuyasha, when will you stop blaming your inabilities and shortcomings on this Sesshoumaru.”
Kagura would have smacked her fiancé, and asked him to play nice, but the glint of pleasure present in the amber eyes of both brothers did not go unnoticed by her. ‘I guess things are getting back to normal. This is just the way these two will always be…’
“Your wedding?!” Kagome echoed, her thoughts not travelling upon the same road as her future sister in-law. “I didn’t know I was marrying myself.” Shippou, Hakudoushi and Miroku snorted in unison, earning each of them a scowl and a glare from Inuyasha.
“Feh! Why are you always twisting everything I say wench?!”
“Because you talk like an insensitive jerk.” Kagome countered.
“All this talk of marriage, love and pregnancies is getting me even more depressed than before. All you guys did was remind me that Ai dumped me.” Byakuya sighed mournfully.
“Can’t say I’m surprised seeing how you’re just mopping around all the time.” His brother quipped in response.
“Ugh! You two are behaving worse than children.” Morio shook his head in dismay. He was embarrassed to see his sons behaving so badly in the presence of the recovering Sesshoumaru and his friends and family. “Byakuya.” He turned towards his eldest son. “Ai did not break up with you since the two of you never even went on a date.” His plain statement of the truth caused his first son to sigh even deeper, and the second one to snicker. “And you Hakudoushi, need to adjust your attitude towards others. Don’t think you’re too old to get a spanking.” This time around it was Byakuya who let out an amused snort.
Sakura sighed upon hearing her husband put their sons back in their place. ‘I really cannot take these guys out anywhere.’ The door of the hospital room was thrown opened, and the void demoness smiled. ‘What a perfect timing for a distraction!’
When Suikotsu came in to look in on his most important patient, he had not expected to see his room be this full. Whispering apologies as he bumped against different bodies, Suikotsu managed to slither through the crowd of people to reach his patient’s bedside.
The young human doctor turned towards “I’m sorry to disturb everyone, but I’ll have to cut the visit short. I need to check on Sesshoumaru.”
“Just as well, we were about to take off. Inuyasha, Shippou and are going to meet up with Ji-chan to talk about the wedding.” Kagome smiled happily. Now that Kanna was back with her family and Sesshoumaru had awakened from his coma, the preparations for her upcoming wedding had resumed, and she couldn’t be happier. “We were just stopping by to see how Sesshoumaru was doing.”
“Which was unnecessary.” Her brother in-law to be interjected. His response caused Kagome to pout slightly, and Inuyasha to chuckle.
“Don’t tell me you’re hurt by his words. You know that my brother is an insensitive assh… jerk.” Inuyasha quickly amended when he remembered who was standing next to him. In order to help her fiancé get rid of his potty mouth, Kagome had put in place a system in which each time he cursed, Inuyasha had to pay their son.
“I guess that’s one dollar less into my pocky found.” Shippou lamented his father’s newfound ability to control his language.
“Feh! You’re not going to get any more money out of me, you little runt.”
Shippou grinned in response to his father’s boast. “You called me a runt, that’s five dollars for me.”
Inuyasha pretended not to have heard his son’s reminder that calling him a ‘runt’ had been forbidden by Kagome as well. “Come on wench, your gramps must be waiting for us. See ya later Sesshoumaru.” Dragging along his fiancée and son, Inuyasha made a swift exit.
“You should do the same Miroku. I do not pay you to stand around.” Sesshoumaru said in comment to his brother’s departure.
“Your wish is my command boss. I believe I am entitled to a lunch break, so before going back I’ll be taking my beautiful girlfriend on a celebratory lunch.” Despite his easygoing smile, he sent his boss a hard meaningful glance when he placed the heavy envelope on the side table next to the box of chocolates Sango had brought.
“What exactly will we be celebrating?” Sango asked her boyfriend as she allowed him to loop his arm around hers.
“The fact that I am madly in love with you of course.” He picked up her hand to give it a chaste kiss. Considering that they were surrounded by Kagura’s family he contented himself with that even if he was burning to have another taste of her delicious lips. ‘Well there’s plenty of time for that after lunch.’
Sango blushed. She loved her Miroku, but was still struggling to get used to his fondness for public displays of affection. “Goodbye everyone, I hope you make a full recovery Sesshoumaru.” On this note the young woman and her lover left the hospital room.
“Ah love if only…” Byakuya started, but his exasperated brother interrupted him.
“Ah I believe we should take our leave a well.” Hakudoushi suggested, hoping his parents would agree.
“Alright, let me take you home.” Morio shook his head in dismay before clapping his eldest son on the back. He who until he had met his wife had been a real Casanova could not understand how his son could turn out to be so overly emotional after being turned down by one woman.
“Hum I believe this would be for the best. Kagura, do you want me to take the girls home for now?” Sakura asked her daughter.
“No, please!” Kanna protested as she clung to her father’s arm.
“Can we stay longer?” Rin asked politely.
Kagura pondered on her mother’s question and her daughters’ plea. Just as she was about to let them know her decision, Suikotsu intervened.
“Not to worry girls. Soon enough you’ll have your daddy all to yourselves. I believe that in a day or two he’ll be able to go back home.” The young doctor smiled at seeing the joy plainly displayed on the girls’ faces. “That is if Kagura agrees to keep a close eye on him.”
“You know I will.” The wind sorceress vowed, her love filled gaze locking on the object of her affections.
“That’s marvelous! Come on girls, we have lots of work to do on the penthouse before your dad comes back home.” Sakura headed for the bed, and in a few moments held both Kanna and Rin holding on to her two hands.
“Work?” Sesshoumaru echoed. He did not like the idea of his would be mother in-law going into his house to arrange things to her liking.
“It’s a surprise daddy!” Rin smiled broadly in his direction, displaying a missing tooth.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise, ready to question his daughters further, but Kanna intervened before he could. “We can’t tell you or it’s not a surprise anymore.”
Since he could not argue with their logic, he simply smiled. ‘Besides I am sure any change they make can be undone if it is not to my liking.’ He reasoned with himself. He was just glad to know he would be getting home soon.
Kagura smiled blissfully at seeing the happiness shinning in her family members. ‘Soon everything will be as it should have been from the start.’
“I’ll go downstairs with you guys while Suikotsu looks over Sesshoumaru.” The wind sorceress addressed her mother and daughters. “I have to talk to Mukotsu anyways.” This time around she turned towards her fiancé. The previous day Sesshoumaru had written her a check to give to Mukotsu in payment for his services. When she had seen the amount scribbled on the check, she had been astounded, but as her dog demon lover had pointed out to her, the pudgy human had saved his life, and a price could not be put on that.
Sesshoumaru nodded back at Kagura as he suspected the reason why she wanted to speak with the potion master.
“Good all’s settled. Can we go now?” Hakudoushi sighed in exasperation.
“Fin, fine. We’re leaving.” Hearing and seeing his son’s reaction, Morio sighed as well, but in annoyance. He placed a big hand on both of his son’s shoulders, and steered them towards the exit.
“All right girls, kiss your dad goodbye, and we’ll go work on our surprise.” Sakura let go of her granddaughters’ hands, and both little girls reached up to press a kiss on their father’s stripped cheek. Giggling over their little secret, Sakura, Rin and Kanna followed after their three mal family members, and left as well.
“Kagura.” Sesshoumaru asked after everyone else had left. “What exactly are they planning.”
The wind sorceress chuckled at seeing the expectant look in his eyes. “I’m not going to let you know. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too drastic.” She blew him a kiss, and left the room before he could question her further.
Suikotsu chuckled at seeing the slight scowl on his patient’s face. The doctor’s reaction caused the scowl to deepen. “Just get on with this.” The dog demo raised his left arm for Suikotsu’s closer inspection. He wanted the other man to finish checking on the progress of his arm before Kagura came back. He had business to address with his fiancée, and did not want any witnesses.
‘I hope that Kagura will take this news well.’ He thought worriedly as his amber eyes rested on the thick envelope Miroku had left on the table for him.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000000000000000000
Touran looked one more at the address scribbled on the piece of paper clutched in her clawed hand.
“Yep, here it is.” She muttered to herself. The young demoness opened the door of her car, and got out in a swift motion. In a matter of minutes she had crossed the small residential street, and was standing in front of a typical white picket fence suburban house.
‘Why would anyone ever want to live in such a depressing place?’ The young woman had always lived in suburban areas, and could not imagine living away from the fast paced city life. After all she did rely on it in order to get the information needed for her line of work. Greasy shady bars were often full of people willing to spill their guts for enough money, or a few drinks.
‘Hopefully this guy will be just as forthcoming when it comes to giving me the information I need.’ Touran mentally went over the information she had on the young man she was going to speak to. ‘Divorced father of a six year old son. Boring accountant living a boring life in the boring suburbs…’
Upon reaching the blue painted front door of the house she had been looking for, she wasted no time ringing the bell repeatedly. Her keen ears heard a shuffling noise on the other side of the door before it was thrown opened.
“Hello! Who are you?” A young brown eyed and brown haired boy asked looking up at her.
Before she had a chance to answer, loud steps came from inside the room. “Jin-chan! How many times have I told you not to open the door?!” An older version of the little boy appeared in front of Touran.
“My name is Touran, and I have a few questions for you.” She told the man, who she recognized as being her target from the pictures she had encountered during her research. ‘Hum he doesn’t look as boring in person.’ Her sharp pale blue eyes lowered to his lean hips encased in a pair of well worn jeans.
“No thank you.” The man responded as he pushed his son behind him, and readied himself to close the door.
“Do you know a man named Jinsei?” Her simple question caused the man to pale considerably and halt all movement.
“Dad, how did she know my name?” The boy piped up from behind the man’s larger form.
“Jin, go in the kitchen to get a snack… Miss Touran and I are going to talk.” He knew his voice was shaky, but did his best to sound as normal as possible not to upset his young child.
“Awesome!” Jin exclaimed before scampering towards the kitchen to get cookies before his father changed his mind. It was after all very rare that his dad would allow him to eat in between meals.
“He’s gone now, we can talk… What about my brother is he… is Jinsei alright?” The young father ran a tongue over his suddenly dry lips. He had longed for an answer to this question for so long, that the prospect of finally finding about his younger brother’s fate scared him.
“Well Mister Akio, your brother now goes by Jakotsu, and he has done quite well for himself.”
“Oh thank God!” Akio Sato was overcome by such relief that he could almost feel his knees buckle with relief. “Where is he? I need to see him.”
The more Touran looked at the man Sesshoumaru had charged her with finding the less she believed he was related to the flamboyant Jakotsu. ‘These two brothers are as opposite as possible… not unlike Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha…’
“Well that would depend entirely on you.” Touran smiled broadly, revealing her sharp fangs. As fun as toying with the distraught human male might be, she knew that she had to follow her boss’s plan sharply.
To be continued…
A/N: As I said before there was just too much stuff I wanted to include in the last chapter, and had no choice, but to cut it in two. Part two will be available soon enough. Then there will be the much awaited epilogue. There’s still some drama to come Tying up loose ends (Part 2).
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