InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Alternate Storyteller ❯ Re/Discovery ( Chapter 9 )

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

The night went on forever and a day.

And I did nothing but watch the darkness for signs of attackers and keep an eye on Sesshoumaru. I didn’t trust him after our fight, even if he did look fast asleep, so I took the watch for the entire night and waited impatiently for the sun to come up.

As the sky began turning grey, Sesshoumaru became restless in his sleep, finally getting up when the grey had changed to navy and magenta. He changed into his own clothing and refused to look at me while he paced the cave floor, also impatient for sunrise. I watched him closely as the sky’s colors lightened to red, purple, gold, and blue.

When the sunbeams finally reached the grounds around the cave, I saw the first streaks of silver run through his hair. As the light grew stronger, the silver increased and his markings reappeared. His fingertips became claws again, his teeth turned to fangs, and his ear tips returned to their delicate points. His fluff - which I had barely paid attention to, even though it had turned black when he was human - also returned to its pristine silver state. I was fascinated by all this, wondering if this was what Kagome felt the first time she had seen InuYasha change.

As I continued to look on, the ugly bruise and cracked cheekbone on his face healed, leaving his pale skin clear of any blemishes. The last thing to change was his eyes, going from the color of darkest brown to their regular deep gold hue, the pupils narrowing into black slits. As he finished changing, I could feel the air charging up with his youki, like the electrically-charged calm before a thunderstorm. I didn’t realize I was still staring at him until he moved to where I was sitting and asked, “What are you staring at, human?”

I broke my gaze and stood up to face him fully, uneasy about being in such close proximity to the most powerful demon in Japan. He sensed it as well, and mocked me by smirking. I didn’t feel slighted, funnily enough. I think it was because I was used to this Sesshoumaru, the man who disdained all living things and showed the world only anger, mockery, and boredom.

“You fear me now that I have regained my powers,” he taunted me.

“Nope,” I replied calmly, “This is the dude I’m used to dealing with, so your taunts and mockery won’t work very well.” He looked somewhat surprised by my answer, and a bit put out as well, like he was offended that I could be so familiar with him. He proved me right by grabbing me by the throat before I could finish blinking.

“I should slay you for the insolence you have shown me now, and over the past several days,” he said in a flat tone, though it was belied by the anger in his eyes, “This Sesshoumaru cares not if you did save my life.”

“And how would you keep your honor then?” I gasped out while clutching his wrist and keeping an eye on his other hand, “I don’t think your father would be very impressed if you killed the woman who rescued you from death because you can’t rise above the insults of a weak, human female.” The anger in his eyes flared, then disappeared as he put me down roughly and cocked his head towards Jaken, who had watched the entire exchange in silence. He abruptly turned and headed for the entrance.

“Come, Jaken,” he commanded, “This Sesshoumaru must return to the West by nightfall.” Jaken hurried out after his master, sparing me only the briefest of glances as he went by. Sesshoumaru strode onto the ledge into the sun, his hair shining brilliantly in the weak sunlight. Jaken hurried after him, but as soon as he got to the opening…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!” he screamed as he was thrown from the door and into the wall. He landed on the floor in a smoking pile of rags.

I knew I forgot to do something this morning, I thought sheepishly. I went to the wall and deactivated the seal, then headed over to help Jaken. He was already struggling to get to his feet, but had no trouble accepting my help as I assisted him to the door.

The poor toad must be really stunned to not complain about ‘this filthy human‘s assistance,’ I observed while struggling to contain my mirth. That was one hell of a selective seal Hoshi gave me. I made a note to ask her about it the next time I saw her.

Once Jaken was seen safely out the door, Sesshoumaru built up his cloud/fluff-thingy and took off with Jaken clinging to his fluff, never looking back. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back in, happy to have those two pains in my ass gone for good. I packed up my stuff, handling the clothes that Sesshoumaru had used like it was contaminated with some gross disease.

Once everything was cleaned up, I looked around one last time. Satisfied I hadn’t left anything behind, I carefully wrapped my head in the cloths once again and headed down the ledge.

I never looked back.


Several tough days followed my departure, since the passes were now covered in snow. But I finally made it to the foothills after six days of slugging my way through heavy, wet snow. I had managed to beat the snow to the coast, for I didn’t encounter any as I headed out of the upper foothills to the fields and forests that awaited my descent.

I reached the seashore by midday, a few days after getting out of the last of the hills, and stood in awe as I stared across the Sea of Japan. I had seen the ocean before, but this was different. On the other side of this water lay China and Korea in all their historical glory. To the north, Hokkaido, as yet unpopulated by any but the Ainu, and to the northwest - Russia. It was humbling to stand there knowing that so much old history was that close. And as I stood there, it finally hit me how far away I was from home and how much of an alien I truly was. I knew the histories of these countries before they would happen, and perhaps I might even become a part of it all.

Those thoughts kept me occupied until sunset. After one last glance at the vast water, I turned south and headed for a village I had seen on my way down. I reached it as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and prayed I would find an inn or someone willing to put a stranger up for the night. After spending so many nights in the open, I wasn’t looking forward to yet another night on the hard ground. Thankfully, the village headman was kind enough to put me up for the night.

I left the next morning, hoping to get out of the north before the snows hit for the winter. I travelled long hours and stopped only to eat and catch a few hours’ sleep in the tiny fishing villages that dotted the coastline. Two weeks of almost constant travel finally brought me to Toyama Bay.

Yes, I am so stopping here to take a break, I thought as I wearily trudged into the large village of Toyama a few hours before sunset. I hunted down the nearest inn and got a room, ready to pass out the instant I got in. The serving wench asked if I wished to bathe, which dispelled some of my exhaustion. I hadn’t bathed properly in the last two weeks, so I was smelling pretty rank.

Which is probably why she had asked.

After I dropped my armour off in my room, I grabbed a clean yukata and headed for the bathing room. Once there, I looked around to make sure no one was there. I had been extra careful to keep my face covered on this leg of my journey, so I didn’t want anyone to walk in on me while I was washing up. When I was sure I was safe for the time being, I instructed the wenches that I wasn’t to be disturbed - in my male voice - and stripped everything off, including my concealment spell.

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last! I sang in my head as I scrubbed every inch of me clean until I glowed pink. I sank into the furo, sighing with delight that I was feeling - and smelling - human again. After a gloriously long soak, I got out and dressed in the white yukata I had brought from my room. I made sure I didn’t look blatantly female, wrapped my face in some clean cloths, and headed back to my room. I sent my clothes out to be washed and hit the futon, too tired to eat or even unwrap my face. I passed out as soon as my head touched the pillow.

It was late morning when I woke up the next day. I took my time stretching, revelling in the comfort of a real bed. I lay there for awhile, and my thoughts shortly turned to my dreams of the previous night.

It had been quite some time since I had had any of my ‘visions’, and they had disappeared completely when I had been travelling the mountain passes. Last night, though…the dreams had been disturbing. Normally, my faceless protector was a warm and secure presence. But last night, he had turned against me, chasing me down until I had been cornered. Everything had gone black as he approached me and I woke up suddenly, with pain radiating from what seemed like every pore of my body, most especially my right arm. I had sobbed quietly for a good twenty minutes before the pain had finally subsided, then fell asleep again. It was weird for many reasons, the least of which was me passing out so soon afterwards.

Tired of contemplating things I could never seem to pin down, I hauled myself out of bed and washed up. Eyeing the face wraps with irritation, I finally put them on, but vowed that as soon as I could, they were coming off. I was sick of wearing them and having to hide my sex all the time.

I’m beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t have had Hoshi make the concealment a male one. Then I wouldn’t have to put up with these damn things, I thought as I sat down to breakfast, consisting of fried fish, miso soup, and rice and veggies. I ate my fill and headed to the shoreline for a private planning session.

So, I began taking inventory, I’ve successfully made it ¾ of the way over Japan. I’ve rescued Rin. I’ve saved Sesshoumaru’s life. I’ve pissed off InuYasha. I’ve pissed off Sesshoumaru, who is also the most powerful demon in the country. Anything else I’ve missed? Hard thinking didn’t bring anything else to mind. Nope, I seem to have covered everything. I sighed, I’ve been here six months and now I have the two most powerful demons in Japan hunting me down or, at least, have threatened to do so. I need a new life.

I had no idea what to do now. I hadn’t planned the adventures of the last half-year, but without a direction, I felt adrift, without a purpose. I though of Hoshi and Kenichi, then I remembered whose territory they lived in. So much for returning there. I could wander around and actually enjoy the country, as opposed to seeing it on the run.

That sounds like a good Suggestion to Fate. My siblings and I had gotten tired of making plans and having them fall through all the time, so we started making ‘non-plans’ and ’Suggestions to Fate’, which seemed to work well enough. Now, of she will only favour me, instead of dropping me like a stone.

I scowled. I was getting sick of hiding from everyone and everything. As soon as my skills in the katana improved, I was going to kick some ass. I didn’t care whose it was, either. Maybe I can hunt down a really powerful demon, get his fang, and get me a good sword! I snorted. The only way that was going to happen was if I found Sesshoumaru’s rival - not his brother - killed him, and found Toutousai. And then I had to convince the blacksmith that I was even worthy of one of his swords. Not happening in this millennium! I may as well give it up and learn to live as a normal, powerless, boring human. I baulked at that thought even as it crossed my mind. I never did like anything normal, waving my freak flag with little fear, so I didn’t know why I had to accept it here and now. But again, I didn’t know what to do.

I gave up and walked back to the inn, hoping I could get some inspiration at dinner that night. Unfortunately, nothing came up that night, nor the night after that, or the night after that one. I started feeling the wanderlust again that had driven me out of Hoshi’s village, and decided to pack it up and go…wherever. I stopped at various villages along the western coast, but picked up nothing of interest in the demon or human worlds. At least, until I hit Tottori, where I heard information about both worlds.

“The Southern and Western Lords are on the move,” an old geezer, who was my dinner companion at that night’s table, said, “They say they plan on ridding the land of the so-called demon overlords…”

“But we think they just want total control of the people,” my other dinner companion finished, a young man in his mid-twenties. I remained silent behind my mask, since I knew there were such demon lords. My new acquaintances continued their speculation as I finished my meal. The news of the lords purging anything non-human was disturbing, but not enough to make me lose sleep over it. Sesshoumaru and InuYasha could handle themselves, and their fellow lords as well. I was more worried about how many humans would die when they tried getting rid of the Western Lord.

There’s no way in hell he would let them come barging in with the purpose of killing him. He covets his father’s land, title, and his own power way too much to put up with such stupidity, I thought darkly. Yes, it would be a bloody encounter indeed.

“What started this, anyway?” I asked aloud.

“It seems that almost an entire regiment was slaughtered several moon cycles ago,” the old man answered, “The survivors came back with tales of a huge white demon slaughtering men with massive claws of corrosive air. The lord the men served wants revenge.”

“Hmph. That’s not how it looked to me,” I grunted. My companions looked surprised at my statement.

“You saw this atrocity?” the young man asked. I snorted.

“Oh, yes. I saw it as clear as day. The ’regiment’ had killed some young noblemen and kidnapped their sisters,” my tablemates’ astonishment was clear on their faces, and I continued, “Just as they were getting ready to rape the women, the ’huge white demon’ showed up and either killed or drove off the mercenaries, but spared the women.” The last part was a lie, since I’d run off before he’d finished the fleeing humans. But they didn’t need to know that.

“This is news, indeed!” the young man exclaimed quietly, “The lords have been insisting for months that the noblemen and women were slain by the white demon.”

“This can mean only one thing,” the old man stated, “our theories of the regions’ lords overtaking the rest of the country are the closest out of all our colleagues’.” The two looked at each other, sombre. After a moment of hard thinking, I realized what it meant.

“Starting a war with the demons of this country has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of the human race doing,” I stated flatly, “If they want to go to an early grave, then all power to them. Just don’t drag the innocents down with them.” My companions didn’t know what to do with themselves. They stumbled over each other to ask me a multitude of questions. Do you have demon friends? How much do you know about demons? Who is the White Demon? and so on. I had to think fast about my answer, and managed to find a suitable response quickly.

“I know enough about the other race to know they won’t go down without a fight. Indeed, they’ll take as many humans as they can before they go to the Other Side, and probably as many innocent people as warriors,” I thought about InuYasha and Sesshoumaru, “And once the weak mononoke and demons are destroyed, only the strong will be left, and then there will be no stopping the human slaughter. Some of them may hesitate to kill their human attackers, but the majority will want revenge for their kin, their mates, their pups, and their race.” The rest of the table was silent. Obviously, their theories hadn’t included demons having feelings above instinct.

“So,” the young man hesitated, “demons have conscious thought and feeling other than instinct? I thought they were simple-minded beasts that needed to be exterminated.” What rock did these people live under!?

“Yes!” I exclaimed, keeping my voice down, “Many of them are as advanced as we are! Have you never even seen an actual demon?”

“No,” he said very quietly while looking at the table’s surface.

“Yes,” the old man said even quieter, “Several years ago, I saw the son of the Great Dog Demon. He appeared when bandits were burning down my village and killing my friends, and drew them away. A short while later, a great breeze and a bright flash showed up just over the ridge.” I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding when something, for some reason, clicked.

“Ungai,” I breathed, “He slaughtered the bandits just before Ungai showed up at your village.”

The old man looked at me strangely and asked, “You know of Ungai?”

“Yes,” I answered, “What do you know of him?”

“Only that he came to our village and helped heal the injuries of the living and said prayers for the dead. He said very little, except to tell us of the slaughtered bandits and to be careful of demons roaming the forests.” Interesting.

“The demon saved your lives, even if it wasn’t intentional,” and then something else occurred to me and prompted me to ask, “What do you know of the Great Dog Demon?” The old man looked around, as if he feared being overheard.

“My family has known of the Inu no Taishou for many generations,” he began, but his young companion interrupted.

“You have known about these demons and yet never said anything?!” he demanded, “You said that you knew nothing about them, hence this trip around the Southern and Western lands.” Ooookay. Something was up.

“As I was saying,” the old man continued, glaring at the younger man, who looked rebellious, “We have known for many generations about the Dog Leader because my ancestors are of the same family as the woman who gave birth to his half-demon son.”

And the world went silent.

A moment later I found my voice and asked lowly, “So, you’re a blood relative of InuYasha?!”

“Yes,” he nodded, “which is why I have been travelling the South and West. I originally wanted to warn Sesshoumaru-sama about the lords when the first rumours started, but after he slew my honoured grandmother, I chose to seek out his half-brother in the hopes of relaying to him the danger that he and his father’s kind are in.”

“Sesshoumaru slew your grandmother?!” I was blown away, “Why would he do such a thing to a harmless old woman?”

“My grandmother was not as helpless as you think,” he warned, “She was a miko of extraordinary powers. Some thought her to be a sorceress from the Mainland.”

A miko slain by his hand…she’s the one who cursed him?!?!?! I gasped. I couldn’t believe it! Sesshoumaru slew, and was cursed by, one of his own kinsmen, Well, sort of a kinsman. He has no blood relation to Izayoi. Or does he? Yes! No! Yes! No? Oh, it’s too much to figure out right now! I give up. I disengaged myself from the complex family tree and turned my full attention back to Old Man, who sensed my mild distress and confusion.

“Yes, he slew his kinsman,” he stated gravely, “For he is, indeed, connected to us through his half-brother. His father and Lady Izayoi had InuYasha, who is connected to Sesshoumaru by blood through their father. Their shared blood connects Sesshoumaru to Izayoi, whose blood flows through InuYasha. This connects the rest of the clan to him and, ultimately, to the Inu no Taisho.” I blinked a couple of times as I struggled to process this tangled mess of a family tree. I hate blended family trees. A thought occurred to me.

“Doesn’t that mean you’re connected to Sesshoumaru’s mother as well, since it can also work in reverse?” I asked. Old Man sighed and nodded.

“Yes, it does. Sesshoumaru’s mother almost slew one of my ancestors because of it,” he looked sadly at the table top and continued, “I do not know why their father and Sesshoumaru’s mother were separated, but the Western Lord blames Izayoi, her clan, and every descendant, as seen with his battles with his half-brother. That is why I was reluctant to seek him out in the first place,” then he looked up at me and asked, “You know where to seek my other ancestor?” I nodded.

“You need to go to Musashi’s Domain to find InuYasha,” I replied, “He’s the unofficial demon overseer of the region. And he‘s more likely to listen to you than the Western Taiyoukai.”

The young man was silent for our exchange, looking surly and repulsed by the time we were done. The look on his face reminded me of someone I had seen before, with unpleasant connotations. Again, everything clicked, and I almost pushed the table away forcibly as I made the realization and hissed loudly, “You’re the man who accosted me at a Kyushu inn almost six months ago!”

The tiny party started at my words, and the young man stared at me strangely and said, “I don’t think we have ever met before tonight.”

“Oh? Do you remember sitting at the table of a young woman who didn’t want your company in the first place?” I asked, becoming more irritated as the seconds passed. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t recognize him until after I’d told my story. He had initially made me uneasy when they had first sat down with me here. Now I knew why. Realization dawned on his face, and then anger took over.

“You brushed me off, then had me removed from the inn. But…” he had an epiphany,” that means you’re a woman!”

His companion looked at the two of us like we’d grown extra heads and asked, “What is going on here?”

The young one turned to his older counterpart and said, “I was being friendly to what I thought was a woman who needed an escort around the countryside, and instead, she humiliated me in front of the entire dining room, and I had to leave.” The old man still didn’t understand, so I jumped in, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

“I am, in fact, a woman travelling in the guise of a man,” I explained, “Hence the wrappings and outfit. While at an inn, I ate in the dining room without my full disguise, and this boy,” I gestured to the young man, who now looked quite offended, “barged into my personal space and began making conversation, uninvited.” The old one blinked several times and swallowed.

“I see,” he said finally, and turned to his young companion, “I thought I taught you better than that!” The boy glared at him.

“Oh? That’s a fine thing coming from someone who lied to his own son about the purpose of this trip and knowing about demons!” he retorted. Eh? I had had enough.

“Who are you people?!” I asked exasperatedly.

“My apologies. I am Shunran, and this is my youngest son, Chikurin,” The older one explained, “May we know your name as well, stranger?” he asked politely

“Pleased to meet you,” I replied, bowing to Shunran and glaring at his son, “My name is Kijinko.” Shunran and Chikurin looked skeptical at my name, so once more, I explained myself, “It’s the ‘eccentric person’ meaning, not the other one,” I sighed. “And I would very much appreciate it if my true identity was kept a secret. I’ve noticed it’s getting dangerous for women to travel at all.”

After recovering from our collective shock, Shunran discussed the coming war for a short while longer and then retired to our separate rooms, with father and son arguing quietly as they walked out. I arrived at my room and let out a sigh of relief once the screen slid shut behind.

Shit! Now what am I going to do now that that ass knows who I am?! I despaired, Me and my big mouth! I scowled, wondering what the fool was going to do with his new information. I didn’t trust him, since his views about demons were extremely narrow. However, there was nothing I could do about it now.

I undressed, unwrapped, and took off all the other crap that went with my disguise. As I lay down, I wondered if InuYasha knew he had relatives still alive in this day and age. I also wondered how the relations worked. In my time, we were never told whether or not Izayoi had siblings, or even parents. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so quick to relay his exact whereabouts to almost total strangers.

Oh, well, I thought with a sigh, remembering the look that appeared on Chikurin’s face when he had heard he was related to a demon, Can’t do anything about it now. I just hope he doesn’t get it into his head to try exterminating those two. Shaking my head, I rolled over and went to sleep.

I got up with the dawn the next morning and gathered my things quickly. I hoped to get out of there before Master Ignorant Jackass could catch me, but I had no such luck. He came into the dining room just as I was finishing breakfast, and seated himself across the table. I looked at him coldly.

“I don’t remember inviting you to sit down,” I haughtily stated, “so kindly remove yourself from my presence.”

“I will say my piece before you leave,” he replied angrily, making sure to keep his voice down, “I will not forget that night at the inn, nor will I forget that you are a demon-lover. When the war starts, you and others like you will be the first to die!” he hissed quietly.

“Oh? What about your father? What about you? It’s one thing to be a ’demon-lover’, it’s entirely another to be the blood relation of a demon,” I retaliated, “You should be honoured to be related to the demon that defeated Naraku and his offspring. InuYasha believes in protecting the innocent, whether they be human or demon. You should try striving for those beliefs instead of trying to exterminate his kind from the face of the earth!” I finished, glaring for all I was worth. Chikurin also glared at me, but shifted his gaze to his father as Shunran strolled into the dining area. I bid the old man good morning as he sat down with us.

“Where are you headed now?” he asked as he reached for some rice and shot a warning look at his son‘s darkened face, “If you are heading in our direction, perhaps you can persuade InuYasha-sama to believe us.”

I balked. “I’m afraid InuYasha-sama and I didn’t part on the best of terms,” I replied, and hoped the old man would drop the subject. Fortunately, he understood my reluctance and went on with his travel plans. Once we were done, we picked up our stuff from our rooms and headed out the door.

“Good journey to you, Kijinko,” Shunran said as he bowed to me in front of the inn.

“Thank-you. And I am honoured to have met the relations of the Eastern Lord,” I replied, making sure to bow lower than Shunran as a sign of respect. Chikurin gave the smallest of bows and turned his back. His father appeared a bit embarrassed, but nodded to me and turned East. I turned West and continued on.