InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Lucky Ones ❯ Chapter Thirty-Five ( Chapter 35 )

The Lucky Ones

By Terri Botta

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I'm poor so don't sue.

Rating: R for later chapters.

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you'd ever get, and it's up to you to accept it for what it is.

Email feedback to: tci100@psu.edu

Webpage: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta

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Chapter Thirty-Five

The streamlined black racing bike purred between his legs like a lover as he navigated the crowded, smelly streets of Tokyo. He was early and he knew it, but he'd inherited some of his father's impatience and he just couldn't wait any longer. Besides, if he arrived early he could make sure all the preparations had been made and that everything was ready, and it would get him out of the house where his father- overprotective and worried sick about his pregnant mother- was going ballistic over every little thing. Half the staff had already threatened to quit because of his tirades, and he'd terrorized the crew of the chartered yacht so badly that they had actually considered tossing him overboard into the Pacific.

At dawn he'd put on his black leather chaps and jacket on over his more formal `reunion' attire, stuffed the remainder of his clothes for the day in a small satchel, grabbed the bike and headed out. He'd have loved to go without a helmet, but Japan had a mandatory helmet law and the last thing he needed was to get pulled over by the police. He'd be able to avoid any fines of course, all the officer had to do was look at his driver's license and see his name before the man would be apologizing, bowing and letting him go, but still, he didn't need the aggravation.

The trip from the summerhouse in Osaka had taken him over four hours but he'd enjoyed the freedom of riding the bike instead of being cooped up in a train. It took longer, but he relished the time alone to gather his thoughts and prepare himself for the events of the day. The moment he hit the outskirts of Tokyo, however, he hit the traffic and he was rudely reminded of why his parents hated driving in Japan. He dearly missed the open wide-open spaces and countryside of Canada, and cursed Japanese drivers as they failed to look ahead and pay any attention to the road around them.

Pulling a move out of an American action movie, he popped a curb and zipped around a parked delivery truck on the pavement, narrowly avoiding the pedestrians that clogged the sidewalk. His mother would have been shocked and horrified by his recklessness, but he just smiled. His hanyou reflexes saved him every time and no one got hurt. He knew Kagome hated the bike, and the way he handled it (too much like his father did), but riding a motorcycle was the best way to get around Tokyo these days and if he was going to do it, he might as well do it in style. Besides, what his mother didn't know couldn't hurt her.

`Ah, you may be all grown up now, but you're still her baby.'

He did refrain from using the bike to climb the shrine stairs however, knowing such disrespect would never be tolerated, and he wasn't that dishonorable anyway. Stepping off the bike, he secured it and set the alarm, slinging the small bag with the remainder of his clothes over his shoulder, then he paused at the sight of the familiar tall steps.

`Four hundred and fifty-two years... Mama-baachan, I've come home.'

He was surprised at how fast his heart was beating, and he took a moment to calm himself down. He removed his helmet and checked the concealment spell that masked his hanyou features. To an untalented human he appeared to be a normal looking Japanese man in his late twenties with long black hair and brown eyes. To anyone with Talent or youkai blood, he looked the same as he always had: silver hair, gold eyes and doggy ears. The spell was keyed to the signet ring he wore on his right hand, and he fingered the gold band, trying to ignore the naked place on the ring finger of his left. His wedding ring was gone, buried with his dead wife.

`Miaka gave me the ring on our trip to Paris for our 160th wedding anniversary. Silly little Western custom... I can't believe it's been almost 40 years. What's four decades when you had over twenty three?' He felt the pain seize his heart again and drew himself up, blinking back tears. `I will not be sad. I will not cry. Today is my mother's day. It's her day to be reunited with Mama-baachan and I will not dampen it by mourning. I've been waiting to see my grandmother again too.'

He had memories of his mother's mother. Mostly it was her scent that was ingrained on his psyche, and he would occasionally stop by on his frequent business trips to Japan, unbeknownst to his parents of course, just to catch a whiff of her. When he smelled her, he always thought of comfort and candy.

A taxi cab pulled up to the curb while he was staring at the stairs and the passenger got out, narrowly missing hitting his bike with the car door. He almost barked a warning and thinly-veiled threat as to what would happen if the bike was scratched, but he stopped himself at the last minute. Primped, coiffed and dressed head to toe in Prada, complete with a set of high-heeled thigh-high leather boots, he'd know her anywhere. Her concealment spell made her look like a classy blonde but she couldn't hide the red hair, pointed ears and sharp claws from him.

He waited until she'd paid the driver and had made her way over to him before addressing her.

"You're early, mouse-chaser," he said with a smirk.

"What's it to you, boot-licker?"

"You're never early for anything. You sleep twenty hours a day."

"And I can get more work done in those other four hours than all of you bone-chewers can in a week," she shot back.

He grinned. "It's good to see you too, Eri."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too mushy Yukio, or I might feel the need to get familiar with you and that would mess up my make-up."

He blew a kiss at her. "But you're lovely just the way you are. Ooo, is that a grey hair?"

"Where?!"

He laughed and she hit him over the head with her purse, nailing one of his ears with frightening accuracy.

"I'm too young for grey hairs, you jerk. And you should talk hanyou. Is that a grey hair I see?"

He waved her off with a flick of a two-fingered salute. "I still have another eight centuries in me at least, probably more."

The neko-youkai sniffed and cast a disdainful look at the bike.

"That yours?"

"Yep."

"Mom know?"

"Yep."

"Still have your balls?"
"Last time I checked, but she did try."

"I heard she took Dad's away."

"He smashed it into an embankment last year drag racing with some guy from Oracle."

"Ooops. Does he still have his balls?"

"As far as I know."

"Ah. So, am I really early?"

He nodded.

"My day planner said noon."

"We pushed it back three hours, and you'd know that if you ever listened to your voicemail."

She shrugged. "I was busy."

"Uh huh. I know what that means," he replied with a knowing grin, then nodded his head to the stairs. "I came early to make sure everything was ready."

He didn't wait for her as he climbed the staircase, his heart fluttering. What would Mama-baachan do when she discovered it was him?

"So who all is coming?" Eri asked him as she fell into step beside him.

"Everyone as far as I know."

"Everyone?"

"Uh huh. Shippou called me on my cell phone last week to make sure he had the date right."

"Will Uncle be here too?"

There was only one Uncle.

He nodded. "I think so. I'm not sure. I know Aunt Rin was planning on being here."

"Hmm, if she's coming, he probably will. Hopefully he'll leave his cell phone at home or he'll spend the whole day on it."

"You know him, no rest from the building of his Empire."

"Have you heard from any of the others? Are they here too?"

"The last one was Isato and he called last night. His flight from Barcelona was delayed in Rome."

"When are Mom and Dad coming over?"

"Their train gets in at 2:30. They've hired a car to bring them from the station."

"Train? Aren't they staying at Tokyo House?"

He shook his head. "No. We've been at Osaka House."

"Osaka House? Why?"

"Fewer steps."

She mentally counted the steps at each property and didn't come up with any significant difference. "But..."

Yukio threw up his hands in surrender. "Hey. I don't ask questions. With Mom pregnant, Dad's gone off the deep end. She's lucky she can go to the bathroom without him hovering over her."

"Wait. Mom's pregnant? When did this happen?"

"Ummm, about seven months ago. Right after we got back from Disney World with Shippou and the great-grandkits."

"Seven months! That... that means..."

"She's in the third trimester. Yeah," he replied, mentally crossing his fingers. `So far, so good. She's heavy and cranky, but in no pain other than what's normal and no abnormal bleeding. I even felt my little brother or sister kick yesterday.'

"And why wasn't I told about this?"

"We didn't tell anyone until she turned six months. I started making calls about 3 weeks ago."

"Three WEEKS!? Why didn't you call me?"

He shot her a glance and made the motion of holding a phone to his ear. "I'm sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer," he parroted in a falsetto. "I'm sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer. I'm sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer because she's too busy screwing jaguar-youkai's in Ecuador."

Eri had the good sense to blush but otherwise did not comment. They reached the top of the stairs and Yukio paused, taking in the sight. It was exactly as he remembered it, but then he had to remind himself that he had been there as a toddler less than a month before. For him it had been over four centuries, and his child self would never again play among the hallowed trees and buildings.

"So? Boy? Girl? What?" Eri asked him, bringing him out of his memories.

He shrugged. "Dunno. The doctor who did the ultrasounds knows but Mom and Dad said they wanted it to be a surprise. I guess they decided the whole Petri-dish and in vitro thing was enough for them and they wanted some semblance of a natural pregnancy." He lowered his eyes and added more softly, "Mom's hoping it's a boy. She told me Dad really wants a son."

Eri snorted. "Well, he always was a chauvinistic pig. You should have seen the look on his face when I asked him why Hikaru got a cool sword but all I got was a lousy necklace."

Yukio snickered even as he cast a glance to confirm that the `lousy necklace' was still around her neck.

"You're lucky he didn't put you across his knee for that."

"He'd have to catch me first."

Yukio giggled.

"So if everyone is coming that would make... what... seventy-five of us?"

He shook his head. "I counted 106 on the guest list. I'm hoping this place won't be too small."

"106!" Eri sputtered.

"Well, there's Mom and Dad, twenty-seven of us, eighteen mates and a couple of significant others tossed in, plus Uncle and Aunt Rin and their pups, Shippou, Mitsiyomi, the kits and grand-kits..."

"You think Kitarou and Rumiko will bring ... ahem... dates?"

Yukio shrugged. "If they do, they do. After thirty-three kids you would think no one would be surprised that a couple of them turned out to be gay. Mom doesn't care and Dad's getting over it. Everyone else should just follow their example and accept them. Frankly, I think Dad was relieved the `big news' Kitarou had for him was that he loved another guy. "Dad, I'm gay" is a hell of a lot better than, "Dad, I'm going insane and I'm going to burn Tokyo down." Right?"

Eri blinked. "Well, when you put it that way..."

Yukio sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what Dad would do if he had to take down another one of us like he did Hiro. You weren't there. You didn't see him before... and after. Up until the point Hiro turned on Mom and the kids, you could see Dad was trying to figure out a way to bring him back. But I keep thinking, if he hadn't… if he hadn't brought Hiro down with that strike… We all would have been orphans twice over that day."

Eri frowned and nodded gravely.

"Well, the caterers were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago," Yukio said, changing the subject.

"You used Shimanouchi right?"

He nodded. The caterer was youkai owned and operated, and familiar with the unique needs and `tastes' of youkai clientele. It was also one of the more reputable businesses and refused to serve anything human-derived. None of the members of his family condoned, supported or tolerated the consumption of human flesh, by-products, or related parts whatsoever. He had vivid memories of his father's reaction the last time a caterer had tried to substitute a human-based broth in the soup to cut costs. In the seedy underbelly of the darker youkai world, human products were cheap because their `meat' rarely had to be purchased.

Thankfully, the only youkai who would practice such disgusting habits were on the `Youkai Most Endangered List' and were a dying breed. His family had been involved in numerous battles between the human-eating and non-human eating youkai, on the `non' side of course, and he had fought beside his father and siblings to send the scum back to hell many times.

"Well, Shimanouchi's good. They'll be here. The truck probably got stuck in traffic. I passed a big accident on the way here in the cab. Turns out some yahoo on a racing bike popped a curb and was driving on the sidewalk. People scattered into the street and two cars got rear-ended when they slammed on their brakes."

He gulped but said nothing. `Shit… I'll probably hear about that if they got my license plate number…I hope no one was hurt.'

"So, what's on the menu?" Eri asked.

Yukio shrugged. "The usual: filet minon, salmon, sushi, roast capon and duck, half a boar, a few pounds of shellfish, fruit and salads for the rabbit-food eaters, and the mandatory oden and ramen. I told the caterer to bring a dozen cases of ramen. That might be enough."

Eri sniffed. "More money than the Gross National Product of some small countries, the world at his fingertips; he could have anything he chooses to eat, and he wants 10¢ salty noodles."

Yukio licked his lips. "Food of the gods."

"Thankfully the gods don't get hypertension or both you and Dad would be dead by now."

"Hey I did talk him out of buying Cup-Men, didn't I?"

"That is a plus. Now if only I could convince you to change your taste in wines. The vineyards made a fantastic Pinot Grigio last year."

He shuddered and made a face. "Pinot Grigio… yechhh. That's right up there with your catnip tea and Mom's curry."

Eri sniffed haughtily. "There is nothing wrong with my tea or Mom's curry. I happen to like curry. It's not my fault that none of you bone-diggers can stomach the spice."

"I'll remember you said that next time you get a bad batch of weed and someone needs to peel you off the ceiling. I'll ask Tetsu to do it instead of me… or squirt you down with a power hose."

"You wouldn't!"

He grinned, mischief in his eyes. "Just watch me."

"Mom would kill you."

"Yeah, but Dad would help."

She growled and gave him a very cat-like hiss. He just snickered.

Just then, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps running up the shrine stairs and Yukio took a deep whiff to see if the newcomer was youkai, hanyou or human. He recognized his grandmother's scent immediately and tensed with excitement.

"Who is it?" Eri asked, noticing his sudden snap to attention.

"Mama-baachan," he whispered back.

A hand on his arm conveyed all he needed from her. Siblings, rivals, and sometimes opposites they might be, but in the end they were family and that was all that mattered.

"Are you ready for this?" she questioned.

He nodded, eyes trained on the stairs. "I've been ready for four-hundred and fifty-two years."

`Hi, Mama-baachan. I know you don't recognize me but I'm your grandson, Yukio,' he practiced mentally, going over his pre-planned speech.

He caught one glimpse of her however, as she cleared the top step and all of his carefully memorized greetings and explanations blew out the window.

********

Mama Higurashi ran breathlessly. She had so much to do and not enough hands to do it with. She was rarely this frantic, but with her only daughter's wedding a scant six months away, she found herself rushing to lay plans and handle all the details while Kagome was in the Sengoku Jidai. To add to her stress, the shrine had been reserved four months prior for a family reunion of none other than the Fushikenwa family itself. Looking at the guest list that had come with the caterer, her knees went weak when she saw it was a veritable who's who of Japan's richest and most influential families. Some of the guests had been benefactors of her family and the shrine since before she was born, and she knew that she had to make sure the gathering went off without a hitch. As a result, she was personally seeing to every detail.

`Damn, the caterer is late…' she thought, looking at her watch. `I hope Jii-chan has the shrine ready.'

She reached the top step and almost ran directly into the tall, young man who was standing on the shrine grounds.

"Oh! Gomen nasai!" she apologized, skidding to a halt, her grocery bags clattering into each other.

The man seemed stunned and she took a moment to study him. He was dressed in motorcycle riding leathers, but the open jacket revealed a formal white shirt with a Mandarin collar and deep blue sapphire cabochon at the throat. His long black hair was pulled neatly back into a ponytail and a diamond stud earring glittered from one earlobe.

`He must be the owner of that expensive racing bike I saw parked at the bottom of the shrine stairs.'

A young woman dressed in very expensive designer clothing stepped forward. She wasn't Japanese she could tell, because she had brilliant blonde hair and green eyes. She extended her hand like a Westerner and gave her a smile.

"Good afternoon, I'm Eri Bast," the woman greeted, shaking her hand firmly.

`Bast. She's one of the guests.' Mama thought, recognizing the name and bowed dutifully.

"Welcome to the Higurashi Shrine, Bast-san."

"Thank you. I must ask you to please forgive my brother. He's mentally deranged, you see."

`Oh?"

"HEY!" the young man sputtered, his brown eyes flashing rage.

The blonde gave a wicked smirk at her brother's ire, then spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, "He was dropped one too many times as a baby."

"I was not!"

Mama giggled, relieved by their humor. `At least they aren't angry about the caterers. The caterers. I must call them.'

She bowed deeply to the young man, ignoring his stare.

"Please forgive me. The caterers are late and I must call to see if something has happened."

The woman looked off in the direction of the shrine stairs and… sniffed?

"They're coming," Eri said.

Mama blinked and looked towards the shrine gates. "Oh?"

"I'm sure they'll be here soon," she added, completely unconcerned.

Mama gave her a nervous smile. "I'm glad, but I'll call anyway as soon as I take my groceries into the house."

"I can help you," the man offered, reaching for the bags.

"Oh no. Thank you, but I am fine. Please, enjoy the shrine. I will take in my groceries, call the caterers and return shortly," she replied, giving him another bow.

She hurried to the house, entering and practically kicking her shoes off in the genken.

"Tadaima!" she called as she entered the main dwelling. "Jii-chan, are you here? There are guests on the grounds and the caterers aren't here yet…"

"Hai! Hai!" came the voice from upstairs. "I am coming!"

"Arigato!"

Spinning she turned to go into the kitchen to put down her bags and nearly collided with the young man.

"Oh!" she gasped. `He followed me into the house. Is he truly mentally ill?'

He just looked at her and didn't say a word. He was very handsome, but his expression was unsettling.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she stammered, bowing. "I did not hear you come in, Bast-san. I will call the caterer immediately. Is there something that you need?"

He was still staring her and it was making her very uncomfortable.

"My father is the head priest of the shrine. He will be down shortly. I will call the caterer…"

"My name isn't Bast," he said softly.

She bowed again. "Please forgive me. I assumed…"

"My family name is Fushikenwa."

`Fushikenwa… one of the Fushikenwas himself is in my house. But I've never read anything about them having a son who was mentally ill…'

"Please forgive my mistake, Fushikenwa-san," she apologized with yet another bow.

"Please stop bowing like that."

"I'm… I'm sorry," she replied, stopping herself from bowing again. "Is there something I can do for you, Fushikenwa-san?"

"No," he answered simply, then just stood there, looking at her with a curious yet sad expression on his face, and she didn't know what to do.

`Where is the sister?' "Your sister…"

"She's outside. The caterers are here. She's directing them."

"Oh!" She scrambled to do something with her grocery bags, but he was standing between her and the kitchen. "I'll… I'll just put these down and…"

He still blocked her path. "You really don't know who I am, do you?" he said suddenly. He sounded sad.

"Ah, I'm sorry, but I don't know what…"

"I'd hoped you'd recognize me a little. This appearance isn't all that different from my true form. But it has been a long time and I've grown quite a bit."

Now she was really getting nervous. `Where is Jii-chan?' "Forgive me, Fushikenwa-san, but I…"

"Yukio," he corrected.

"Hm?"

"My first name is Yukio."

`Yukio. Like my grandson…'

"Mama-baachan. It's me."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're..."

The young man fingered a large signet ring on his right hand, then he slowly removed it and before her very eyes his hair bled to silver, his eyes turned golden and his ears moved up to the top of his head as two furry triangles.

"I'm Yukio."

She stared, dumbfounded at the adult hanyou. "Y… Yukio?"
He nodded, giving her a sweet smile that showed his canines.

`Yukio?' "Yukio?" she repeated, the cold chill of shock flooding through her.

"Yes, Mama-baachan, it's me."

She dropped the shopping bags only to remember too late that one of the bags contained eggs; eggs that smashed all over the floor.

"Oh!" she cried and bent down to try to handle the mess with her shaking hands and addled mind.

Yukio crouched down, placing a small black leather bag on the floor, and gently took her by the upper arms. "I will buy you a whole case of new eggs if you will give me a hug," he said.

She stilled, unable to stop staring at him, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Then she suddenly slumped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting him support her because her knees had gone weak.

"Yukio!" she cried.

"Mama-baachan," he answered and swept her up into a powerful hug.

Slowly her brain started working again and with the newfound brain function came a million questions. How had he grown up so fast? Who was the woman he claimed as a sister? Where did he get the ring that masked his appearance? But first and foremost in her mind was the terrible, dreaded question: `if he is here as an adult, where is my daughter?'

Panic seized her and he seemed to recognize it because he hugged her tighter.

"Kagome! Where is Kagome? What happened to Kagome!?" she asked, half-terrified to learn the answer.

He pulled back to look her in the eye and she was never so happy to not see sadness and grief on his face.

"It's okay, Baa-chan. Okaa-san and Otou-san will be here later. They are both fine. That's all I can tell you because Mom wanted to be the one to tell you the whole story."

"Kagome… Kagome is alive?"

He nodded. "Both Okaa-san and Otou-san are alive and well."

"Then how…"

He sighed. "After the wish was made, the well closed and not even my father could come through."

"But then…"

"Mom will tell you everything when she gets here. I've already said too much as it is. Besides, I'm not really the one to ask. I was just a little pup when all of it happened and I don't remember it very well."

She took in his adult face, trying to superimpose her memory of him as a toddler onto this dashing grown-up man. Gone were the pudgy cheeks of the baby she knew, to be replaced by fine cheekbones and a strong chin. Only his eyes and smile remained the same. She placed one hand on his cheek.

"I can't believe it's really you…"

He chuckled and she realized that his laugh had remained the same as well, just deeper and more mature.

"I've waited so long to see you. I've missed you so much," he admitted. "I have memories of you and this place from when I was a pup. I remember your voice and your scent and how kind you always were."

"And how I always had a treat for you," she added.

He blushed and laughed softly. "That too."

He pulled her to her feet, refusing to let her go until he was certain she had her footing. "You got egg on your knees. You should go change. I'll have someone from the caterers clean up this mess," he told her, motioning to the broken eggs and the spots on her stockings.

"Oh. Oh no… I should clean it up. And there are other groceries that have to be put away."

He pouted slightly, then grinned again and his smile was infectious. "Okay."

Mama bent to pick up the remainder of her bags but Yukio beat her to it, scooping them up and taking them into the kitchen for her. Then as she cleaned up the mess in the hall, she heard him make a phone call on a cellular phone and speak to someone on the other end.

"Oi, Miroku. It's me. Hey, can you bring some eggs with you when you come over to the shrine? Mama-baachan dropped hers when she saw me and I feel honor bound to replace them." There was a pause as he listened to the response. "Ummm, hold on. Baa-chan?"

"Yes?"

"How many eggs should Miroku bring?"

"Just one package, please. But you don't have to worry about it. I can get more myself tomorrow. It's not a problem…"

He ignored her.

`So much like his father…'

"Just one. Thanks, Miroku. Hmm? No I haven't heard from Mom and Dad since I left Osaka House this morning. As of 7am, Dad was screaming at the housekeeper that the floors were too heavily waxed and Mom might slip. I had to get out of there. Yeah, I know, I know, but sometimes I wish we could just… Oh I dunno, seal him to a tree until after the baby comes. Life would be a lot less stressful for everyone involved. I suggested it, but Mom just hit me."

`Baby?' Mama thought, `grandmother radar' picking up on her grandson's statement.

"Okay. See you later today. Everything is going fine. The caterers were late arriving but that's no big deal. They're here now and so is Eri, so you know she'll make sure they do everything right… or at least her way."

Yukio laughed at something the other person said, and nodded. "Yes, yes. Alright, thanks Miroku. Bye."

He turned to her and smiled. "Miroku will bring eggs when he comes over."

She nodded, still clutching the dirty dishrag in her hands from cleaning up the eggs.

"Baby?" she asked.

Yukio's face cracked into a huge grin. "That is another thing I will let my mother tell you about."

`Baby? My baby is pregnant. But… she's too young to be…'

"Ah-hah, I am ready," Jii-chan announced, entering the kitchen in full Shinto priest's robes.

"JII-CHAN!" Yukio cried, moving so fast all Mama saw was a blur of silver and black leather as he swept past her and grabbed the old man, spinning him around.

"Ahhhhhhggggghhhh! Demon!!" Jii-chan screamed.

"Jii-chan. Jii-chan. Jii-chan!"

"Mama, help me-e-e-e-e!!!"

"Yukio, sweetheart," she called, falling back into her old `grandmother' voice. "Please put Jii-chan down."

He obeyed immediately, setting the old man gently on his feet.

"Funny, you're a lot shorter than I remember," he teased, scratching his head.

"Demon begone!" Jii-chan commanded, waving an ofuda.

Yukio just laughed and kissed his great-grandfather on the cheek. "I take it back. You're just the same as always."

He opened the collar of his shirt to reveal a stone on a braided rope. "I still have the charm you gave me as a pup."

Jii-chan recognized the necklace and gasped. "Yukio?"

"Hai, Jii-chan. It's me."

"But… you're big!"

"Hai, Jii-chan, pups do that. We tend to grow up."

Jii-chan looked at her, questions in his eyes.

"Jii-chan, please meet Fushikenwa Yukio."

"Fushikenwa?" He looked back at his great-grandson. "It can't be!"

Yukio reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up to his driver's license, he showed it to Jii-chan. The old man looked at the picture and shook his head.

"This isn't you!"

Laughing, Yukio put the ring back on and reactivated the spell that darkened his eyes and hair, and pulled his ears down to the sides of his head.

"Now does it look like me?" he asked with a grin.

Jii-chan just sputtered. "How did you do that?"

"Concealment spell linked to my ring. Standard survival gear for youkai and hanyous in a human world," he explained, taking the ring off again and making the ears, hair and eyes come back.

"Ohhhh," the old man breathed, inspecting the ring.

Suddenly Yukio caught both of them up in a big hug. "Oh! I am so happy!" he exclaimed, making little whining noises in the back of his throat.

Letting them go, Mama saw him wipe moisture from the corners of his eyes.

`Hmm, not that much like his father,' she amended.

Her grandson sighed and refastened his shirt collar. "I should change. My mother will kill me if I'm still wearing my riding leathers when she gets here," he admitted.

"Mother?" Jii-chan repeated. "Kagome?"

Mama nodded.

"She's coming through the well?"

"No, Jii-chan," Yukio replied sadly. "The well is closed. It's been closed for a very long time."

"Closed?" He looked at his daughter again.

"Kagome will explain everything when she gets here with Inuyasha," Mama said to his unspoken question.

Yukio picked up the small black bag he had set down and looked to her in askance. "May I use Okaa-san's old room to change?"

`Old room?' she thought, even as she was nodding.

He grinned again. "Is Souta going to be here?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked and nodded. "He is coming home later."

"Great. The whole family will be together again," he commented happily as he disappeared up the stairs.

Jii-chan looked at her once he was gone. "Mama?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head. "I came home from the store and he followed me into the house. He was wearing the ring so I didn't know it was him until he took it off. A woman who claims to be his sister is out directing the caterers. That's all I know."

Mama put the dirty dishrag in the sink and set about putting the groceries away. The routine act of placing all the food in the pantry and cupboards calmed her a little even as her mind was racing.

Yukio promised that Kagome was alive and would explain everything when she got there, but he'd also said that the well had been closed. If that was true then, unless they had found another way to travel through time to the Modern Era, her daughter must be over four centuries old.

`But how is that possible? What happened to my baby?'

Jii-chan came to stand next to her. She gave him a watery smile and straightened his clothes.

"I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for all of this," she said, even as tears began to well in her eyes.

"Of course," her father agreed.

A small sob escaped her lips and she fought to hold the rest back. So many questions needed answers. Jii-chan put an arm around her and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly.

"I should go change. My stockings have broken eggs all over them," she finally said.

Jii-chan nodded and stepped away, allowing her to excuse herself to go up to her room. She passed Yukio as he was coming down. His leathers were gone, replaced by a crisp designer suit with a short jacket.

"Going to change?" he asked her.

She nodded and he smiled. "Put something nice on Mama-baachan. This is as much your reunion as it is ours. I'll see you when you come back downstairs."

With that, he continued on his way and disappeared into the kitchen.

`As much my reunion as it is theirs. Oh, Kagome, you have so much explaining to do.'

*******

The bedroom still smelled of his mother. He was surprised how strong the scent was and he wasn't expecting it. In this time, his parents hadn't been in this room for over three weeks and he had expected their scents to have faded, but they really hadn't. Even his pup scent still remained in the crib by the bed, and he was surprised by the effect it had on him.

He tried not to think about the intricacies of time travel and paradoxes because it gave him a headache. On one hand, he hadn't been in this room for four hundred and fifty years. On the other hand, he had been a toddler and sleeping in the crib three weeks before. Four centuries. Three weeks. Both were true. Both existed in the same timeline. It didn't seem possible, but there it was. In 2000 he was both fourteen months and 450 years old. It was enough to give anyone a migraine just trying to wrap your head around it.

Taking off his chaps and jacket, he took a few deep breaths.

`Okay, Yukio, get it together. You were whining out there and practically licking their chins.'

He knew he was acting like a pup but he couldn't help it. His reactions were instinctive for an inu-youkai who was welcoming pack members back home. After so long being separated from his grandparents, it was only natural for him to show his joy in the best way he knew how.

`Except that they really will think you're deranged and haven't a clue what the Hell you're doing. Did Okaa-san ever explain inu-youkai speech to them?'

He pulled the waistcoat out of the satchel and put it on, adjusting the collar and shoulders to sit perfectly. Neither he nor his father were too taken by modern materialism, and they were as apt to shop in Wal-Mart as they were in Nieman Marcus, but there was something to be said for a well made designer suit. This one was an Armani and it had been made for him two years ago in Italy. The jacket was short, ending right at his waist with a crisp cut that tapered to mould to his chest and torso. The slacks were comfortable and form-fitting but not too tight. Everything about it was expressly tailored to bring out his most flattering attributes and it performed its task flawlessly. He looked like a god in it and he knew it, and it fit fabulously whether he was concealed or not.

The only part of the outfit that he was displeased with was the shoes, but that was because he hated footwear to begin with and only wore it when absolutely necessary. In that, he was just like his father who had to be heavily bribed into wearing even sandals. Normally if he were attending a social function outside of family, he would endure the torture of formal dress shoes. Handmade or not, he despised them and took them off as soon as possible. Because today was a family function, he chose to forego the dress shoes and opted for his leather bike boots instead. Polished to a brisk shine, they looked just as nice as the dress shoes, but didn't pinch his toes.

`And you'll probably take them off before too long anyway,' he thought, rubbing away a recently made scuff mark off of one of the heels.

Dressed, he checked himself in his mother's mirror, brushing his fingers through his silver hair and smoothing it back. His hair wasn't as long as his father's, but it did fall below his shoulders. When he was concealed it was a straight, glossy black, but in his true form, it was thick and had almost twice the volume of the black hair. His ears peeked out from the mass of silver on top, twitching with excitement. Outside he could hear Eri giving orders and a quick glance out the window confirmed that his sister had everything under control.

One last quick inspection and he declared himself `as good as he was going to get.' He stuffed the riding leathers into the satchel and left the room. He ran into his grandmother on the way down the stairs. She looked a little stressed and shaky.

`It is a lot for her to take in. I wonder how she is going to react when she finds out that she has 27 grandchildren.'

"Going to change?" he asked her.

She nodded at him and he smiled. "Put something nice on Mama-baachan. This is as much your reunion as it is ours. I'll see you when you come back downstairs."

His great-grandfather was in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea, and he joined him, resisting the urge to nuzzle him and sniff his hair. Jii-chan offered him a cup of tea which he accepted just so he would have something to do with his hands.

"It looks like Eri is taking care of the setup and decorating," he commented, looking out the kitchen window.

"Eri?" the old man repeated.

"My sister. She's the blonde in Prada giving orders."

Western style tables had been set up along the west end of the shrine grounds, and wait staff were scurrying around with china and silverware. He watched a newcomer carry in a tray of flowers. Eri met him and began pointing out where the arrangements should go.

"Hmm, florist is here," he said to no one in particular as he took a sip of his tea.

"Your sister?"

He nodded. "One of them. I have thirteen."

"Thirteen!" Jii-chan sputtered.

Yukio chuckled. "Thirteen sisters and thirteen brothers. I did have fourteen sisters and eighteen brothers but six died."

"Thirteen sisters and thirteen brothers? Ohhh, Kagom-e-e-e…" the old man moaned.

"We're adopted, every last one of us. And I really need to shut up because my mother will have my hide if I tell you too much. Before I left, she made me promise to let her and Dad tell you everything."

"Adopted?"

He nodded and the admission seemed to comfort the old man some.

"When will Kagome be here?" Mama-baachan's voice asked as she came into the kitchen.

He turned to see her and smiled at her lovely floral dress and coral necklace.

`I'll buy her some pearls and bring them the next time I visit.'

"They're coming in on the 2:30 train from Osaka."

"Osaka? They're in Osaka?"

He nodded. "As you've probably already figured out, Mom is pregnant. Dad counted the stairs at Osaka House and Tokyo House, and Osaka had fewer so that's where he chose to have them stay."

She smiled knowingly. "Still over-protective I see."

He rolled his eyes. "You have no idea. Mom can't do anything without him and he goes ballistic over the littlest thing. I swear I don't know how she puts up with it."

Mama-baachan just giggled and shook her head. "I don't think he's changed a bit."

`You've got that right. In more ways than one.'

He finished his tea and put the cup in the sink. "Here. Let me introduce you to my sister Eri," he offered, extending his hand. "I know you've already met, but I was a little speechless at the time. Besides, we need to get out there and stop her before she takes over."

He watched her smooth her dress and smiled at her self-consciousness.

"You look fine Mama-baachan. I couldn't ask for a prettier grandmother," he assured her.

She gave him a nervous smile but took his offered hand, gasping as he pulled her into another hug. "Sorry, I can't help it. I have four hundred and fifty years worth of missed hugs to make up for."

"You really are my daughter's son," she told him. "I remember how you were always hugging me as a toddler."

"Never outgrew it," he admitted. "C'mon, Jii-chan, come meet Eri. I'm sure she'll be overjoyed to see you. And do me a favor, got an ofuda ready? Nail her right on the forehead for me, will ya? Believe me, she deserves it."

He put one hand around his grandmother's waist and another on Jii-chan's shoulder and ushered them towards the door.

"Ahh, Jii-chan," he began a little nervously when he saw that the old man did indeed have an ofuda ready. "I was just joking about the ofuda. If you hit her with that, she'll go into a snit and we'll have to put up with it all day."

"Ah," was all Jii-chan said in reply.

"Is Eri a hanyou like you?" Mama-baachan asked.

"No. She's a neko-youkai actually."

"Neko-youkai? A cat?"

"Mm-hmmm," he answered, guiding them out to the shrine where everything was beginning to come together with remarkable youkai speed.

"Oh my. That must have been interesting growing up."

"She had the nasty habit of waiting until I'd fallen asleep in a tree before knocking me out of it and saying that dogs didn't belong in trees," he admitted.

He heard her giggle. "Your father loved to sit in trees."

"I know. He used to find the tallest one and..."

"What are you doing?!" came Eri's horrified voice.

`Huh?'

He turned to see his sister hurrying towards them, hands waving, eyes flashing.

"What?" he answered.

"You're unconcealed you dolt!" she snapped back.

He took a quick glance around, hoping he hadn't missed any errant humans that might be employed by the caterer, but even if there were any they'd be well used to non-human clientele.

"Eri, the only humans here are Jii-chan and Mama-baachan. Everyone else is either youkai or hanyou," he pointed out.

"That's not the point!" she huffed. "What if a visitor comes to the shrine? What if the press shows up? Everyone will see your ears on the six o'clock news!"

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay!" he gave in, putting the ring back on and activating the spell.

She sighed with relief. "Oh good. Now I won't have to explain to anyone why my brother's a dog."

"Hey!" he groused. "Jii-chan! I lied. Get her!"

"Demon begone!" the old man commanded, tossing an ofuda at the blonde.

It hit her square in the forehead and... did nothing.

"Oh look, a seal. How quaint," she said, peeling it off of her face. She turned it over in her hand a few times then slapped it onto her brother's head. "There. It looks better on you."

`Why I ought to... I swear if my mother wouldn't cry, I'd...' Yukio thought, growling.

As usual Eri wasn't paying any attention to him.

"No! No! NO! Don't put those there!" she cried, upset about two ice sculptures that were being brought in as centerpieces for the buffet table.

`Ice sculptures? Who the hell orders ice sculptures for an outdoor banquet in Tokyo in June?'

He was about to open his mouth to say something but Eri was already gone. He sighed.

"Anyway, that's Eri. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to meet her later."

"She's very pretty," Mama-baachan commented.

He smiled. "That's her concealment spell, but in truth she's not bad to look at. She's got red hair and pointed ears."

Mama-baachan nodded. "I really ought to help. This is my shrine after all, and I am responsible for all of the functions here."

"Good luck. If I might make a suggestion, she hates water. Normally I'd just squirt her but I left my Super Soaker at home."

His grandmother giggled and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "I think I can handle it, sweetheart."

`Sweetheart.' He couldn't stop the grin that split his face.

"Jii-chan, you'll see to the offerings?" she asked the old man.

Jii-chan bowed. "Hai, Mama."

"Very well, then. Let's get this going."

Yukio watched as his grandmother strode over to Eri, who was practically hissing at the poor delivery boy holding the ice sculpture of a swan. He saw her put a hand on the neko-youkai's shoulder, saw Eri start and then her eyes go wide at whatever Mama-baachan said. Then, to his amazement, his sister smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

`How did she do that?' he wondered.

Realizing that he was only in the way, Yukio moved to sit under Goshinboku to watch the activity.

`Hello, old friend,' he greeted, setting his back against the familiar trunk. How many times had he sat there in that exact spot while he was growing up? The rough bark between his shoulders was a welcome feeling.

All around him, the reunion was taking shape and he could barely contain his growing happiness and excitement.

`Two o'clock,' he thought, looking at his watch. `Soon the rest of the guests will be arriving and Mom and Dad. Everything is coming together so nicely for Okaa-san. It's going to be a wonderful day.'