InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torn Apart ❯ Chapter 3

 

Chapter 3:

 

With the meal long over, everyone gathered in the living room to relax and reminisce. Sango and Souta leaned against the wall as they prepared to listen to Shippou's tale. Kagome sat next to Shippou on the couch and gazed lovingly at her lost son while Jiichan sat in the armchair sputtering at the thought of a youkai receiving hospitality in his home. His daughter, Higurashi Aikouitsu stood behind him, occasionally touching her father-in-law's shoulder to calm him down.

 

Shippou glanced around at the gathered family and smiled a cheeky grin. “Are you guys ready to hear what's been up the last five hundred years or so?” He watched the light of anticipation flood into each one's face, even the old man's even though he did his best to stamp out his curiosity. Drawling, he looked at his finger nails, picking at the dirt beneath them. “Cuz if you're not, I could just come another time…”

 

Kagome shoved him in the shoulder half in play and half in serious displeasure. “Of course we're ready! You've been avoiding the subject all night. Besides, don't you think we deserve a little reward for slaving all night making supper for you?”

 

“Oh, I don't know. Because I'm cute and you can't resist having your son around to hug?” Shippou grabbed Kagome's shoulders and gave her yet another hug to go with the twenty or so they already exchanged that night. “Besides, who else is going to give me chocolate?”

 

“Shippou!” gasped every female Higurashi.

 

“What? What'd I say?” intoned Shippou innocently.

 

“Shippou,” said Kagome slyly. “Tell us what happened and I'll buy you a giant case of pocky.”

 

“Promise?” he asked with an adoring twinkle in his eye. He could buy a truck load of pocky if he wanted, but it never tasted as good as the stuff Kagome gave him. There was just something about her touch that made everything so much better.

 

“Promise,” she said softly, giving him a secret smile.

 

“Thank-you, okaa-san.”

 

Settling down into the warmth of the couch, Shippou leaned his head back as he sifted through his memories, picking up the thread of his tale….

 

—\-|-/—

 

“Here she comes!” Shippou cheered, dancing along the side of the well. He couldn't believe it had been just under a year and a half since he'd meet Kagome, and in that time grew to love her as a surrogate mother. She would never compete with the memories he had of his real family, but she had still managed to sidle up to them in his heart.

 

He continued to bounce in excitement along the well edge as Inuyasha and the others perked up with Sesshoumaru's graceful landing in the clearing. Kagome stepped out of his arms, flashing a smile at the others.

 

“Hey! How are you guys?”

 

Shippou launched himself into her arms, cuddling against her. He inhaled her scent: fresh Sakura blossoms mixed with the musky scent of fertile earth. Wrinkling his nose, he wondered why Kagome's fresh scent had to mix with that of the taiyoukai? “We've missed you so much! Even Inuyasha misses you! We didn't get a chance to say goodbye either time Sesshoumaru took you away from us! Meanie!”

 

Shippou glared at Sesshoumaru, who yawned as if bored. When Shippou refused to look away, Sesshoumaru raised his hand, his claws glowing green. `Don't kill me! Don't kill me!' he thought as he squeaked and hid behind Kagome's shoulder. Glancing quickly down at her adopted son, she gave him a quick reassuring glance and a pat on the shoulder before looking back at Sesshoumaru.

 

“If you please,” she asked. Sesshoumaru shrugged and dropped his hands.

 

`Whew. That was a close one,' thought Shippou from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. Kagome sighed, startling Shippou from his rapport with Sesshoumaru, and set the kitsune on the ground. Losing the support of his okaa-san, Shippou skirted across the lawn and climbed onto Inuyasha's shoulder.

 

“Are you still dressing Kagome up like a doll?” asked Inuyasha causing Shippou's body to vibrate from the unspoken growl building in his otou-san's chest. “Why isn't she dressed like normal? Or like she's supposed to?”

 

Sesshoumaru smiled. “I did not want anyone to confuse her for the undead. There are masochists around these woods, or so I hear.”

 

“Enough!”

 

Kagome raised her hand as Inuyasha started forward, causing the kitsune to fall to the ground.

 

“Ow!” Shippou stood and rubbed his behind with a shaking paw as he watched Kagome grasp the necklace and pull it over the unsuspecting hanyou's head. Handing it to him, she reached around her own neck and took off the Shikon no Tama. Moving away from him to Sango at the side of the well, she took the last shards from her hand.

 

“I thought Kikyou had a few shards.”

 

“Kikyou is gone. We don't know how it happened, but we found her ashes outside Naraku's castle.”

 

“So Sesshoumaru didn't kill her.”

 

Sango shook her head no.

 

“And Kohaku?”

 

“Buried. I have mourned all month.”

 

Shippou's tail drooped in memory of the night they found Kohaku's body lying in a bare room inside Naraku's castle. Sango had fallen on her brother and refused to move an inch away from his lifeless flesh. When Miroku and laid an innocent hand on her shoulder, she had thrown Miroku clear across the room as a red light glinted in her eye and silently warned Inuyasha away with the simple unsheathing of her katana.

 

She had refused everything. All comfort, all companionship, everything for a full week before emerging weak and wasted from the cold, silent castle to fall unconscious at Inuyasha's feet. In pity, he had carried her and her brother to the now abandoned exterminator's village and buried him in a grave alongside his family and friends. Sango had broken down into more tears once she realized the depth of their understanding. It had taken another week before she agreed to leave her brother's grave, but she had at least allowed her friends to be there for her.

 

Shippou sighed. If Kagome had been with them, he knew that Sango would never have been allowed to face her grief alone. Kagome would have been able to penetrate her shield and soothe the hurt. Kagome would have known how to handle everything.

 

A bright light radiating out from Kagome's pressed hands brought Shippou out of his troubled memories as the wind picked up causing her kimono to billow out around her, the sleeves raising enough to see the golden dagger on her arm. Covering his eyes, the light flashed and disappeared.

 

Blinking the stars from his eyes, Shippou heard Kagome cheer, “We did it!” All he could do as his vision returned was stare in horror as her body shimmered, reflecting the light that was now contained within her body. Slowly, her body turned translucent as the light fought to drain away from the mortal vessel containing its power.

 

“What?” she cried in bewilderment.

 

“You're fading,” whispered Sango.

 

“Are you doing this?” yelled Inuyasha as the kitsune's tail drooped lower in dismay and confusion. He looked wildly around to find Inuyasha shaking a fist at Sesshoumaru and Sesshoumaru's emphatic shake no. Whimpering, the kitsune crept a little closer to his okaa-san as he watched her feet start to fade.

 

A mere foot away from the vanishing miko, Kagome looked down at her child and whispered, “Shippou, I'm gonna miss you.” A sad smile flitted over her features as she raised a translucent hand to her lips and blew him a kiss. Shippou whimpered and hugged himself as he caught it.

 

"Miroku, I hope you find some lucky girl to have your child. Kaede, you're the grandmother I've always wanted. Inuyasha, please look after Shippou. Whether you realize it or not, he thinks of you like a father."

 

She turned to Sango, the golden sticks in her hair clicking together. "Sango," she said as she looked down at the completed jewel. After a moment's hesitation, she reached for her hand, clasping the jewel between them.

 

"Come with me."

 

Sango gasped as she started to disappear too, the power of the jewel flowing through her blood causing her to shimmer in the morning light. Everyone stared at the two vanishing females.

 

`No, not Sango too', thought Shippou as he hugged his tail tighter around himself. With despair flooding through him, he watched as Kagome reached a caressing hand out to Sesshoumaru only to have it pass through his cheek.

 

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she and Sango faded completely away. Sesshoumaru reached for her, but grabbed Inuyasha instead. Jerking him closer, he snarled.

 

"Where is she?"

 

"She's home, five hundred years in the future."

 

“What do you mean the future!” yelled Sesshoumaru into his half-brother's face.

 

Inuyasha pushed against the taiyoukai's fierce grasp and snarled back. “It's where she's from! Did you think something that pure and forgiving could be found here in this age?”

 

Sesshoumaru slashed the impertinent hanyou across the face with his poison claws and watched as he bucked against his hands as the poison dripped into his system. “If she's from the future, she had to have some way of getting here. Tell me now, dear brother.” Venom dripped from his soft spoken words much as the poison dripped from his claws.

 

“The well,” gasped Inuyasha, fighting to hold back the pain of grief and from his brother's blow.

 

“What about the well?” Sesshoumaru loosened his hold allowing Inuyasha to gasp in a much needed breath of air as the some of the pain subsided.

 

“It acts as a portal. Only me and Kagome can get through it, but if she's faded, I don't think we can anymore!”

 

Sesshoumaru growled and flung Inuyasha against the well. “Try.”

 

Inuyasha nodded and jumped into the well, landing with a soft thud and an “Oomph.”

 

“What the—” said Inuyasha from the well's bottom. “Shit. I knew it wasn't going to work!”

 

Sesshoumaru followed the hanyou down into the well, landing gracefully in the cramped surroundings. Glancing closely at the hanyou, he glared at the panic that lit his features. Angry at the emotions flitting across the hanyou's face, he howled into the air a cry of grief and pain as he punched his brother in the head, knocking him unconscious. Leaping into the air, he lit off in a flash of white, trying to out run his grief.

 

Shippou, startled by the pain erupting from the taiyoukai's throat crept back to the well where he had witnessed the elder's failed attempt to use the time portal. “Otou-san?” he whispered. “Otou-san!” he cried flinging himself into the well to land on Inuyasha's stomach. Curling around his limp form, he cried himself to sleep, grieving over the loss of two parents.

 

—\-|-/—

 

“I never knew,” said Kagome as she touched the tears running down Shippou's face as he relived those horrible memories. “I never meant to cause so much pain.”

 

Shippou opened his eyes and grasped his okaa-san's soft hands. “I was so frightened when you left. It took Inuyasha a full day before he woke up. He was heart-broken. He refused to leave the well for almost six months, hoping that maybe you'd be able to return from your own side of the well.” Smiling crookedly, Shippou glanced down at their joined hands. “I wasn't much better.”

 

Kagome swallowed back her tears. “I'm so sorry.”

 

“I know. We know. It just took a long time to get used to knowing that you weren't coming back. If it wasn't for Miroku force feeding us, we'd have died of starvation before coming to our senses.” Shippou looked around at the gathered family and saw that not a dry eye was to be found. Sango was clutching Souta as she remembered the past, almost as if she was again submersed in her grief for Kohaku. Souta, it seemed, didn't mind the fierce hold.

 

Sighing, Shippou returned to his tale, wishing that things had turned out differently.

 

—\-|-/—

 

Sesshoumaru crept out of the shadows of the forest and walked towards Inuyasha and the kitsune. Moonlight bathed the clearing in a cool light and showed just how haggard the trio had become. Sesshoumaru's white haori was torn and frayed from the nearly six months of running he had done and hanged limply from his shoulders. His tail was streaked with dirt and littered with autumn leaves. Inuyasha didn't look much better appearing gaunt and feeble with weakness as he sat in front of the well, imprinting himself into the grass growing around him. Shippou lay curled up on the well lip, dirty and rank.

 

“Any sign of her?” whispered Sesshoumaru hoarsely.

 

Inuyasha shook his head. “No, nothing.”

 

Sesshoumaru strode forward and stopped next to his brother and looked at the well and lost kit. “I loved her you know.”

 

“I know. We both loved her, and we both miss her.”

 

Sesshoumaru stared into the darkness. “What will you do?”

 

Inuyasha tore his gaze away from the shadows and looked at his brother. “Keh. Continue to protect the village, I guess. It's what Kagome would want.”

 

Sesshoumaru brooded. “I do not know what Kagome would want.”

 

Inuyasha paused in thoughtfulness, something he had rarely done before. “I think you do.”

 

Sesshoumaru shook his head. “She would expect me to take care of my lands, give the ningens the respect I gave to her, and acknowledge Rin as the daughter of my heart, but I do not know what she wanted of me.”

 

Inuyasha smiled sadly at his elder brother. “Kagome would have loved that.”

 

“What of the kitsune?”

 

Inuyasha looked at the young kit. “I don't know. She asked me to take care of him, so I will. But I don't know how. She was the one to mother him. She gave him love and patience and kindness. I'm no good at that. I'd rather hit him then listen to him. He's to smart for his own good most of the time.”

 

Sesshoumaru nodded. “He is indeed a clever kitsune.” Taking a deep breathe, he looked down at the still sitting hanyou. “I will not take another to mate. This means that you must take over the duties as an heir to the Western Lands. If you also choose not to take a mate, I would be proud to have the kitsune follow after us both.”

 

Inuyasha stared in awe at his brother. “What!?! You'd end our feud just like tha—although Kagome would be proud.” He paused, eyes narrowing in contemplation while his mind fought to work again for such a long period of disuse. “Hai, I guess I can stand you as a brother and be happier still that Kagome's son will inherit the lands of our father.” Sticking out a paw, Inuyasha waited for Sesshoumaru to seal this oath. “Just don't get any bright ideas that I'm going to take any crap from you. I can still kick your ass with Tetsusaiga!”

 

Sesshoumaru grasped Inuyasha's forearm as he in turn grasped his. “I look forward to making you eat dirt in the next skirmish. I'm sure by then you'll have missed the taste.”

 

Shippou, lying alone on the well, gazed at the tragically charged scene playing out before him, as his heart began to beat again in bittersweet joy. Kagome still had the power to soothe the hurt and pain of those she loved though she was lost five hundred years into the future. Now if only the two could continue just trading insults rather then actually fighting…

 

—\-|-/—

 

“….well, I think that's about it for my tale tonight,” said Shippou as he fought to contain the flood of memories washing over him. He did not wish to relive the memories which came after, nor could he tell them of the past due to a promise he had made long, long ago. It was up to Sesshoumaru to continue the tale.

 

Aikouitsu thanked the gods in heaven for allowing this reunion between her daughter and adopted pup after all the pain that had been borne on both sides. She had never been quite the same since returning from Sengoku Jidai and hoped that the light that was in her eyes now would still be there long after tonight.

 

“Wow,” whispered Kagome. “I never thought that they would come together like that. I always hoped, sure, but I didn't think they'd actually do it!”

 

Silence engulfed the room for a few minutes as each contemplated the sad tale that had been so eloquently described to them and the great miracle of a truce at long last. Sango, looking at the kitsune as he still gripped Kagome's hand tightly on the couch asked, “If you, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are still alive today, what about the rest of the youkai?”

 

Shippou perked up at the change in topic. “They're still around. Most serve behind the scenes in politics and business. Some of the most powerful names in Asia and Europe are those of fellow youkai or hanyou.”

 

“I can't believe that youkai are still around. Why haven't I sensed them?” Kagome asked.

 

Shippou's eyes lit up. “Well, to be honest, we've gotten a little better at cloaking our auras since you've been sealed on this side of the well. We also let every youkai know that if they set foot in Tokyo for the past eighteen years without the permission of Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru, there'd be hell to pay: both financially and physically. That didn't go over to well with some of our business and political rivals, but Sesshoumaru is still the Lord of the West. If they tried to get close to you, we could normally get away with just intercepting them and telling them to leave. A few, however, wanted to come after the Shikon no Tama. Those, we had to exterminate.”

 

“Yeah, but if they were that close and you were using a lot of power to exterminate them, why didn't I sense their presence?”

 

“Well, to be honest, you were so rarely here once you started your miko training that you just were never around to sense our battles. When you were, Sesshoumaru erected a containment barrier to prevent detection. Outside of battles, our concealment charms work to mask both our aura as well as our appearance. Only another youkai or hanyou would be able to detect another due to the smell.”

 

Sango perked up at the thought of returning once more to battle. The sedateness of modern Tokyo just seemed to drag on her spirits. At one point in her life she had wished to never kill another living thing, but now that she did not need to, she missed the spark and the challenge each individual fight brought not to mention the sense of purpose she had when fighting against Naraku. Now she took out her aggressions in kendou matches. “So do these youkai still attack every once in a while?”

 

“Sango!” pleaded Kagome, knowing where the question had come from. To often of late, she had seen Sango take out her Hiraikotsu from storage to clean and polish its edges. She had also noticed the extra time she spent at clubs and competitions. It was hard not to when she was gone every other weekend.

 

“What? Can I not protect my friends as well?” asked Sango defensively.

 

“Of course you can, but I'd rather not have anyone come after the Shikon jewel anymore.”

 

Shippou looked curiously at his mother. “What do you mean? Since you've come back, there haven't been any attacks. We thought the Shikon no Tama had disappeared when it transported you back here.”

 

Sango and Kagome exchanged perplexed glances. “What do you mean disappeared? It's hanging around Kagome's neck right now.”

 

Kagome reached underneath her kimono, one of the many gifts that Sesshoumaru had granted her long ago, and pulled out the sparkling Shikon no Tama. Everyone stared at the brilliance reflecting from the jewel as the yellow glow of the lamps fell on its smooth surface. Shippou reached out a shaking hand to cover that of his mother's and blocked out the captivating sight. Everyone collectively released their held breaths making Kagome smile.

 

“I don't understand,” whispered Kagome. “It has never shown this brightly since I've been back. I thought that most of the power of the jewel had been used up after it sealed off the well, but now….” Her voice trailed off into the silence of the room.

 

Shippou looked worriedly at his paw as he removed it from the power of the Shikon no Tama. “I don't know mama, but we'll have to figure out why it's coming back to life.”

 

The jewel began to pulse faintly underneath Kagome's clenched fist causing her to drop the jewel.

 

“What's wrong?” asked Souta as he jumped to his feet.

 

Kagome smiled weakly at her brother as the rest of her family seemed to lean closer in concern. “It's alright. I think that a lot has just happened right now. I'm sure given time I'll be able to make sense everything happening.”

 

“Perhaps we should call an end to this evening then,” said Aikouitsu from her vantage point behind the armchair. “I know of two young ladies and a gentleman who have yet to study for their exams tomorrow.”

 

Protests filtered throughout the entire room. Aikouitsu raised her hand and was granted instant silence. “Come on now. Sango…Souta…upstairs.”

 

Sango rushed over to Shippou and gave him a tight hug. “It's good to see you again,” whispered Sango into his fur.

 

“It was great to see you too,” whispered Shippou. Wiping a tear away from his eye, he watched as Sango took the stairs two at a time, showing off her long legs beneath the knee length skirt she had worn.

 

Souta, taking his turn to hug the kitsune, pulled Shippou's head down to whisper a plea into his ear. Shippou smiled and patted the younger kid on the head. “Of course, now go on upstairs.”

 

Shippou and Kagome stared at each other as the last kid left the room.

 

“I think I'll just head into the kitchen and start cleaning things up a bit. Come on Jiichan. You can help me as well. Don't be to long.” Kagome and Higurashi shared warm smiles as Jiichan sputtered his protests as he was pulled into the kitchen while Kagome escorted Shippou outside.

 

—\-|-/—

 

Kagome grasped Shippou's arm as she pulled him deeper into the shrine, unwilling to let him go quite yet. Studying him, she marveled once again at how much he had changed. His voice had turned smooth as butter and was polished and polite in his mannerisms and address. When she had first seen him, he was dressed in a suit and looked every inch the successful businessman, but tonight he had dressed in a lose burnt umber haori with white undershirt and black hakama.

 

He had also dropped his illusions and showed off his black-tipped red fur and long bushy tail. His body had lost the plumpness of youth and was well trimmed beneath the well cut haori, not to mention taller by 4 inches to her 5'1. Her baby had grown up, and the thought brought tears to her eyes. She had missed so much of his life already; she didn't know if she could bear to miss anymore.

 

“Shippou, it's been so good to see you again.”

 

Shippou glanced at his okaa-san and smiled as he smelled the salt of her tears collect in her eyes. “It's good to have you back in my life, Kagome.”

 

Sighing, Kagome pulled him over to the bench resting next to the Goshinboku tree and sat down on the cool surface. Sadness filtered into her eyes, drowning out the sparkle of joy that had glowed from their depths since Shippou had walked through the door. “You know, I never meant for the well to be sealed forever. Just for a few months until I could figure things out.”

 

“I know mama,” said Shippou as he wrapped his arms around Kagome's shoulders and his tail around her waist. “Sango-chan told me before you left.”

 

Kagome settled into the comforting arms of her son and glanced down at the tail. Laughing, “I'm the one who's supposed to give you comfort, not the other way around.” Shippou smiled as he leaned his jaw against the sakura-smelling hair.

 

“Well, I can't exactly jump into your arms anymore.”

 

“No, no I don't suppose you can. This will just have to do then.” Kagome closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of the love and warmth radiating from her son. Wishing the moment could continue, she murmured against the cool evening air, “What did Souta ask you?”

 

“Souta?”

 

“Yes, you said `Of course' before letting him run upstairs.” Tilting her head up to look into the kitsune's handsome face, she waited with a mischievous grin gracing her face.

 

“Um, he asked me to come by again since it made you so happy.”

 

Laughing, Kagome turned around and hugged Shippou tightly in happiness. “I must have been more depressed then I thought if all anyone can think of right now is how happy I am.”

 

Shippou tilted Kagome's head up with a soft paw. “Well, I am your favorite son. I would expect a mother to be nothing less then bedridden with grief for two decades when she has lost a kit.”

 

Kagome swatted at the hand holding her chin up. “You've been spending too much time with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. I should never have left you alone with them for so long. My playful kit has disappeared I think.”

 

Shippou stared in horror at his mother. “Okaa-san! Don't say such things. I'm the only one who has kept them going all these years! Without me, they'd never laugh.”

 

Sadness leaked back into her eyes as the mirth of playful banter drained away. “What do you think I should do about Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha?”

 

Shippou chuckled softly thinking of his otou-san and otouji-san fighting earlier in the day. They had both agreed a long time ago to wait until Kagome was done with her schooling and turned of age to choose a mate, but Inuyasha had gotten impatient after her eighteenth birthday. To prevent otou-san from running into the school to claim Kagome right then and there, Sesshoumaru had rushed in to prevent lasting harm from happening. Inuyasha was so flustered at being caught and Sesshoumaru so angry at having to resort to fighting to curb his half-brother's impetuosity, that their demon sides overrode their concealment charms. Thank-fully Inuyasha had yet to figure out who had ratted him out to the elder brother.

 

“Despite their stodginess, I think they'll be alright. As for what you should do with them, well, make them suffer.”

 

Kagome elbowed the kitsune and turned around. “That's not very nice.”

 

Shippou thought for a moment while he rubbed his chest. “Well, why don't we just string them along for a few days before letting them know that you forgive them?” Winking, he slyly said, “I'll do my part to make them jealous if you'll do yours!”

 

Kagome giggled. “You're incorrigible, but I don't think making them jealous would be a good idea.”

 

“Why? I've been waiting for this for ages! I'm expecting great entertainment out of this whole ordeal.”

 

Kagome looked up at Shippou and chewed her lip. “I'm sorry Shippou. I just don't think that's a good idea. I'd hate to find out that one or the other ended up dead over me.”

 

Sighing, Shippou un-wrapped his tail from his okaa-san's waist. “I guess you're right. I suppose then we'll have to come up with a different plan. Maybe if you tell me which one you love more, I could work on bringing him over to your side?”

 

“Shippou! How can you ask me to choose between them? I can't do that at the drop of a hat!”

 

“Why not? You're going to have to do it eventually. Why not now? Besides, I thought you were trying to get away from Sesshoumaru two years ago which means you should prefer Inuyasha.”

 

Kagome looked guiltily at the ground. “I don't know anymore Shippou. I'm so confused right now.”

 

Shippou sighed. He had hoped that Kagome would know which one she'd prefer. It would save time in the long run. `At least I still get my entertainment out of this,' he thought as he began to outline a plan of action for this scenario. After-all, he had four hundred years to work on it.

 

—\-|-/—

 

Whimpering, Inuyasha gazed down from his perch in the Goshinboku tree above his adopted son and Kagome as they hugged. His hands gripped the sturdy branch as his eyes dilated and glinted faintly in the moonlight. He knew it was irrational of him to feel jealous over the attention Kagome was giving to their son, but he wished that it was him down there rather then the kitsune. Hadn't he been through enough heartache? Didn't he deserve some comfort and peace for himself? Growling softly, he jumped from his chosen branch and sprinted into the night, trying to run off some of his frustrations while Shippou smirked against Kagome's hair before pulling away to discuss the situation.

 

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