InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transformations ❯ Hidden Demon ( Chapter 52 )

"Exactly," Kagome smiled at her mother. Her mind was still laughing at how easily her mother had 'trained' Inuyasha. It must be understandably difficult for him. But if Ray had her way, he'd be calling her 'Mama' as Kagome did.

Hands in pockets, Inuyasha followed them with the scowl he'd been wearing before they stopped. Stupid mall, he thought, being careful not to mentally curse around Ray. I should burn the fu - stupid thing down. Sighing, he followed them to the back and eyed each top. He never should have insisted in coming with.

**Fifty Two - such an amazing number.**

With a last hug, Kagome finished saying her goodbyes to Souta and Ray, and gave Rare and Grandpa each a kiss as well. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes but eventually gave in, giving Ray a hug and messing with Souta's hair. Kagome's left hand held her pack still over her shoulder, although now it was considerably smaller than before, and her right arm pinned a small parcel at her side. The new kimono top Inuyasha had been so adamant at her getting.

It actually was quite nice. A small blue thing, not reaching her waist, with a trim of a darker blue. Both Kagome and Inuyasha trusted that Hime could copy it into a traditional wrap-style kimono that the time was used to. Forget buttons and ties - that was all European stuff. Along with glass windows. [DL: Glass was invented at 1,000 bc in Egypt. So there.]

"Sayonara, Mama, Dad, Ji-chan, Souta!" she called, giving them a wave as Inuyasha led the way to the well. He looked pretty peeved, actually, although Kagome couldn't tell if it was because they leaving or because they hadn't left before now. She knew very well he'd grown attached to her family, but as well, he'd grown attached to her - ah - bed.

They were at the well doors when a scent hit her nose that she remembered from not a day ago. Inuyasha must have caught it too, for they both snapped they heads left at the same time. And there, not twenty feet away, stood Hojo, hands in pockets and apparently waiting for acknowledgement.

Suddenly aware of dog ears and her tail, Kagome had no idea what to say or do. Inuyasha, though, had no problem finding his tongue.

"Oi, what do you want?" he snapped, folding his arms.

Kagome glanced at each of them and saw what could only be a mutual understanding between them. First they sized each other up, and then Inuyasha accepted Hojo's presence and Hojo in turn showed nothing that could translated into him being here for Kagome.

At least not to ask me on a date, she thought, watching him. For some reason he didn't look all that surprised.

"Kagome," he began, seemingly unsure of what to say, "I'd like to speak to you if that's all right."

"Naturally," Kagome replied, for lack of anything better to say. She was about to turn when Hojo spoke up again.

"Not with your family watching," he said, quickly. "It's. . .More like something to show."

Something hit her.

Not literally, but suddenly her mind picked up something that could only be translated as a puzzle piece. But the picture it went to had changed somehow, and the piece didn't fit anymore. And now the last piece had to be changed before everything could fit together. As confusing as that was, it was the only way she could think of explaining it.

"Sure," she replied slowly, and gestured the wellhouse. "Will this work?" she asked.

Hojo and stepped forward, but Inuyasha didn't seem to like that idea.

"Oi, you're not going anywhere with her, got it?" he snapped at Hojo.

"You can come too," Hojo replied evenly, apparently ready for that comment. But it didn't sound like something Hojo would say. "I figured you'd want to."

An odd type of silence drifted over the three of them and Kagome didn't speak again until they were in the wellhouse and the doors were shut. Inuyasha kept a strong pose beside Kagome, arms folded and refusing to move. Hojo leaned against the lip of the well, and Kagome was leaning against the railing to the steps.

"You don't look surprised," she said, voicing her earlier thought.

"Just a little," Hojo replied in turn. "Look, Kagome. . ." He fumbled with words before blurting out, "I've been acting around you."

"Acting?" Kagome replied, somewhat shocked. So Hojo wasn't a ditz who couldn't take a clue?

"And what do you mean by that?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, "Hojo's been - well, you know how I lied all this time about being sick? Well, he's been nice about it and often bought me things that would have helped - if I'd been sick, that is."

Hojo nodded. "Yes, that was part of it. You see, Kagome, my mother Maki isn't my mother. She adopted me when my real mother died."

"What happened to your father then?" Kagome asked, and then bit her tongue. It wasn't the right question to ask.

"I never met him," Hojo replied, seemingly unaffected by the question. "The first time I met you, I sort of. . .felt something about you. It took me a month to realize what it was."

While he was speaking, Kagome had been slowly standing straighter, away from the railing, and now stood straight. "What are you getting at?" she asked. The air around them seemed to have gotten thicker somehow.

"Get to the point!" Inuyasha snapped, left hand gripping Tetsusaiga tightly.

"Alright," Hojo said, and stood up away from the well. He glanced down at it before looking up again, meeting Kagome's eyes.

She gasped. "Hojo, what -"

Hojo gave a small laugh. "Take a guess."

"You're a demon?!" she exclaimed.

Hojo nodded.

Kagome could feel it now. His demon powers. . .But she couldn't recognize it until she saw him. His eyes had turned a bright blue, his ears adorned the typical point, and he had facial markings like any royal demon. A gold diamond was on his forehead, and a thin red triangle was on either cheek, pointing towards his nose. If that weren't enough, she could see a strand of hair behind his left ear that came over his shoulder, wrapped in black ribbon and reaching just on level with his armpit.

"But - you - how - when -" was all Kagome could get out.

Inuyasha was a bit more coherent. "Full blooded, eh?" he asked, and laughed. "Smells like you have more political powers than anything."

Hojo laughed back. "I guess you could say that."

"But if you're full-blooded, then how did your mother -" Kagome began, and Hojo cut her off.

"Attacked. Maki was her best friend, but Maki isn't a demon. She's little more than a miko. She - well, I was with her, you see. That day. What she did was put a sort of spell around me, so that no one could tell what I was, but I was in complete control at all times. Do you understand?"

Kagome actually smirked at this. "You're talking to the Mistress of the Blue Pack."

Hojo did a doubletake. "You're royal?" he asked, somewhat stunned.

Kagome nodded and lifted her bangs to show her star. "So is my father."

"And so are you," Inuyasha told Hojo. "But you don't smell like you have too much power. Just political stuff."

Hojo gave a laugh and nodded. "I suppose you could call it that."

A thought struck Kagome. "So where's your father in all this?" Once said she gasped and covered her mouth, realizing what a personal question it was.

"I never knew him," Hojo said evenly, seemingly unaffected. He looked at the well again and changed the subject. "So what's the power Maki says she feels in this well?"

Kagome stepped forward and looked down it. "It's a time-shift. It takes us five hundred years to the past, to the Feudal Era. That's where Inuyasha and my father come from. Well - about my father - that's a long story."

Hojo glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "I would guess so."

Kagome's hand lifted to her necklace, the one with the jewel, still with five slender holes, waiting to be filled. She stepped back again. "Do you feel anything from this?"

Hojo looked up at the jewel. "It feels like. . .power. But it's not good. What is it?"

"The Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of the Four Souls," Inuyasha told him as Kagome spoke up.

"It's not good yet," she told Hojo.

At Hojo's questioning look, Inuyasha spoke fast, boasting about his mate. "She's not just the Mistress of the Blue Pack, she's also a half demon and a miko," he told Hojo matter-of-factly.

Kagome shot Inuyasha a glare as Hojo worked it out.

"So, she's a hanyou miko Mistress?" Hojo asked.

"Yes," Kagome replied. "And Inuyasha wasn't supposed to say anything." You're paying for this one, she told Inuyasha.

While Inuyasha was rendered both physically and mentally mute by this, his expression could be translated into, "What'd I do this time?!"

Hojo glanced between the two, eyebrows drawn together, and Kagome shifted her focus back to him.

"My pack has telepathic and regenerative powers," she told him.

"And Inuyasha does, too?" Hojo asked, obviously trying to work it out.

"Well, no, not until we - he - I - ah. . ." Kagome tried, unable to word it.

"Oh," Hojo said after a moment. "Well, I should have guessed. With the way he held you in the mall. . ."

"I am still here, ya know!" Inuyasha snapped. "Aren't we goin yet?" he went on, grabbing Kagome's arm and jerking her towards the well.

"Sit!" Kagome snapped back, jerking her arm out of his grasp. She waited until Inuyasha was facedown before planting her fists on her hips and berating him. "That was extremely rude, Inuyasha! You don't just try to leave with the host while the host has other guests! Learn your manners!"

"You and your mother!" Inuyasha snapped from the dirt, lifting his chin and glaring at her. "What's with you two and tryin' to make me civilized?!"

Patient for the time being, Kagome smiled. "You are civilized," she told him. "Just not in groups."

"Um, should I go for this?" Hojo asked, gesturing the door.

"Don't be silly," Kagome replied, standing up straight and facing Hojo. "Inuyasha's always like this. It's normal." Shifting the subject, she glanced at the well. "I take it you came here not entirely for the sole purpose of showing yourself?"

At her words, Hojo gave a cute little confused shake of his head but agreed. "No, not entirely. I also wanted to know. . .well. . ."

"If I met other demons," Kagome finished.

"Well, yes," Hojo replied, and looked away in something like mild shame.

Kagome stepped up to the well and looked down it. "They're not all nice. Most of them we've met so far - really, all but Inuyasha himself and Shippo and Kirara - they've all been massive amounts of anger and muscle. Very few were actually intelligent." She looked up at Hojo. "If you want to go there, you have to know how to fight. And well."

Hojo glanced at Inuyasha, who was just getting up. "It's a risk worth taking just to go there," he decided.

"But you have to know how to fight," Kagome insisted.

"I'm not watching over any more weaklings!" Inuyasha declared. "I ain't fighting any demons for anybody else!"

Hojo looked down at his left hand, and lifted it. Staring at his palm, he seemed to be thinking. "If I do have any - uh - powers like you two do, then I've never had to use them," he began, and flexed his fingers. "I guess I'll find out."

Kagome grabbed his left wrist and lifted her right foot onto the lip of the well. Inuyasha got up and stood on it. "You ready to go? I don't know if the well will accept you, but with me, you should be able to go."

Hojo gave the well a worried glance and studied its depth. "I'm not so sure what to do. . ." he tried.

Kagome nodded. "Inuyasha will go first. You'll see it."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, breathed out a swear, and dropped down.

Hojo watched with wide eyes the entire time, looking for all the world like he saw his very first magic trick when Inuyasha faded out and into the dirt. "How did he -"

"It's the well," Kagome told him. "Come on." She stood up on the well and Hojo in turned followed the movement. She couldn't help but smile at his expression. "Inuyasha's not going to wait long. Ready?"

"No," Hojo replied truthfully. But he nodded. "There's not much choice, is there?"

"Of course there is," Kagome told him with a sympathetic tone. "There's always -"

Her voice broke off as she spotted something. "Stay here a minute," she told Hojo distractedly and hopped down, making sure she didn't drift through time. At eye level on the northern wall was a message she never noticed before. Her face turned ghastly white as she kept staring at it. "Oh my god," she breathed. She looked up sharply. "Hojo, if you're coming, come now! I don't have time to spare!"

Shocked expression to match, Hojo gave a start. Not asking questions, though, he glanced at the wellhouse door and then leaped down. The time shift accepted both of them, and Kagome believed it was because Hojo was going to play a part in this.

But like she said, she didn't have time.

She met Inuyasha at the edge of the forest, and he was eying it all suspiciously. She'd helped up Hojo, and now she stared, watching the Spirit Gatherers swirl around one certain area, apparently pointing out the whereabouts of the undead priestess. But that wasn't all.

Kagome's pack and all their friends were just inside the edge of the forest, all looking somewhat scared. As if that wasn't enough, a few others were there to top it all off. Sesshomaru, Kagura and Kanna. And Kagome could feel Koga speeding their way, probably with his pack in tow.

It looked like Naraku was tired of waiting.

~*~ Well ~*~

"It's started. Get here. We need you. Now."

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I told you all it was nearing the end. And yes, Hojo is a demon now and Sesshomaru let Kagura and Kanna stay with him. I'm planning on bringing a few 'old friends' into this last battle, a few characters most people forgot about. Not counting those I haven't been introduced to in the Adult Swim episodes. T_T I had no idea there were new episodes on Saturdays. No cable here. My grandma and sister do, but not me.

Sadness.

Now, let's see. . .Hmm. . .What to use. . .I received a. . .sword, was it? Scythe? Either way, it has four jewels for the four elements. I also got a sword I believe that sucks energy out of people and another that. . .what was it. . .makes them all my slaves, I think. And stinky cheese. And a bottomless bag of weapons.

I swear this time I'll make a list, alright?!!!! <--------- Lie.

^ / \

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Lie. Lie.

Did I make my point?

Hmm. . .Bazooka. Desert Eagle. Automatic. Uzi. Bow and arrow. Sparky the Lightning Rod. Flamethrower. Lint. Soap and Hohos. Umm. . .Big-Brother Blow Up. Mind Control. Hamsters. A bomb. Jet. Tank. Submarine. Cloud's Sword. Katana. Nuke. Machete. Naraku - who is scarred for life. *Giggles, pets him* Ahem. Crying. *Checking each individual chapter* Geez, fifty two. . . Um, Hulk. Machine Gun. Oh, I used the flamethrower twice. . .huh. Grenades. Guns with little "Bang" flags. . .

That's it.

So. . .Hmm. . . .Umm. . .Okey dokey! *Digs through bad of weapons* There's. . .I think. . .*Grunt* GET OUT HERE!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!! *Falls inside*

HEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!! WHOEVER GAVE ME THIS HAD BETTER GET ME BACK OUT!!!! I CAN'T WRITE IN HERE!!!! *Still falling*

~*~ An hour later ~*~

Dude. . .This is getting sad. . .and boring. . .and OLD. Where'd you go? . .*Sigh* Although it does feel really nice, the rushing wind and all that. Like flying. Betcha this is how Inuyasha and Kagome feel when they jump. *Sigh*

BUT I STILL NEED TO GET OUTTA HERE!!!!

. . . . Meanies.