Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Par Tout Autre Nom ❯ Threads Through Fate's Fingers ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimers: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho belong respectively to Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi.

A/N: * Laughing * Well… I didn't think that there'd be more than Kazusa enjoying this, but all right then. Thanks for the reviews! They're very sweet, especially considering I don't usually write like this, and I really do hope that everyone enjoys the rest of the story. A warning in advance though… I'll have to up the rating after a while because I have been threatened with bodily harm if I don't put in some *coughinteractionscough* later on. Until then, it'll stay `R' but that won't last the entire fic. Sorry to anyone who doesn't like more sensitive materials… Anyhow, enjoy!

~*~*~*~

By Any Other Name

~Threads Through Fate's Fingers~

Shinju leaned back against the wall of his `office' casually, eyes straying to the doorway where he could see out to the woman standing so calm and at ease in the center of the main hall. She hadn't released his ancestor's staff, holding it with the air of long practice, and making him reach out to stroke a fingertip down his own inherited weapon with an air of humble consideration. He says she was taught by Miroku himself…was it with his own staff? I could ask… but should I ask Kagome herself? How long has it been for her?

He sighed and shifted the phone receiver against his ear, listening distractedly to the steady ring while he waited for the line to pick up, "Come on, you self-absorbed old bastard… I know you're there. It's important this time!"

It seemed like forever until the other line finally clicked, the incessant ring changing to the deep, clipped voice of his boss, "What is it, Houshi?"

"She's here."

There was a breath of silence before the man on the other end spoke again, obviously focused completely on Shinju this time, "You're certain?"

"Absolutely positive," he couldn't help but smile as he watched Kagome press a hand against Hiraikotsu, lips moving to answer something her little brother was asking as he flitted about trying to settle his attention on one thing in such a collection. "She just… wandered in off the street, with her little brother."

"Aren't you a lucky little bastard then," he chuckled richly at the thought of how alarming such an event would have been. "So… this was the end of the dual time line," satisfaction filled his tone, breathing out a sigh of relief as the missing piece of his world righted itself. "This was the time she returned to after keeping her promises to your ancestors."

"So it would seem," he nodded in reflex, despite his awareness that he wasn't being seen. "How did you give away this temple without my father knowing?" he finally demanded when it became obvious his boss wasn't intending to be forthcoming.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't give me that shit!" Shinju glared at the receiver before taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "Look, the little brother started training… wants to be a monk, and she's feeling out the schools her grandfather said had potential. You can make it so no one can see this place, so how did they find it?"

He could hear the smug grin in that familiar voice, "Kagome-sama is the miko of legends, Houshi, none of my spells will work for long against her."

"You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"That would be a correct observation."

Shinju sighed in resignation, slumping back against the wall again and changing the subject, "She knew the Hiraikotsu on sight."

"She would," he snorted in amusement. "I don't think you're grasping this concept properly, Houshi. She was there, in the era when all those weapons your family has passed down were new and used every day to defend their lives. There's a possibility she knows how to use it, but her preference was arrows, or that damn staff your grandfather gave her."

Shinju blinked, making a soft sound as he let that sink in, trying to digest what should have been impossible for any living thing to accomplish. For once, there were no deprecating remarks for his silence, just the soft sound of breathing as he waited for Shinju to come to terms with Kagome's presence in his life. He glanced back out at her, unable to stop himself from smiling when she laughed at something Souta said to her, "Do you think she'd let me call her Mom? I mean… I don't really remember my parents anyway, and she… I don't know, do you think she would?"

He heard coughing in the background, and a low growl right in his ear to signal whoever was laughing on the other end was about to have an unpleasant afternoon, "You will have to ask Kagome-sama if she would allow it. It may be confusing considering she is… how old is she this year, Takashima?"

Shinju snickered when he heard the irritated voice on the other end lamenting that he was never called by his first name, only to choke off and rattle out a number in a rather strangled way, "I thought you were trying to be less violent."

"I can just as easily call a car and visit you, Houshi, do not tempt me," he responded before clearing his throat and settling back as though nothing was wrong, and there wasn't a young man whining about abuse in the background. "As I was saying, Kagome-sama is only seven years older than you. People may be confused."

"Not in public," he waved that off, sighing yet again as he watched her. "I mean in private… I don't think anyone in this time is properly equipped to understand our family unless they're youkai. Hell, even then it's pushed their limits a couple times."

A sigh, and then obvious reluctance, "Ask her yourself. I can imagine that the separation has not been easy, and we have yet to ask how long ago she has been here away from all of us."

"What if she hasn't told her brother?" he remarked absently, more thinking out loud than wanting an answer. "I'm getting the impression that she's been close-lipped about what she did for us."

"This time is more complicated than Sengoku Jidai," he replied without hesitation. "With all the human doctors and science of this time…"

"I get it," Shinju's lips curved up in a humorless smile when his voice trailed off, reaching up to twirl his finger in his simple little ponytail. "Do you think it's hard for her to be here now?"

"Why are you asking stupid questions, Houshi?" he snorted. "The only person who can answer your questions is Kagome-sama, and standing here rambling at me is not the way to get them. She isn't a mind-reader, and neither am I."

Shinju could feel himself blush at the entertained censure in that smooth voice, "You told me to call you if she came, and after all the years you've taken care of our family, I felt it only fair to comply with your request."

"Have I told you how obnoxious you sound when you're embarrassed?" he snorted on the other end. "You start speaking just like the first one of your line I was forced to associate with. At any rate, I do not have the time to sit around and speak with you, no matter how much I would like to. Keep her there for at least another hour so I have time to bring a car past. It has been too long since I saw the Shikon-no-Tama."

Shinju wanted so badly to pout, but then again, he was too old for that kind of thing, and they both knew it, "Fine… I'll be at my absolute best, sir."

"In that case, I expect to find you unconscious in a corner by the time I arrive," he responded dryly before the line clicked again to indicate the call's end.

Shinju took the phone away from his ear, scowling at it even as he hung up and muttered, "I wonder if Miroku-jiji found himself faced with such blatant disrespect for his calling as a monk."

"Shinju-chan?" Kagome's voice had him jumping, hand over his heart at having failed to sense her presence. "I'm sorry, I should have made noise."

"No, no!" he held up his hands, walking forward to clasp hers and glance around behind her to make sure Souta was still in the main hall looking at the weapon display. "Please, come into my office so we can talk."

Kagome nodded, letting him pull her inside and gently slide the shoji closed, "I have to ask you-"

"Can I call you Mom?" Shinju cut her off before she could finish that sentence, suddenly feeling like he was five years old as he closed his eyes and waited for her denial to come crashing down on his head. He hadn't meant to blurt it out that way, meant to ask her about the past and what it was like. But as soon as he'd seen her, all that had fallen out of his head and left only that single, bizarre question, and now she was staring up at him like he'd just hit her over the head. "Please forget I said that!" he stammered out in a rush, nervously fidgeting with papers on his desk and cursing himself a hundred times in his head for being such an idiot when her hand covered his and forced it to still its frantic movements.

"Who did you descend from, Shinju-chan?" her voice was quiet, but he could hear the harsh edge to it, the sound of a throat too dry but speaking through it.

His eyes went wide, abruptly seeing a side to his own history that he'd never even imagined. His thoughts and musings as a little boy, he knew the stories and theories that she would be alive in their time, but not once had he ever stopped to think of the implications of that truth. "I… Kazenatsu, Kagome-sama. My ancestor was Kazenatsu," he finally answered, watching the way her eyes turned absolutely liquid with emotion.

"Kazenatsu," she repeated, feeling the strength starting to drain from her for the second time that day, reaching out to brace herself up on the antique desk.

Shinju reached out, setting his hand on her shoulder in concern, but still feeling like he needed to say more from that pleading, lost look in her eyes, "Your son."

~*~*~*~

"Keiko, are you nuts?!" Yuusuke glanced over his shoulder to be certain Hiei and Kurama were occupied outside with his kids before trying to get his wife to stop ignoring him long enough to clear up this -in his opinion- mess. "Those two would never, in a million years, show up here to take a `little vacation.' They're youkai, it just ain't their nature!"

"They're also your friends and if they want to stay here for a while, why can't you be more understanding?" she glanced up from washing dishes to frown at him. "Honestly, Yuusuke, you're acting like we're fifteen again."

"So what? We're supposed to just let them stay as long as they want?" he huffed when she slapped a towel into his hands and started passing him wet dishes to be dried. "What if they bring something around here that could hurt the kids?"

"They wouldn't do that and you know it," Keiko rolled her eyes. "Who would have thought you'd turn into the most paranoid father who ever existed?"

"I'm not paranoid," he pouted, leaning back to look out the window where his son was stubbornly attempting to tackle Hiei, only to have the little demon side-step and send his younger brother into fits of giggles.

Keiko reached over and grabbed his hair, pulling him back away from the window, "They're fine. Kurama won't let anything happen to them and if Hiei managed to not kill Kurabara after all these years, I think it's safe to trust his restraint with a five-year-old you."

Yuusuke frowned, trying to decide if she was subtly insulting him given the sometimes questionable antics of his oldest son, "How are we supposed to have private time with two youkai in the house? It's bad enough trying to fit it around the kids and fucking Koenma, and your job at the restaurant-"

She clucked her tongue, rinsing the soap off her hand and reaching up to cover his mouth, "You're rambling."

"Keiko-"

"Stop worrying about things so much, Yuusuke," she couldn't help but chuckle, shaking her head as she listened to the delighted squeals of her children outside, occasionally interspersed with the low sounds of Hiei and Kurama's voices. "They wouldn't be here if it wasn't important, and they trust you to be around them for whatever it is they're dealing with. Doesn't that mean enough to you that you can handle putting them up for a while? It's not like they're irresponsible."

Yuusuke sighed, grumbling under his breath at having her twist it around in a way that would make him look like a total ass if he tried to kick them out, "They should tell us what's going on if they `trust' us so much."

"Would you?" she set a hand on her hip, turning to look at him while she pulled the stopper out of the sink. "You said they've never been very open about themselves, so maybe they just need some time."

"I'd rather just beat their heads against the wall until they tell me what the fuck this is all about," Yuusuke muttered under his breath, putting the last plate away and ducking away from Keiko's attempt to grab him.

"They're getting their mouths from you!" she scolded furiously, throwing the sponge at his head and narrowing her eyes when he easily dodged and held up the towel in a `snap-ready' position. "I swear, Yuusuke, if I hear another new word that they learned from you come out of them, you're going to be sleeping on the floor in the guestroom with Kurama and Hiei!"

"Oi!" his brows shot up, expression twisting in absolute horror. "Keiko! You can't do that to me in my own house!"

"Try me, Urameshi!" she folded her arms over her chest. "My children are not going to follow in their father's delinquent footsteps."

"They ain't delinquents," he defended, pointing outside to try and illustrate his point. "They can take on kids three times their size already, they're fast, they-"

"Are you going to list anything that doesn't involve fighting or sensing youkai?" one eyebrow kicked up. "Just because you made a career out of working for Rekai, it doesn't mean your children can do it too. I want at least one of my babies to have a normal job in this realm that doesn't involve death on a regular basis."

"We've talked about this," he sighed, raking a hand through his hair and leaning his hip back against the counter. "If they have skills, they need to be developed. We can't pretend to be regular people when we both know it ain't true."

Keiko took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Can we at least wait until they're older? Maybe trade off you teaching them in exchange for good grades? School? Remember that?"

Yuusuke winced, rolling his eyes and trying not to let her see his disgusted expression, "How could I forget?"

That got him a kick in the shin, "You are expressly forbidden from allowing your boys to cut school, do you hear me?"

"I hear you," he leaned down and rubbed his abused leg.

"And?" Keiko leaned down to put her face level with his.

"Okay, okay… you can handle the school thing," Yuusuke gave in with enough reluctance to get himself a frown from his wife. "What?!"

"Suddenly I'm rather happy you actually bring home a paycheck from working with Koenma now," she shook her head and turned to leave the kitchen. "Don't forget to make everyone wash their hands before they get handprints all over the walls, and don't you dare let them stay up past nine."

"Wait, dammit, Keiko-!" Yuusuke glared at the window, torn between watching Hiei and Kurama with his kids and finding out why Keiko was acting so touchy. Finally, he swore under his breath and followed his wife, knowing Hiei was listening when he muttered out, "An hour, then they'd better be inside, or I really will bust some heads."

~*~

Hiei rolled his eyes where he sat under the window, folding his arms and leaning back more against the side of the house, Humans are so moody.

Moody or not, they didn't have to say yes, Kurama reminded him, turning his face into the breeze that flowed out from the woods, soothing his need to be close to nature. Try not to torment them too much, hn?

`You shouldn't say that,' Youko snorted derisively. `If he's bothering Yuusuke, he'll leave us the hell alone and stop making those annoying remarks about your lack of success.'

Our lack, Kurama reminded him with a faint growl.

`I refuse to take responsibility when I haven't even been consulted on your techniques,' he scoffed at the very idea. `We have all this knowledge and experience, and you're insisting we only do it the human way? From what you've experienced in that fragile body? That's bullshit.'

I am not arguing with you about this today, Kurama resisted the urge to kick Hiei when his peripheral vision registered the little smirk crossing his friend's face. His eyes might have been focused on the two boys wrestling in the grass, but his attention was all focused on the kitsune's internal `discussion.'

`Why not? We're supposed to be getting on top of this, aren't we?' Youko was prowling about, continually turning their head towards the woods and trying to convince him that they needed some private time amongst the trees and plants growing wild beyond human eyes. `If you aren't going to find someone for us to have sex with and make this `all important' baby, at least let's go roll around somewhere where there isn't that smell of people and machines overpowering our nose.'

I am not going to `roll around' in the woods, Kurama replied primly.

`I'll do it then, you can watch from the inside.'

No! Gods, Youko, we are not going to just wander off into the woods where anyone might see us, Kurama let out an impatient snort that had Hiei's eyebrow kicking up in blatant taunting. "Stay out of my head," he grumbled sourly, folding his arms over his chest and trying to ignore them both to just watch Yuusuke's boys.

It's more fun to listen though, Hiei stretched his arms up over his head and glanced over at the street to the occasional car passing by. You're being bitchy enough with not letting yourself get in touch with your real soul, Kurama, what could it hurt to let yourself go play for a while?

Kurama turned to stare down at him as though his brain had just fallen out of his head, "I can't believe that just came out of you."

What? I think it's ridiculous that you're trying so hard to act like a good little human when you aren't one, he frowned in mild consideration when he felt a twinge at the back of his senses, something unnaturally strong… Your soul is too strong, it's absorbing that body and restoring you back to what you were, you know it is. The only thing I can think is that your damn ego is making you try to be the best at this life the way you were in your last. In your own head at least.

`I am the best!' Youko fumed at the insinuation that he'd puffed up his own importance. `The first thing I'm going to do to you when I'm on top, Hiei, is smash that pointy little head of yours against a tree!'

"Hn," he brushed that off, much more focused on that feeling getting closer. Calm down and get ready… do you feel that?

Kurama blinked, even Youko losing steam at the sudden seriousness in the shorter demon's attitude as they fanned out their own senses to brush along that foreign youki, "What the hell?"

I don't know, but whatever it is, it's too strong, Hiei's eyes narrowed sharply. How is it on this plane if that Rekai brat hasn't summoned us to watch it?

Before Kurama could respond, both Yuusuke's sons perked up and darted to the fence surrounding their yard, hopping up on the rail to start waving enthusiastically at a sleek black car driving at a rather leisurely pace down the street. Ryou leaned back, calling over his shoulder loudly, "Oi! Kurama-nii-san, Hiei-nii-san! Come wave before he's gone!"

"He?" Kurama shared a look with Hiei before they both walked forward more cautiously, eyes trained on the tinted windows and the pale, elegant hand that lifted in acknowledgement to the waving pair.

Toushi let out a delighted shout and jumped up on top of the fence with a huge grin, "Konbanwa, Takeharuka-sama!"

The car pulled up parallel to the fence just as the two demons reached it, dismissing the pleasant enough looking girl in the passenger seat as she giggled and waved back. Their eyes went instead to the backseat, narrowing sharply when the figure hidden behind those darkened windows turned his head, his lips curving up in just the faintest arrogant smile before his own gaze flashed gold and the car moved beyond their eyes.

Oblivious to the sudden tension, Ryou reached up and tugged his brother off the top of the fence before he folded his arms on top of it and rested his chin on his hands, "That's Takeharuka-sama and his niece, they're really great even though the old guy that drives the car is a prick."

"I'm telling Okaa-san!" Toushi rubbed his head and pointed at his older brother accusingly. "You're getting soap in your mouth this time for sure!"

"I'll tell her you were on top of the fence again!" he shot back, forgetting his `introduction' in favor of tackling his little brother.

Hiei spared them a glance to be certain they weren't actually damaging each other before he scowled down the road, That man… wasn't human.

`No shit,' Youko rolled his eyes. `Or didn't that `all seeing' runt notice that he knew what we were and was challenging us? New plan: follow the car.'

We can't follow the car, Youko, Kurama reached up and rubbed his aching head. We promised to be here for dinner since we dropped in so unexpectedly. And we can't leave Yuusuke's children unattended.

`Put them inside then! Gods, Kurama, are you trying to bore us to death?! Even Hiei wants to go after it!' he pointed out.

Hiei shook his head, I do… but that's not a youkai that can be taken by surprise. He knows we're curious, knows we don't know him… Dammit, who is that?

Kurama turned to look down at Ryou and Toushi, kneeling down to separate them and squeezing their shoulders to get their attention, "How do you know that Takeharuka person?"

Ryou blinked curiously, automatically looking off in the direction of the car, "Uncle Kurabara works for one of his companies. We met him when Okaa-san was visiting and we went exploring."

"He got us lost," Toushi accused. "We were trying to find some candy."

Kurama could feel Hiei's displeasure radiating off him, glancing up at his friend warningly before stopping the budding argument between the brothers, "You said he was nice to you?"

"Well… he scared us at first," Toushi admitted, looking down at his feet as he toed the grass nervously. "He's really tall, and the only times he smiled was when he was saying something mean to the person in his office."

"But he threw a rock or something at that old guy who was yelling at us for spying and took us to meet his niece," Ryou was warming up to the story, puffing up importantly. "They fed us and found Okaa-san and Uncle Kurabara. Takeharuka-sama has the best candy, and he was really nice for someone that big."

Kurama frowned and looked down the street again, patting them on the head and murmuring them to go find Yuusuke, waiting for them to scamper back into the house before he rejoined Hiei at the fence, "Well?"

"I'm inclined to go strangle a certain idiot," Hiei admitted in a low voice. "This means Koenma has to know who he is… but he's either not telling us, or just not telling us."

Kurama nodded, frowning at the idea that their "boss" had purposefully kept information about such a powerful, and obviously well-established youkai living peacefully in the Ningenkai, Why does everything always get complicated at once.

`Stop complaining,' Youko chuckled softly in the back of his mind. `Think of it this way, now we have something to look into to take your mind off the humans you keep picking.'

This doesn't fix that I still need to find a girlfriend, Kurama reminded him with a sigh, reluctantly admitting that this was a welcome distraction. This really could make it more difficult.

`I don't really see how that's possible with the mess you're making of things, but then again, I've been known to be wrong once or twice.'

~*~*~*~

"What do you need, Big Dog?" the too cheerful voice came through the receiver much too loudly, drawing a wince from the man.

"Must you yell into the phone like a child?" he slid the glasses off his face, setting them carefully in his lap before he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to dispel the ringing in his ears.

"'Fraid so… arrested development from early family separation or some such bullshit. Ask Natsu, you pushed him into that head school so we could have one in the family," although he did tone it down when he spoke, knowing better than to do too much annoying in one day.

"I should have you medicated," he sighed, digging through his briefcase. "I have a job for you, Takashima."

"All ears, boss!"

"You have yet to prove that to my satisfaction," he returned dryly. "The woman with the two young boys, the ones with the trace demon blood…"

"Ah, the Urameshi family? What about them?" Takashima chirped innocently.

"It shouldn't surprise me that you already know names."

"That's my job, isn't it? I'm the best and you know it, or you wouldn't put up with me being so close to you," he snickered into the phone.

"I want information and pictures, Takashima," he cut off the sound before it could really get irritating. "There were two demons in their yard as I passed, demons I haven't seen before. Tell me why and how familiar that family is with such things."

"Consider it done, oh all mighty leader-"

"And remind me to teach you to be respectful to your elders again," he interrupted, voice thick with disdain. "The lessons seem to fall out of your head once a decade."

"No promises," Takashima replied cheerfully even as the line was disconnected, chuckling to himself even as he prepared to go to work.