Umarekawari Hijinks
By TwinEnigma
Blanket disclaimer: Anything you recognize, except for my OCs and the plot, I don't own. I do this for fun and absolutely no profit.
Prologue
Naraku was dead, his heart having been finally destroyed and his spirit dragged to hell. There would be no return for him this time – Kikyou, assisted by the spirit of Midoriko, had seen to that. The Shikon no Tama had been completed during the battle and now rested safely in Kagome's hands once more. Unfortunately, completing the jewel had been a bit nerve wracking as it severely reduced Kouga's strength in battle and flat out killed Kohaku. Miraculously, Sesshoumaru had chosen that time to appear and use the power of Tenseiga on the fallen boy. Sango had been overjoyed, vowing that she would repay the inu youkai for his generous deed, but he dismissed her, saying that he had only resurrected the boy because he was a worthy warrior and they had needed him in the battle.
Inuyasha, following the battle, maintained that his half-brother's actions probably had more to do with the little girl that followed him around than anything else. No matter how much Sesshoumaru may have denied it verbally, his actions towards the child called Rin spoke of compassion. The inu youkai would have done whatever was necessary to see her happy, including resurrecting the young taijiya boy. Of course, not one of their companions – Inuyasha included – was near stupid enough to tell the proud demon that. Sesshoumaru left shortly after, Rin and Jaken faithfully following him on Ah-Un; he said he would return some day to claim Tessaiga, but his words strangely lacked their usual conviction.
Kouga stayed on with them for a while, recovering from the battle. When the shikon no kakera were taken from him, it had left him without his life-saving speed and, unable to dodge quickly enough, he had been badly poisoned. He hated Kaede's medicines, but found the opportunity to drive Inuyasha rabid with jealousy more than made up for the foul herbal concoctions they forced him to take. The ookami youkai stuck around for a little while after he was healed until rumors of a traveling female ookami youkai named Ayame reached his ears; Kouga promptly ran away as though death itself was on his heels, swearing that he'd never love anyone but Kagome.
Inuyasha was thoroughly happy to see him go, having endured more 'sits' during the ookami youkai's stay than ever before. But he was a little disappointed as he realized that Kagome would no longer be giving him extra ramen, as she no longer had a reason to sit him and then feel horribly guilty about it.
Sango and Miroku were constantly at each other's side, content to simply be free of burden and enjoy their budding relationship. Occasionally, that wicked hand of his would wander and Miroku would find himself reintroduced to Hiraikotsu. Sango would forgive him after a short while, though, and all things would be right between them. Kohaku, for all that he loved his dear ane-ue, thought that she and her beloved houshi-sama were taking far too long and would never get married at the rate that they were going.
There was only one thing that truly remained to be dealt with...
The Shikon no Tama.
No one was quite sure what they should do with it. Obviously, as long as it existed, demons would desire it and its corruption. Wishes that were made on it had the potential to be warped by the demons within, no matter how pure or loving their intentions. The general consensus was that it had to be destroyed, but no one had quite figured out how they should go about it. Burning it hadn't worked and Kagome's hamaya had simply shattered it into hundreds of tiny fragments. For now, the Shikon no Tama stayed in Kagome's capable hands and they merely contemplated its fate.
"Inuyasha-san, I have a question," Kohaku piped up from his position on the forest floor. It had been his turn to patrol with the hanyou and he'd been looking forward to the distraction it provided.
Inuyasha was in the trees above, ears and nose to the wind, hunting for the scent of youkai. "What?" he ground out, roughly.
"Is it true that the Shikon no Tama came from Kagome-sama's body?" the young taijiya asked. "And that she is from the future?"
The hanyou was silent a moment and then huffed, "Yeah. What's it to you, brat?"
"I was thinking," Kohaku said, ignoring the rudeness of the reply; he'd gotten used to expecting a general lack of tact from the hanyou and simply paid no mind to it anymore. "Wouldn't that mean that the Shikon no Tama is from the future, too?"
Inuyasha didn't reply and leapt to another tree with effortless grace. The young taijiya followed swiftly, the handle of his kusarikama ready in his hand. He had learned in the past that silence from the hanyou meant trouble and it was best to be prepared accordingly.
"Keh! What do you know?" Inuyasha called out, as he leapt again. "You're just a brat!"
Kohaku rolled his eyes and inwardly sighed. Obviously, he touched on something that had been bothering the elder boy as well. "It was just a thought!" he shouted back, vaulting over a large boulder and continuing on. "Maybe we can't destroy it here!"
Again, there was silence.
"Inuyasha-san?" the boy asked, looking up to the trees for a glimpse of the familiar fire-rat haori.
The hanyou quietly leapt down and looked off into the distance. "Maybe it was brought to this time to be destroyed, brat. Ever considered that?"
"Well, no..." Kohaku admitted sheepishly, even though he could see that Inuyasha wasn't exactly convinced of his own words.
"Keh! Just like a brat," Inuyasha snorted, once again searching the sky for trouble. "We should be more worried about what happens when we destroy it, not about the time it came from."
The taijiya sighed and rubbed his shoulder absently. "Just as long as it doesn't shatter again..."
"That's not going to happen," the hanyou said and his voice held such conviction that the boy was sure that even if Inuyasha had to hold the jewel together with his bare hands, he'd make certain that not a single shard escaped.
Kohaku nodded absently, scanning the ground for tracks. There was no doubt that youkai still lurked in the forest, coveting the jewel from a safe distance for fear of facing the powerful defenders in the village.
"There is one thing, though," Inuyasha sighed, crossing his arms. "The Shikon no Tama is what allows Kagome to travel back and forth through the well. If we destroy it, she won't be able to return to her family."
The taijiya gave the elder boy a curious look. "Have you told her?"
"Keh!" the hanyou snorted. "She knows. I overheard her talking to your onee-san about it. Silly girl thinks I'm stupid or something."
Surprised, Kohaku smiled, "She just worries about you. Ane-ue says that you do have a tendency to overreact when Kagome-sama is involved."
"Keh! Your onee-san should be the one to talk! When that perverted bouzu's hand wanders... Hiraikotsu!" Inuyasha shouted, bringing his arm around in an imitation of Sango thoroughly pounding Miroku with the giant bone weapon.
The boy laughed, shaking his head as he recalled just how many times he'd seen that scene. "Houshi-sama must have a very thick skull, don't you agree, Inuyasha-san?"
"Hai, hai," the hanyou agreed, smiling sadly. His fingers lightly rested on the rosary around his neck. "All idiots in love have thick skulls."
Kohaku smiled; it was obvious that Inuyasha had also been referring to himself and Kagome-sama. The hanyou had started to walk again, ears perked ahead, and the boy followed, careful to watch for anything unusual in the trees.
"Inuyasha-san, what's the future like?" the boy asked finally, uncomfortable with the long silence.
The older boy snorted. "It stinks. There are all these weird smells and funny magic boxes with moving pictures inside, but there's lots of good food. I suppose that kind of makes up for the funny looking demons and bad smells, but not by much." He paused, looking back, and added, "I don't really like it there."
"Oh," the taijiya said. "I was just thinking that Kagome-sama would be sad without everyone. She really treats us like family, you know."
The hanyou stopped again and sighed heavily. "Listen, brat. The situation stinks no matter how you try to look at it. I don't belong in her time and she doesn't really belong in ours either. If she stays here, she'll be sad without her family and if she goes, she'll still be sad because she won't have any of us. As for me, I don't think I'd be able to survive in her time. Here, at least, I can be myself."
"I think I understand," Kohaku said, his mind slowly drifting back to bad memories. He sighed and shook his head to chase away the dark memories. "If only there was a way we could all be there and you could still be yourself."
Inuyasha's ears twitched and he sharply raised his head.
"Do you hear something, Inuyasha-san?" the boy asked, stepping into a defensive battle stance on reflex.
The hanyou cast a glance at him over his shoulder and grinned broadly. "I smell ramen!"
Kohaku groaned. He really should have expected that.
"Oi! Are you coming or not, brat?" Inuyasha shouted, glaring impatiently at him. "I'm hungry!"
AN: Ok, this is my first Inuyasha fanfic. Be gentle with me. I typically feel it's redundant to say I don't own anything other than original characters and any sources I've used will show up after the final chapter, along with the joke scenes from design phase. Yes, I just promised you a chapter of Omake. Um, as to the Japanese, I'm trying my best to use the proper terms here and, yes, Tessaiga is the correct spelling. I suggest visiting "Lush: The Inuyasha Shrine, version 5.0" for a full explanation. Actually, I highly recommend that website in general. The kusarikama is the chained sickle that Kohaku uses as a weapon. Most of the other terms I've used I'm fairly sure you've heard of before, but, if not, just let me know. This story will be a bit more manga-based. Um... Review, please?