Chapter 3
'Is it not time, yet?'
Inuyasha stirred a little as he turned to face his brother. They had spent the night on the roof of the Higurashi shrine, silently staring out into the night as they had waited for dawn to come. It had been peaceful—a rare thing between them.
'I don't think so,' he said, as he cocked an ear. 'No one is awake yet.'
He turned to see Sesshomaru staring at his ears with an unfathomable expression.
'What?' he asked irritably. He knew his brother's opinions of his hanyou heritage, but he had never before been stared at silently. It was creepy. Predictably enough, Sesshomaru said nothing in reply, turning away to glance at the sun as it came up over the horizon.
'So this is your miko's world,' he said after a moment, as the sun glinted off a hundred glass windows. 'It is nothing like the one I knew.'
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the obvious statement, but nodded anyway. Now he could hear someone stirring downstairs in the house. It sounded like Kagome's mother…
'Another hour, I guess,' he said to his still silent brother. 'Before we go down to them, though, tell me, how exactly did you end up here?'
'I would prefer, Inuyasha, not to repeat myself. You shall wait until your miko is awake.'
He rolled his eyes again. He had expected nothing less from Sesshomaru, but it was irritating, nonethless. 'She's not my miko,' he grumbled half heartedly as he turned away to face the city with a huff.
--
'Mama,' Kagome said exasperatedly, 'for the last time! Sesshomaru will not have any food you offer him! In fact, I don't even want you, Souta or Oji-san anywhere near him! You don't seem to understand just how dangerous he really is!'
'Oh, come now, Kagome,' her mother replied. 'Surely he can't be that different from Inuyasha, and he's always gotten along well with us.'
'Mama, they may be brothers, but they are nothing alike!' she went on as she trailed after her happily humming mother, trying to make her understand. 'Sesshomaru doesn't even like humans!'
'You mean he's an evil demon?' her grandfather asked excitedly. 'Come on, Souta, we must excorcise this one!'
'No, Oji-san—'
The two of them ignored her entirely as they trotted off, chattering excitedly about what they would need to rid the Higurashi household of its resident demon, even as she called after them.
'I made eggs and miso soup, but I'm making a little ramen as well, in case he has Inuyasha's tastes,' her mother went on, calling her attention back to the issue at hand. She threw up her hands in exasperation as her mother shook her head in affectionate horror at the idea of anyone having ramen for breakfast.
'Mama, I am telling you, he will not—and he cannot—come into this house!'
'Hmmm! Something sure smells good! Is it ramen?'
'Inuyasha!'
She hurried to his side and drew him away from his silent brother. 'What is he doing here?' she hissed at him, watching apprehensively as Sesshomaru's eyes followed her mother around the room.
'We waited until you guys were awake,' he replied, looking at her puzzledly. 'We need to know how he got here, remember?'
'I realise that,' she whispered, 'but I don't like the idea of him being down here with Souta…and Mama…'
'I have no quarrel with them. There is no honour in killing women and children.'
Kagome jumped when Sesshomaru spoke, both she and Inuyasha spinning to face him.
'Sorry?' her mother turned around, looking at the taiyoukai quizzically.
His eyes slid to meet hers, and Kagome paled. She had forgotten about his hearing.
'No, there isn't,' Inuyasha said as he looked at Sesshomaru, breaking the tense silence. Something seemed to pass between them in that gaze, because he nodded a moment later as if satisfied. He then turned to the food before him and smiled. 'I'm starving, can we eat now?'
'Of course, dear!'
Kagome watched as her mother beamed, and continued to set the table. She blinked, unable to believe that things had been cleared up so simply.
'You may eat after you have answered my questions,' Sesshomaru said, and Inuyasha glared at him. 'No, we can't!'
'Mama has to leave for work and Souta has to go to school,' Kagome interjected before the two brothers could break the fragile peace that had fallen. 'We need to eat now or we'll be late.'
'What about you?' Inuyasha asked, turning to face her. 'Aren't you going to go to school, too?'
She shook her head as her eyes slid to the taiyoukai standing silently by the door. She still didn't trust him with her grandfather, besides, there was no way she could leave Inuyasha alone with his brother.
Sesshomaru's expression had not changed, but the jyaki flaring about his figure made her realise that he was annoyed at having to wait. He said nothing, however, as he turned and left them to their meal.
'Wait,' she called, and he stopped, though he did not turn to face her. 'Don't you want to eat something?' she asked, stumbling over her words. But then, never had she thought she'd one day be forcing her hospitality on Sesshomaru.
He did not reply, and she shrugged as he slid the doors open and left the room.
--
Once her grandfather had been convinced that Sesshomaru did not need to be excorcised—Kagome shuddered at the thought of what the youkai would have done to the old man, had he tried—she and Inuyasha settled him in his own room, leaving him happily puttering about his relics and artifacts, and made their way outside.
It had been strange to see Sesshomaru descending from the roof, he had simply taken a leap and touched down, even as she had gasped and looked around to make sure no one else had seen him.
'Please don't do that!' she hissed at him, and he frowned at her, lifting an eyebrow in silent enquiry.
'The neighbours might see you!' she huffed, as Inuyasha chuckled softly at her side. No doubt he was amused by her not very successful attempts at keeping Sesshomaru in line.
Sesshomaru said nothing in reply, but the derisive curl of his lip told her very eloquently exactly what he thought of her neighbours.
She sighed as she turned away. She really could have expected nothing else. 'Can we get down to business?' she asked, changing the subject as she led the two brothers into her home. She waited until they were well settled before turning to Sesshomaru. 'How did you get here?'
He raised an eyebrow at her. 'That is something that you should tell me.'
'Me?' she exclaimed, sharing a baffled look with Inuyasha. 'We didn't even know you were here until yesterday!'
A frown crossed Sesshomaru's face, and he turned away from them. 'Your daughter is responsible for this,' he said softly in a tone of discovery, eyes narrowing in anger.
Daughter! Hearing the word again caused her heart to pound, and Kagome took a deep breath.
'Sesshomaru—'
'What are you talking about?'
She glared at Inuyasha when he cut her off, but turned to face his brother again. He was silent for a long moment, and her nerves had just been brought to breaking point when he spoke again.
'When Naraku is defeated,' he said, turning to her—Kagome sucked in a breath at his words—'you choose to stay with Inuyasha in Edo.'
She was stunned, and nothing in the world could have induced her to look at Inuyasha now. All her being was concentrated on Sesshomaru, and what he was still saying.
'In time, you have a daughter,' he went on, lips twisted in anger. 'Sakura. She was the one to seal me, obviously.'
'But why?' Kagome cried, shaking her head at the unbelievable things he was telling them. 'Why would she do such a thing?'
'I've never heard such a load of bullshit in all my life!' Inuyasha cried before he could answer, scowling at his brother.
'You doubt my word? Or that your miko would chose to wed you?'
Kagome's gaze snapped itself to Inuyasha's, and he turned red before looking quickly at his brother.
'Look, Sesshomaru, none of this makes any sense. Even if what you say is true and our d-daughter,' he stumbled over the word, 'sealed you—why would she do it?' He narrowed his eyes. 'What did you do to make her do it?'
'This Sesshomaru does not have to explain his actions to the likes of you,' the taiyoukai replied, voice bored. 'Suffice it to say that your daughter,' he sneered, 'is the one at fault.'
'Forget about whose fault it is for a moment,' Kagome cried, not wanting to explore the concept of her daughter any longer. 'How he got here is more important!' She turned to Sesshomaru worriedly. 'I didn't sense you until just yesterday; we need to find out how you masked yourself from me for so long. It might affect us when we take on Naraku.'
'Yeah,' Inuyasha replied, breaking off the glare directed at his brother. 'We sensed you as soon as we climbed out of the well—'
'Well?'
'The bone-eater's well,' he said impatiently, and Sesshomaru nodded.
'It's how I get from here to your world,' Kagome explained, and Inuyasha glared at her, obviously telling her to keep the information to herself, but she ignored him. 'The well is part of our shrine, and I fell into it one day, which is how I got to the feudal era in the first place.'
'Go on,' Sesshomaru said, flicking some lint off his sleeve, and she supressed the urge to roll her eyes as she continued.
'I only sensed you yesterday, and Inuyasha caught your scent soon after, which made us dig you up—'
'Yeah,' Inuyasha interrupted at his brother's frown. 'You were buried in some sort of box type thing, with the family crest on it. That's why we opened it in the first place.'
'I see.'
Sesshomaru stood, and Kagome blinked at him as he began to make his way outside.
'Hey, where are you going?'
He turned to face Inuyasha at the latter's shout. 'My questions have been answered, there is no reason for me to linger.'
'What do you mean?' she cried, and saw a flicker of impatience cross the taiyoukai's face.
'Do you truly fail to see?'
She nodded, and saw Inuyasha do the same.
'After Sakura sealed me in the past,' Sesshomaru said, 'you two must have had the box made and then had me buried me in it so that I would be safe. No doubt Inuyasha remembered the family crest he saw just yesterday, and had it inscribed on the chest so that he would recognise it and open it when he encountered it in the future.'
'But…that still doesn't explain how I wasn't able to detect you for so long,' Kagome, said, ignoring everything else to focus on the one thing she could understand.
Sesshomaru did not sigh, but she could see that it was a near thing. Never before had she seen his impassive façade waver, and it made her want to giggle suddenly .
'You buried me only yesterday—five hundred years in the past—which was why you did not detect me before this. I was not on the shrine before yesterday.'
'You were not here before yesterday, but you were here for five hundred years after we buried you yesterday?' Inuyasha said, plainly having as much trouble with this as she was.
'Inuyasha, listen carefully, because I shall explain this only once.' There was irritation in the voice now, and Kagome gulped, her earlier amusement forgotten. 'If you were to go down the well right now and cut down the Goshinboku, it would vanish on this side as well.' He pinned them with a gaze, clearly willing them to understand. 'The tree would exist until the time you go down the well, but the moment you cut it down five hundred years in the past, it would be gone from this time as well, as if it had never been.'
She nodded hesitantly, going over everything in her mind again and trying to fit the pieces together so that they made sense.
'Keh. Whatever.' Inuyasha frowned pensively before asking, 'So what now?'
Sesshomaru said nothing, turning away from them, and he scrambled after his brother. 'Come on,' he said, pulling her up by the arm. 'He's gonna try going down the well.'
'How do you know?'
'Isn't it obvious? He doesn't belong here; he wants to go back.'
She followed him anxiously, wondering if the well would allow a taiyoukai through. Inuyasha could go back and forth easily, just like her, but Sesshomaru…
They went outside to see a brilliant bolt of light shining through the wooden slats that made up the walls of the well house, and they both ran the rest of the way.
'What happened?' she cried as she rushed in to see that the light came from the well, and that Sesshomaru was standing before it, crimson eyes narrowed in anger as he strained against what seemed to be some invisible barrier.
'It seems,' he replied, 'that I cannot pass.'
--
A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait between chapters, I kinda tangled myself up in the storyline and it took me a while to figure out how to proceed.
Also, if anyone is still confused about Sesshomaru's explanation, think : the movie 'Frequency'.
Thanks for reading, all comments and concrit are very welcome. :)
