Family Secret

Disclaimer:

AN:

Chapter Three, Climax

There was a long pause following Kagome's words.

Then the very reluctant sound of the front door unlocking was heard. There was another long pause as Kagome stood there waiting for the door to open. When it did not, she grabbed the handle and let herself in.

Kagome slipped off her shoes and closed the door without a sound, her quick eyes noting every exit and hidden shadow in the room. Back stiff and with a reflexive predator's tread she walked down the hallway pass framed pictures telling of a happy family life. She paid them no mind, just a brief glance at one with a smiling brown haired man holding a small red haired toddler before turning a determined walk to the sitting room and a glowering Shiori.

Shiori was sitting in a high backed olive chair facing the entrance of the room. In front of her were two freshly made cups of tea in red flowered teacups. Kagome took the seat on the matching couch across from the woman and sipped her tea. Neither woman said anything, neither woman took their eyes off the other. They just sat there in a false polite silence.

All of a sudden, Shiori had had enough. She slammed her empty cup down hard onto the table.

"Why are you here?" Shiori hissed. The cup received a hair line fracture down the center of one of the painted flowers. She continued to yell furiously,

"I thought I had told you to stay away from my family!" She clenched her teeth, looking like an enraged mother bear about to attack.

Kagome paused for a second, eyeing the distort woman before placing her teacup softly back onto its plate. She sighed, "It been eighteen years Shiori, I wanted to finally meet my nephew."

"He doesn't want to meet you." Shiori spat, standing up from her seat. "He doesn't even know you exist and I want to keep it that way!" She fell back down against the chair in a load bang, finalizing her point. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

Kagome kept her composed expression even though she could feel her heart clench. She spoke in a soft tone, "Hasn't your son ever wondered about the cause his father was killed for?"

Shiori didn't say anything for a long time. She just stood up and walked down the hall a ways. The air around her was sombre as she came to a stop in front of the picture Kagome had glanced at earlier. "He doesn't know." She whispered.

"He doesn't..." Kagome's voice was also low in both a reflection of Shiori solemn tone and in her own confusion.

Shiori crossed her arms to ward off a nonexistent chill, her back still towards her sister-in-law. "I told Shuichi his father was working overseas in America and he was killed in a car accident."

"Why would you do that?" Kagome asked shocked

"What did you want me to tell him?" Shiori asked cooly. She suddenly wiped around, eyes a blaze and started to yell, "Tell my two year old son that the reason his daddy can't tuck him in at night anymore is because he was Tortured to death!"

Shiori took a couple deep breathes and backed up against the walk knocking the picture onto the ground. The glass front of the frame shattered into tiny shards of glass obscuring the two people in the photo. Both women stared at the picture for beat. Shiori started out softly, tears escaping her wide eyes. "He's dead, Tashio, murdered." She got louder. "And it was all your fault! You and your stupid war!" Her voice continued to rise and by the end she was full out yelling. "He was your little brother, he loved you, idolized you. You were his god damned hero!" Tears were pouring down her face.

Kagome felt the air being sucked from her chest. Watching the women her brother loved with all his heart collapse in the hallway in a flood of tears and angry words. Her heart dropped to her stomach. Kagome begged in a hushed tone, "Shiori, I tried to save him. You have to know I tried everything that I possibly could."

"But you couldn't save him." Shiori stood up with the help of the wall and stumbled back to her seat. Kagome ached to go help but knew it would be both unwanted and unwelcomed. "You promised we wouldn't be involved." Shiori's voice sounded old and brittle with that last question, defeated.

Kagome's voice was pained, "I tried. I cut off all ties with you and Souta and the rest of my family. Made sure you all knew nothing about the war so there wouldn't be any reason for the other side to question you." Kagome covered her mouth with her hand and bowed her head, tears running down her face. "I wanted you all to be safe."

Kagome gave a morbid laugh, "Souta even went so far as to change his last name." She looked up at Shiori and made eye contact. Her eyes were begging for Shiori to understand, to forgive her. "You just got married, you were planning on having children. I didn't want you anywhere near the war. I tried so hard."

There was a very long silence as the two women tried to control their tears and sort out their chaotic emotions. This conversation was eighteen years overdue. For eighteen years Kagome stayed away from the family as Shiori had requested, no demanded, when they had met at Souta's funeral for the first time in three years. That would have been the last time they had seen each other before today. It had been a painful time for the both of them. The loss of a younger brother and a husband had hurt them both. Nothing Kagome had said could ease the pain and hatred Shiori had. She hadn't even known Shiori and Souta had a son until she saw him a week ago at the university. It was the main reason for her to finally move to end this silence between the two old friends.

"I know you did." Shiori whispered. She moved her hand into her hands, they were shacking. Her whole body was shacking with suppressed sobs of anguish. "I'm sorry that I blamed you. You did everything you could." She choked, "I know that, I know that." Shiori licked away the tears that had collected on her lips. She sniffed,

"He died a hero. He was so strong, so proud. He didn't say a single thing to the other side after they had captured him, even if he had nothing to say. Not even under torture." Shiori gave an ironic smile, "He never got to tell you about Shuichi, about our son. He missed you so much but he never got to see you again after the war started. At least the war ended with his death." Shiori burst out into tears again. "He was a hero. A stupid, stupid hero!" Shiori wiped her eyes, "I love him so much." She whispered.

She raised her head but kept it bowed, eyes clenched tight against tears. She was shaking her head. She swallowed, "I don't want my son to know about any of this."

The ache in Kagome's heart and the heavy weight against her shoulders lifted at Shiori's wards of forgiveness. The guilt and pain filled memories she had been carrying all these years had at last been put to rest. Kagome reached over the table and with slight apprehension, grasped Shiori's trembling hands in her own. "Your son has the right to know what happened to his father." She spoke delicately.

Shiori stared blankly at their joined hands but didn't pull away. "I know." She said, her voice cracking, "I just don't want him to get involved in that world. I don't want to put him in any danger"

Kagome looked up sharply at Shiori. A questioning look on her tear stained face, one that Shiori missed. Kagome waited for Shiori to expand on her comment but she remained silent. A confused Kagome spoke cautiously, "He might already be involved."

At those words, Shiori snapped her head up abruptly to look at Kagome. Her accusing eyes stared hard into Kagome's, searching for what she meant by those words. Her hands jerked in Kagome's as if to pull away but emotional exhaustion kept them there. "What do you mean? You had better not have told him anything."

"No, I've never talked him." Denied Kagome quickly, "It's just..." Kagome trailed off, searching in Shiori's eye the same way she did to her.

'Does she really not know her own son is a demon avatar?' Kagome thought.

Kagome paused before finishing her sentence, trying to choose if she should tell her nephews secret or not. In the end she decided it was his secret to tell. "Well, he is his father's son."

Shiori smiled a true smile that reached her eyes. "That's true. Souta loved the demon world." She squeezed her hands around Kagome's. "Heck, we had a demon for a best man." Shiori giggled in remembrance. "Shippo sure had fun at our wedding."

Kagome snorted. "If you mean setting a table on fire while trying to impress that girl, fun."

The two women made eye contact and burst out laughing. They laughed at the memories of the fire, at the relief of eighteen years of pain and guilt being lifted, laughed in celebration of their renewed friendship. Just laughed so hard that their faces were again stained with tears, though this time they were tears of joy and relief, not of pain. They still held onto each other's hands.

They had calmed down amd let go of their hands. At peace, Kagome settled back down against the couch while Shiori got up to get some more tea and, herself, a new teacup. When she returned she started to reflect on what Kagome had said before.

"Maybe Shuichi is involved with the demon world somehow and didn't tell me about it. He's so protective of me." Shiori smiled and sat down. She turned to Kagome, "I was sick a few years ago. Really sick, I was about to die when I suddenly got better. The doctors couldn't explain it. It was as if I was healed by some supernatural means." Her eyes became unfocused in thought. Kagome smiled and took the tea pot from Shiori's limp hands. Shiori continued, "and some of the plants in his room, I swear aren't of the human variety." Kagome poured out the tea, "and he has this friend of his named Hiei. Who's got these beautiful red eyes and a habit of using the windows to enter the house instead of using the doors. I'm sure he's either a demon or at least part demon."

Shiori sighed and picked up the tea cup Kagome had just filled for her. She took a long sip, before giving another sigh. "Maybe it's time to tell him the truth behind his father's death and the history of the Higurashi family."

~ OoO ~

Kurama was in shock.

The whole room was in shock.

They stood in stunned silence, watching Kurama's newly discovered aunt and his mother finished their tea and make plans to meet up again sometime later on in the week. It wasn't until Shiori had closed and locked the door after Kagome had left and began to cook dinner that a sound from the group was heard, a strangled question from Kuwabara.

"Mrs. Tashio is your aunt?" He asked, turning from the computer screen to look at the red headed fox sitting beside him. Said red head was slacked jawed, still twisted around staring at his mother on the screen.

"Kurama?" Kuwabara asked again, nudging the unresponsive boy.

Kurama blinked slowly and turned around to sit properly on the couch facing Koenma's desk. Still wide eyed and a bit pale he nodded to Kuwabara's question, and gave an unintelligent, "Ya,"

"and they know about the demon world!" Kuwabara exclaimed, still in shock. Kurama's eyes cleared at those words.

"But how do they know. I've never meet or heard of any demons coming to the house besides Hiei, Yusuke and myself." His eyes flashed between a deep green and frosted gold, his fists were clenched so tightly that small drips of red blood were falling onto the couch. "And my father, he was murdered. No tortured to death." His hair started to turn silver. Kurama ran a bloody hand through it and took a deep breath trying to calm down, trying to assimilate all the information he had just heard.

It was a shock, a huge shock. His mother, whom he had been trying so hard to keep away from the demon world and that part of his life, was trying to do the exact same thing to him. His father, whom he never loved nor cared about at the tender age of two was tortured to death. He died a hero and he never knew. Kurama's heart dropped as he closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. At that age, with his thoughts about humans and the weakness of emotions, he wouldn't have cared if he had known that his father was murdered.

His father was killed and it was somehow connected to a war. A war his father's sister, his long lost aunt, Kagome Tashio, had fought in. A war that somehow involved demons. Kurama wracked his vast knowledge for any information about any demon war that ended eighteen years ago but he couldn't think of any.

"Kurama," Kuwabara said in a hushed voice. He seemed to have gotten over the shocking revelations. "Do you know what war they were talking about?"

"I think I know." Koenma spoke for the first time since finding out about Kagome's relationship with Shiori. The two boys looked at the small demi-god.

Koenma's face was pale, absolutely white. His eyes were as large as dinner plates and his hands were shaking. The most shocking thing was his pacifier had fallen out of his open mouth and onto the desk. He didn't even notice it was missing.

They waited for him to continue but Koenma just stared at the far wall, mouthing unrecognizable words and hands twitching every few seconds. A few minutes pasted before Jorge, who was still standing just behind Koenma's chair, poked the child ruler. "Koenma, sir?"

Koenma shook himself into awareness but didn't lose his pale color. He got even paler as he noticed the stares coming from the three other people in the room. He sank down in his chair and replaced his binky into his mouth. He shallow audibly and turned to look at Kurama.

You father's family name was Higurashi." He swallowed again, he eyes traveled over Kurama's shoulder to stare off at the far wall again. He whispered in disbelief, "Your father was Souta Higurashi."

Everyone waited for him to continue. Koenma swallowed again and started in a hushed voice,

"I know which war they were talking about and how your aunt was involved. I know why your mother knows about demons. I know why your father's life book is missing and I believe I know why Shiori's, Kagome's and Kurama's life book have blanks in them."

His voice grew softer, "I know why your father was tortured. I know who murdered your father."

Kurama focused cold gold eyes on the young ruler of the afterlife. "Koenma, who killed my father?" He asked in an emotionless voice.

Koenma took a deep breath and looked Kurama straight in the eye.

"Spirit World"

~ OoO ~

AN.

Edited: July 22 / 2010

So now we know why Shiori paled at Kagome's name. It wasn't fear or initial shock. It was hatred! Shiori blamed Kagome for Souta's death. But just what are the events surrounding his death? What is this war they kept mentioning? Why did Spirit World murder Souta? Not to mention how does this all tie in with the Souta's missing life book and the blanks in the others?

Next Time:

Chapter Four, Falling