A/N This chapter is going to be heavy on flashbacks from Yuri's past. Just a warning to you all! I've also changed Inukai's name to Raiden, as I'm sure no great demon lord would name their son Inukai.
Yuri sighed as she swept the courtyard of the shrine. Her father was at the hospital getting his monthly checkup, and Souta was currently at school. It was days like this that made her wish for the excitement of the Feudal Era. The last time she had tried to return was when Kagome had started her journey with Inuyasha, three years ago. Kagome had found it odd to find her mother at the bottom of the well, and the older woman had no excuse prepared having not expected the girl home for at least another week.
She hadn't heard when the well house doors opened, or when they quietly shut behind the two returnees. She had, however, felt the surge of youki in the air, and dropped her broom to turn sharply towards the new arrivals. On first look, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it had just been Inuyasha and Kagome, with her big yellow bag. The moment she looked, really looked, however, she took in Kagome's new appearance and smiled. She hadn't seen her daughter's true form since she was three. She had longed to see those tiny black ears on top of her head again. Kagome noticed that her mother was not surprised by her new appearance, which only confirmed in her mind everything Kaede had told her. Instantly, her anger heightened.
"You knew." Yuri gasped at the amount of youki pouring from her daughter. The young girl had fixed her mother with a cold hard glare as she growled, her tail also began to bristle. "You knew about this, and you didn't tell me!?" The older woman took a step back, her eyes sad for her daughter. Inuyasha merely stood there, the light breeze blowing his and Kagome's hair slightly. He reached for Kagome's shoulder, intent on trying to calm her down, but she shrugged him off. "You knew about this, all these years? You knew why I felt that I didn't belong here, and you never bothered to even tell me why? Why I had no father growing up? Did you run away? Was having a hanyou daughter so bad that you made me mortal for 18 years? Tell me!" Inuyasha tensed as he could sense the shift in Kagome's aura. Her ears were pinned back as she snarled out her words, and although he was behind her, he could see the fear in her mother's eyes.
Yuri watched in fright as Kagome's eyes began to bleed black, and her star crest lightened to a blood-red shade. Her dear mate had warned her of this. Quickly, she pulled out an ofuda she had kept on her person at all times, and threw it onto her daughter, cringing as she hissed in pain. Inuyasha himself growled at her mother's actions, but knew there would be no other way of subduing the hanyou long enough for him to act. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around Kagome, locking her arms at her side. He also bit her neck, immobilising her. He was careful not to damage her skin, putting just enough pressure on her skin to have her submit. He was sure the youkai half of her recognised him as alpha and he knew this would be the only way for her to calm. He began to growl low, allowing his whole body to vibrate in an attempt to further soothe her nerves.
Slowly but surely, he felt the hanyou's youki recede back to a normal level. A sudden choke out of, "Why, Mama?" confirmed she was no longer lost to the rage of her youkai blood. Instead, it was quickly replaced by tears as he let go of her, letting her slump to the floor. She crumpled instantly, and within seconds, her mother had her arms around the young girl, both of them left crying. An hour later, when tears began to dry, they moved their party inside of the house.
"He was a very kind and loving man, your father." Yuri took a sip of her tea. Kagome and Inuyasha now sat opposite to their elder, tea in each of their own hands. Kagome was still sniffling from earlier. "He was born to the head family of a branch sect of Inu-Youkai called the House of the Night Sky. Your father, Inuyasha, lead the main branch, the House of the Moon. The main house has sat as Inu-Taisho for as long as anyone can remember, and the branch family has been their protectors for twice as long." Inuyasha snorted. He knew all of this. The first born male from the branch family would be sent to the main house to be raised with its assignee, learning everything needed to become the Inu-Taisho's beta. Often, the main branch child and the branch family male would become friends, even, in the case of a female-male partnership, become mates. "Yuudai had been assigned to watch over your father, Inuyasha, Raiden. He was moved to the main house as a babe, and the two grew to become the best of friends." Yuri smiled as she remembered the brash silver youkai. She was saddened by the thought that Inuyasha would never know just how alike he was to his father.
"Anyways, the two of them had been around 300 years old by the time they stumbled upon me. They had found me inside of the well. I was only 11 at the time, and terribly frightened. Your grandfather had just been attacked by a demon here in our era, and had told me to run to the nearest place I could hide. My first thought had been the well. I never dreamed I would be taken to the past by it.
The wind howled. Trees bent with the force all around the shrine, causing one in particular, the Goshinboku, to tap its strong branches against a little girl's window. She was no older than eleven, a kid to this age's standards. She sat wide awake in bed, frightful brown eyes darting back and forth between the tapping and the shadows dancing around her room. Her normally curly obsidian hair had been pulled up into a ponytail for bedtime hours before. In all accounts she should already be asleep, but the wind and rain was just too much for the little girl. Her father, the kind, caring shrine keeper he was, would understand. After all, she had just lost her mother six months ago to a storm very similar to this one. Her lips began to quiver as tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill over in her fright. She clutched her long forgotten teddy bear to her chest, trying to find some comfort from it. The door to her small bedroom –compromised of a bed on the left wall and a desk on the right with a small window separating the two. A small closet was shoved off to hide just behind her door when it was fully ajar- began to slowly open. The young girl's eyes darted to the creaking door now, relieved when she saw her father's face poke through. Tears fell as she stood from her bed, teddy long forgotten on the floor, and ran to her father, clutching him tightly. Outside, lightning flashed.
The older man's face softened. He knew his only child would not be able to sleep tonight, regardless of having school in the morning. It would be the start of middle school for her this year, and she would need all of her strength to surpass this year's difficulties. Gently, he began to stroke his daughter's hair in an attempt to sooth her nerves.
"It is only just a bit of rain, daughter. It shall pass. In the meantime, why don't we go downstairs for some tea?" A nod into his hakama was his only reply. They slowly made their way down the rickety old stairs and in to the kitchen. From there, the young girl sat down as her father put the kettle on the stove to boil. He walked over to the cupboard next to their tiny fridge and produced two cups from it. Placing both on the counter beside the kettle, the middle aged man grabbed two tea bags from their placeholder and dropped one into each cup.
"Father, does the thunder ever scare you?" Tatsuhiro paused, his face covered from his daughter's view. Of course it did, he didn't dare drive in thunderstorms anymore. They were the reason he was awake so late on a night such as this. He was shaking by the time he could answer his daughter. His brown eyes misted over in tears thinking of his beloved late wife, and how his child grew to look more and more like her every day. With a sigh, Tatsuhiro ran a hand through his salt and peppered hair and faced the young girl sitting at the table. The storm outside raged on, rain pelting the tiny door at the other end of the room. Something about the door caught his eye, and when he focused on the door he gasped, freezing with a fright he had never known before.
There, pressed right up against their back door's window, was the most hideous thing he had ever seen. It held the face of a kabuki mask, the torso of a naked woman, and the bottom half of a snake, complete with green upturned scales complete with sharp points. The thing was staring at his daughter, completely fixated with its yellow eyes. Tatsuhiro knew he had to do something to protect his daughter, and quickly devised a plan.
"Yuri, child, you must not turn around. Walk calmly to the front door, and wait until I tell you to leave. I want you to run for the well, and stay hidden in the well house until I come for you. Is that understood?" The girl's face dropped, apprehension and fear clouding her eyes. She nodded timidly before getting up, tea forgotten, and went to the front door to wait for her father's word. Knowing she was now out of harm's way, the elder grabbed the nearest chair and threw it through the door, smacking the monster in the face. "Demon, be gone!" The youkai chuckled before racing towards Tatsuhiro.
"You, human, will die for your insolence, but not before I make you watch your daughter's demise. I'll devour her insides, and consume the Shikon no Tama for myself!" Fearful eyes turned to the front hall, and the older of the two humans did his best to keep the demon occupied.
"Yuri, now! Go now!" With that she was off at a breakneck pace as she listened to whatever had made its way into her home shriek in frustration. She had no time to stop. If she stopped, her dad's sacrifice would be for nothing. Quickly, Yuri whipped open the well house door and launched herself into the old well, knowing that it was the best hiding spot in the entire house. No one could see the bottom of it from the top. What she hadn't been expecting, was the blue light that engulfed her form. The power of the well was too much for the little girl, and before the light stopped shining, Yuri Higurashi lost consciousness.
She awoke to daylight shining above her head. She looked up, thinking it strange that there would be so much light. Why hadn't her father come to wake her? While gazing towards the sky, a sudden shadow took over the mouth of the well, forming to that of two people. With tears in her eyes, Yuri sniffled. From what she could see, neither of these people were her father. Both had much longer hair, one silver and the other as black as night. The silver-haired one had piercing golden orbs, while the obsidian one had a bright violet shade to his. Both sets of eyes held the same glow as a cat's in darkness. She knew she couldn't climb out of the well herself, and hoped that either person would be kind enough to offer assistance.
"C-can you help me? I think I'm lost." It was those words that would start the adventure of her lifetime.
"The Inu village welcomed me with open arms. An orphan was always welcome, be they human or youkai. I never returned to the other side of the well, not until you were three years old. I thought your grandfather was dead, and I had nothing to return to. I was trained to hone my miko abilities, and taught how to handle a bow. I was made useful, becoming a powerful asset to the village. Once I was trained to the best of their abilities I was sent to travel with Raiden and Yuudai, and learn more and more about the lands that they would one day rule together with an iron fist. We spent 9 years on the road, making a lot of friends along the way, as well as enemies. One enemy in particular, will always be burned in my mind. It was because of them that our family was torn apart." Yuri's eyes glossed over at the memory of that fateful day.
The harsh November winds bristled through the air. They should have been home by now, they knew. The young miko wrapped her shawl tighter to her, trying desperately to keep warm. The winters were always the worst for her here in the Feudal Era. Every winter her and the two demon companions she travelled with would make it back to the village to drop her off for the season before they continued on their journey – sometimes months without her. Frost had covered their campsite this morning, meaning they were already late. Yuri, now at the ripe age of 15, could feel her fingers were numb; if they stumbled on to a demon now she would be of no use. In front of her, her silver-haired companion noticed her shivering. He quickly nudged his obsidian partner, and they both fell back to walk beside the freezing girl. Yuudai smiled at the girl. She was quickly becoming a thing of beauty, and had recently been attracting all sorts of attention in the villages they passed through.
She now stood a good foot taller than when he and Raiden had found her 6 summers ago. She had lopped off most of her curls, settling on shoulder length hair that bounces with every step she took. Long ago the girl had traded her modern clothes for the garb of a priestess, fully settling on staying in this era. He was sure that by the time she was ready to settle down and wed she would again trade her clothes for something suited to her stature. The girl was already growing as a woman – although from her lithe form it would be certain she wouldn't carry the assets some of the demon women in the village had. Her eyes held a special twinkle to them that never disappeared – which Yuudai found odd considering how dark her chocolate eyes were. She would be petite for the rest of her life, he was sure of it. It was no secret that the reason she had no suitors come forth was thanks to her two youkai companions – neither considered any human or demon worthy of their bubbly, spirited friend.
Not that Yuri would mind anyways as someone near and dear already held her heart in his grasp. The young demon lord of the branch family had no idea of Yuri's affections. It had been Yuudai who had found her that day in the well, dragging Raiden along to pacify his curiosity. He had smelled the most fragrant of scents coming inside the dried thing – a scent of summer lilies and rain - and just knew instinctively that something was amiss. Whenever they patrolled the area the well reeked of bones and decay. When he had peered in to his surprise sat a young girl in the strangest of clothes. The rest Yuri could only guess at. He stood taller than her by a good head. His black hair trailed down his back in a lazy braid formed at the base of his neck. His sharp violet eyes called to her in an unexplainable way, and Yuri could not help but marvel at his star crest under his right eye, his elegant elvish-ears, and the bushy midnight tail that cascaded from where his tail bone should have been. Raiden, too, was a thing of beauty, but then again Yuri had yet to meet a demon who wasn't. He stood slightly taller than Yuudai, his own silver mane pulled up into a high ponytail. His own eyes were a piercing gold hidden beneath his insanely bushy – yet kept – eyebrows. His crests were a symbol of stature, twin jagged lines on each cheek ending in line with the center of his eye, and a crescent moon dead center on his forehead framed by silver bags. His whole aura demanded respect from anyone and anything around him, and everyone listened. He too had a tail – two fluffy cream tails that blended in to the fur trailing down his back. Oh how sometimes Yuri wished she could feel how soft it was, but she knew better. To touch his tails meant severe punishment.
Yuri was pulled out of her thoughts by a heavy, warm weight resting on her shoulders. She looked to her left to find Yuudai's winter cloak wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up at the young demon and smiled, causing him to blush. No words were needed – he already knew how grateful she was. Raiden looked over the two and smirked.
"Keh. It's a good thing our bodies are built differently than you weak humans'." The young miko turned and glared at her other companion before sticking her tongue out.
"Careful there, Rai, we don't want Sesshoumaru picking up on your nasty habits." The inu-youkai snorted at the thought and frowned.
"The babe will learn disdain for humans from his mother, I'm sure. I was only jesting, Yuri, surely you knew that. You are the only mate for me, after all." Raiden smiled at Yuri's blush as Yuudai snarled. It was an ongoing joke between Yuri and Raiden that irked poor Yuudai to no end, going back to just after the silver haired inu's father made the announcement regarding Raiden's arranged mating. The mother of Raiden's heir was a beautiful and fearsome woman. She, too, was from the main branch, a distant cousin of his. Raiden's father had all but insisted he produce an heir with her in the hopes of a strong grandson. Raiden stayed as far away from her as possible after he had fulfilled his father's request. Not one youkai, aside from Yuudai, could understand his need to be in love with his mate of choice.
"Yes, husband, of course." Yuri gave a small chuckle before she stopped walking and sneezed. With the pace they were going they would reach the village in two days, and inwardly the girl groaned at having to sleep on the cold ground.
A rustle to their left caught all three's attention. Both male inu grabbed their hilts, ready to extract their weapons as Yuri shrugged her shawl and cloak to retrieve her bow and quiver, knocking an arrow. From behind the nearest tree emerged a young man with long wavy black hair and red eyes. "So this is the future Tai-youkai and his charges. I've heard so much about you, Raiden-sama." The young man bowed low before turning towards Yuri and smiled sadistically. "And the young Yuri-sama. You radiate with beauty. I wonder if you will still radiate once your innards are spilled across the forest floor and that jewel in your gut is mine!" The man moved at an inhuman speed, somehow getting past both of her protectors. She didn't even have time to fire an arrow. The girl yelped as she was lifted by her throat, causing Raiden to snarl as he took off after the pair. Yuudai's eyes turned vicious as he allowed his transformation to take over him, turning into a beast of a wolf-dog, and sprinted after the young miko with murderous intent, surpassing Raiden within a moment.
The youkai stood no chance against the dog.
Raiden barely caught up in time to see Yuudai ripping the offending demon apart, and Yuri huddled in a daze by his feet. Her neck was bruised, and she was shivering. Upon looking at her body, he found a dozen lacerations, some quite deep, bleeding around her torso. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Raiden was sure she would soon go in to shock. He moved to get closer to the girl, but was held back by the wolf-dog's snarl. Raiden barked an order to the dog before giving off a few growls and yips, trying to convey Yuri's state to the enraged demon before him. The dog seemed to understand, and barked back before kneeling down to carry the girl. Raiden swiftly grabbed the miko, being sure to watch her injuries, and climbed onto Yuudai's back, grabbing the fur behind his neck to secure them. Within seconds the great dog was off, heading for home.
No one noticed the spider crawl out from under one of the torn pieces of flesh left in the field.
It had taken her three days to wake from her injuries, and another month before they were fully healed. Yuri still shivered at the thought. "It was after then that your father confessed his feelings, and we later wed and mated. It was only after you re-met Inuyasha that I realised the jewel that demon had been talking about had been the Shikon no Tama, which obviously transferred to you when I was pregnant."
"Wait, hold up. You said re-met? I've never seen Kagome before in my whole life!" Kagome sat in silence, trying to take everything in, her brain running a mile a minute.
"You have, Inuyasha. You and Kagome were the best of friends. Of course, after Yuudai and I mated, Raiden later confessed that he too, had feelings for me, and that his mating joke really hadn't been a joke. I was mortified, but, six months later he met a princess from the exterminator village, and they mated. If I remember correctly you were born the following summer. Kagome followed shortly after you in the spring. From the moment she was born you two spent every day together, and became inseparable as soon as Kagome could walk. Hold on, I've got something to show you two." Yuri rose from her seat and went upstairs to the attic. Inuyasha turned his attention to the young hanyou before him. She was too quiet. He had known Kagome for three years, and she was never this quiet.
"Kagome?" The girl looked up from her trance to see Inuyasha's concerned face. She smiled and shook her head, hoping that if she at least pretended she was okay with everything going on that Inuyasha's ears would perk up.
"Ah! Here it is!" Could be heard from the attic as Yuri ceased her rummaging. Both hanyou turned at the noise to see the older woman emerge from around the corner with a small envelope. She quietly handed the envelope to Kagome, a sad smile on her face. "When I was younger I always had a disposable camera on me. I'm glad I had it when I fell down the well. I didn't take many pictures, but there are a couple I can cherish. Whenever I feel sad, I tend to go up into the attic and look at these." Kagome opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. Inside were a few dozen pictures, mostly from when she was a toddler. The photo albums that were downstairs never held any baby photos of Kagome, and she had always questioned her Mama why. The first one was of Kagome as a baby, she couldn't possibly be more than 3 months old. She was laughing in this photo, with bright violet eyes and a huge toothless grin. Beside her, a young toddler sat holding her tail. It would have been hard to mistake who it was sitting next to her. She smiled at the huge grin that was on toddler-Inuyasha's face and was awed by how happy he looked as a child. She looked over at Inuyasha to see his eyes were wide with wonder and disbelief.
She turned to the next photo, a family photograph. Here, she looked to be around 2. She was in a light blue summer kimono with carefully stitched stars cascading down the sleeves. Her tail was short and bushy, much like it had been the first day her necklace had broken. She was being held by her mother so that she was in the center of the photo, who wore a traditional kimono fit for a princess, and on Kagome's other side stood a man. They were all smiling happily, as if they had not a care in the world. Yuri's hair looked longer than Kagome had ever seen it, and there was a certain sparkle in her eyes that had never been there while the young hanyou had been growing up. Tears came to the young hanyou's eyes as she saw the same crest that was on her cheek imprinted on the young man's. Her eyes were an identical match to his own – the eye shape was all wrong, that she had gotten from her mother, but the shade of violet was undeniably the same. They even had the same nose, and the same shade of hair, even the same wavy flow to it. This man, this youkai, was no doubt her father. Once more, she began to choke on her words. "Why? Why couldn't we stay, Mama?" Yuri gave the girl a sad smile, and pulled her into a hug before stroking her hair.
"The demon that attacked me? We later learned that it had been a parasitic youkai, one who latches on to others and controls them. He had managed to sneak into the village one night unnoticed, hell bent on revenge. That was the night Inuyasha went missing."
"Mama! Papa!" A three year old pup came in to view as Yuri and Yuudai finished preparing supper. Worry immediately set into youkai male as he smelled the fear rolling off of the young girl. When he turned to the door he immediately saw the tears in his daughter's eyes, and noticed just how much she was shaking. Yuri ran to the little girl immediately, enveloping her in a hug that little Kagome was desperate to get out of. He watched as Yuri's face fell as Kagome's tail tucked between her legs and her ears refused to rise out of her unkempt hair. Yuudai's heart broke as he heard the fearful whimper of a pup rise from the little girl's throat. The tall demon knelt before his daughter and pulled her from her mother's embrace into a tight hug and began to rumble in an attempt to sooth her. He had never seen the young girl quite so upset.
"What's wrong, Kagome?" The girl whined as more tears fell from her eyes. Carefully, Yuudai pulled the girl's face away from his haori so that she would look him straight in the eye.
"P-papa. I-Inu's missing! His scent j-ju-just stops!" Bushy eyebrows furrowed. His daughter had a keen sense of smell, better than most of the full youkai children. If she said that Inuyasha's scent just stopped…
"Where, pup? Show me." The little hanyou nodded as she grabbed her father's hand. As he and the pup headed out the door, he turned to his mate who now sported the same worried look as his daughter. "Yuri." The young mother looked up from her musings. She knew how dangerous this would be if Raiden's son, a child from the main branch, had gone missing in a village full of inu-youkai. A scent didn't just vanish. "Alert Raiden, Sesshoumaru and Izayoi of Kagome's findings. The more help we have to find him, the better." With that, both youkai and hanyou hurriedly left the hut they called home. The young miko was left to herself, and quickly set out to find her dear friends.
The group of youkai returned to Yuri's home hours after the sun had set, with only one hanyou amongst them. Izayoi's eyes were red and puffy. Raiden's left arm was around her shoulders after having tried to console her to no avail. He too, looked on the brink of tears. Little Kagome was wrapped up in Yuudai's arms, having cried herself to sleep. She had refused to let the adults search for her best friend without her, and in fear that she would try to find his scent outside of the village and be kidnapped herself, the full blooded inus allowed her to come. Sesshoumaru held the rear of the group, seemingly the only one who could keep his emotions together. Yuri's heart fell at the sight. She walked over to her husband and took the sleeping child from his arms to lay her on the girl's sleeping roll. Sesshoumaru walked over to where Kagome slept, his golden eyes deep set with worry. Carefully, he held the little girl's hand within his own. She was like a little sister to him, this child of the branch family, and to see her so heartbroken stoked a fire deep within the young youkai.
"When she wakes, she will want to continue the search." Raiden nodded before moving to rest a hand on his son's shoulder. Sesshoumaru tore his gaze from Kagome's sleeping face to Raiden's. He felt it when Kagome squeezed his hand, and he turned back towards her to see her violet eyes open tiredly as more tears threatened to fall from her cherub face.
"Maru-kun? Are you going to go find Inu?" The boy's eyebrows furrowed. He held no ill-will towards his younger brother. At first daylight, against his father's orders, he would head out to continue the search. Whoever stole Inuyasha would answer to him.
"Yes, Kagome. I will not rest until Inuyasha is found and brought home. His life is mine to do with as I see fit." The tiny hanyou smiled up at her best friend's elder brother.
"Thank you, Maru-kun." With that, the girl fell back asleep. Sesshoumaru stood, turning back to his father and step-mother. His eyes were hard and fiery.
"The spider will pay for what he has done to this pack." Raiden nodded in agreement. He himself would be out there right now, if not for the fact that he now controlled and protected the whole pack.
"You are not to return until Inuyasha is brought home, is that understood, Sesshoumaru?" A nod was all the elder needed before Sesshoumaru took off into the night. Raiden then turned to the darker haired couple in the room, a perpetual sadness radiating from him. "Yuudai, Yuri and Kagome need to be protected. It is apparent not even our village can shelter them from harm."
"Maybe….the well?" Yuudai's answer shocked the young miko, making Yuri's eyes widen. No one had spoken of the well in 9 years! She didn't even know if it still worked, or if Yuudai or Kagome would be able to come with… Everyone else nodded their head in agreement.
"We have nothing to go back there to." Yuri shook her head, desperately trying to convince them of how horrible a plan this would be. "Besides, Kagome-chan would stick out like a sore thumb. Youkai and hanyou are not openly flaunting their features in my time!"
"Yuri-chan… I have a scroll given to me by a very powerful miko back when I was still with the exterminators. It is said to be able to hide the features of a youkai indefinitely. Perhaps, if we attached it to an object rather than Kagome-chan herself…" The young miko was defeated. There were no more excuses she could offer. With a sad nod, knowing if they went through with this she would be separated from everything she knew and loved, Yuri began to make the preparations.
They would be leaving tonight.
Tears welled in Kagome's eyes for her mother. Yuri looked across the table at the young couple and smiled. "We placed the charm on the locket, a gift my father had given to me when I was about six. When we arrived on this side, I found out my father had survived the demon attack, and he had been so incredibly happy to have us home. I told him of my adventures, and of your father, and while he didn't necessarily approve, he loved you no less. I never knew if Sesshoumaru ended up finding you, or the monster who took you, dear. I had always hoped if that had been the case that Kagome's father would have come for us, but we've already been waiting 18 years now." Yuri sighed and stood up before smiling at the pair.
"Now, let's get started on dinner, Souta should be home soon and I'm sure you two are hungry." Inuyasha blinked before looking outside to see the sun was now setting. They had spent the whole day sitting at this table, and hadn't eaten anything. As the silver-haired hanyou blanched at the thought of not eating all day, Kagome tilted her head to the side as a thought suddenly occurred to her.
"Wait, Mama, what about Souta? He was born here!" Yuri giggled.
"Do you remember when you had been pestering and pestering me for a little brother, Kagome?" The girl nodded her head. She had been six at the time, and mostly everyone in her kindergarten had a younger sibling. "Well, finally your grandfather and I had an idea. We went to the adoption agency and began the process about a year before Souta came home. In order to have you believe he was 'born' we bought a fake belly. We also picked a baby who looked most similar to you, so you wouldn't ask too many questions." Kagome nearly fell off her chair. Just how much did her mother lie to her growing up?
"Keh. That's twisted. And I thought my family had issues." Kagome couldn't have agreed more with the hanyou right then.