Disclaimers: I do not own Inu-Yasha and Co. It is the respective property of Rumiko Takahashi
Note: In this chapter, I used a madeup name for Inu-Yasha's mother. At the time, when I started this fic, no name had been given to said mother and from all the manga, I've read, her name was not never mentioned.
speech, "..."
thought, '...'
flashback, ...
Family Secrets Chapter 4: As the Pieces Fall Together
It felt as though the world had completely come to a halt - the silence became almost deafening to the point it seemed as though it had swallowed everything around.
Kagome watched - without a word - as she noted the array of conflicting emotions playing across her friend's face. 'How will I tell him that there was no lie in Naraku's words...?'
She had always know that she had an uncanny ability to decipher lie from truth and this was perhaps the one time she wished her intuition was wrong... for Inu-Yasha's sake...
Inu-Yasha had had just about enough of that bastard's nonsense. "I've had it with your lies, Naraku!"Inu-Yasha snarled, removing tetsusaiga from its sheath.
The sword make a hard slicing motion in the direction of the spider hanyou, but only succeeded in clearing away the far wall - the bastard had already made a clean getaway.
"Damn!'' Inu-Yasha snarled fiercely before turning toward Sessho- maru who seemed to be resigned to the matter. "That bastard was lying ...right? He looked directly at you when he said those lines...he wasn't implying what I think was implying, was he?"
Inu-Yasha felt his stomach start to churn in anxiety as he waited for Sessho-maru to reply. 'Please let this be another one of Naraku's lies...!'
"No...For once he was telling the truth. I, Sessho-maru, am your real father..."
Inu-Yasha gave a desperate glance toward Kagome, but found her expression less than comforting. 'The youkai - that slew my okaasan - is my father...'
Miroku finally found his voice, "I think we should let him explain before drawing any harsh conclusions..."
Inu-Yasha fixed him with a glare, but decided it would be best to let Sessho-maru have his piece. 'This had better be good...'
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A sadistic grin touched Naraku's lips as he watched the scene play for play through Kanna's tiny mirror. 'Keh...How will you react to what Sessho-maru tells you, Inu-Yasha...? Will you believe your old man or will you kill him in a fit of rage...? Hopefully the later part...!' he nearly let his glee show as he watched the most tense situation. 'Inu-Yasha... your years of mistrust may be your fathers doom...!'
'If this fails, I will see to it that the shinchini tai finish the job...'
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"I might as well start from the beginning," Sessho-maru began slowly.
I had been but a youth when I met Lady Chie. Don't make the assumption that our "relationship'' - if you could call it that - was one of forbidden love...actually it was more the case of mistaken identity!"
I had been passing through one of the smaller villages in our territory. To put it bluntly, I had been searching out courtesans to ease my mounting sexual frustration. You, Inu-Yasha, should understand what I mean by this - every youkai male experiences that particular time... I may have been filled with need, but I would never lower myself to commit rape!"
Anyway, I spotted a manor which had a gathering of woman before it. As I neared, a few ran out to greet me and led me into home. Since they were all doting on me, I made the false assumption that I had found what I had been looking for.
That night --"
"Don't tell me that! I don't want to hear about that- just skip that part!" Inu-Yasha shouted like a contrary child, threatening to cover his ears.
Sessho-maru glared in annoyance at having been interrupted and started once more, "As I was saying..."
To make it short painless, you were conceived that night, but I had been unaware at the time for I left the next morning."
I spent a few days travelling before I returned home, but upon returning, I heard rumor that my father had taken on a new mate - of course, it turned out to be the very woman I bedded at the manor."
It was only then did I learn her name."
Father introduced us, "Sessho-maru, this is my new wife, Lady Chie. M'dear, this is my son, Sessho-maru.''
She had concealed it very well that she knew me and acted as though her past was not tainted. At the time, I had believed her past to be tainted, but later on, I learned that I had been her first, but now I'm jumping ahead of myself..."
It was also that night I learned she was pregnant..."
Father had been so happy at the thought of a new son and I was greatly angered that she had not told otousan the truth, and outright lied about the paternatity of the unborn. I knew... I could sense that the child was mine!"
I confronted her about the entire situation, and threatened to tell father about her deceit."
She told me that he would never believe me and cursed at me as I left to tell him, but you know, she was right..."
He didn't believe a word that passed through my lips... so caught up in his belief that it was sibling jealousy, he overlooked everything I told him - too blind in love to see otherwise."
So I planned on making her loss the child, but found I could get nowhere near - father had made sure she was well guarded."
"Wait, wait, wait..." Inu-Yasha interrupted once again . "It's bad enough that you slew her you bastard! Now you mean to tell me that there had been more than one attempt!"
Inu-Yasha flexed his claws. 'I have had enough of listening to this...! So I was a mistake and my mother had to pay the price at that asshole's hands...! Well, I'm dealing with this right now...'
"I did not kill your mother...if you would kindly stop interrupting; I would be able to explain to you about the whole god-forsaken misunderstanding..." Sessho-maru asked quickly - his patience was wearing thin.
He watched the ningen girl, Kagome, place a hand on Inu-Yasha's shoulder, and marveled - for a moment - at the calming effect it seemed to have on his estranged son. 'My son...still so hard to think of him as my son...'
Inu-yasha gazed down at Kagome's small hand, which rested lightly on his shoulder. With a reluctant grunt, he replied, "Feh, go ahead - not going to do much good!"
"Let's try this again, shall we?"
Back to what I was saying... I was unable to get near lady Chie and my fear, of breaking
otousan's heart with the reality that child was not his, grew with each passing day..."
Due to wars that were breaking out across our domain, I had gone off to battle, leaving behind all my troubles - at least momentarily - at home."
I decided to head where otousan had been located - trying to determine if he needed any assistance or would be told to help smaller, weaker forces near our borders."
But I arrived too late - father had already been mortally wounded and had passed away a few days before I arrived on site. At least, he had the chance to seal away that awful dragon before passing on..."
Word had already been sent back to the manor/castle of his death and by the time I returned, your okaasan had left...gone into hiding as she was soon due to give birth."
I later found her in a nearby village - she had given birth..."
She appeared afraid as I entered the small hut, holding her newborn fiercely to her."
But as soon as I led eyes on mother and child, any aggressive intent had faded away and decided I best leave her be...It is unusual how such a simple thing can move someone, even when one is not so easily moved..."
I let the lie stand as it was, and whatever father had left to the unborn child, would be his/hers. From that point on, I began to convince myself that the lie was truth."
I would check in from time to time to see how things were progressing."
Of course one time, I had been late, and found the village under attack...you know what time I'm speaking of, Inu-Yasha..."
I slew as many enemy soldiers as I could and went off in search of your mother to see of you were both safe..."
I found your mother battered and bloody on forest floor, surprisingly, she was still alive.
She sobbed a little and whispered to me that she had gotten you to safety - it didn't matter as long as you were safe. She also whispered that she was sorry for not telling the truth to my father, but she realized by law that she would be killed for such a mistake - the simple fact that she was a woman sealed it..."
I was surprised yet again with another revolution as she admitted that she never hated me, but rather had fallen in love with me... she told me that I was her first; how she had wished that I had been the Lord she was to marry; that we could have been together... I felt a slight guilt for not feeling the same way, but I didn't hate her as I had let her believe for so long..."
She passed away in my arms..."
You then decided to scrabble from your hiding place in search of your mother only to find her corpse in my hands - her blood staining my garments."
You being a child, what was I to tell you... I knew you would not believe me even if I explained, but I may have tried if you hadn't run from me..."
You had your mind made up so I decided it would be best to check on you under false pretenses as your older brother..."
The short visits became less and less frequent as I convinced myself that I was your brother and I became bitter towards you for my late father's preference for you..."
"Basically, that's it...the lies -I weaved- became truth, and the truth had become a lie...Naraku's very words, how ironic that they held truth..." Sessho-maru sighed.
He didn't know what to expect... would Inu-Yash believe the story he had just told or would he believe it to be a lie... 'How ironic would it be after telling the truth to have it thought of as a lie...?'
Inu-Yasha stared blankly for a moment before returning his gaze to the man that was his father. Surprisingly, instead of being weighed down by such knowledge, he felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
'Hmmm...I have no reason to feel guilty over my hatred, of Sessho- maru, in the past...he didn't enlighten me with the truth and let me believe whatever I wanted - might have saved a lot of time if he had just told me from the start instead of letting the hatred build! But now I have the chance to know him better...'
He turned to look at his friends it seemed as if they were holding their breath in anticipation of his response. He finally found his voice, "How ironic,- when I was but a whelp- I wished I could be like you... at least, before I thought you had killed my okaasan ...The twist - to the whole damn situation- was that I wanted you to be my father..."
He gave a disarming smile and continued with his speech, "How odd? I'm actually not anger, but rather glad!"
He started to laugh a little which made everyone slightly nervous, even Sessho-maru.
The next words out his mouth stunned them all, "Join us."
Sessho-maru blinked for a moment letting his surprise show for once. He had always wondered - though he continuously pushed the thought out his mind- how Inu-Yasha would react if he ever found out the truth. 'I never thought it would turn out so favorably - he doesn't want me dead and he doesn't despise me...might have made this situation a little less awkward...'
"Whatever makes it easier for me to find Naraku and dispose of him," Sessho-maru said lightly, keeping the appearance that the offer didn't mean too much to him. 'A chance to start over again...'
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Cole, black eyes watched the scene play through across the tiny mirror.
A sigh, of disgust, passed his lips before he turned it away. 'So it did not go as planned, but I always have another...'
"Things did not go as you planned ...eh, Naraku? Not surprised ... Inu-Yasha is far more than you ever anticipated him to be...! He's learned to trust all due in part to my mysterious counterpart, Kagome..."
Naraku glared at the undead miko as she entered his small strong hold - he would not let her phase him. "Yes, she has given him strength and the courage to love - must be hard for you to watch such trust, considering you were not the one who instilled it within him, but rather your reincarnation. My...she's replaced you in so many ways and then some..."
He smirked as her face stoned over - he had hit a sore spot, but that would work to his advantage. "But the bonds of trust are always fragile...there are many ways to shatter them - it's finding the right method that proves to be the difficult part."
"You hate the girl as much as I. You love the hanyou, but you wish to be at peace...Wouldn't you like to see your reincarnate slain at the hands of your beloved then have him willingly follow you into death...? I have a plan that is most intriguing.''
Kikyo looked at Naraku cynically, before considering what he had said. 'I could help him follow through with whatever he plans for the girl - she is but a mutual obstacle for the both of us...' "Continue..."
"Destroy the delicate bonds of their relationship...Kagome still believes the hanyou harbors feelings for you. You could always get him alone, feed off his base desires, but make sure the girl witnesses it...it should destroy her faith in their 'love', and make room for a new player in this drama...for it seems there may be some father/ son rivalry to come..."
"What do you mean by such a remark...?"
"Sessho-maru harbors feelings for the mortal wench... driving a wedge between the hanyou's relationship with the girl could prove to be the very key to driving Inu-Yasha over the edge and right into our hands..."
Kikyo nodded at this, and decided she would aid Naraku. 'To break apart the relationship,
and form a rift between father and son over a pitiful woman... it would break Inu-Yasha's will, but I still do not trust Naraku... he may try to deny me. An alliance may have been formed, but it is a fragile one indeed!'
To be continued...
