Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach or Inuyasha.
AN: This fic is dedicated to Aubrey-Simone.
AN II: Ok, sorry about the late update but I've been in the hospital for Pancreatitis.
Last Time: The two lovebirds left her quarters for their own. Kagome sighed again and set about to getting her bath. When morning came she would think more on this newly developed rumor.
"Mama! I'm here!" Kagome called out into the shrine she had grown up.
Kagome almost ran to the kitchen. It had been years since she had seen her mother, for her; but for her mother and family it had been just months. It had her years to finish the tama, she had barely graduated highschool, and every time she came home Souta looked different. He had been growing up without her and the last time she had come through the well, it had been two months before his fourteenth birthday.
"Kagome, we're almost ready." her grandfather said, trying to fix his tie.
Kagome smiled at the elder man. She had missed him dearly. She came up to him and took over fixing the bow tie. Atleast they were almost ready. She would have came home earlier in the week but she had duties to do.
"Sis, where are we going? It took you years to almost finish the jewel. We don't see you for months and now you have a home in another world. What has went on?" Souta asked.
"Souta, that is for me to tell when we get to my home." Kagome answered slowly.
There was a tapping coming from the stairwell and that alerted everyone that Mrs. Higurashi was coming down the stairs, she was ready. When she appeared, Kagome hugged her. She had missed her so much.
"Oh, Kagome, I missed you so much. Where have you been?" her mother asked.
"I was in the past. I will explain everything later. If we wait we will be late and I will be a horrible hostess." she said.
"Of, course. Dad, Souta; are you both ready?" Mrs. Higurashi asked them.
"Yes, we are. We can go." grandfather answered.
"Ok, let's go." Kagome said.
Kagome led her family outside to the shrine grounds. They looked around, wondering where she had left her car.
"Sis, where's your car or are we walking?" Souta asked.
Kagome smiled, "I don't have a car. We will have to walk a short ways, we will come out in my gardens."
Before they could say anymore, Kagome opened her hand and a black butterfly formed above and then landed on her finger. She held it up, closer to her face, and blew on it's wings. It's wings began to crumble and float about them as Kagome brought her hand up and slashed it down. A portal filled with bright white light appeared but the middle of it was shaded. People were coming through.
Kagome turned to her family then, she would have to gift them with a temporary sight of beings from the Soul Society.
"Who are they?" Souta asked.
"You can see them?" Kagome asked, utterly flabbergasted.
"See who, my boy?" Grandpa asked.
"Souta there's no one there. Is there Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi stated.
"Yes, there is." Kagome said. "Two of my own elite guard."
Through the portal stepped Starkk and Lilinette. Kagome was glad to see that this time the young girl was more covered up. She was wearing a knee-high red kimono with a gold inner haori with red and gold ballet slip-ons; quite conservative compared to her usual everyday wear.
"My Lady." Starkk greeted her.
Lilinette smiled and waved at her but otherwise kept her gaze darting around, looking at different things. Souta had noticed Lilinette but the look Starkk shot at him had him staying away.
"We will be along in a minute Coyote. I have to make them "see" first." Kagome replied.
With a wave of her hands over her mother and grandfathers' faces she was able to bring them into "sight". Her grandfather readied himself to throw a sutra at Starkk but Kagome grabbed the peice of paper, that would only serve as a sticky annoyance, from him. She motioned for her family to come through the portal and they followed, staying close behind her.
The closer they got to the end of the portal, the brighter the light became until it just cut off into normal daylight. They could see after a few seconds of adjusting and were amazed with the sight around them.
"Mother, grandfather, Souta; this is my home." Kagome said and gestured to all that was around them.
"W... Where are we?" Mrs. Higurashi asked in awe.
"We are in the Soul Society. The world between the living and the dead. A place where souls get a second chance of sorts; where they can grow to be adults after they never got to, where they can find love and a family after they never got to have them before. A place where they can have peace, if they wish, after lives of heartache, suffering, and hatred." Kagome explained.
"Sis,... are you dead?" Souta asked.
Kagome was startled then. She hadn't thought of that. Would they think she was dead after being told all of that? Of course they would.
"No. I am the ruler of this realm. I was promoted by Buddha, himself, to a goddess. I am the Goddess of Souls." Kagome said casually.
The shock on their faces told her she had better get to explaining some things. She nodded to them and began to explain.
Rukia sighed and leaned against the wall behind her. She had arrived early at Kagome's, via Kagomes' requests, and was asked to help out while she was gone to get her family. She had left her, Nelliel, and Harribel in charge of finishing up the decor and entertaining the guests until she returned.
Since she had more experience with being a hostess, belonging to a noble family and all, she was the hostess. Greeting everyone and trying to avoid knocking some much needed sense into Renjis' head. The man had forgotten to bring a welcoming gift, as was proper. Also since he had come with her family, it looked bad on them; and so to avoid even the smallest amount of shame to fall on the Kuchiki name, she offered to share her gift with him. Then all she had to worry about was him insulting one of the espada, especially Szayel, since he had handed Renji his butt on a silver platter.
Her main job; that she assigned herself, was to keep an eye out for Kagome and her human family and for her demon family, that was going to be late.
Successfully they had avoided any crisis, thus far, that could occur at such an event and when Kagome arrived they let out a little sigh of relief. They could relax a little and enjoy themselves more. Especially Harribel, who had her eye on a certain young captain.
As Kagome entered the main room, with her family, Starkk, and Lilinette in tow, the talking ceased immediately. She hated it when that happened, talk about making someone feel self-concious. She hated it even more when they lowered their heads, in that "hidden" bow, since she didn't allow them to fall to their knees and bow to her.
"Please stop that! I will not have any of you grovelling to me in any form. I may have a higher standing and more power but that doesn't make me better than any of you." she said and they ceased.
"Thank you. Now I want to thank everyone for coming to our open house. If you all will please, look around, get acquainted with my teams and enjoy the wonderful food that has been prepared by myself, Nelliel, Harribel, and Rukia. They worked hard and would appreciate a little feedback. So enjoy." Kagome said and clapped her hands together.
She watched as everyone dispersed, her family was weary but they noticed that she was calm and went on to mingle. Sota noticed a couple of girls that were around his age and went over to talk to them. Kagome had smiled and knew that he and Karin Kurosaki would have alot to talk about, since they both loved soccer. She was quite happy as she noticed that the espada were mingling amongst the reapers and were in pleasant conversation together.
Her thoughts were cut short when she noticed someone had said her name. She turned and saw that it was Ginrei Kuchiki. She smiled warmly at the man. She remembered him very well. He had been sent to her on numerous occassion but the most memorable was the Samurai expulsions. She was almost out of her mind during that time as the Japanese government wanted all of their old ways dissolved. Wanting to move on with the times and forget the past but their were the few, the Samurai, that wanted to preserve the ancient teachings of the Sword arts. Keeping the memory alive.
She had met him on one of the worst battlefields. So many young, barely teenagers, had lost their lives and she was so distraught. So many children, so many that had barely lived, were there crying out their grief of being dead. Countless shinigami was there to do her bidding but he was the only one that had comforted her, gave her a shoulder to cry on. That was the memory of this proud man that stood out to her the most.
"My lady, how are you today?" he greeted her.
"I am fine. How have you been since you have retired? Have you been able to keep yourself busy?" she asked.
"It was rather droll at first but as the time has went by, I have managed to keep busy with horticulture and my grandchildren." he answered.
"As in trying to make sure they are happy and that you get some great-grandchildren?" she asked and lifted her brow; giving him the look that said, I dare you to give me half-truths.
"Yes, my lady. I would like to hear the sounds of children again. I haven't heard it since Byakuya was a child playing with Yoruichi. I miss the sounds." he said with a fond smile on his aging face.
"I miss the sounds of children as well. My Shippo is all grown up now, he hasn't given me any grandchildren yet, hopefully he will eventually." she mentioned.
"I see. So what is going on between you and my grandson?" he asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" she asked, oblivious to the rumors that had continued to circulate.
He explained what had been spread around. She was not surprised in the least. She had went to highschool and had experienced the rumor mills, so it didn't bother her. But what did surprise her was the fact that he came out and asked her what she thought about Byakuya.
Before she had to answer she was saved by the slightly higher register of Harribel's voice. Kagome had immediately swiveled around to find out what was going on. Then she saw it and all she could think was, poor Captain Hitsuguya.
"You are so cute!" Harribel said, in a very un-Harribel way.
She had grabbed him and hugged him. His being shorter than her had put him in the position of being suffocated by her breasts like it did when he was hugged by his lieutenant. Several resoundings of the phrase, "lucky", had passed and Kagome couldn't help but notice the huge grin on Harribels', bone mask free face. Then she noticed Rangiku had a devious air around her. She had set the whole thing in motion. She was playing match-maker for her Captain and had decided that Harribel was the best woman for him. Kagome wholeheartedly agreed with her.
She smiled brightly at the dazed look on the young captains' face as Harribel released him and upon hearing him say something to the effect of, crazy women with big breasts trying to suffocate him. He tried to compose himself but with Harribel right next to him he was a little... discomposed. And she knew it!
Everyone had already gone back about mingling around and enjoying themselves. Several we're trying to strike up conversations with her and she was trying to distinguish who was who among them. Many were women who wanted to know what was going on with her and Captain Kuchiki and wanted her to join the Soul Reaper Women's Association; which she found had an on-going campaign to make a picture book of the elusive captain and Rukia refused to help them get pictures.
As she tried to answer questions a very heavy aura descended upon them. It was stifling, almost, and sent the miko ki in her body into a frenzy while it had many reapers on edge. A jubilent smile graced her features and she was very giddy.
"They're here!" she squealed.
"Who's here?" was whispered around the room.
"The rest of my family." she said as the door came open.
In walked a young man, as they thought at first until they saw a bushy fox tail; with shaggy red hair, green eyes, and was dressed more from the fuedal times than the modern times. The others that entered behind were dressed similarly of the fuedal time period, but a few were more wild looking with furs. They all had armor and weapons on them as well, except one of the women. She was very regal and beautiful, a lady of stature and power. She wore no armor or any weapon they could see but she did have a very tall man, with an eye-patch, shadowing her. It seemed he was her bodyguard.
Two of the more wild looking of the bunch had seen Kagome before she got to the front of the crowd and had met her halfway.
"Sister!" they shouted and sandwiched her between them in a tight hug. "We have missed you."
"I have missed you too." she said happily.
The red headed fox moved to them and tapped on their shoulders.
"I get first hug. She is my mother." he said with a grin, showing his fangs to all in the room.
The two let her go and before she could say anything she was swept up again into his embrace and he swung her around before he set her on her feet. She had her arms tightly around his neck and was stroking his hair lovingly. A few tears leaked out of her eyes and trailed down her face and he pulled away.
"Mama, don't cry." he said.
"I can't help it! I don't see my baby for a couple of hundred years and when I do see him again, he is so grown up and I missed it!" she cried.
"It's ok, Kagome. Ayame and I were sure to take plenty of pictures." said another of the wilder people. " We also have plenty of embarrassing stories to share with you about your kit, he is quite mischevious and has gotten in a bit of trouble with the ladies."
"Shippo what have you done!" she asked, scandalized.
"Nothing, that is to be discussed in the open." he said and gestured around the room.
Kagome gave him the "look" and crossed her arms, "Do I have grandchildren that I don't know about?"
"Kami I hope not!" he said.
"His use of kitsune seduction is highly developed for someone his age." the red headed woman said.
"Tattle-tale." Shippo mumbled.
"Shippo!" she growled.
"Kagome I believe this should wait until later or am I supposed to continue to be ignored?" the regal lady commented.
"Oh! Where are my manners? I am so sorry, Midori. I see you brought your new pet with you." Kagome said to her and then turned to a man wearing white with a fur.
"Hey, fluffy!" she greeted.
He growled at her and she grabbed him in a hug around his waist.
"Sesse you know I'm teasing." she said to him.
A smile gifted his face and Kagome could hear a couple of women swoon. She rolled her eyes and had to admit, when he smiled he could definately silence the females of any species, he was just so handsome. She could see his ego inflate as he caught what she was thinking. Just what he needed a bigger head.
"Fluffy, come on and join the festivities or are you finally going to give me a hug?" she asked.
He did give her the hug she asked for and when he let her go she announced who they were. The reaction in the room was almost hilarious. She made a mental note to make more down time for the stressed shinigami. If they got so worked up meeting the Lord of the entire demon realm; his mother, the gatekeeper of hell, and her brothers, sister-in-law, and her son, all important figures within the demon world, she decided that she would have to establish vacations to maintain good mental health and less stress to be perfect.
When they calmed Kagome, pulled Sesshomaru to the side to discuss her needing his help to get a captains' trust and respect. Only he would be able to help her get his respect and then he would be more inclined to respect her rules.
AN: What do you think is going to happen?
