Couple of notes about the Japanese in this chapter:

Koneko - kitten

Ane-ue - formal way of saying "big sister"

And finally, a girl making a boy lunch is usually sign that they are dating. ^_^

I'm also really sorry it took so long for this to get up. I was at a wedding and then ended up hospitalizied for over a week and was without my computer. Hopefully the WTF in this chapter makes up for that.

Rating: T, but this chapter is really mild compared to the last one. Balancing the cosmic forces.

Disclaimer: The wonderful characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and all others who may own it too. None of which are me.

The Path of Destiny

Chapter 7

The Awakening

Yasuo sighed and shifted his grocery bag from one arm to the next. It was a bit heavier than he was used to, but his mother had asked him to get milk, too. He wasn't used to going out and buying things for his mother for dinner, his older brother had always done that. But lately...

Again, he sighed. Yes, things were different lately. Sometimes, his parent's wouldn't even look at Kazuo, treating him like something foreign, something...strange. Yasuo didn't agree, and Kazuo just kept saying they needed more time. Kazuo had been insisting over these past weeks that no matter what memories he carried, he was still their son and Yasuo's brother. And that part was true; Kazuo hadn't changed in that respect.

But there were times, times when Kazuo would let his happy face fall. Yasuo didn't see it happen very often, and Kazuo didn't know that he's seen his true face. There was a lot of pain in those moments and Yasuo hated that he couldn't help or be a part of what his older brother was going through.

More often than not, though, he was just angry at his parents for not being as supportive as they could be.

A soft meow brought him out of his thoughts and Yasuo saw a small kitten coming cautiously towards him. He smiled at it and bent down. "Hello, koneko-chan! Aren't you cute?" He admired the yellow and black cat with a bigger smile. It continued to approach him and he nodded encouragingly. Finally, it came to a stop in front of him and he gingerly picked it up.

"You really are cute!" Yasuo commented. "Eh?" He looked at the kitten closely and noticed it had not one but two tails swaying behind it. "That's strange...but it makes you cuter! Do you want to come home with me? I can give you some food."

The kitten meowed a response and the two of them continued the walk back to the compound in silence.

Yasuo crept into the kitchen and set down the bags. He set the kitten on the ground as well, hoping that his other cat wouldn't mind having this one in for a while. He grinned and started to work on his speech to get his mother to agree to let him keep her.

He poured a saucer of milk and got some of the cat food from the pantry and fed it to the small kitten. As she ate, he gently stroked her fur. A name...she would need a name. Naming them always made parents let you keep your pets. Makes them seem more real.

"A name...a name..." he changed softly while he placed the dish down. "Hmm...Spot seems a bit strange for you." The kitten mewed in agreement and lapped up the food and milk as though it hadn't eaten in weeks. "Your color is unusual. Tanny! Right, Tanny?" He received a look from the cat that made him laugh. "Okay. Tanny isn't right."

He continued to ponder this until he heard his mother come in from behind him. She stopped short and looked at the cat, who had stopped eating, and then at her son. She sighed. "Yasuo...

Yasuo was already prepared. "Please, Okaa-san! She won't be that hard to care for. She's very tame, and docile! See!" He pointed as the kitten padded softly up to his mother and meowed.

"And who knows what kind of diseases it has! Get it out now, or I will!" She glared at him and he sighed in response. "Yasuo!"

"Fine!" Yasuo snapped as he scooped the twin-tailed kitten into his arms and deposited her gently outside. "If you come back at night, I'll keep some food out here for you," he whispered as he closed the door.

Kirara cocked her head to the side and meowed once again. She couldn't stay with Kohaku, she understood that. She took off to find Sango.

OoOoO

He had her hand in his as he forced them through the forest. He was trying to keep her safe...trying to save her. But he couldn't let go of her hand, even though that was just dooming her. He gripped his sickle tightly. She was only one step behind him, but she was obviously shocked by their sudden change of scenery.

"Say, why did you run away to here?" she inquired as she tried to keep up with him. "There was somebody outside the mansion wasn't there? Where are we going now?

He didn't say anything, there was just one thought on his mind, and he was fighting against it. He couldn't...

"Hey, Kohaku," she whispered softly.

He felt something in his back and he hissed softly as that person's voice came back to him full force.

"Kill her."

He had no choice, of course. Whatever Naraku said was law. He raised the blade.

"Kill her."

But the look in her eyes, it stopped him. She knew what was coming. She was staring her death in the face and she didn't seem to be afraid, or worried. And he paused.

His blade came down...

OoOoO

Yasuo sat up and looked wildly around the room. For a moment, he couldn't see where he was, he didn't know where he was and the name "Naraku" kept repeating itself over and over in his head.

As he looked around, he saw that everything was the same as when he went to bed the night before...but that didn't stop the images from playing over in his head. The clothes weren't of this time...the weapons, the feel; nothing was as it should have been.

Rin?

He screwed his eyes up in concentration. Yes, he knew that name. It was somewhere...someone...

His eyes went wide.

"Sumi-chan..."

OoOoO

Yasuo grabbed the last piece of toast from the table and shoved it into his mouth as he ran out the door. He called a muffled "I'm leaving!" over his shoulder as he took off. 'Mou! How does Onii-chan do this every day?!' he thought as he pushed himself to run faster.

"AH! Yasuo-kun!" he heard a familiar voice from behind him as he rounded a corner.

Yasuo turned around and saw his brother, Taji and Kaori all running behind him. Yasuo grinned and slowed down so they could catch up. "Ohayo, Kaori-san! Everyone up late again?"

Kaori returned his grin. "We like to be consistent."

"But it's weird," Kazuo pondered as he jumped over a small cat, "you never sleep in!"

Yasuo's eyes darkened and he stared straight ahead. "I had...trouble sleeping last night."

"Trouble?" Taji asked, not stopping his pace. "Anything bad?"

Yasuo nodded, a familiar look coming over his face. "Just some bad dreams, I guess. It was..." he trailed off softly and did not finish the sentence. "It was nothing!"

And though he couldn't see it, the three exchanged looks as they all headed towards school.

OoOoO

"He's awakening," Kaori stated simply as she threw her first lunch at Kazuo. She then opened her own lunch and started eating.

Kazuo caught the lunch and nodded. "Well, we knew it would happen. After all, he was as involved as the rest of us."

Taji shoved some rice in his mouth. "You two going out or something? That why you made him lunch? But yeah...we were always hopeful, ya know? Didn't want the kid to remember something like that."

Kaori was torn between throwing something at Taji and just acknowledging the fact that they had all been hopeful.

"I was...hopeful, too. But if he is remembering, we may want to just sit him down and explain the past so that it won't be that big of a shock when he awakens." She hugged her knees to her chest. "I hope."

"I don't think that will matter in his case," Kazuo pointed out. "Kohaku's life was so traumatic, and there were many things left unsaid between him and his family, I doubt any measure of preparation will help."

"Stuck in the dark like the rest of us," Taji muttered. "Joy." He crushed his soda can and heaved it into a nearby bin. "Well, this is one meeting that I'm not looking forward to."

"Meeting?" Kazuo inquired.

Dusting himself off, Taji stood. "Yeah. I told that bastard of a brother of mine that I would let him know when the kid started to awaken."

Kazuo narrowed his eyes. "Why would Sesshoumaru care?"

Taji had begun to walk to the door so he could go get things ready for his next class. He was trying very hard not to betray that he was just as worried as the others as he spoke to them. "The past is obviously affecting us all, no matter how much we try to say it isn't, we're only lying. A lot happened to Kohaku. He was under Naraku's control for months..."

"And he wants to make sure that there still isn't any lingering effects, is that it?!" Kaori snapped. She stood up and her fists were clenched at her side.

"Didn't he go through enough?!" Kazuo demanded as he stood beside Kaori.

Taji didn't answer for a moment. But he did smile. "Well, I guess you guys have one more thing in common now. You're both his siblings." He opened the door and walked down the stairs, leaving two older siblings to their thoughts and worries.

OoOoO

Taji walked down the hall wearing his smirk of triumph. Not only had he managed to remind them that they were BOTH Kohaku's siblings and he would need both their support, but he also managed a jab in there about the lunch. He would definitely have to pump Sumiko for information about those two. Sad that his little sister would know more than he did, but no one ever thinks of hiding things from her.

"Ah, Yukimura!"

Taji stopped in his tracks and his smile slipped from his face. Oh God above, not now. "What?!" he barked, praying he would take the hint and just leave him alone.

Of course he didn't. Good intentions, good guy...just on Taji's nerves.

"I have to ask you if I can borrow your notes!"

Taji blinked in confusion. Hojou hadn't missed any classes, that much Taji was sure of. "Why do you...?"

Hojou blushed and looked down. "Well, you see..." he mumbled. Taji crossed his arms and managed to look extremely bored. "That is...I was...writing a letter during class."

"A letter?" Taji snorted, trying not to laugh. Hojou was one of the best students in the school, why would he not pay attention for something that stupid?

"Yes...a letter to Higurashi." Taji stopped his inward laughter and focused on Hojou. "Since I can't visit her I wanted to wish her well. Plus, I'm sending her these therapeutic candles...is something wrong, Yukimura?" He blinked. "You're bleeding!"

Taji looked down at his hands and saw that he had them clenched tightly and there was blood trailing from one of his palms. 'How did I not notice that?' he asked himself. "It's nothing!" he snapped as he opened his fists and took a good look at his bleeding right hand. 'Damn it...'

"You should get down to the infirmary and get that taken care of!" Hojou exclaimed, honestly concerned that someone would start bleeding for no reason. Of course...nice as Hojou was, he was more dense than anything.

Taji simply nodded at him and turned so he could head in the direction of the infirmary, but before he left the hallway he turned and looked over his shoulder. "I'll give ya the notes after class."

Ignoring Hojou's thanks, Taji simply concentrated on walking. He looked closely at the four wounds in his palm and he frowned. They weren't the normal crescent moon shaped marks; they were much deeper and some what pin-pointed. He swore under his breath and went to wash his hand off in the bathroom, completely forgoing the infirmary.

OoOoO

Yasuo dropped his backpack on the ground of his room and collapsed into his bed. His day had just seemed to go on and on and no matter what he did he couldn't push these strange thoughts out of his head. He tried to suppress them and tried to change them but when he did that he just ended up with a headache.

There was the smell of blood around him, and he could feel that he had just done something, something horrible as he looked around at the dead bodies near him. "A-ane-ue?"

"NO!" Yasuo grunted out, pulling his pillow over his head.

"Shut up and get out of here!" a young woman with red eyes yelled at him. Her face was mixed with anger and regret...he knew it was a strange look for her.

Yasuo tried to force the images out, but they were coming too fast now.

A field...

A family...

A village...

A protector...

A baby with white hair...

A sister...

Yasuo screamed.

OoOoO

Taji skipped the rest of the day's classes to attempt to collect his thoughts. He actually contemplated going to see Shippou, Sesshoumaru or hell even Kouga to try and figure out what was going on. It took only a few hours to convince himself that it couldn't be too serious, except that he really needed to trim his nails.

He filed the day away to the back of his mind, right now, it didn't matter.

Checking his watch, Taji made a face and, yet again, cursed under his breath. Sesshoumaru would be done with his meetings and, though he wouldn't mention anything else from the day, he did have to know about Yasuo.

It didn't even take him ten minutes to get down to the office building. He walked right past the security guard, who waved lazily from his booth before going back to reading the magazine he had looked up from. Taji repeated the process several times past different guards, a few of whom actually looked up once they caught his scent. One even flipped him off without looking up from the television.

He reached Sesshoumaru's office without incident and opened the doors without knocking. The office was the same, including the now obvious spots where his swords and Hiraikotsu should have been.

Sesshoumaru was on the phone, looking like the egomaniac and incredibly powerful youkai that he was. He was sitting back with a small headset on, the tips of his fingers touching each other as he spoke, in perfectly unaccented English, to someone on the phone.

"No, I don't care what the cost is." He paused and listened for a moment. "You can't possibly be serious. No, I'll still pay it. Yes...yes...Nathaniel, just sign the damn contract!"

He hit the end button on his phone and threw the headset down on his desk. "That idiot," he muttered, this time in Japanese.

Taji smirked, not understanding most of the conversation, but happy with how it sounded. "Sounds like fun."

Sesshoumaru glared at him. "Merely another reminder of wny I do my own bussines. But, I assume you had another reason for cutting class today?" He returned Taji's smirk. "Your mother will not be pleased. And neither am I, as I paid your tuition."

"Yeah, like hell you care," Taji snorted. "But it's a nice thought that 'kaa-san will appreciate, I'm sure." Taji folded his arms and the two stared each other down for a few minutes before Sesshoumaru snapped.

"You're starting to act more and more like that idiot ever day. State your business and leave!" Sesshoumaru growled.

Unfolding his arms, Taji began to wander around the office, taking a look at the different weapons as he spoke. "It's about Yasuo." The air seemed to become slightly colder and Sesshoumaru sat up, indicating for Taji to continue.

"I think we're going to be looking at some real damage control because Kohaku's definitely awakening."

OoOoO

Kiyoraka Yukiko kicked off her shoes and walked into the house while she hummed to herself. She had just finished running her errands, a bit later than normal, and immediately started for the kitchen to make herself, and her sons, a snack. She noticed that Yasuo's shoes were near the front door, but she didn't see Kazuo's. Figuring he was still with his friends, or out nearly getting himself killed, she let it go.

That was when she heard the scream.

The mother's heart stopped for the briefest of moments. She felt herself on auto pilot as all thoughts of what the scream was for came to mind.

Her son was hurt. Sick. Dead. In danger.

Disregarding her own safety, she ran up the stairs to her youngest son's room. Throwing open the door and preparing herself for the worst, she was almost relieved to see that there appeared to be no injury.

Looks are deceiving.

Yukiko rushed to Yasuo's side and tried to pry his hands from his head. He was still screaming and had now begun thrashing around in his bed.

"YASUO!" Yukiko yelled, nearly hysterical. "Stop! It's me, it's mama! Please, calm down!" She looked around the room, tears in her eyes and saw the portable phone on the bed side table. She was about to use it to call for an ambulance when he suddenly started to scream louder. She held him tightly and willed as much as she could for the pain to be gone, for someone else to come home and help her so she could get him to a hospital.

And then it stopped.

Yukiko felt her son trembling as she held him and she gently let go. "Yasuo?" she whispered, shocked that her voice wasn't trembling. "Yasuo, are you okay? Should I call a doctor?"

Yasuo didn't respond and instead sat up, quickly, nearly knocking his mother off the bed. His dark eyes were wild and frightened as he took in the room. His breath sped up and he swallowed hard. His gaze then shifted to Yukiko and he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who are you?" Yukiko's eyes went wide. "Where am I? What is this place?" he demanded.

Yukiko had to force herself to keep it together now. "Yasuo...it's okay."

"Don't call me that! That's not my name!" he yelled back, still incredibly fearful of his surroundings.

"Okay, okay," Yukiko agreed, nodding hastily. "What is your name then?"

He seemed to be summing her up, checking to see if she was trust worthy. Finally, after what seemed hours for Yukiko, he answered. "Kohaku."

To be continued...

My thanks again, and as always, to those who favorite, review, and folllow this. I promise the next chapter will be on time.