Chapter Ten

"Higurashi!"

Kagome groaned. She needed to get to the well before Inuyasha got impatient again and came after her! She did not want a repeat of last time...

"Hojo-kun, I'm in a rush right now, please make it quick," Kagome moaned. Hojo paused before continuing.

"I just wanted to ask you if... you'd like to go see a movie with me. I mean, if you'll feel up to it that day."

"Hojo, I can't, I-"

"Please? I'll bring medicine and we can go to a little cafe I found downtown that has so many flavors of tea and-"

"She said she can't," a voice growled from behind the flustered male. Hojo nearly jumped out of his skin and turned.

"Inuyasha, I told you to stay and look after your sister until I came back!"

"Old Kaede's looking after her, why are you so angry?"

Kagome was thinking about "sitting" him, but then remembered Hojo and decided against it. That would be a tough thing to explain. Instead, she smiled a smile Inuyasha knew well and walked past him to her bike.

"Sorry, Hojo, I'll be with Inuyasha and his... um... little sister! Maybe some other time, okay?"

Inuyasha ran along with her. Hojo just stood there, confused and most of all rejected.

"Hey, why'd you call Yuki my 'little sister'? She's my twin and people have a right to know!"

"Inuyasha, in this era, twins don't come back to life from the dead looking exactly the same as before their death. She's stuck as a seven-year-old, while you're fifteen. You can't just claim you were born at the same time or it'll raise some questions!"

"Can you at least explain to me why Hojo is asking you to go to a 'cafe'?"

"He wanted to ask me out, okay?"

"'Asking you out'?"

"Your time knows it as 'courting'," Kagome sniffed. She didn't even notice Inuyasha slowed down some with a pained expression on his face. She had told Hojo 'some other time'. She liked that asshole?

Kagome beat Inuyasha home and ran upstairs to get her pack. Inuyasha sat on the shrine steps, sulking.

"Inuyasha!" Oh, great, Souta came home.

"Hey, kid," Inuyasha grumbled, putting his cheek in his hand and looking away.

"Play with me! Please?"

"No."

"Why not? What's wrong with you? You're all mopey."

Inuyasha shrugged and scooted away from the kid. Damn, he's so annoying!

"Are you and Kagome fighting?"

Inuyasha was startled that the kid had caught on so quickly.

"No, not really."

"What is it, then?"

"That Hojo guy wants to court Kagome. Kagome told him 'some other time'. As in, she's too busy searching for jewel shards in my era to court him now."

Souta started laughing. Inuyasha stared at him like he was crazy.

"What's so funny?" Inuyasha demanded.

"She doesn't want to date Hojo!" Souta laughed, tears streaming down his face. "In this era, we use that as a way of letting them down without making them feel bad! Trust, me, why do you think she talks about you all the time- oops."

Inuyasha's face was as red as his robes and his ears twitched. So, Kagome talked about him?

"What does... she say about me?" Inuyasha asked slowly.

"She mostly talks about how heroic you are during battles, but when she's not talking about that she's talking about how stubborn and jealous you get and then it's about you and Kikyo."

That made Inuyasha feel guilty. Yeah, he knew how hurt Kagome was when he returned all the time from his meetings with Kikyo. And when she died and Kagome was out of danger, Inuyasha left her as soon as he could to search for Kikyo. When he came back, he saw the hurt and betrayal clear on Kagome's face.

You really hurt her now, pup, Kouga had growled at him through an Inu-message. The wolf left with that.

Baka, Hakkaku and Ginta growled to him in their heads before following their leader.

"She doesn't talk about me... normally? As in, what I say to her or even about me and the group?"

"Inuyasha, Kagome usually keeps that stuff to herself. If you want to know what she thinks about you, ask her yourself."

The door opened and Kagome ran out, turning to look at Inuyasha.

"Come on, slowpoke, you want to get back, don't you?" she demanded.

"Please, I'm the slow one?"

Inuyasha proved his point by picking her up and carrying her to the well and jumping in.

"Hey, we all can't be half demon, you know!"

"Feh."

...

As they reached the village, Inuyasha's ears perked. His eyes shot straight for Kaede's hut. Kagome noticed this and followed his eyeline.

"Inuyasha, what's... wrong..."

The door gave way. But it wasn't Kaede or one of the group that pulled the bamboo curtain aside.

Inuyasha set Kagome down and shot forward. Kagome thought she saw tears form in his eyes.

Yuki ran toward her brother. She was already crying. Once they reached each other, Inuyasha picked her up and squeezed her tight. Yuki clenched his haori in her fists and continued to sob.

"Yuki, Yuki, Yuki..." Inuyasha cooed.

"Inuyasha I missed you, I was gone and I could never speak to you but I always saw you and..."

"Shh... It's okay, it's okay," Inuyasha whispered. "Shhh..."

Kagome felt tears of happiness prickle in her eyes. Inuyasha was so happy right now, it made her happy. She saw Yasu in the doorway, smiling sadly. She was leaning against the doorframe watching the newly reunited siblings. Kagome approached her.

"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" Yasu asked of her. Kagome looked at the two before answering.

"Never."

"She woke up as soon as her brother had gone. When I told her Inuyasha was gone, she started to stand. I never saw a being that was resurrected stand so strongly before, not after just days after they've come back. Usually, it would take weeks... for somebody to stand. There is a fire in her, that burns slowly. But in times like this, it roared to life... She went to the door and left as soon as she sensed her brother returning."

"They're happy."

"Of course they are. There is nothing stronger than the bond between twins. If a string of two snaps, the other will do the best it can to keep it up. When both snap, one will be little to nothing without their other half. Inuyasha hasn't seen his other half in nine years... Or, nine years to him."

"Thank you, Yasu, you are really a selfless creature."

"Selfless?" Yasu scoffed. "I did this as payment to join your group. Naraku wronged me. You're all aiming to do the exact same thing I want to do. Inuyasha could have asked for anything- money, riches, a chance to become a full demon... He chose his sister. Out of all that I could offer him, he chose his sister. I paid my fare. It has nothing to do with selflessness."

"Yasu, you could have come with us, and not have to lift a finger for us. You chose to pay Inuyasha. That is selflessness."

Yasu did a very Inuyasha-like gesture and scoffed again, walking off.

Inuyasha set Yuki down and watched the sorceress leave.

"What's her problem?" he wondered.

"She doesn't seem to think bringing Yuki back was selfless," Kagome explained.

"Keh, selfless or not, I owe her one for it."

Yuki only smiled and hugged Inuyasha's leg.

...

Yasu eventually came back. But she refused to talk to anyone and she was using the cooking pot to brew up something that smelled like a mix of honey and pine. Harumi had, for once, abandoned Shippo and did her job as an herb collector, running in and out of the village to grab nameless ingredients.

"Whatever it is, it has to be poisonous," Inuyasha muttered, sniffing the air as Harumi passed by carrying a root-like object. Yuki plugged her nose. Hers was stronger than his and it smelled awful.

"How do you know?" Sango asked.

"That root came from a plant somewhere deep in the forest. It is used by gas makers to create a vile gas that eats at your lungs and body from the inside out," Miroku answered for him.

"That sounds like mustard gas," Kagome mused. "It was used in wars about fifty or so years from my era. It's horrible to be used, but it's also handy for the country that uses it."

"It can kill a youkai by poisoning its senses," Inuyasha growled. "Naturally, we get more affected by the gas than humans. I'm vulnerable, even as a hanyou. And I'm more human than Yuki."

Inuyasha realized the truth in his words and looked down. Yuki was trying to hold her breath. She was sweating.

"Uh, I need to get her some air," Inuyasha explained quickly, picking up the little girl and jumping away from the hut. Kagome got on Kirara's back and followed.

When she reached the Goshinboku, Inuyasha's destination, Yuki was panting for air and Inuyasha was propping her up.

"Here, have her drink some water," Kagome told him, giving him a water bottle. "It helps."

Inuyasha opened it quickly and gave it to Yuki. She drank half of the bottle before she came up for air. She coughed and took some deep breaths.

"Thanks, Kagome, you're a life-saver," Yuki said in a quiet voice. Kagome knelt in front of her and pulled her hair out of her face. Yuki took her hands away from her head and cringed away. Kagome felt a jab in her heart and backed away, hurt. Yuki noticed this and shook her head.

"I didn't mean that personally," she whispered. "I just... can't get the memories out of my head."

"What memories?"

Inuyasha's ears flattened. He knew what his sister was talking about.

"The boys of the village were... rude. They would throw sticks and stones at me and they called me names. Sometimes, they get too far and do more horrible deeds, like cutting my hair." Yuki played with one of the few long locks of hair she had. "The boy who did it... He had his brother pull my hair until I cried out in pain and he used a knife to cut it. It hurt. When I came home, everyone, including Sesshomaru, started to freak out."

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome tilted her head to the side. Inuyasha looked a little shocked, too. He knew Sesshomaru left to try to kill the boys, but he didn't freak. He was still his usual, stoic self.

"Sesshomaru was always kind to me. He treated me with respect. When I come home with a cut or torn clothing from the boys of the village, his eyes grew red with wild fury. He tries to hide it, but I see it."

Now Kagome wasn't the only one with a tilted head. Yuki giggled at the identical postures and expressions on her brother and "sister"'s faces.

"Why are you different to Sesshomaru? I've seen him cut down plenty demons and he even treated Inuyasha like dirt. But you're a hanyou, like Inuyasha. In fact, you're twins!"

Yuki looked surprised.

"Inuyasha never told you?" she asked.

"Told me what?"

Inuyasha sighed.

"When Yuki and I were both the same age, just kids, Yuki was known as the 'Princess of Youkai'. She was respected all over."

"Why?"

"Because I can do this," Yuki whispered conspiratorially. She raised her hands in the air and snow began to fall. Kagome shivered. She may have long sleeves, but she was wearing a mini-skirt, for crying out loud!

Back at the Village

"Huh? 'Tis harvesting season, it is too early still for snow," Kaede wondered.

"Strange..." Shippo whispered.

"I suggest we celebrate this astonishing miracle," Miroku said, rubbing Sango's butt. Sango, suddenly not in a celebrating mood, smacked him.

In the forest...

Kirara recognized the gentle aura that associated with the snow and bowed. The Princess was back at last.

A snowflake touched Inuyasha's ear and it twitched, not used to the cold. Yuki's snow, which was colder than normal snow, hasn't touched his head for many years. He wasn't used to it anymore.

"Yuki... Is that... snow?" Kagome asked, catching a flake in her hands.

"Yes... Lady Kirara, you have no reason to bow to me," Yuki whispered, looking at the two-tail. Kirara blinked and stood up straight.

"A companion to the great Midoriko has no need to bow to me," Yuki explained. Inuyasha smiled and sat down next to Yuki, hugging her.

"You're still the same," he whispered.

"Of course, brother."

Kagome smiled and sat down next to Yuki, hugging her and -much to his surprise- Inuyasha.

"You're so humble," Kagome told her. "You are definitely fitting to be a princess."

"Thank you, sister Kagome," Yuki giggled. She watched Kagome and Inuyasha turn red. Inuyasha figured out her meaning, she guessed.

AN: Aw, I can just imagine the three hugging! Inuyasha on Yuki's left, Kagome on Yuki's right, all three blushing slightly and Kagome hugging them all!

Reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you.

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and only Rumiko Takahashi.

Yasu, Harumi, and Yuki, however, are mine.