Title: Change of Heart
Chapter 21: Break in the Future
Summary: So, now Hiroku, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are going to be staying in Kagome's era. This is going to take some explaining to her family. Sesshomaru is Inuyasha's half-brother. He's mated to a half-demon. She'll have to explain what mating is. She'll also have to explain why they're there, how long the'll be staying, and how she'll hide the fact that Sesshomaru, Hiroku and Inuyasha are demons. Boy this is going to be a long few days.
Disclaimer: me: Dislcaimer time!
Inu: Why do you bother with the disclaimer? Everyone knows you don't own Inuyasha, which would be me.
me: I know. It's upsetting.
Inu: Feh. I'm glad you don't me. Or anything to do with me.
me: That's not nice.
Inu: Do I look like I care?
Sess: What is wrong with you?!
me: What?
Sess: In the last chapter....
me: What's wrong with it?
Sess: You. Made. Me. Cry!
me: Oh that.
Sess: 'Oh that.' You make it sound like it's a good thing.
me: Well, you are in love. And seeing your love like that would make anyone cry. Besides..... it was one tear. One. Little. Tear.
Sess: I can't believe you did that! Be ready to feel my wrath!
Inu: Why can't you believe she did that?
Sess: Good point.
me: Wow..... Sess and Inu agreeing on something....... I wish I had my video camera. This is a kodak moment.
Inu: What is she babling about?
Sess: Something about us agreeing being a kodak moment.
me: Well it is. You two don't agree very often, if at all. Anyway. I should start the story. I'm sure some of you are wondering what's going to happen now that Kagome has to deal with two hanyou's and a demon.
"Kagome. Do you think it's possible to take Hiroku with you? At least, she could rest somewhere safer." asked Miroku.
"I don't know. We could try."
"You're not going anywhere with her without me." stated Sesshomaru cooly.
"But.... I guess you could come."
"What?! I'm coming to then." Inuyasha led the way with Kagome, Sesshomaru and Hiroku.
"Oh wait. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, leave your swords here."
"What?!" both brothers shouted.
"Look, where I come from, it's not natural to carry around swords. If you don't leave them you can't come."
Both brothers grumbled but left their swords within Keade's hut. Then they left for the well. On the way, Inuyasha and Kagome explain to the taiyoukai about the well and the future. The miko handed Sesshomaru a jewel shard.
"Ok, we'll probably be gone a few days ok? Oh and you may want to cover your nose," Kagome warned. "the smell may bother you. I know it did Inuyasha. He practically fainted."
"Can we go know?" asked an impatient Inuyasha.
"Fine." Kagome jumped in first. Followed by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Once inside, the well disappeared and glowed bright blue as they were swallowed up. Then the light disappeared and they stood at the base of the well, looking up, they saw a roof over head. "Welcome to the furture."
Chapter Begins:
They jumped out of the well, walking outside. Sesshomaru's nose was bombarded with smells. He had to fight the urdge to drop Hiroku and cover his own nose. "The stench is burning my nose." He looked around. All he could smell was humans, and another stench that seemed to be worse. It's a bit surprising that Hiroku can sleep through this torture.
The sky wasn't as clear and tall monuments surrounded them. The ground wasn't dirt and grass, but rather hard stone and smooth. Clearly humans are more advanced now, then they are back at home. How they got so advanced, is another thing entirely.
"You'll get use to it." said Inuyasha.
"I don't plan on staying here that long."
"Guys, come on, let's get inside before someone sees you." Kagome hurried them inside. They stepped into the house. Sesshomaru looked around. At least this place didn't smell as bad. He looked down the hall where he saw an older women walking up to them.
"Hi dear. Hello Inuyasha." the women spoke.
"Hi mom."
"Tell me how long are-" she stopped and looked at Sesshomaru and Hiroku. "Who's that and... what happened to that girl?" she asked worriedly, her motherly instincts kicking in.
"I'll explain later. Can she sleep in the guest room downstairs?"
"Of course." Mrs Higurashi walked towards the demon lord, to get a look at the young girl. "Her kimono is torn as well. Kagome, let's get her downstairs and changed. I'll sew her clothes."
"Hai." the two women led the demon and two hanyou's down the stairs to the guest room, where the girls had kicked the boys out so that they could change Hiroku's clothes. After a few minutes. Mrs Higurashi left with Hiroku's kimono and Kagome. "Thanks mom."
"No problem. But I expect to know what happened." then she left up the stairs with her daughter.
Sesshomaru walked into the room. He saw Hiroku sleeping on the single bed, covered with white sheets and a comforter. Hiroku's hair has been pulled out of a ponytail and she's wearing a pink nightgown. That's what it looks like anyways.
The room is plain cream color, with a dresser across from the bed and a nightstand beside the bed with a small white lamp on it. Currently the lamp is the only sourse of light.
"Come on, let's let her sleep." said Inuyasha. Sesshomaru nodded and left, closing the door behind him. The two brothers joined Kagome and her mother in the living room. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were sitting on a black couch, Kagome in one chair and her mother in a recliner on the otherside of the two brothers.
"Ok Kagome, you've got some explaining to do." said her mother.
"First, where's Souta and grandpa?"
"Grandpa's out visiting an old friend. He'll be gone for a few days, and Souta's outside in the backyard."
"Well, at least I don't have to worry about Grandpa." Kagome relaxed a bit. At least her grandpa wouldn't do something stupid, like through wards at the demon lord and shout 'Demon be gone!' "Um, this," she pointed to Sesshomaru. "is Lord Sesshomaru. He's a full demon and Inuyasha's brother-"
"Half-brother." both cut her off.
"Half-brother, whatever. And the girl that's sleeping is Hiroku. She's half-demon like Inuyasha." her mother nodded, but didn't say anything. "She's.... Um, she's Sesshomaru's mate."
"Mate?" her mother seemed confused.
Kagome looked to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru for help. Inuyasha just sat there. So Sesshomaru decided to speak. "Mating is the human equvilant of getting married."
"So then you're married to her?"
"Hai."
"She only looks fourteen. But then again, in your era that's natural I suppose."
"Hai. But, Hiroku's a half-demon. In human years she's about fourteen, but in demon years, she's nearly over two hundred years old."
"Alright. So what happened to her?" Kagome quickly went through what happened. And why they are here. "I see. Well, you can stay as long as you like. But Kagome, I don't think that they would like being kept inside. And I'm sure they'd want to go out and explore. How do you plan on hidding them?"
"Oh yeah. I thought about that." she took out from her pocket three beaded necklaces - similar to the beads of subjugation - but of different colors.
"What are those?" asked Inuyasha warily.
"Don't worry. They're not subjugatation. They'll make you look like humans."
"Where did you get them?" he asked again, but more suspiciously.
"Um...."
Flashback
"Kagome. Before ye go." Keade stood inside of the hut with Kagome, both brothers waiting for her outside. "Take these. They will allow them to hide their demon looks, so they can look like regular humans."
"Thanks Keade. Now, they won't have to stay inside for the whole trip." Kagome said happily. Then left the hut.
End flashback
"No way. I'm not going to wear anymore beads, especially since they came from the old lady!"
"They won't hurt you."
"Hmph." then there was silence.
The silence ended when the front door burst open and then closed to reveal Souta. "Hey mom! Hi Kagome." he ran to his big sister and gave her a quick hug. Then turned and saw Inuyasha and someone he had never seen before. "Hi Inuyasha. Who's that. He looks like you."
"Souta. This is Lord Sesshomaru." said his mother.
"You're a lord?" Sesshomaru nodded. "Cool. But, why do you look like Inuyasha?"
"I'm his half-brother." said Sesshomaru dully.
"Sweet. Are you half-demon or a full demon? What's it like being a lord? What are those markings for? Is that a tail? Can I touch it?" Kagome watched as Souta began firing off questions to the demon lord. Everyone, including Inuyasha was a bit surprised to see the demon lord actually answering them.
"I'm a full demon. Being a lord is very hard and sometimes boring. These markings show my status and the symbol of my family. Yes that's my tail and no."
"Souta, why don't you go and play your video games?" said their mother.
"Ok." Souta shrugged then left.
"If it's alright with you Higurashi-san, I'm going to go see my mate." Sesshomaru stood up, but before he left the room, the older woman stopped him for a moment.
"Please. Call me Sakura." she smiled as Sesshomaru nodded then left. "He seems..... nice."
"He's not as bad as he used to be." said Inuyasha. But Sakura was a little confused by what the hanyou said. "He used to be really cold hearted and didn't care about anyone. He would kill human's and half-breeds without a second thought.... but now, he doesn't seem to be like that anymore." concluded Inuyasha.
"Maybe we have Hiroku and Rin to thank for that." said Kagome.
"Rin?" asked Sakura.
"Oh, Rin's a little girl that Sesshomaru travels with."
"Hm, well, I'm going to go and make a late breakfast if either of you are hungry, and for Sesshomaru-sama...."
"Don't worry mom. Sesshomaru's a full demon. He won't need to eat."
"Well, if he wants something I'll make it. And later, check on your friend and make sure she's alright." then she left to the kitchen. Leaving Kagome and Inuyasha to their thoughts.
"So, are you feeling better about Hiroku and Sesshomaru. You know, you were a real jerk about it."
"Yeah. Now that I've actually seen them together. I guess it is possible. But I'm still unsure if I should trust him."
"Just make sure you apologize to them."
"I ain't saying sorry to my brother." Inuyasha said stubbornly. "I might consider it for Hiroku. But no way am I going to for Sesshomaru."
Kagome sighed. His ego's getting in the way again. She swears, that one day, Inuyasha's over inflated ego is going to get him into a huge amount of trouble. If it hasn't been already.
Sesshomaru walked down the stairs and into the guest room, where Hiroku's resting. He notices a chair beside the bed and takes a seat in it. She's back to her hanyou form. And most likely her addittude is back as well.
He seemed fine on the outside, but on the inside, what had happened to Hiroku was tearing him apart. How could he have let that happen? If Hiroku hadn't turned into a full demon, she most likely would have died.
He moved his hand to caress her cheek, then moved some strands of hair from her face. She seemed so peaceful now. He thought about using the mink link. But decided against it. He would stay with her, until she woke. Though he would never admitt it, he was grateful to the girl from the future for allowing him and Hiroku to come here and rest. He figured that since Hiroku's resting, that he should to. Get some of his strength back from the battle.
And, not having to worry about his lands and Naraku, would be a nice change to. He made himself comfortable as he watched the hanyou sleep.
"So what should we do now Sango?" asked Miroku.
"I don't know. Kagome's going have her hands full with a demon and two hanyou's."
"Hm. Quite right." Miroku scooted closer to Sango. They're sitting in Kaede's hut, while Shippou and Kirara are playing out in the front and Hatori was out wandering the village.
"Monk. I'm warning you."
"Sango. I'm hurt that you would say something like that." he put his hand to his heart as if it had been injured.
"You always say that."
"But Sango. I can't help it....." as he moved towards her, he slid his hand underneathe the demon slayer. Until he finally reached his goal. "My hand has been waiting a long time for this....." he sighed in content.
But, too bad for him that it only lasted a few seconds. "PERVERT!!" Sango's hand made contact with Miroku's face. Sending an echo through out the land, as well as leaving a very red hand print on Miroku's cheek. Sango walked out of the hut, mumbling somethings a long the lines of stupid perverted men and their perverted ways.
Sesshomaru sat quietly, he guessed that it must have been at least an hour and a half, if not more. Hiroku had stired in her sleep a few times, he thought that she would finally get up.
At one point, she opened her eyes a crack, but then fell back asleep. Sesshomaru stood up. He could smell something good. Kagome or her mother were probably cooking something. Seeing as he had nothing else to do, he decided that he should go.
He needs to clear his head anyway. However, his senses picked up on something. The tai could hear the shuffling of the bed sheets. He could also here the hanyou's breathing pick up. Sesshomaru turned around and saw Hiroku sitting up, rubbing her forhead as she turned to face him.
The first thing she did when she saw him was smile. Sesshomaru quickly decided against leaving and went to sit back down on the chair.
Hiroku looked around confused. She didn't recognize anything, the smells were different, it looked so odd. The whole place was unusual. "Wh... where are we?" she asked, her voice a little raspy.
"We're in Kagome's time." Sesshomaru replied bordly.
"Kagome's time?" she asked, her voice getting less raspy everytime she speaks.
"Yes. The miko lives in the future." he quickly explained everything that happened at the battle and up to their current position.
"Ok. So, how long are we staying here?"
"A few days."
"This should be fun. We all could use a break." she stretched her arms. Then her ears twitched. Someone was approaching. The door opened to reveal a young boy. He peered into the room. "Who's there?"
"Oh you're awake." said the boy. "Let me tell mom. She'll make you something to eat." the boy left, then a few minutes later, came back and shut the door behind him. "My name's Souta. I'm Kagome's little brother." he stood beside the bed and hopped onto it.
"Hello." Hiroku smiled, then noticed Souta staring at her wolf ears as they twitched. He seemed to be unsure of something. "Would you like to touch them?"
"Can I?"
"Sure." Souta moved up a bit and slid his fingers onto her ears, rubbing them.
"They're so soft." he muttered.
Hiroku giggled a bit. She looked over to Sesshomaru out of the corner of her eye. He didn't look to happy. She also heard a tiny growl. It wasn't loud enough for humans to hear, but it wasn't quiet enough that Hiroku couldn't hear it. Not wanting to disturb the little boy infront of her, she used the mindlink.
-I heard that.-
-Heard what?- was his reply.
-You growled. Sesshomaru, he's just a kid. No need to get all possessive.-
-Pardon me. Are you saying that I'm jealous of some little kid?-
-Yep. Oh, I can't wait to tell Kyrie about this.-
-You wouldn't....-
-Mayyyybe. But really. You don't have to worry about loosing me to someone else.-
Then she left. "Souta!" they turned to see Kagome, her mother and Inuyasha at the door. Souta instantly let go and jumped off the bed. "Sorry about him."
"It's ok. I let him."
"Hi there. I'm Sakura Higurashi. I brought you some miso soup." the older woman walked towards the bed and set a tray down with a bowl of soup and a silver spoon.
Hiroku still sitting up, tasted it. Then her eyes widened at how good it was. "Wow. It's good."
"Thank you. Now, I'll just sew your kimono.... Hiroku right?"
"That's me."
"Hm.... That means generous child doesn't it?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Yeah it does."
"Well. I think it suits you." she made a quick smile, then left with Souta, closing the door behind them.
The room was filled with an uneasy silence as Hiroku finished off the soup. Putting the try down on the foot of the bed, she decided to break the silence. "Kagome, while we're here...... can you show us around? I'd like to see what it's like in the future."
"Sure. Actually, tomorrow's the last day of school. There's this party, and I was going to take you guys." Kagome replied. She's now sitting on Inuyasha's lap, and he's sitting on the ground beside Sesshomaru.
"School?"
"Yeah. I know that in the past, not everyone is able to get educated. But, here, it's required so that everyone can get a job and make a living."
"I guess that would make some sense."
"But, there are a few things....." Kagome started.
"Such as...?" asked Sesshomaru.
"I'll talk to you guys about it tomorrow, but..... Um, I'll have to talk to you about the mating thing. Uh...... You'll have to borrow some clothes. Hiroku, you can borrow some of mine, and Inuyasha and Sesshomaru can wear my dad's."
"So this is tomorrow?" asked Inu.
"Yep. Oh, I'll warn you now. My friends, once they see you.... you'll be bombarded with questions. Oh yeah, I'll have to tell you how things work now."
"What do you mean?" asked Sesshomaru.
"Well, no one here is going to refer to you as 'Lord' Sesshomaru, or Sesshomaru-'sama'. There's no lords. So don't expect everyone to respect you."
"How can there be no lords? There must be some demons I can talk to about this."
"Uh... about that..... There aren't any demons here. They're either hiding or died out." Kagome replied nervously.
"..." how could he reply to that. And how could that happen. Then again, the humans seem to be more advanced now. It wouldn't really surprise him. Though he still could not understand. He was sure that the demons were all in hiding. How could one race wipe out another?
"Fluffy-sama?" asked Hiroku.
"Hiroku, you do realize that if you weren't injured in anyway, or if we were at home... you'd be dead."
"Not technically. I could out run you."
"Oh, you mean just like you did that day at our home. Does training ring a bell?"
"That was a fluke."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You cheated."
"I most certainly did not."
"Wow Sesshomaru. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're acting like a child." snickered Inuyasha.
"Good thing you do know better."
"Hmph."
"Oh yeah, one more thing. You two can't fight like you usually do. Not many people here will tolerate it." interupted Kagome eyeing the two brothers.
"Don't worry Kagome. You take care of Inuyasha. I'll handle Sesshomaru." Hiroku assured her.
"You handle us?" said Inuyasha.
"Why, you don't think we can?"
"No, I know you can't."
"Oh just wait until I get out of this bed...." Hiroku started, pushing off the blankets, revealing her legs since the night shirt only covered to her knees. She was just about to get up when she felt someone's hands on her shoulders. Turning to the hands, the hanyou followed the arms up to Sesshomaru, who began pushing her down. "What are you doing?" she asked, straining herself to stay up.
"You're not getting out of bed. You still have to rest." he said finally getting her back down.
"But-" she began to protest, when the taiyoukai interrupted.
"No but's." he pulled the blanket back up to cover her, while Kagome took the tray and left with Inuyasha up the stairs. "And, if I find out that you're not resting..... I'll punsih you." he teased.
"How would you do that?"
"I have my ways. Maybe I'll ask Kyrie for help."
"No! Fine." sighing Hiroku closed her eyes. Sesshomaru listened as her breathing evened out, and her heart rate slowed to a resting state. He then left, quietly closing the door behind him as he went up staires with the others.
To be continued...
me: Yes, chapter 21!
Inu: Care to tell me what's going on in the next chapter?
me: I would, but I don't want to give it away.
Inu: Why? Their gonna end up reading it!
me: So? They don't know anything yet, so I'm not gonna ruin the chappie.
Inu: It's not like I would tell them.
me: Yeah right.
Inu: Feh!
me: Anywho. I'll see you in the next chapter. Number 22! Whoo! I'm so excited! (dances around room)
Neko: (walks in) What's with her?
Inu: Eh? Oh, she's excited about this being her twenty first chapter, and moving onto chapter 22.
Neko: Yay! (dances along with T.O.F.)
Inu: Great, I'm stuck with two crazy girls......