Chapter 27 All Truth, No Trust.
Kiyomi sits outside enjoying a cup of tea. She wraps a blanket around herself and lets the warm tea take the chill away from her that the early morning brings. Humming to herself she looks out over the grounds of the shrine. Visions of her and Souta float through her mind when they would spar with wooden swords.
"Not quick enough, do it again" He would say and pat her lightly on the head with the wooden sword. Kiyomi chuckled to herself and remembered how frustrating it was everytime her footwork would be wrong or she would swing and miss. Those times with him were precious and she wouldn't trade the memories for the world.
"Hey Kiyomi, long time no see" A voice calls snapping her out of her day dream.
She looks toward the left and sees a familiar face. Hiro.
"Hiro, hey. It has been a long time" she replies, giving him a soft smile.
"Didn't think you would be up this early, I just kinda wanted to come by and see how the shrine was doing." He says nervously rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, sorry about that Hiro, I just couldn't afford to keep you on staff"
"No, it's ok. I found work elsewhere. I just hope you are doing alright." he says taking a seat next to her on the bench.
"Oh yea, everything is great. My sisters came home so it's been ok." she places her empty tea cup down on the bench next to her.
"Your hands" He says softly, taking hers into his own. "They are so calloused. Are you sure you don't need me around to help?"
"Oh no that's not what that is from." She laughs off.
"Oh? What have you been doing?" he asks with a dazzling smile.
She paused for a minute. Without realizing she almost outed that she had been fighting demons for the last few months. "Training." she simply replied.
"Back at it again huh?" he grips her hands tighter and leans in slightly closer. "I know your grandpa would be happy to know you kept up with it." Kiyomi smiles thinking back to her thoughts from a few minutes ago about her grandpa. "You really have been working hard." He releases one of her hands and grips the blanket around her shoulders and pulls. Her shoulder is revealed and he places a hand on it, and begins to rub small circles. "You have really toned up." he comments. "Let me get a good look at you." He rises and pulls her to stand with him. He tosses the blanket to the bench and grips both her arms to open them wide. "Great work. Got rid of all that baby fat huh?" He says with a chuckle.
"Hey now!" Kiyomi giggles back with a mock pout.
"You know I didn't mean anything by it." He wraps an arm around her shoulders.
"Kiyomi." Both Hiro and Kiyomi look up to see Minoru rounding the corner of the house, Wearing modern day clothing and a baseball cap.
"Ah the boyfriend." Hiro whispers in Kiyomi's ear.
Kiyomi laughs and pats Hiro in the chest. "Minoru you remember Hiro?"
Hiro walks up to him and puts out his hand to greet him. Minoru looks down to his hand and back up to Hiro's face. Then he just nods his head in acknowledgement.
"I suppose that's my cue to go." Hiro states turning back around. Hiro pulls Kiyomi into a tight hug. She hugs him back and they pull away. Minoru's eyebrow creases and he narrows his eyes. Something about this human didn't sit right with him.
"It was good seeing you. Don't be a stranger." Kiyomi says with a smile.
"Of course not." Hiro says, placing a light kiss on her cheek. "I will be back around for sure." Hiro releases her and begins his walk back through the ground of the shrine.
Minoru watched him till he was out of sight. "Minoru what was that?" Kiyomi asks. Minoru turns back around and her hands are placed on her hips and her face scrunched into a scowl. "Why were you so rude?" she asks.
"Something isn't right with him." He says simply turning back to the last spot he saw him.
"Hiro is harmless," she states. Minoru turns his attention to her and she continues. "He is a friend and he had worked here at the shrine since we were both in high school. No need to get jealous." adding a smirk.
"I'm not jealous." Minoru scoffs. "Did you feel his aura?" He pushes.
"No, I didn't feel anything."
"That's the thing, you should have felt something. Every living thing has an aura but he didn't. It's like he was suppressing it." Minoru tries to plead his case.
"Minoru stop." She puts her hand up. "We are not doing this."
"Doing what?" Minoru asks.
"You are jealous."
"I'm not-"
"Yes you are." she cuts him off. "Hiro is a good friend of mine and you saying this stuff is your way of telling me to stay away from him."
"I do want you to stay away from him. Not because I'm jealous."
"See you are jealous. Hiro is my friend and if you don't like that then oh well, you will just have to deal with it."
"But Kiyomi I-" He begins.
"Kiyomi!" Suko yells running out of the house. Both Minoru and Kiyomi jump in surprise.
"Suko don't do that! I thought a demon was here." Kiyomi says, holding her chest.
"Oh no, sorry about that but, you have to come see this" she says to the both of them.
ooOOoo
"I couldn't believe it when I saw it," Suko says as the three enter the living room.
Heidi was lounging in the recliner yawning. "At least you two were already up. I was having a nice dream." she yawns again.
Suko walks over to the coffee table and picks up the album from last night. "Dreaming about Sesshomaru?" Suko teased.
"No!" Heidi responds loudly, her face blood red.
Minoru's face screwed up in disgust. Shaking it off he asked. "What did you see?" Kiyomi and Minoru both take a seat on the couch.
"Something was bothering me last night about this book. So I got up early this morning and decided to take another look." Suko explains. She opens the book to a particular page and hands it to Kiyomi. "Look," she says pointing at a picture of Kagome and Souta. They were standing next to each other in front of the sacred tree.
"My mother" Minoru says looking at the picture. Heidi walks over and looks at the picture as well.
"Ok, so it's a picture of Kagome and Souta, so what? They were siblings and of course they would have pictures together." Heidi shrugs.
"That's what I thought at first too but look, they both look older than they would have been before Kagome left to live in the feudal era. Gramps was still in high school. In this picture he looks in his twenties." She explains.
"I think you're right." Kiyomi says looking up to Suko. "I thought the well closed for good after your mom went back?" She asked Minoru.
"I thought it did too."
"But wait! There's more!" Suko exclaims. "Look here." She points to the very corner of the photo and clearly there far in the background of the picture was Inuyasha holding a small child. "I thought it was a statue or something but when I took a magnifying glass to it, it clearly shows Inuyasha holding a kid."
Minoru, Kiyomi and Heidi all lean in a bit to look at the photo closer. "That's even hard to see with my eyesight." Minoru says rubbing his eyes. Kiyomi continued to flip through the photo's
"So they did come back" Heidi states.
"Seems so and the child must be you Minoru." Kiyomi says, looking at him.
"I don't remember this," he replies.
"Well, You look really young. I'm thinking no older than two." Suko says, holding her magnifying glass.
"How can you see that?" Heidi asks looking up at her. She spots the magnifying glass and snatches it away from Suko.
"There are more pictures like this." Suko says. Flipping through the book she stops at another picture of Kagome and Inuyasha sitting on the bench out front. Kagome is seen laughing and Inuyasha is shown as if he is about to jump up and chase something. "He is going to chase someone. You Minoru. Look off to the edge of the picture you can see is a child with silver hair."
Picture after picture shows Minoru's parents and Souta on the shrine grounds or inside the house. Seems as though Kagome's mother had taken quite a few. In most photo's Minoru wasn't clearly seen due to him running and Inuyasha chasing him or he was hiding behind a bush or in the leaves of the sacred tree. You can see she tried to get pictures of him but he just wouldn't hold still. Which created a lot of blurry photos and missed shots. "Then I found this envelope stuffed into the lining of the book." Suko pulls out the envelope and hands it to Minoru.
"You tore apart the book?" Heidi asks,
"I had to, I could tell there was something in there" she explains.
Minoru opens the envelope and pulls out a small stack of photos. Every single photo was of him. Clear as mid-day. "I seriously don't remember any of this." He says flipping through. Some of them were him and his parents, others were him sleeping or playing on the floor with Souta.
"This is incredible, I guess you did get to meet your uncle" Kiyomi says with a smile.
"I wish I remembered it."
"One more thing!" Suko says excitedly.
"Oh Kami! Enough with all the bombshells you are dropping!" Heidi says flopping down in the chair.
Suko shakes her head and hands Kiyomi a scroll. "Found this in some boxes Gramps had stored away."
Kiyomi takes the scroll and opens it up. "What is it?" Heidi asks.
"A letter."
"From who?" Heidi asks.
"It's from Kagome to Souta. Explaining why Hiromitsu is coming after us and how we need to be trained."
"What?" Heidi says with a raised voice.
"Minoru, you were right. He did know." Kiyomi says, flopping back onto the couch. "How did Kagome know?" she asks.
"This is all I found." Suko says, taking a seat next to her sister on the couch.
"So, what does this mean?" Heidi asks and is answered by silence.
After a few minutes Suko pipes up again. "Then we need to train!" Raising her arm high in the air. Everyone has a jump scare.
"How many cups of coffee did you have this morning?" Heidi asks, rubbing her temples.
"Three but that does not matter. Anyway, I think we should train more, do what Kagome said in her letter."
"We don't even know how to. Like what are we up against?" Minoru asks.
"Sesshomaru might," Kiyomi says quietly. All three look toward her. "He was there. Back when Yurina had her run in with him. He might know what kind of powers he has."
"So what, you want him to train you guys?" Minoru asks.
"Well, yea. I think he might be able to help us."
"No Kiyomi," Minoru says short.
"Why not?" she asks.
Minoru stands up and explains "He is an asshole. Who's to say he would help? Or even knows anything. Just don't worry about it. I will handle Hiromitsu."
Kiyomi stands up "Wait a minute. You think I'm just going to sit by and let you do all the fighting?"
"You don't need to worry about it. I just want you to be safe."
"I will be safe if I knew what I was up against. Hiromitsu is cunning and we need to be trained so we can fight him."
"No"
"Minoru, seriously? Don't act like this. We are going to train and we are going to ask Sesshomaru to help us."
"Kiyomi I said no. Let me do the fighting"
"No!" Kiyomi yells. "I'm not some porcelain doll you can sit on a shelf. I have power and I should train to use it better. Hiromitsu is obviously after me and my sisters so this is our fight!"
"You will not go to Sesshomaru!" He yells back.
"We will and you can't stop us! C'mon guys we need to get back and talk to Sesshomaru." Kiyomi storms off leaving Minoru standing in the living room.
"Yeesh, tension is thick in here." Heidi says as she and Suko walk upstairs after their sister.
Minoru seethed. He bolted out of the house and back down through the well.
ooOOoo
After cooling off and changing the three women make their way back through the well. Climbing to the top Kiyomi looks around for a familiar face. Not seeing him nearby she heavily sighs. "Don't worry he was just mad. He will get over it. This is something we have to do." Heidi says patting her shoulder.
"I know, it's just been a while since we fought like that." She says, still looking around. Heidi throws her sister a sympathetic look.
"How do we get in touch with Sesshomaru?" Suko asks.
"I don't know, he usually just shows up randomly." Heidi explains.
"What about Myoga the flea? He might know how." Suko suggests.
"How do we find him?" Heidi asks.
"Maybe Shippo would know," Suko says. The women head for Amaya's house in hopes he would know where Myoga was.
ooOOoo
After arriving, by luck Myoga was already there enjoying a tiny cup of tea with Amaya. They explained the situation to him and he agreed to go and ask Sesshomaru to meet. They waited.
Minoru was in a terribly foul mood. His aura practically oozed 'I'm pissed the fuck off' all day. He kept his distance but not too far that he wasn't seen. Every now and then Minoru would perk up when Kiyomi would look his way but when she would just brush him off he would punch a tree or the nearest object and dash off. Acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum. It was a stupid fight. Why would he be so against her fighting? Why be against asking Sesshomaru to help? She felt she was missing a piece of the puzzle and Minoru wasn't near for her to ask. As if he would answer her anyway. The relationship between Minoru and Sesshomaru was strained and she didn't understand why. Sure Sesshomaru was aloof and emotionless but that didn't seem to be the problem. The last time she tried to ask Amaya about it Minoru got really mad. So that was out of the question. She decided once Minoru got over his issue she would ask and hopefully learn more.
Shaking it off Kiyomi says. "I can't worry about my relationship problems right now. We need to learn all we can about Hiromitsu, and Sesshomaru was the place to start."
ooOOoo
"Hiromitsu is no ordinary demon. His power may even outweigh my own" Sessomaru explains.
Kiyomi and her sister all stand by the well. Kiyomi looks off to the tree line to see Minoru leaning up against a tree. Arms crossed over his chest, a seemingly permanent scowl obscuring his handsome features. She knew he didn't agree with this but she knew Sesshomaru would be the only one that knew what they would be up against. The distaste Minoru has for his uncle will have to be put on the sideline. Hopefully now they could get some answers and help.
"You knew everything, all along. Why keep it from us? If this was a life or death situation, why not tell us everything from the beginning?" Heidi asks, her voice soft, more hurt than angry.
"I truly wished none of this came to pass. I hoped you three would have left and never come back." Turning his attention to Minoru, who has now pushed away from the tree and was making his way over to the group. Then his gaze landed on Kiyomi. "Love is a strange thing, however" His eyes shifted to Heidi, the look of distrust on her face.
He sighs and looks down to the ground. "Kagome warned me of what was to come. Everything that has happened is as Kagome said it would be."
"My mother?" Minoru asks, moving to stand beside Kiyomi.
"Yes in her final days I came to pay my respects, and she gave me an envelope to give to Souta"
"I remember, you and her spoke alone for a long time, it agitated my father"
"Yes, he was never one to keep a cool head when it came to me." His lips quirked slightly at the thought. "Kagome spoke of a demon she had sealed away many years before, because he was too powerful for her to destroy. In the few years before her death the seal broke with her health deteriorating along with her powers. Your mother knew what was going to happen. She knew what the demon wanted and what he wanted was them" He finished, looking toward the three women.
Heidi and Suko look at each other, then up to Kiyomi. At this moment, Kiyomi could have rivaled Sesshomaru with the stone cold stare she was giving him. The tension already thick in the area became stifling. Heidi moved to her sister's side and placed her hand on her arm. With one touch Kiyomi broke and her face softened. Kiyomi turned to her and gave her a weak simile.
"Did she know about father, too?" Minoru asks through gritted teeth. The words cut through everyone's thoughts. Surprise lit up their faces at his words.
"Yes" Sesshomaru answers simply.
"She knew what was going to happen to him? That he..." Now he was angry, everything that had happened could have been stopped. His father could have still been here. "Why didn't she try to stop it? Why didn't she warn us about father's plan?"
"You were not strong enough then" Sesshomaru says. "She asked on her death bed for this favor. I carried it out"
"Carried it out?" Minoru ground out. His cup running over and spilling out with his frustration and anger. "Favor? You call my fathers death a favor?" He clenched his fist at his sides so hard he drew blood. "You really expect me to believe that she wanted you to end my fathers life! My mother loved him! " He shook his head violently. No, he couldn't believe that.
Kiyomi stood next to him. Her arms wrapped around his, she felt the tremble wrack through his body. His breathing was ragged and she could see the drips of blood fall from his closed fist.
"Don't test my patience pup." Sesshomaru's normally smooth voice had a hint of frustration in it. Minoru audibly scoffed.
"Minoru." Kiyomi's soft voice broke through his anger in an instant. He visibly relaxed and unclenched his fist. Kiyomi pulled out a spare cloth from her bag and began wrapping his hands.
"You did no one any favors." Minoru says as he watched Kiyomi wrap his hands. "All you did was murder him" Minoru looked up at him.
"I was the only one able to stop his fit of rage." Sesshomaru began, "Your mother was the single most important person in his life. He would rather die than live without her. So he cast the Tetsusaiga aside and let his demon blood take over. He was on a rampage killing anything and everything in his path. Demons, humans it did not matter to him." For the first time it sounded as if his voice faltered. "You remember the day when we finally found him. The smell of human and demon blood, he was drenched in it. How many villages were completely destroyed and all the inhabitants of that village dead?"
"I don't know," Minoru answered.
"You choose to turn a blind eye to the carnage. He was a wild animal and the only thing to do was to put him down." Sesshomaru spoke with so much more emotion than any of them have heard from him before. It hurt him. The thought of killing his only brother cut him deep. Over the years their relationship began to repair itself. Only after Minoru was born did things change. He was an uncle, and wanted to be there to help protect his family, his pack. "I do regret what I did, but it had to be done." He shook his head. "There was no other way"
"We could have done something else, anything else" Minoru argues. "Capture him, lock him up and force Tetsuigua on him until he returned to normal. He did not have to die!" His eyes reflected the pleading in his voice.
"What kind of life would he have lived knowing what he had done?" Sesshomaru points out. Minoru snaps his attention to Sesshomaru. "Knowing all the innocent human life he took. The shame of losing control. Walking through life without Kagome." His tone is more tender than usual.
"Anything other than dying" Minoru drops his head and shakes it slightly.
"What quality of life would he have had? All that would have been worse off than death. At least now your father is able to be with his love eternally" Sesshomaru finishes.
"That's heavy," Suko says pushing through the tension.
"Seriously" Heidi says with her hand on her hip. "Alright!" She claps her hands together and everyone's attention draws to her. "It all boils down to this. Hiromitsu is out there and he wants to control us and use our powers for only god knows what. So we have to find him and take him out!" she ends her words with a mock punch to her own fist.
"Hn" was Sesshomaru's reply and he began to stroll toward the tree line.
"Heidi, go" Suko urges. Heidi nods and trots after him. "I'm going to go and let Amaya know what's going on." She smiles and begins her jog to Amaya's.
Minoru walked up to the side of the well and looked down into its dark depths. Kiyomi clears her throat "Listen, I know you don't agree with all this and now I understand why. But he is the only one who can help."
"I know," he says simply. "It's just hard to trust anything he says or does." Minoru turns and sits on the side of the well. Hunched over he rests his forearms on his knees and hands his head low. Kiyomi kneels down in front of him. His short silver hair falling in front of his face, covering his eyes. Lifting her hand she swipes at his bangs and he lifts his head to look in her eyes. "Do you still love me?" his voice gravelly and strained.
Kiyomi smiles and gives him a light kiss. "I never stopped."
"I don't want to do this, but I can't tell you no anymore. I will do what I can to help."
"Thank you"
ooOOoo
"Do you think I was wrong?" Sesshomaru asks. The two had moved further into the woods away from everyone else. Sesshomaru stared into the tree tops. "About my brother."
"No." she says simply. Sesshomaru looks into her eyes. "He made the choice to abandon his children to go on a killing spree. What you had to do was mercy."
"Hn" Sesshomaru gives a small smile. "I'm glad to hear that."
"So, are you going to help us?" Heidi asks, placing her hands on her hips.
"Do you want me to?" Sesshomaru asks her.
"Of course we do! What was all this we just went through?" She rolls her eyes and huffs.
"No." he takes a few steps to close the distance between them. "Do you want me to?" His impossibly tall stature looming over her.
Heidi cranes her neck to look up into his face. His normal stoic expression shown. "Yes" she breathes out.
"It shall be done." He smirks, promptly turning on his heel to stride away.
"So just like that?" she asks.
"Just like that," he replies.