Chapter 38: Secret Heritage

Kagome and Inuyasha head through the front door. "I'm home." Kagome calls out to the family. "In here, Kagome." Her aunt calls from the back of the house. She heads there with Inuyasha behind her. "Oh, Aunt Miyuki. I'm so relieved that you're out of the hospital." Kagome hugs her. Miyuki smiles warmly as she hugs her niece back. "I am too. I see you have Inuyasha with you too." She turns to see the boy close by.

"Where's Kaede?" Kagome asks as she doesn't see her cousin around. "She's in the basement setting my things in my room." Miyuki answers the question. "Ok, I just have to talk to her about something." Kagome said and leaves the room. "Wait, Inuyasha." Miyuki spook to him alone once Kagome is gone. "What is it?" He asks as he comes to her. "Could you tell me what happened to the locket that Kikyo got from you?" She asks him seriously. "I took it back to the shop I got it." Miyuki slightly frowns. "I see. What you don't know is that I have the same one." She tells him. Inuyasha gasps. "Does Kagome or Kaede know about this?" He asks quietly this time.

Miyuki shakes her head. "There's one thing I need to tell you only." Inuyasha seems concerns at this point. "It's about my husband." Inuyasha decides to take a seat since this is going to be a while. "What happened to him?" That's all Inuyasha asks her. "I'm preferring to Kikyo's father." Miyuki specifically. Inuyasha nods back to encourage her. "He was a priest." At the reveal Inuyasha isn't really surprised, which didn't surprised Miyuki either.

"Did Kikyo inherited his spiritual Powers?" Miyuki nods at his next question. "She did. I was proud of her, seeing her following her father's footstep, But then I didn't know that one thing could be her down fall." Miyuki's frown deepens a bit further. "What downfall?" Inuyasha asks her. "The Lover's Curse." Inuyasha is confused. "The Lover's Curse." Miyuki digs into her pocket to reveal the locket that is identical to the one Inuyasha gave Kikyo.

"Tell me Inuyasha. What do you know about the locket's secrets?" Miyuki gives him her locket. Inuyasha looks at the locket. "What I witnessed was when Kagome first moved here, she was under a trance. She was walking towards me. And when she spoke, it wasn't her voice. It was Kikyo's voice." Inuyasha gives Miyuki his story.

Miyuki begins to figure something out. "If I were to know any better is that Kikyo is trying to get a hold of you." Inuyasha remains silent. "I had no idea." He admits to her. "Is there anything I can do to reach her?" He looks down to the locket. Miyuki frowns for a short time. "Where's the other locket?" She asks him. "It's back at the shop where I got it. Do you think it could help out?" Inuyasha responds back. "It might be our only chance." Miyuki is about to stand up but then she is about to fall back down.

Inuyasha catches her to prevent any more pain. "You just got home, and you still need to recover." Ai spoke seriously as she enters the living room. Miyuki smiles in defeats and sits back into her spot on the couch. "Inuyasha, take that locket with you." Miyuki suggests Inuyasha. Inuyasha nods and puts the locket into his jacket pocket. "What about Kagome and Kaede? Should they come with me?" He asks her in concern. "That's up to you. Just don't do it right now. We still need to get settle down here before we do anything drastic." Miyuki said to him. Inuyasha nods and leaves the two women alone.

Inuyasha turns the corner to leave the house but noticed that the basement door is open. And the curiosity gets the better of him as his ears picks up the conversation between Kagome and Kaede. "So then my boss wants me at her shop as soon as possible?" Kaede voice spoke first. Inuyasha walks down the stairs to see that the basement is very nice with the door to Kaede's bedroom is open as well.

"Yes. She even asks how Kikyo's father was doing?" Kagome said to her back. There was a silence for a while. "I guess mom didn't tell you what happened to him." Kaede breaks the silence with that. "No. What happened to him?" Kagome her boldly. "He was killed." Inuyasha spoke from the outside. The girls turn to the open down to see Inuyasha in serious look.

"I thought that he died." Kagome tells him. "All you know is his death, but you don't know how he died." Inuyasha said to them as he enters the room. "So then how did he die?" Kagome asks him. Kaede is eager to know how it happen. "But first, Kaede what happened when you brought Kikyo home from the park." He turns to her instead. Kaede didn't see this coming not by a long shot at the least.

Flashback

Kaede and Kikyo come into their home after the moment Kikyo met Inuyasha in the park. "Kikyo, who was that boy?" Kaede asks so innocently. "He's nothing to be concerned about, Kaede. I'm curious why father didn't pick me." Kikyo answers casually as they go into Kikyo's bedroom. "He tells me that he felt an evil aura around him. He was hoping that you'd purify when you were close to him." Kaede explains to her older stepsister.

Kikyo remains calm but deep inside, she's disappointed. "I see. I guess I'm not fully there yet." She chuckles as she puts her backpack onto her bed to take out some of her homework. "What do you mean by that?" Kaede looks at her. "You're aware about me being a priestess and it's my duty to purify any traces of evil." She reminds Kaede about being a priestess. Kaede nods to give her answer. "The thing is that there was no evil aura around that boy because he's a half demon." Kikyo speaks as she begins her homework. "So did dad make a mistake about him?" She asks her a few seconds letter. "To be honest, I felt that there was something about him that he wasn't able to tell." Kikyo spoke as she works on her homework.

"Like what? What was it that he couldn't see?" Kaede asks her. "The aura shows emotions. I was able to see that he was lonely." Kikyo replies as she turns to her. "Lonely? But I thought that half demons were despised about their lives." Kaede tilts her head, seems a bit confused. "That might be the case for most but those who know the real reason is because there was an agreement that made sure that demons and half demons were to be left alone unless provoked for some reason. Even humans with special abilities are aware of it. When I met him, I left him alone because he wasn't a threat to anyone." She explains to her to make it easier for Kaede to understand where this is going.

'I wasn't aware that throughout the time, my stepfather was eavesdropping the entire time. I could've sworn that Kikyo would detect his presence but he somehow secured it to make it impossible for her to sense him.' Kaede narrates her story. 'It wasn't long until when he was on his way home from work that someone rammed him into a ditch and killed him on the spot.' She tells him. 'Miyuki was so distraught when she received the news about it. She wanted to find out who killed him and why. But she didn't get a straight answer from the authorities.'

End Flashback

Kagome and Inuyasha had no idea about how much pain Miyuki felt throughout that point on. "Do you know where the accident happened?" Kagome asks her curiously. "I'm sorry, I don't really know where it happened. It's been 3 years since then. Ever since that time, Miyuki did everything she could to keep the house paid but due to the income, and Kikyo's death, she thought that it was best that we moved to where you found us. Because if we were to stay at that old house, there would be constant reminders about them." She explains as she keeps her sadness to take control.

Just hearing Kaede's story has made Inuyasha realize something. If his theory is spot on, he could somehow found who was responsible for both Kikyo and her father's death. Little does he know, he might not notice that someone else in the family might know something about. The question is who though. And that's his first idea to get to the bottom of this issue.