Truth and Lies
by Oniko
created by Rumiko Takahashi
The Demon Lord stared out over the foreign city from his office high in a glass tower. He had been at work here in New York for a long, long time and he looked forward to going back home to Tokyo.
Inu Yasha smiled across the room at the love of his life. Over the past, few weeks Kagome had slowly become increasingly like her old self, easy going and open. Her smile lit her face more often and he loved every minute of it. Especially stealing into her room late at night for midnight kisses.
"Hey, did you all hear, Natalie is missing?" A boy came in to sit be side Inu Yasha and a few others.
"Natalie?" He asked the name sounded familiar.
"Yeah. Cute red-head, junior, class D." Oh, yes. The overly curious girl that smelled like youkai.
"So what happened to her?"
"No one knows. And no one seems to be able to get a hold of her parents either."
Inu Yasha frowned thoughtfully, as he debated how involved he should get. The girl either was a demon or was involved with them. Either way her sudden disappearance did not bode well. The watchword for modern demons was 'avoidance.' Many modern weapons were rather indiscriminate when it came to killing demons. A gun struck with the same force no matter who held it, and to a race of beings that depended on individual strength that was a horribly equalizing force. "Any one check her place?"
"Yeah, duh. Get this, no one there ever heard of her. The apartment has been vacant for months."
The teacher took that moment to walk in stopping Inu Yasha from questioning the boy further. He didn't pay attention to class, not like he needed to, he was just there to be close to Kagome. Instead, he was busy thinking about Natalie. She knew something about him and Kagome, he wasn't sure if she really understood what she saw of their fight. So he scared her, hoping to get her to back off. Now she was gone. Someone else was involved. Someone who didn't give a damn about the rules, but what did they want? That was the question that nagged him. And it bothered him all day.
He saw Kagome before she left. "Sweetheart, I have some errands to run after school. Think you can stay out of trouble until I can get back."
"Well, I was hoping to go see a movie tonight." She pouted, and leaned closer to him, her gentle scent was intoxicating and the thought of huddling with her in a dark theater was almost enough to change his mind. Almost but not quite.
"I promise, I'll be home in time to go out with you." He smiled down at her "Dinner too. Your choice."
She gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "Okay, I'll be waiting."
He smiled as he watched her walk away from him. She was so beautiful. And finally his. His smile turned slightly viscous and somewhat possessive, Sesshou could just stick that in his craw and chew on it. But first things, first. Time to get Natalie's address. The office was mostly empty, manned by a single overworked secretary. He told her the principal was expecting him and just waved him on through, with out realizing that the principal was currently lecturing detention hall, and would be for the next hour and a half. Natalie's papers where easy to find. And, as he expected, they were fake. Very well made fakes, but fakes nonetheless. Having to change papers and identities half a dozen times to avoid suspicion among the authorities tended to make one very aware of the many and varied ways of forgery. Inu Yasha stuffed what he needed in a back pocket and sent the rest through the shredder. He walked out the balcony and climbed lightly down the ivy. It was starting to look like Natalie didn't really exist. He tried to remember when she came to school but was finding it harder and harder to remember those little details about her. And that worried him more and more. He could remember her mooning after him and trying to get Kagome involved in school activities. But he didn't really remember her being there for much before that
... ... ...
The black limo drove past the small shrine. The occupant inside tapped on the glass window that separated the driver from the passengers. Obediently the driver stopped the car and hopped out. He walked around to the back passenger door quickly but with professional calm. First to get out was a gentleman of indiscriminant age, long silvery hair hung past his waist in a loose braid. He was dressed in a very expensive business suit. He held his arm out for the young lady who followed. She dressed in the female version of the gentleman's clothing. Her long sandy blond hair tipped in dark brown was pulled up in a severe ponytail. The two paused before the entrance to the shrine.
"Things have changed a lot haven't they?" The man said.
"Yes, sir." The woman replied. "That is the nature of time, we have been gone for almost two hundred years."
"Has it been so, long?" He asked, "This meeting is long past due. Let us go see her then."
The proceeded up the stairs, pausing momentarily by a large tree with blessings woven between its branches. But only for a moment, they continued on to the house where the woman knocked politely on the door. A young boy answered it. The woman spoke for both of them "We are here to see Kagome Higurashi."
Without turning away from them the boy yelled at the top of his lungs causing them to wince in pain at his volume. "Kagome there's some weird people here to see you."
"Souta! How many times do I have to tell you that's not very nice." A young Japanese girl with the Shikon no Tama around her neck appeared at the door. The gentleman narrowed his eyes and examined the girl closely; he could sense something was not right. The girl shooed Souta away and stepped out of the house without looking at the two before her, she closed the door. "Hi, sorry about that what can I- Sesshou!"
The gentleman moved fast as lightning he had the girl by the throat and pressed her against the door. "If you harmed Kagome in any way, I will rip you apart."
"Ah, no! She's fine I swear!" The girl's image faltered and faded, suddenly it was a young kitsune pinned to the door.
"Shippou?" The woman exclaimed in surprise.
"Hi, Kirara." Shippou said "Fancy meeting you here."
She took off her sunglasses and glared at the fox with ruby red eyes. "I've known you to pull some crazy stunts but what's with this? That's the real Shikon no Tama isn't it?"
"Huh? Yeah, I needed it to fool Inu Yasha. He thinks I'm the real Kagome."
Sesshou growled "which just proves what an idiot my brother is. Where is Kagome?"
"She's safe, I swear. If anything bad happened to her Inu Yasha would know so I have to keep her safe to trick him."
"Why do you want to make him think you're Kagome?" Kirara asked sounding honestly confused.
"Because she's been cruel to him. He doesn't deserve any of the things she's done." Sesshou growled but did not otherwise voice his thoughts. "I thought if I could be her, I could stop her from hurting him."
"I see." Kirara said, obviously not 'seeing' at all "You do realize that when Inu Yasha learns your deception he is not going to be pleased."
"He won't hurt me. He loves me." Shippou protested.
"He loves Kagome." Kirara pointed out patiently, despite the sudden snarl of anger from Sesshou.
"I am Kagome." The fox said. Kirara sighed and gave up that line of reasoning, it was obviously a lost cause. "Shippou, where is the real Kagome."
"I told you she's safe."
"Where safe? You insolent whelp." Sesshou growled.
"Shippou, please. We just want to see our friend. It's been far too long." Kirara pleaded trying to get through to the kitsune.
The fox laughed bitterly. "How can you call her a friend? She abandoned us to be with this bastard. Oh, wait. You abandoned us too."
Kirara hissed, a sharp feline spat of anger "I abandoned you? Both you and that damned dog were so busy wallowing in your own misery. Pitiful, sorry excuse for a demon, both of you. When Sango died I came to you, hurt and lost, but you were too busy to pay any attention to a little orphaned cat. Sesshou remembered me from Kagome. Sesshou took me in. Sesshou healed me. Sesshou did more for me than either of you two. Now tell me where she is fox or your dog won't be able to discern the different pieces of you that I'll leave scattered around the yard."
"She's at my safehouse. On 765 and Sakura." Sesshou released Shippou. "You won't tell Inu Yasha?"
"No." Sesshou said examining the Shikon no Tama in his grasp "We won't tell him, keeping him from finding you out is your own problem."
Shippou clasped at his neck in surprise and leapt up to his feet in a fighting crouch "Give that back. I need that."
"Do you really want to fight me, especially with the full power of the Shikon no Tama to draw on?" Sesshou growled allowing the gentle light to wash through him. The Jewel smelled like her and Sesshou delighted in the scent. It would be so nice to have her by his side again. Shippou backed up against the door.
"No, no, no."
"Now we are going to go and get Kagome and take her to her new home." Sesshou said. "You and that worthless brother of mine can rot for all I care."
With that, Sesshou and Kirara made their way back to the limo, leaving Shippou to salvage what he could of his illusion. Kirara asked, "Do you think he was telling the truth."
"Doesn't really matter. I will find her one way or the other." Sesshou growled. "For his own sake he had better be."
... ... ...
Natalie's apartment was empty. There was some furniture and other items that the previous tenants couldn't be bothered to take with them; a broken coffe table and an old, stained futon. There were leaves everywhere; the apartment manager was horribly apologetic about it. Inu Yasha just took it all in impassively as he wandered from room to room. The windows were all shut and locked. The bathroom, of all places, was locked from the inside. When the manager looking else where Inu Yasha popped the lock with his school ID card and glanced in, the lights were still on and a single silver leaf lay on the tile floor. He picked it up and sniffed it, definitely kistune.
"Ah, sir. This room was locked?" The apartment manager exclaimed behind him.
"It must've just been stuck." Inu Yasha said dropping the leaf.
"I assure you sir, that this is not how we usually care for our apartments." The manager stammered, trying to salvage something.
"I've seen enough." Inu Yasha said.
"Ah, sir. If you would care to look at our display unit, I'm sure you will see that-" Inu Yasha stopped listening to the man's ramblings he learned what he needed to know. A kitsune was in Tokyo, they usually preferred the forests and wilds or at least as close as them as could be found in Japan, to the heavy urbanized areas like Tokyo. But what would draw a kitsune from their lairs, what did Natalie have to do with demons? Inu Yasha's eyes narrowed what was Natalie doing poking her nose into his business, maybe she was there at the request of the kitsune. But why?
Inu Yasha walked back to the shrine while questions about the girl and kitsune spun around in his head. He was half way up the stairs before the tickle in his nose drew his attention to a familiar scent. He froze for a fraction of a second before swearing and running up the stairs. "Kagome!"
He found her in her room wrapped in an old blanket and sobbing into a pillow. She looked up with wide blue eyes. "Inu-Yasha?"
He sat next to her and started to draw her into a rough embrace but she pushed him away "Inu Yasha he has the Shikon no Tama!"
"What! Sesshou has never shown any interest in the Jewel." Inu Yasha growled.
"He did, I couldn't stop him!" She cried. "And Kirara was with him. She threatened me!"
Inu Yasha felt a feral snarl threaten to explode from his throat "Did they say what they planned to do with it?"
"No, but Sesshou said that they were going to a safe house on Sakura." Inu Yasha nodded briefly and turned to leave, he didn't see the viscous and triumphant smile that flashed across Kagome's face. "Stay here, I'll be back with the Shikon no Tama shortly."
... ... ...
Sesshou and Kirara tossed the small apartment, Sesshou wanted to toss the whole apartment building but Kirara talked him out of it. The kitsune lied. There would be no point in punishing the humans who lived here for no reason. Sesshou grumbled but he listened, there was a reason Kirara was one of the best in his company's PR department. They were getting back into the limo when Sesshou's head suddenly snapped up and he growled. Kirara was instantly on guard and looking around.
"Sesshou!" Inu Yasha was standing a few yards away glaring at them. "You swore never to set foot in Japan again. What are you doing here?"
"My business is none of yours, brother." Sesshou said, his hands unconsciously curled into fists and the sheet metal of the limo's door crumpled in his grip. "But since we are flinging past words, you said Kagome was gone from this world. And then, what should I hear but rumors of the Priestess of the Jewel reborn. Did you think I was going to ignore them? Did you think I was going to stand aside and do nothing when it was possible that my mate was still alive?"
"She is not yours." Inu Yasha said. "She was never yours. She loves me."
Sesshou backhanded Inu Yasha into a wall. "She may have loved you once, but like everything else you took her for granted, abused and abandoned her. Do you think she hadn't told me how your treated her, how her soul ached when she turned away from you. She is my mate, brother, and I will protect her as such, even from you. I will find her, Inu Yasha, and I will return the Shikon no Tama to her, then we will leave. And truly, I will never set foot in Japan again. If it were not for your lies, I would never have to be here in the first place. Even now the memories pain me."
"Your memories? Of your other lovers? Of the other women you took to your bed, does the knowledge of your infidelity pain you? Not enough, not nearly enough. You should thank me I didn't tell Kagome the truth about you." Inu Yasha stood. "I told her you were dead. I thought it kinder then the truth that you just abandoned her."
"Never have I made any excuses or lied about my actions, past of present. I do not need you to do so for me. What happened is a matter between me and my mate."
"She is not your mate!" Inu Yasha yelled, "You can have no claim on her. You abandoned her to slake your needs on some other woman, you are just like our father."
Sesshou's temper finally snapped he made a simple backhanded motion and Inu Yasha was flung back against the wall by an invisible force. "This conversation is over."
He turned and motioned Kirara into the backseat of the limo. After a brief hesitation, the driver started the car and they drove off leaving Inu Yasha in a pile of rubble. Kirara turned to examine Sesshou, he looked calm and collected but she knew him well enough to recognize the signs that he was very upset. "Sesshou-sama, are you alright?"
Sesshou closed his eyes and calmed himself before speaking "I will be fine, I'd forgotten how infuriating my brother could be."
"Sesshou, do you think that we will find her?" Kirara asked sounding worried.
"Of course, it just may take a little longer then expected. You shouldn't worry about that."
"I'm not it's just that-" She trailed of looking embarrassed " I've been waiting to see Kagome for so long. I remember she was everything to me and Sango."
"My mate is a wonderful woman, I'm sure she won't disappoint you." Sesshou smiled at his memories.
"Oh, no. Sesshou-sama. I'm sure she won't, I just hope I don't disappoint her." Kirara said her ruby red eyes wide.
"Of course you won't." Sesshou reassured her. "I on the other hand, am a dottering old fool and entirely not suitable for my beautiful young mate."
"Sesshou-sama!" Kirara looked honestly shocked at his statement.
"I'm serious, lets look at this objectively. Kagome is a young human girl of, hmm she was 16 when I claimed her as my mate. I was a young demon of six hundred or so, now I am eleven hundred years old and she is still 16. I'll be accused of cradle-robbing." Sesshou sounded so indignant that Kirara couldn't help but laugh.
"Then she'll be a gold-digger, just after you for your money and prestige."
"Not for long, I'll kill any demon that so much as thinks it." He smiled at her, smiles had never been easy for him but whenever their talk turned to Kagome he couldn't help it. Kirara laughed again.
"The demon's sure, but what about the human paparazzi?" She asked.
"They don't count. They aren't human they're vultures." He grumbled.
She smiled and sighed "Thank you, Sesshou-sama."
"For what?"
"Making me feel better."
"Don't be foolish girl." Sesshou said patting her on the arm. "Now, shall we have another talk with your kitsune friend?"
... ... ...
The shrine was empty when Inu Yasha got back. He sniffed around and frowned. Kagome's scent was old and stale, like she hadn't been there for weeks and there was a new smell. He was shocked at himself for not noticing it before. The oldest traces of this new scent was about as old as the newest traces of Kagome. Inu Yasha started worrying, had he missed something important? It was almost as if something had taken Kagome's place. But when, he was with her almost all the time, especially since she had become more tractable. He froze as the last thought ran through his mind. Since when was Kagome ever agreeable? Even when he knew very well that she still loved him and was willing to do anything for him, when did she actually listen to or agree with anything he said and did. "Oh, no. Oh damn."
Inu Yasha fell to his knees in the middle of Kagome's room as his mind ranged over the past few weeks, all the little quirks that were just a little off. Or just a little contrived, habits and motions that were etched in his heart were practiced and uncomfortable. And what was that last thing Sesshou had said? That he was going to find Kagome and return the Shikon no Tama to her. Inu Yasha groaned. "That bastard, he knew."
But who could pull of such a convincing illusion. Then he remembered the scent in Natalie's abandoned apartment. Who else but a Kitsune. He paused and took a deep breath. The scent was the same as in the apartment, although it was diluted with Kagome's scent that it was trying to imitate. This Kitsune was probably still trying to maintain the illusion of being Kagome, or at least human. Inu Yasha could track him or her if he wanted to flash some of his demon heritage in front of the humans. Right now, he didn't really care what the humans thought. Any loose ends could be dealt with later. First thing was finding the kitsune and rescuing Kagome before anything worse happened to her. Inu Yasha concentrated briefly and felt the demon blood burning though his veins. He felt muscle tear and reform as new strength forced its way into them. Most importantly, he felt the blinding headache as his facial features changed subtly to account of the increased senses of a full-blooded dog demon. In this form he began tracking the kitsune.
After a few miles, he became aware of his brother's presence following him. He debated briefly with himself on whether or not fighting with Sesshou was worth the time he would lose in finding the real Kagome. He mentally kicked himself for thinking that the Kitsune really was Kagome, but it was so convincing sweet and kind just as he new Kagome could be. No he had failed Kagome enough already, Sesshou was not important.
The Kitsune laid a clear trail, clear at least for those who knew what to look for. And it lead right to a large manor house that smelled rank of demons and kitsune magic. Inu Yasha vaulted the iron gates and ran to the front door. He could smell Kagome now, the real Kagome and the kitsune's fake Kagome scent. The front door was locked but it did not provide much of an obstacle to Inu Yasha. He stalked down the corridors following the sweet scent on the air. Kagome had been here for a while, and the fake Kagome scent was all over the place as well. Inu Yasha growled deep in his throat and flung open the doors. Or rather, attempted to, he found himself instead sent flying back to hit against the far wall.
He blinked at the door in shock, the damn thing was warded. Clever demon, Inu Yasha admitted grudgingly, but wards can be over come. With that thought, he slowly approached the door, pressing against the membrane of the ward. It was a simple ward that reacted to violence, pushing the offender outside of its boundaries, but as long as one remained calm the wards would allow one to pass. He smiled grimily as he successfully opened the door. And sure enough, there was a paper ward plastered on the inside of the door. Inu Yasha ripped it off and stepped inside. He froze at the site in front of him. Two Kagome's faced him, both looking identically disheveled and both trapped behind the same ward and glaring at each other. The scents in the room were so mingled that he couldn't tell which one was which.
"It's about damn time you got here, Inu Yasha." One of the Kagome's yelled at him. One pointed at the other "Give me back my Shikon no Tama!"
"You took it from me, Shippou!" The other objected.
"Shippou?" Inu Yasha asked incredulously, neither Kagome reacted. What did Shippou have to do with any of this?
"Damnit Inu Yasha don't just stand there, do something." One Kagome yelled at him.
"Get me out of here!" The other yelled. Inu Yasha felt his ears go back as both Kagome's started railing on him. What did he do to deserve this? It was at this point when Inu Yasha sensed the presence of other demons and both Kagome's stared past him in shock. He turned around to see Shessou and Kirara standing in the doorway. He felt a low rumble start in the back of his throat. Without even a glance, Sesshou stepped past Inu Yasha and ripped down the wards. The one Kagome fell back away from him and the stench of fear filled the room. The other, the real one, stood there trembling and looking up at him. "Sesshoumaru?"
"Kagome." He stepped forward and pulled her into a fierce hug. "It is just Sesshou, now. Lets go home."
He turned her and guided her out of the confining circle. She stopped before Inu Yasha and looked at him. What do you say to someone who has lied to you, and shielded you and loved you and hurt you? At that moment, Kagome found that she could say nothing at all; she just looked at him with all the pain in her gray-blue eyes. Sesshou wrapped a comforting arm around Kagome's shoulder. She smiled up at him and walked past Inu Yasha without saying anything at all. After they left Kirara stood framed in the doorway. She grinned widely at the two demons left inside, flashing her fangs.
"I hope you and Shippou have a nice life together, you make such a cute couple." She slammed the double doors in their faces and sealed it shut. The howl of outrage that followed was priceless.
... ... ...
AN: Okay that's it folks, over and done with. For real this time. Well I might do a second draft and clean this up a bit, maybe. So everyone, please, tell me what you think.