Chapter Twelve:

We Are Youkai

~I wonder if the inu youkai found his family,~ Hiroshi thought, gazing out of a window thoughtfully.  ~There hasn't been any racket on the streets, so he must be staying out of trouble.~

There was a knock on his door, and as he walked towards it, a familiar smell reached him.  Smiling slightly, he opened the door.

"Hello again, Sesshoumaru," he said brightly.  The figure before him was elegantly attired, and wore the human charm that he had so reluctantly accepted.  The illusionary brown eyes showed no emotion, and the youkai held out a closed hand.

"I have returned as I promised," Sesshoumaru told him.  "Take this as a token of gratitude for your help to this Sesshoumaru."

Hiroshi held out his hand, and the inu placed a ring in it.  The ring was silver with a garnet stone in the shape of a crescent moon.  It was very old, and the silver shined as if it were made of ice.  ~It is the same mark that is on his forehead,~ Hiroshi thought.

"It is the mark of my family," the inu told him.  "With it comes protection.  If you wear it, any youkai who approaches you will smell me, and will leave you alone."

"You are lunar youkai," Hiroshi said quietly.  Then, he spoke up.  "Arigato, Sesshoumaru-sama.  This is much appreciated."

"I shall go now," Sesshoumaru said shortly, and turned.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Hiroshi called after him.  The inu cocked his head slightly.  "Be well, my friend.  I am glad you found your family."

Sesshoumaru nodded slightly, and then departed.

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"Demi-youkai."

Rei looked up at Sesshoumaru's tall form standing before her.  "Hai?"

"Come."

He began to walk away, and after a second, she followed nervously.  He led her out of Takara's cabin, and stood on the porch looking out at the forest.  She walked up to stand beside him, her ears twitching slightly.

For a long time, he said nothing, and she silently took in his appearance.  To her, he was very intimidating, standing so tall and straight with his arms crossed into his sleeves, his long hair falling down his back, glimmering slightly in the moonlight.  She came only to his shoulders, and looking up, she could see his serious gold eyes.

~The brother of my jiisan,~ she thought.  ~Takara's otousan.~

Rei started to say something, when he finally spoke.

"You are the daughter of Inuyasha's son," Sesshoumaru said.

"H…hai, Sesshoumaru-sama," she replied.

"I am curious as to what happened to my otouto [younger brother] after my death.  I remember your otousan, and the death of Inuyasha's ningen mate.  I have heard nothing of him from that point."

Rei looked down as she thought for a moment.  "When I was born, jiisan was old.  He used to take me out into the forest and show me his attacks, though otousan didn't like it when he did that.  He wore prayer beads around his neck, but not for a ningen disguise.  I think they reminded him of obaasan [grandmother] Kagome."

"So, he survived the youkai plague," Sesshoumaru said thoughtfully.

"Of course.  Jiisan was a hanyou.  The plague was only fatal to pure youkai."

"Do you know of his life before you were born?"

Rei's brow creased as she thought.  "Not much.  He used to tell me stories from when he was younger, and he and obaasan were searching for shards of the jewel."  She looked up at his face.  "He even told me a little about fighting you, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Oh, did he?" he glanced slightly at the girl.  "And what did he say?"

"He said that you were always wanting his sword, and you fought him for it a lot.  Jiisan… he always got angry when he talked about you."

"I can imagine…" Sesshoumaru said quietly, looking off into the distance.  His eyes narrowed dangerously.  "Inuyasha was my family's disgrace.  If it were not for him, my family would not be divided into two parts – pure youkai, and demi-youkai.  It is my responsibility as well as Takara's to keep the line pure.  I cannot have anymore demi-youkai running around soiling my blood."

"But…Sesshoumaru-sama…" Rei said softly.  "Isn't your son a hanyou?"

His hands balled into fists, and he suddenly turned towards her, anger in his eyes.

"I have no son," he hissed.  "You would do good to leave now.  Now, before I decide you are not worth your own life.  Leave me, leave Takara, and forget you are part of my family.  I, Sesshoumaru, share blood with no ningen.  If Takara is the only family member I have left who is pure, then she is the only one left of my line.  Everyone else is filth."

Rei was struck by his words, but she could see in his eyes how serious he was being.  Holding back tears, she made her way off of the porch, and with one last look, she ran off into the forest.

Sesshoumaru stood watching her leave, and then entered the cabin.  Inuyoshi had departed earlier minus Toukijin, and the youkai planned on following his trail to retrieve his fur on a later date.  For now, he was alone with Takara.

"She is gone," Takara said quietly when he entered.  "Why have you done this?"

"You know why I have done it, Takara," he answered.  "Those with ningen blood do not deserve to be with those who are pure.  They are fortunate enough to be alive."

She said nothing in response.

"Takara, you are my blood.  It is your responsibility to continue our line in purity.  The ningen are not your people."

"No.  They aren't."

"You are a youkai."

"Yes," she replied, closing her eyes as though to block out what was being said. ~I promised I would do whatever it took to be like him,~ she thought.  ~I cannot back down now.  But still…~

"Otousan."

Sesshoumaru, who had begun walking towards the back of the house, paused and tilted his head slightly.

"This is not your time, otousan," Takara spoke up.  "You know nothing of it, nor do you know what is considered appropriate among the people in this time."

"That is what I count on you to show me," he replied.  She stood a bit taller.

"I gave Rei a promise.  That I would train her.  That I would teach her how to be a youkai.  I was taught well enough by you, otousan, to never go back on a promise."

"The girl will never be youkai.  She is from Inuyasha's line, and has far too much ningen blood running through her.  Just as a hanyou should act like a hanyou, a demi-youkai should act like a demi-youkai."

"All the same, I gave her my word, and I will not become a liar for your sake."

Only then did Sesshoumaru turn to face his daughter.

"Are you defying me, Takara?" he said icily, eyes narrowing.

"I think of it not so much as defiance, but as being more knowledgeable about the age we are in, and remembering my training of old," she replied darkly.  His eyes narrowed further.

"You have changed, Takara.  You are not who you used to be.  I trained you to be the Lady of the West.  Yet you have become a lover of ningen."

"It is a trait that seems to run in our family, otousan," she said with a sly grin.  "After all, your otousan loved a ningen and created the hanyou Inuyasha.  You yourself loved a ningen girl, and because of that your only son is a hanyou.  I am only following the family tradition."

As quick as lightning, Sesshoumaru's hand shot out, and the whip formed from his fingertips.  It struck the floor where Takara had stood a moment earlier, and with the same speed, she was suddenly directly in front of him.  She posed her claws over his neck, and held his wrist in the other hand.

"Takara…" he growled in warning.

"Do not forget, otousan," she growled back.  "You may be a very powerful youkai, but I am a taiyoukai, and thus will always be more powerful than you.  I can counter any attack you throw, plus I have what I inherited from okaasan.  You cannot win against me.  Now.

"Rei will be allowed to return to continue the training I have started.  You will be civil to her, even if you must remain out of sight the entire time she is present.  I do not care what you do about Inuyoshi, but remember this – he is not just your son, he is the son of Rin, and if you kill him, you will kill all you have left of her."

"Is that the extent of your orders, Takara-sama?" he replied sarcastically.  She released him.

"Just remember," she said. "You are in my time, and therefore you must follow the rules of it.  I am sorry I had to do this, otousan, but it had to be done."

He said nothing, but turned and left the room.

*          *          *

A/N – This is the revised last chapter.  You can all thank Niamh for the revision – even I wasn't happy with the way I ended it, so here you go.  I hope this ending is better ;)

            This is MunkimaCL, signing out.