Ohio! Well it's not quite morning anymore, so since my Japanese is severely limited I'll revert to my comfort zone: Latin! Savete viri! Nova quid est? Optime meus est. (Hi guys! What's new? I'm great. [Literally: Salute to you men! New what is? Being the absolute best I is. I know it's awkward but cut me some slack, it's just a hobby and Latin is written in stream of consciousness.]) So I've gotten 9 reviews, only 4 left before I get my but in gear and write a Kagome chapter. I've already written the next 6 chapters for Inuyasha's POV. But I will resist the urge to post more then one a day. ;) Savete! (Note: Savete is a greeting, think 'Salutations' however it can be both hello and goodbye. Cool beans, eh?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time Trip: The Past Confronted

 

"You say you found him sniffing the ground at the entrance with a horrible wound, and that he is searching for his mate?" A deep male voice woke Inuyasha. He was lying on his stomach on a very soft futon with rich sheets, wearing only his hamaka. The Futon was up against a wall and he was looking strait forward into the corner of the room, witch was empty.

"He just said 'she.' I don't know what their relation is, romantic or otherwise, but he was willing to endanger himself by ignoring his wound to go after her. He also spoke of a portal, and of being lost." Lady Futomi's voice answered.

"Looking at him, I feel I should recognize him. I know his scent, but I'm sure I've never seen a young man like him before. He looks a bit like my Sesshoumaru as a very young pup, but he's full grown!"

"Do not." Inuyasha weakly argued.

"Oh, are you awake now Inu-otouto?" Lady Futomi moved over to head of the futon Inuyasha was sleeping on, but the man was still out of sight somewhere in the area of his left hip.

"I don't look like Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha whispered; a dangerous edge to his voice. "I'm nothing like him, I never will be, and I'm happy to say it."

"Do you have a quarrel with my son?" The male voice questioned.

"S-son?" Inuyasha could not quite get that to sink in. If this was Sesshoumaru's father, then it must also be his father, but his father was dead. He killed the demon responsible with Tessiuga. He saw his body at the grave where he obtained Tessiuga. Somehow it hurt to hear those words, words that this man would never say on his behalf.

"Yes. I am Nishi, Lord of the Western Lands. You are in my den. Sesshoumaru is my son and heir. Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm a lost puppy that wants to go home where things make sense instead of confusing me. I want to wake up and know this is a bad dream. Then Kagome will make me breakfast and Sango will hit Miroku and knock him out for being a hentai while Shippou will chew on my ear and tell me it's time to eat."

"I think Lord Nishi meant to ask your name."

"He should know it. Okasan told me he picked it, unless she lied to make me feel better. She did that a lot when I was a pup."

"What are you implying?" A very angry Lord Nishi sat down directly in front of Inuyasha, pushing Lady Futomi out of the way gently.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating what I know to be fact. I know my parents are dead. I know my half Oniisan hates me, and threw me and my Okasan out when I was a pup. I know Sesshoumaru would love to have me back under his foot, this time with a sword through my heart. I know I can't be here talking to you, because if you are Sesshoumaru's Oyajii, you must be my Oyajii. I have visited my Oyajii's grave and seen his bones, so I am sure he is dead. I must therefore either be dead and cast into the deepest level of hell to be tormented in the worst possible way, or asleep having the worst nightmare of my life. In either case I suppose it's safe to tell you my name after all. Also, by telling you all this, you will think I'm crazy. So I'm the crazy hanyou Inuyasha, son of the late Lord of the Western Lands and a human princess." At the end of this Inuyasha looked up from the Lord's snow white hamaka, past his silken haori with the family crest in bold red, and right past his face to something startling.

Lord Nishi had two fluffy, triangular ears poking out of the top of his head. They twitched in the silence, and one turned slowly to follow the sound of a servant walking down the hallway. Working back down Inuyasha looked into his father's face for the first time. He had two golden eyes and two bold stripes on either side of his light – skinned face. On his forehead was a deep red crescent moon facing the opposite direction as Sesshoumaru's, and his hard, mature face was angular and curious. He was apparently capable of the same emotional disinterest that Sesshoumaru prided himself on, but with a slight difference. While Sesshoumaru was perpetually cold and regarded everything as an irritation, Lord Nishi was perpetually curious and regarded everything as a source of information.

"Though looking at you, you must be my Oyajii."

"Looking at you, I wouldn't be surprised. There may be a few demons out there with snow white hair, but there aren't many demons out there with these ears as well."

"If I may ask, what is this necklace… or should I say collar?" Futomi asked.

"When she says sit I do. When she's in danger I feel it. When she leaves I can follow even though demons aren't allowed in her village and no one else can make it through to her country. I hate it, I love it, and I can't take it off." Lady Futomi's eyes widened in shock.

"This woman keeps you like a pet? How humiliating!"

"That a son of mine would suffer such a disgrace…"

"But I like it!" Inuyasha spoke without thinking. He couldn't stand the idea of his Oyajii disapproving of his Kagome. "It's not that bad. I can't do as I please all the time, and I have to control my temper or she'll sit me and it hurts being slammed into the ground like that. I like it though. It… it feels nice to follow her and I hate it when I'm left behind."

"You sound like a common domesticated dog, defending your master at all costs." Sesshoumaru's voice came from the other side of the room. "Am I related to this pathetic creature?"

"And that is why I have a son and you don't!"

The room was silent. Sesshoumaru, barely old enough to be called a man, looked at Inuyasha and tried to figure out how old he would be when his now baby brother was full grown and had a son. Lord Nishi and Lady Futomi looked at each other in shock, Nishi attempting to fathom being a Jiisan and Futomi wondering if congratulations were in order. Inuyasha was also thinking hard, trying to figure out when he started thinking of the runt Shippou as his pup, and how much blood loss would make him admit it.

"Well, if she is your mate it is understandable that she would…" Lord Nishi started.

"She isn't my mate. I protect her with my life because she released me when I was sealed away. We work together to collect the shards of the Shikon no Tama, which she broke. I want the jewel so I can be pure–blooded."

"So the son is from another woman?"

"Shippou is adopted. His parents were murdered and I helped him avenge them. Then he just didn't leave, even when I told him it was too dangerous. Call me domesticated if you like, but I've cut out a nice sized piece of territory around Edo. I'm not sure how domesticated you can be and still live in a tree and run with a pack. Granted there it isn't a proper pack, but since I'm a half – blood it makes sense that about half of my pack is human. We were all alone once, just like Shippou. We were fighting out a ragged, meaningless life without hope of reaching our goals."

"What do you mean?" Lady Futomi whispered, awed by this sudden outpour.

"We just met each other in one way or another and decided to work together for a little while. Then we just never left. First Kagome pulled that arrow out of me and tossed this collar around my neck so I couldn't attack her, take the jewel, and leave. Then Shippou was too young to be left on his own. Miroku stuck around because he's a cursed pervert, so he wanted Kagome's jewel and her innocence. Neither of which he's gotten close to having. Sango started out believing that I had attacked her village, but it turned out that the same bastard that we were all chasing had tricked her. He's the problem. He sealed me, cursed Miroku, destroyed Sango's village, murdered most of Kouga's wolf pack, and even openly attacked Sesshoumaru. He gets personal, never doing any hard work for himself. He doesn't just go and attack somebody, first he humiliates them. Then he makes them suffer. If they are lucky they get away with their lives, but all their hopes and dreams smashed."

"He doesn't sound that strong if he can't do the hard work for himself." Sesshoumaru bit off.

"He nearly killed you. He humiliated you in the worst ways imaginable. You said it to me yourself, and it's the same thing we all feel. 'I can never forgive him.' You are stronger then me physically, Sesshoumaru, always have been and always will be. Demo, that only makes it harder for you to take what he's done. The bigger you are the harder you fall."

"It is disturbing for a father to hear such things from his son."

"My family and yours have always been close friends, Lord Nishi. I am sure if there was need reinforcements could be…"

"Not that prideful ass! He'd stand there and be suffocated rather then acknowledge that I've arrived to help. He'd call me off and tell me to lay off his prey so he can fight alone in a battle he had already lost before I arrived! A battle against an enemy that had wronged me first! If anyone had claim on his life it would be me, I was the first one he went after. The Western Lands are a shadow of what they were!"

"Are you saying I'm unworthy of my birthright? Are you saying that Chichi-ue should give the title to you?"

"I'm saying you have too much pride. You wander around doing whatever you like, both inside and outside your borders, and care nothing about anyone else. I don't want the title. If Oyajii left it to me you'd take it anyway, I'd be too young for the throne. I'm saying this with the slim hope you might remember my words in the future, and the assumption that this isn't a nightmare."

"That is rather uncharacteristically noble of a foul mouthed boy with little trust in anyone or anything around him." Lord Nishi growled. "I fail to believe your intentions are as you say."

"I figure I can run my mouth off honestly without too much consequence, since this is most likely Hell or some wacko illusion." Inuyasha was starting to get dizzy again. "That or I've lost so much blood I'm incapable of normal mental functioning. Take your pick, I'm going to sleep." In two seconds flat Inuyasha was asleep.

"Well at least he isn't losing any sleep over the situation." Lady Futomi giggled.

"My young son, still in his mother's womb, is magically transported to my doorstep as a grown man. His sole purpose seems to be venting all his problems at our expense."

"If I may, we did ask for it. He merely told us what we asked of him, with pure honestly, sparing no insult, emotion, or detail in the name of diplomacy or shame. I would also agree with his statement about his mental capacity at the moment. He was hit in the head in addition to the deep wound on his back and shoulder. I felt the bump when I laid him on the futon." She stood and straitened her kimono, which had a sprinkling of blood across it.

"Then he was babbling." Sesshoumaru offered.

"No, I sense that everything he said was absolutely true. What I mean is that he might not have had control over what he said. He just said what he thought and felt without any tact. He withheld nothing for the sake of the presence of a lady, his own honor, or your reaction." She paused a moment, looking at the sleeping boy, and whispered under her breath so quietly that even lord Nishi wasn't sure if he heard her correctly. "Just like a child."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~