^_^ ahh... alcohol...
Chapter 14: Tondemonai!! Part II (Fanfiction Contest!!!!!! I'm going to give away prizes. For details and requirements, check my profile.).
Silence filled the room, absolute, complete silence. Sesshomaru and his two children stared into Inuyasha's growling expression with indescribable amusement. Rin, on the other hand, sat on the armrest of Sesshomaru's seat with her arms crossed, brows furrowed, and not happy at all.
Kagome instinctively grasped Inuyasha's hand, her other hand lied gently on top of Shippo's head. Next to her, Sango and Miroku were more confused than nervous.
Miroku frowned. While Inuyasha is obviously preoccupied with the fact of Sesshomaru's sudden personality change, Miroku has a lot more questions concerning... well, everything else.
Like, how come this human woman called Rin managed to live for 500 years while only gaining 20 years by her looks. Why Kagome has never heard of Mukashi Shinichi when he is so rich and famous? How come that temple Kagome mentioned no longer exists according to Kouga? What does Sesshomaru want with them? How come his children only look 10 years younger than him? Why is Sesshomaru younger looking than Kouga when he's at least a few hundred years older?
The list goes on and on. And if he doesn't get any answers soon, Miroku is sure that he'll explode.
Shippo, however, was simply creeped out. First of all, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's crazy killer of a brother was smiling at them, nicely no less. And his two children, Ryuu and Koinu, are just a little bit overly-hyper for his like. They looked a lot like Inuyasha, but with a sense of carefree-ness that Inuyasha was never able to enjoy. But the worst part of all was that his nose was failing him.
Shippo smelled youkai on the human woman, Rin. Of course, she stilled smelled like a human, but a little different. And it wasn't just Sesshomaru's youkai smell, which would of course linger around his mate. But it was different, something that the young Shippo could neither comprehend nor describe.
Inuyasha clutched Kagome's hand as tightly as he can, while his other hand was upon the undisguised Tessaiga. His loyal sword vibrated in his palm, as if sensing the tension in his muscles. The only thing Inuyasha has in his mind at the moment was he image of Sesshomaru... laughing senselessly...
Was he the only person that's absolute freaked out about that image?
The solid gold clock ticked on the wall as each second went by. Sesshomaru was still smirking, and Inuyasha was still reluctant to talk. Finally, Rin snapped.
"For Kami's sake, someone say something!!! Someone ask something! That incessant ticking is driving me nuts!!"
Everyone looked onto Rin in surprise. Who would've thought that she'd be the first one to snap? That gentle little girl who's always smiling, laughing... the little girl that always had a glint in her innocent eyes... just what has Sesshomaru done to her carefree mind?
"Um..." Miroku coughed slightly and asked hesitantly, "I have a umm... question, if you don't mind answering... Rin... –sama..."
Rin inhaled deeply and forced a smile on her face. "Of course, Miroku-san."
Miroku raised his index finger and opened his mouth, but before any sound came out of it, Inuyasha jumped up and slammed a hand on the coffee table and practically yelled: "Who's the hell are you, and what have you done to Sesshomaru!?!"
Ryuu and Koinu burst out in laughter once more. But this time, a pinch from Rin helped Sesshomaru control himself.
Sesshomaru replied with his icy tone of voice and an added annoyance to convince Inuyasha of his real identity, "use your nose, you useless hanyou. You should know it when your much superior sibling is before you. This Sesshomaru will not tolerate any more of your idiot questions."
Rin sighed and slapped her forehead. Her two children were gasping for air at their father's "new" personality. Even Sesshomaru had a hard time holding back his glee.
But at least this tactic calmed Inuyasha down. Enough for Kagome to drag him back down on the couch and for Miroku to ask his real questions.
"Yes, anyway, Rin-sama, I do not to be rude, but... why... how are you still..."
Rin finally gave a genuine smile. "That might be a little complicated to explain." She then nudged her husband/mate on the shoulder and grinned wider as she saw the blush begin to surface on the century old taiyoukai's beautifully shaped cheeks.
"Well, umm... about ten years after the four of you mysteriously disappeared from the Western Lands, Naraku was gone as well, along with the Shikon jewel. I resumed father's position as Lord and stopped my wanderings. Jaken still followed me around, but we figured that it was time to... um... marry Rin off. She was eighteen and becoming an old maid." This got him a glare from his mate.
"But, it was harder than I figured, Rin was too wild and never really lived in a civilized society. It was nearly impossible to find her a human husband..."
Rin glared at him again and fixed his statement. "How was it my fault? You just dropped me off in the center of a village and expected someone to pick me up. But you had to watch over me from nearby. Every time a human male approached me you came down and sacred him off."
Koinu picked this moment to cut in. She folded her arms on top of Sesshomaru's head and leaned down lightly. "That was because papa was in love with mama, ne?! He didn't really want to let mama go, ne, papa, ne?!!"
Sesshomaru grunted slightly. Seeing that their daughter had put her mate in an uncomfortable position, Rin decided to be a little kinder and came to Sesshomaru's rescue.
"I didn't want to leave my Sesshomaru-sama either. So I just kinda attached myself to him. Sesshomaru gave in after a while. A long while, but he still finally gave in. He revoked the youkai law that forbade inter-specie marriages and we were mated right away..."
"But that wasn't enough." Sesshomaru wiped away the goofy look on his face and turned serious. "To stay together, we had to figure out a way to slow down Rin's aging process. I went through father's secret library and found a secret scroll, the same one that he used on your mother, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha's ears perked up. He stared into his half-brother's eyes with some shock, and old resentment. 'Haha-ue...'
Sesshomaru went on, his eyes never left Inuyasha's golden orbs. His words were emotionless, but his eyes said it all.
Sesshomaru was sorry.
"It turned out that father used the same method I used on Rin to keep your mother alive when she should've died long ago. But after father was killed in that battle, your mother's life support was gone and she could no longer live."
"What kind of 'method' was it?" Sango couldn't help but feel out of place in this family discussion. But curiosity can't be suppressed.
Sesshomaru's answer was simple: "full blood transfer." He paused a while to see the shock on his audience's faces. "I... I had to drain Rin's blood save a little to keep her body fresh. Then I forced most of my own blood into her body. Before I fainted from blood loss, I revived her with Tenseiga. It was a dangerous process, especially with all the youkai that were out for my head. I was weak for days. But..."
He turned to his mate and grasped her hand. The two stared at each other and said nothing more of the topic. Kagome and Sango smiled at the scene. Inuyasha would've gagged, but the look in Sesshomaru's eyes was just simply too distracting.
Sesshomaru, the youkai who shares part of his blood and who once had hunted him, who once hated human as if they were the scum of the earth... Now he has a human mate, someone he risked his life to convert to a pseudo-youkai. And his two pups, two hanyou pups, surrounded him and his mate. It was the perfect image, an image that's been gnarling at the back of Inuyasha's mind for too, too long.
The perfect moment was finally disrupted by a not-so-discrete cough from Kouga. Rin drew herself away from her husband's golden eyes and turned her attention back to Miroku and awaited her next inquisition. The next question however, came from Kagome, and it was directed at Ryuu and Koinu.
"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking..."
Koinu was half a second away from jumping on Kagome, but her brother pulled her back. "We're both sixteen," the calmer of the sibling replied politely, "Our seventeenth birthday is next month. We're going to Tokyo to visit our oldest brother."
"You're only sixteen?!" Kagome gasped.
"You have another brother?!" Inuyasha turned to meet Sesshomaru's dumbfounded expression, "Just how many children do you have, brother?"
Rin leaned down slightly and whispered to Sesshomaru, "I'm sensing a little sarcasm in that 'brother', don't you?"
Sesshomaru smiled his disturbing grin for the thousandth time that day. "Well, considering that I've been mated for 500 years, please don't be shocked when you hear my answer."
Inuyasha frowned.
"We've had a little over 80 pups, 43 girls and 39 boys, including Ryuu and Koinu there were 6 sets of twins, 2 sets of triplets. All were born healthy, all had golden eyes ad white hair, and all inherited your weird ears. Little, brother, I had to live with your image for the last 500 years even though you weren't here."
While everyone else were too surprised to react to this new piece of information, Miroku, always the perceptive one, caught Sesshomaru's grammar usage.
"Why past tense?" The monk's brows furrowed, he has a feeling that this topic is going to be a sensitive one.
"Well..." Sesshomaru scratched his head nervously. Next to him, Rin sat up straight and her body instantly stiffened. "Just because they're my children doesn't mean they have all of my blood. They're all hanyou after all. And the last 500 years were filled with turmoil. Out of the 82 children we had... Nearly 30 passed away..."
Sesshomaru's voice was so... casual. And it killed Inuyasha. The oldest hanyou in the room would never have guessed that he would one day feel sorry for his older brother. But now, he's sitting here, watching the expression on his brother's face dim. His brother's mate, his sister-in-law, completely dispirited.
"Why?"
It was a weird question to ask in such a moment. It wasn't a "how", it was a "why", as though he was questioning kami's intention. Like always, fate was against the inu-taiyoukai family.
Sesshomaru could no longer look into Inuyasha's eyes. He could no longer smile, his mate could no longer growl, and their pups were no longer hyper-active. It was like time has purposely slowed down to give this moment a melodramatic edge.
Inuyasha hated melodramatic.
"What was it? Sickness, war... Naraku?"
Sesshomaru shook his head slowly. "Naraku, he was gone. No idea where he went, just gone. Probably dead."
Miroku glanced at his hand. "Not yet. The kazaana is still here. Naraku is still alive."
Sesshomaru didn't seem to have heard Miroku. "Most of them died in battle. Humans waged many wars over the year. They were too young and too inexperienced. They insisted on going out to fight; even the girls were fanned by their bloodlust nature. And in the end, they were killed. And then, 10 or so died of old age, they were only hanyou. Oh, did I tell you, I have 12 grandchildren; they come to visit me on holidays. And oh, Rin, did you get that letter from Aki? Aki's my oldest grandson, 200 years old and just got mated; his child is supposed to be born within the month. I'm going to be a great-grandfather soon..."
The topic trailed far. Sesshomaru just continued to ramble on and on. Kagome's heart tightened. She remembers such a scene. The month that her father passed, her mother simply wouldn't stop talking about random subjects. From teapots, to the economy in Scandinavia, anything was better to talk about than the death of Kagome's father.
"... Now, old Tomoeda, or Kouga, or whatever you call him, is a great-great-great-great-great... Oh, I don't know, I've lost count. Our family has a lot of prestige; we only intermarry with rich and famous youkai and humans. And our pups have more sense than to marry at human ages. Now, Kouga, don't give me that look, you know what I'm talking about..."
Sango and Kagome looked worriedly at each other. Sesshomaru has begun to flail his arms around and making dramatic gestures. Rin, Ryuu, and Koinu remained silent by his side with their heads turned away.
Inuyasha couldn't keep on watching anymore. He was close to punching his brother square on the jaw. It probably won't do much, but at least it would bring some sense into him. Sesshomaru was showing too much emotion, too much weakness. It was getting too dangerous.
"Oh, don't you guys think I look so much younger than Kouga? Thanks to my taiyoukai blood, of course. I age even slower than normal full blooded youkai..."
"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha cried out his brother's name with more seriousness and sympathy than he could ever gather. It was four syllables of pure horror, pure compassion, pure... love?
Sesshomaru stopped his ranting. He first made eye contact with Inuyasha. Then, with a sigh of defeat, he grabbed Rin's hand again and dropped his head.
"Do you know how hard it is, brother," Inuyasha accept the title with no sense of disgust this time, "to watch your children grow wrinkles before you do, to watch them die one by one right in front of you..."
Inuyasha swallowed. "Why didn't you use Tenseiga? Or transfer your blood into them like you did with your mate?"
Sesshomaru scoffed half-heartedly. "You never do think, do you, brother? Sure, Tenseiga can revive them. But they'll still be old, weak, and they'll still be suffering in sickness' grasp. And the ones that died in battles, I could not even find their remains. Transfer my blood into them links them directly to myself. So if something were to happen to me, they all would... I don't plan on bringing my entire lineage to the other world with me.
"The brother that Ryuu mentioned, the one they're going to visit next week, is actually already dead. We're going to visit his grave. He was the first child Rin and I had. Ryuu and Koinu were born on the same day 300 years after his death. So it's sort of a family tradition to go see his grave on that day." Sesshomaru finally looked up. "Our family grave is in Tokyo, Inuyasha, near the Beika district. I hope you wouldn't mind going to see them with us. I'm sure my children would want to see their uncle. The entire family will be there"
Inuyasha didn't give a response, he simply couldn't. Sesshomaru was calm again. Inuyasha searched his eyes, and found no more pain and devastation. Sesshomaru's attitude might have changed severely. But it looks like he can still keep his emotions under control, under a shield.
"I think," Kouga interrupted the silence, "we should stop the interrogations now. We still have so much work to do and things to discuss."
Sesshomaru nodded and stood up. "Let us show you around the building. I think you'll find it worth your time. Rin, take our guests down first, I want to speak with Inuyasha privately."
Rin nodded and kissed Sesshomaru on the cheek. Her lips lingered a little, hesitant to draw herself back. Finally, she beckoned her children and everyone else to follow her.
Within seconds, only Inuyasha and Sesshomaru remained in the room.
Inuyasha watched Kagome's back disappear from view. For some reason, he felt lonely all of a sudden. As if Kagome was leaving his side forever and will never come back. He was missing her warmth, the feeling of her hands in his.
Only after a cough from Sesshomaru did Inuyasha realize his current position. He turned his attention on the youkai before him. For once, the brothers looked at each other with no growls, no frowns, no sneers, no resentment, and absolutely no hatred whatsoever.
It felt... nice.
"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru voluntarily broke the comfortable silence. "I called you here for a reason, obviously. I learned of your 'reappearance' this Monday. And if I could've, I would've gone to you immediately. But I am a busy youkai and an even busier businessman. As of this moment I am wasting time talking to you when I could be making million dollar deals. So I'm going to have to put back my serious face and tell you directly... your existence here is a problem."
Inuyasha sensed no threat from his brother's cold statement. In fact, even though Sesshomaru tried to be insensitive, it came out more as pleading than warning. And so, Inuyasha replied in his calmest tone possible: "why?"
"I can't answer your questions without confusing you," Sesshomaru rubbed his temples, "I'm actually pretty confused myself. So just don't ask anymore questions, Inuyasha, go back immediately. Go back to 500 years ago, and take all of your friends with you."
Again, Inuyasha remained impassive and simply asked: "why?"
Sesshomaru was gaining a headache way too quickly and loosing his patience too. "Didn't I tell you to stop asking stupid questions?! Go home now!!"
Inuyasha stood up calmly. He leaned over the coffee table until his face was inches away from his brothers. Then, with a speed that his brother couldn't even see, he grabbed Sesshomaru's collars and lifted the youkai up.
"Let me tell you something, Sesshomaru. You didn't see how Kagome bled that day. You didn't have your clothes seeped through with the tears of the one you love! As long as Mikagi is in the same school as her, as long as Kagome feel the need to return to this time, she's in danger. Mikagi has already made a move. I didn't tell Kagome this, but I feel that this play idea wasn't a coincidence. Something is going to happen soon, I don't know what it is, but my youkai senses are driving me crazy! And so, you have no authority to tell me to go home." Inuyasha released his brother. "And guess what? I like it here. I am safe here, I am fed here. Everyone I love is here, safe from danger, safe from the past-you, and safe from Naraku. We're happy as of now, and we have no intention of leaving anytime soon."
Sesshomaru scoffed. "Who are you kidding, Inuyaha? You've been fighting Naraku for a year. I've been fighting him for the past 500 years, and I still am. Ninety-nine percent of the human population does not know about Naraku's existence. Most youkai have not heard about him and have never felt his wrath. Even my own children, the younger ones, have not heard about him. And do you know why? Because I've put my entire life into it to keep the world safe from that bastard."
"What..."
"I've seen my mate bleed; I've seen her die, more than once. After you and your comrades mysteriously disappeared from the world, Naraku was desperate because he could not find the Shikon shards that you held. And so he came to find me. Rin was only ten at the time. I couldn't protect her. And Naraku cut open her chest. I fought Naraku off too late, and Rin died for the second time. And then I had to revive her and watch her come to life, only to faint again from pain. The next two months I spent healing her wound. In that interval, Rin died countless times. And it was your entire fault!"
"How was it..."
"And even then, Naraku wouldn't give up. He came after us again and again. I couldn't chase him anymore; I had Rin and our children to protect. We were vulnerable to his attacks. Naraku was never my problem, it was never my fight. But because you were gone, my family and I had to take on the burden.
"In this age, Naraku's youkai power is not longer a threat. But the amount of weapons he holds is dangerous. Youkai power and lineage had died out considerably. That's why humans are no longer aware of us, even though we're amongst them constantly. I'm in charge of all the youkai in Japan, and only the Prime Minister himself and a few members of the Diet* know of my real identity and purpose. Naraku is the source of all wars, terrorism, horrors that far surpass the ones that you've seen. I lost seven of my children in the youkai war that he raged in the 18th century!
"Go back, Inuyasha, and take your friends with you. It's the only way that we can change the present. You can still come to the present, but never can you stay this long again. And your friends... I heard your conversation on my jet, it was bugged. The Shōkoku-ji temple Kagome mentioned, I don't believe she was hallucinating. Perhaps the temple was really rebuilt and existed. But because of your presence here, it caused a fault in history and caused the temple to disappear."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Your monk friend, have you never considered the possibility that he'll have children once day, possibly with that Taijiya girl, and perhaps their children were destined to help in the rebuilding of Shōkoku-ji temple? He's still a Buddhist monk, despite his... hobbies."
"So you're saying..."
"The monk and the girl are here too long, in history, they no longer exist. If they don't exist, how can there be any children or grandchildren? Without their children, how can Shōkoku-ji temple be rebuilt? The only person who realized this was Kagome, only she lived in both times. However this may seem strange to Kouga and I, we can't make heads or tail of it. This is merely a hypothesis. But everything points to this as the only explanation."
Inuyasha didn't argue with Sesshomaru's hypothesis, whatever the word meant. "But what about you and your money? Wouldn't that Bill Gates guy be the richest man if we change history back to the way it was?"
Sesshomaru chuckled. He knew Inuyasha couldn't possibly worry about him. He just wanted a good excuse to leave the way everything is. Inuyasha, actually likes the life here, as a normal teenager.
"I'm not a rich man, I'm not human, remember? Besides, the only reason for my wealth is the amount of support the government gave to me secretly in order to fight against Naraku. Moreover, I'd pick my children's lives over money any day. Maybe some day, Inuyasha, you'll understand how I feel."
Inuyasha grinded his fangs. Sesshomaru made sense. Everything the older brother said was perfectly reasonable. Inuyasha was very tempted to grab Miroku and Sango and jump through the well. But...
"But Kagome... I don't want to leave her here with Mikagi still after her."
"Don't worry about Kagome, I'll take care of that."
Inuyasha grinned. "Now who's the stupid one? Once I go back, you won't even remember this conversation. You could be anyone and anywhere in this time. History will be restored, remember? I have to stay here, at least until the danger passes for Kagome. Then I'll go back."
"No, you haven't thought this through!" Sesshomaru pounded the coffee table. "If Naraku senses the Shikon shard, he'll come after you immediately. He probably already knows that you've resurfaced and could be planning in secret right now. And what about that woman, Kikyo, the dead one? Naraku's henchwoman, Kagura, killed her shortly after your disappearance. Don't you want her to live?"
Inuyasha almost fainted. "Kikyo... I, no, I... NO! Sesshomaru, Kikyo can still be revived once I go back. But I have to stay here until I make sure the Mikagi siblings will never harm Kagome again. You of anyone should be able to understand this. What if it was Rin?"
Sesshomaru remained still, unresponsive. He then slowly stood up and walked toward the closet. "I have to change back into my business suit. Rin and your friends are waiting for us. Don't forget our talk, Inuyasha. Once you take care of those humans, I'll personally push you into that time well."
"There will be no need for that... brother."
"Is that a heartfelt 'brother' I hear?"
Inuyasha scoffed.
Review!!!!!
Check my profile for information on the fanfiction contest (And yes, I'm throwing a fanfiction contest, with prizes!!!!!!). Everything is there.
*Diet – Not the thing that you claim you'll do but never get around to it. It's the equivalent of Parliament in England and Congress in America.
I hate typing out numbers, so they're pretty much all Arabic.
Mata atoude!!