Second to last chapter everyone! ::sigh:: Such a bittersweet moment... Tail: Cut that crap and get on with the fic! I wanna see what happens! Me: Gotta do review responses first!

Oh, and by the way... HIHAN DIES IN THIS CHAPTER, FOR THOSE THAT WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!! Tail: But he- Me: Shut up! On to the chapter!

Review responses:

Rykokitty: Don't worry, you'll find out what happened to future Inuyasha soon! Thank you!

Empress Inuyasha: Wow, um... Thanks for all the reviews! But I don't think I can answer all of your questions in one response... Oh, well. Thank you!

DarkAngelMiko: OMG, I'm your favorite author? Are you serious? Gosh, I feel so honored...::blush:: And don't worry, Kagome will appear soon!

IceSugarHigh: Both Sango and Shippo do appear in this chapter, actually... Are you psychic or something?

gilbertfan: ::sigh:: Okay, okay, I'll update them! Just hold your horses! School has started once again... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Update soon, too, please!

Lost Darkness: ALRIGHT!! Go Tiny Boomerang! Get her!

fallingkag: lol... YAY! Another imitation review! Those are funny... Thank you!!

dragon's kitty: lol... I miss you! So how has high school been so far?

rin136: Geez, you must be psychic! That's exactly what happens!

dark-wolf-soulX: That's ok. I understand how vacations go. And yes, when I say fun, I mean evil angsty fun, so enjoy it!

Haunt: My gosh! A favorite? YAY!! I feel so special! You're an inspiration!

Thanks to badgurl136, animekraze, ChibiYugiYasha, Dragon Man 180, Me, snowecat, Duana, jojodacrow, Koinu-Chan, Inulove125, arline, Kill-all-Flamers-210, Dragon Tears Wing, LilBlue-Hedggie, Rika Chan604, Suki1, Amaya Saria, high-school-girl, Chibi InuyashaZero, Rekouri Sentusu, wolf enchantress 340, Satsukiorhiei, roshyn77, Fluffys-maiden44, and punkkagome for your wonderful reviews, as well!


Chapter 13: In the Shadows
"Look, Mama, there he is! Come on! I want you to meet him!"

Tsuki smiled and laughed quietly to herself. Her son had awoken early that morning and had been doing nothing but waiting for his new friend ever since.

"Come on! Hurry up!"

"In a minute! Don't be so impatient, Inuyasha!" she said as she walked towards her son.

Inuyasha grabbed her hand and began dragging her towards the young kitsune, who was just as eagerly headed their way.

"Inuyasha!"

"Shippo!"

The two children plowed into each other and fell to the ground, laughing. Tsuki walked up and kneeled next to them.

"So, you must be Shippo," she said.

The kitsune jumped to his feet. "Yup! That's me!"

"It's nice to meet you, Shippo."

"You too, Mrs.... uh..."

"Tanaka."

"Oh, so that's what Inuyasha's last name is! I like it!"

"Thank you. So where is this nanny of yours?"

"Huh?"

"Your nanny. Inuyasha told me you had one."

"Uh..." Shippo turned and looked at Sango who shook her head vigorously and made a cutting motion across her throat. "She's... um... kinda busy right now. She couldn't come."

"Oh. Then I'll have to meet her later."

"Uh... Right. Sure," Shippo answered nervously.

Inuyasha suddenly cleared his throat, annoyed at having been ignored the whole time.

"All right, well I'll just leave you two to play now," Tsuki said as she got up.

As she walked off she glanced over her shoulder and smiled, glad that her son could find happiness after all he had been through. She was completely unaware of what was to come.


"Well, that was short..." Sango said, almost disappointed that she hadn't gotten to do anything important like Miroku, Kirara, or even Shippo. "This disappearing and reappearing thing is confusing."

"You're invisible already?" Miroku asked her.

"Yep."

"What about Shippo?"

"Nope."

Miroku grinned.

SMACK!!!!

"Hentai!!!!"


Kagome sat on the ground, watching Inuyasha and Shippo play from a distance.

SMACK!!!!

"Hentai!!!!"

She rolled her eyes as she heard Sango and Miroku going at it again just a short distance away. Everything was as it should be. Everything was perfect... Or so she thought.


Nikushimi watched from the shadows of a nearby hut as the hanyou and kitsune rolled around in the dirt together, both of them laughing.

'Enjoy it while you can, half-breed... It won't last for long.'

He waited for what seemed like hours until Inuyasha and the kitsune finally said their goodbyes.

'Finally!' He pulled out the knife from his kimono sleeve and as soon as the two children parted, ran out from the shadows, knife aimed at Inuyasha.


Shippo said his goodbyes and skipped away happily. He spotted Kagome (and the still-squabbling Sango and Miroku) and eagerly ran towards her... until he saw the look on Kagome's face. He followed her gaze and saw Nikushimi running towards a scared-stiff Inuyasha, knife raised. He let out a small shriek of surprise. He heard the frantic footsteps of Kagome, Sango, and Miroku behind him, but knew that they couldn't do anything, since they were invisible. To his horror, he realized that he was the only one that would be able to do anything. He quickly mustered up what little courage he had and started running full tilt towards Nikushimi. With a shout, he launched himself towards Nikushimi's face, but to his horror, (and slight relief) went right through him.

'Oh, no! I'm invisible again!'

Kagome screamed as Nikushimi prepared to plunge the knife into Inuyasha's heart. Inuyasha stared, too frightened to do anything as the tip of the blade got closer. Amidst the commotion, nobody noticed Hihan, desperately running towards his father.

"No, father! Don't!"

Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain of the blade... It never came. He opened his eyes and gasped when he saw Hihan fall to the ground, the knife sticking out of his chest. He stared in shock as the dying boy looked at him and said, softly, "I never wanted you to die..."

Hihan stopped breathing and his half-lidded eyes became cold and lifeless.

"No!" Nikushimi shouted and fell to his knees next to the dead boy.

He pulled the knife out of the still boy's chest before cradling the body in his arms, tears falling from his cheeks onto Hihan's face.

"No, not my son... No... Please..." he muttered as he rocked his dead son back and forth. Suddenly, he shot a glare at the stunned hanyou in front of him. "You'll pay for that, you monster!" He stood up, still holding Hihan, and walked away into the village.


Miroku, Sango, Kagome, and Shippo all watched with faces that matched Inuyasha's as Nikushimi carried Hihan's body away. They were so stunned they barely noticed that it was starting to rain.

"This... is not good," Miroku said.

"What makes you say that?" Sango asked.

"If Nikushimi is the kind of person I think he is, this will not end well..."


The innkeeper laughed along with the drunken men, on the verge of being drunk himself. That is, he was laughing... until someone kicked open, letting the rain in and upsetting several of the customers.

"Hey! What are you-"His sentence was cut short as he saw who it was.

It was Nikushimi, soaking wet and carrying a bloody bundle.

"Nikushimi? What's wrong?"

Nikushimi trudged in, apparently oblivious to the people around him. As he came closer, the innkeeper saw that the bundle in his arms was, in fact, Nikushimi's son Hihan. Nikushimi made his way to the table the innkeeper was sitting at and dropped the body onto the table. The men sitting at the table recoiled in disgust.

"That MONSTER killed my son!"

"Nikushimi...?"

"That FREAK!! That hideous, ugly, monstrosity of a hanyou!! He killed my son!"

The innkeeper glanced at the bloody body on the table, looking at the wound. In his impaired state, he did not notice that the mark had been made by a knife, not claws. He glanced back up at Nikushimi, his eyebrows creased in anger. He stood up, knocking his chair over.

"This has gone too far!"

The few people that were still talking (the rest of them had been watching from the moment Nikushimi kicked open the door) stopped to stare at the innkeeper.

"First the horses! Now... humans. We should have finished him off last time. Men!" he said, turning to the people in the tavern, "We have a half-demon to kill!"

A collective cheer rang through the tavern as the half-drunken men pulled out their swords and daggers, raising them into the air.

----------Later that evening----------

Tsuki hummed a soft melody as she calmly worked on her tapestry. Outside, she heard the faint sounds of some of the village men shouting and yelling, obviously drunk again. She sighed and set her tapestry down, deciding she should go prepare dinner, lest a certain dog-eared boy complain about no food when he got home. As she stood, she was confused and surprised to hear the crack of wood from the direction of the front door. She headed for the door to see what had happened when several of the village men came rushing towards her, swords raised. The closest one to her raised his fist and struck her in the face, knocking her to the ground. Some of them proceeded to beat her while the rest began searching the house. Soon, the searchers came back and gave their report.

"He's not here!"

The one that seemed to be the leader snarled and turned towards Tsuki. "Where is he, you wench?!"

"Where is Inuyasha?!"

Inuyasha sat staring at the evening sunset, seemingly lost in thought. Kagome, Miroku, and Sango sat nearby, each engrossed in thoughts of their own. Shippo was playing with Kirara nearby.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's nose and ears twitched and he looked back towards the village. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he began running back to the village. Sango called Kirara and she, Miroku, Kagome, and Shippo followed him. As they approached the village, shouts of the village men could be heard from within Inuyasha's house and they could see that the front door was broken down. Inuyasha entered the house, followed by Kirara and her passengers, and froze. Kagome gasped. Inuyasha's mother was being beaten to death.


Sorry if that chapter seemed like it was moving too quickly. I didn't mean to make it seem that way. Don't forget to review! See ya next chap!