Disclaimers: I'll own the Inu-tachi tomorrow. Didn't I tell you? But for today they're still Takahashi-sama's. But oh, the glorious tomorrow...
A/N: OK, I'm jumping right into this chapter. Don't be put off if it jumps in a little too soon/too fast for you, because I'll explain it all in due time.
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Three Way Mirror
Chapter Twelve
Efá-What?
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"Oi, Riku," Kouga barked. The boy looked up at him from where he was reclining during one of the now rare breaks during the day. Everyone was lounging about haphazardly, Kagome all but collapsing in InuYasha's lap as soon as they reached the riverside.
"What?" Riku replied.
"Just what the hell is this E-fey-eth thing?" the wolf wanted to know. "And why did Taiyo call you one?"
With a sigh, Riku began to explain. "First off," he said, gritting his teeth and sitting up straight, "it's Efáyêth. It's the native term for shapeshifter, and there's really no translation for it into any language."
"Yeah?" Shippo perked up from his "dead" position on the ground. "Say something in Efáyêth, then."
"Cusadrehk eh Efáyêth, drah," Riku shrugged. "And it's the race that's called Efáyêth, but the language is Raphsadôn. There's also a version of the language called Raphsahédrôn. It's the old language, and the grammar's weird."
"So how come you can speak this language and we can understand you?" Sango inquired, brushing away Miroku's hand.
"Taiyo doesn't speak Raphsadôn," was the simple answer. "I had to learn. Kiyoshi taught me. After all, I did teach her Raphsadôn."
"Kiyoshi didn't know Raphsadôn?" Miroku found the words leaving his mouth before he had a chance to think. It just didn't add up, though. If Kiyoshi was supposed to be a shapeshifter-- or an Efáyêth or whatever-- she should have known the language. She should've been fluent.
"I don't know if I should tell you or not," Riku admitted. Tension danced along his shoulders, a telltale sign that he was uncomfortable. A glare from several male youkai convinced him that he should tell. "Alright," he sighed once Kouga plopped down where he stood. "Kiyoshi isn't from Ea. From the Efáyêth village, that is. She wandered in about fifty-three years ago. And for the record, Efáyêth age the same as youkai. Anyway, she was hurt and one of the Elders took her in. Apparently she'd met Taiyo before that, because she'd often slip away and visit her, or Taiyo would come and visit her."
"Do you know what caused her to wander into Ea?" Kagome wondered sleepily, burrowing into InuYasha's arms.
Riku shook his head. "I don't know anything except she used to have two brothers. Taiyo could tell you more. She knows Kiyoshi almost better than she knows herself, and visa versa."
"Hey," Sango said slowly, almost as if she would change her mind. "How do you say 'keep your goddamn hands off me you dirty lecher'?" Miroku flinched.
"Gaab oui kuttysh ryhtc uv sa oui tewdo malraw." This statement was accompanied by a snigger. The meaning of Sango's question did not go unnoticed by anyone in the group. Kouga even laughed. Sesshoumaru only frowned at the taiji-ya's choice of words.
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That night, InuYasha couldn't sleep. He sat near Kagome, who slept peacefully in her sleeping bag. Shippo wasn't with her that night. He snuggled in with Kilalla-- in her big form-- with Rin. The two had become fast friends, despite the fact that they were of different races. Rin was definitely brought up different from other humans. Then again, so was Shippo.
Once again, his attention turned to Kagome, though, the forms of his friends and brother and former rival fading into the distance. He wanted to do so much more than what they had now, though he knew she wasn't ready for the actual mating yet. But that was okay. He'd be there when she was.
Not that he'd admit it to anyone other than his mate-- and even then, not right away-- he'd enjoyed holding her earlier in the day. He enjoyed just being around her. And carrying her on his back for the rest of the day when she rested her head on his shoulder was beyond words. There was just a way that the two of them fit together, just in the way his hands held the back of her thighs, and her head found the crook of his neck. At more than one point that day, he had wanted to just stop where he was and hold her for hours on end, forgetting everything else they were supposed to be doing.
He wasn't sure how the others would take the public show of affection between them. After all, the only "affection" showed among them before was Miroku groping Sango. He wasn't sure if petting Kilalla or Shippo really counted, but it was there, and it was affection.
Concern of the others aside, the previous day when he held her hand and walked along was undeniably worth facing down Naraku a thousand times over, without Sesshoumaru at his back.
As much as he wanted his thoughts to linger on Kagome, the nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him something was watching him made him look up. Indeed, Sesshoumaru was watching him watch Kagome. He was nested comfortably against a tree, content to just observe his younger brother.
In truth, Sesshoumaru had never really gone to sleep. Out of the corner of his eyes, he'd watched InuYasha observe first Kagome, then Rin and Shippo, then Kagome again. It was almost enough to make him smile, but that would have ruined the image of the elder he was trying to portray.
It was as plain as day that InuYasha wanted to have a family. And not just any family, but a family with Kagome. The contentedness in his face, though, had shown clearly enough that he was willing to wait. Possibly wait until half-breeds were accepted, even.
Though that Sesshoumaru didn't know how long it would take for that to happen, he knew that Kagome had a similar interest in a family.
This brought him to an interesting thought as he and InuYasha made eye contact. Though it didn't show on his face, he was startled by it.
InuYasha was his last living relative, unless you counted the half-cousin twice removed... but he'd save that for another day. Whether he liked it or not, he and InuYasha were blood.
Half or not...
They were blood.
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We all know how seriously Sesshoumaru takes his position as Lord of the Western Lands, right? And how he's determined to protect his father's bloodlines? In case I didn't make it clear enough, Sesshoumaru's just now realizing that InuYasha is the only other of his father's bloodlines. Whether he knew it or not before this is up to debate, but it's just now sinking in.
(Aimless prattling about the relation of Riku's language and the FF10 game has been deleted)
I seriously think this is enough rambling for now.
Please let me know what you're thinking of this so far! No pressure, but a little feedback would be nice.
Ja ne, minna-san.
