Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha . . .
ROCK ON!!
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45 bottles of beer on the wall . . . 45 bottles of beer . . .
Junichiro rolled his eyes, staring at the ceiling of the room.
Take one down, pass it around . . . 44 bottles of . . . aw shit, this isn't getting me anywhere!
He rolled onto his stomach, staring into the small fire pit at the edge of the room. During their return back to Kaede's village, it began to rain, causing the Inu-tachi to find shelter. Junichiro watched in amazement and amusement as Miroku strode up to a rather wealthy-looking house, asked to speak to the head of the household, and promptly told him that there was a demon residing in the residence. The nobleman, seeing that he was a monk, completely believed Miroku. With the payment for the exorcism, the wealthy man offered to let them stay the night.
Junichiro gawked in wonder, but the others merely shrugged it off. Apparently tricking noblemen to stay in their houses was a typical thing for Miroku.
So now he was in a large, comfortable room, full from a large dinner, and warm from the fireplace. It wasn't that he wasn't complaining . . .
But I can never get any sleep!!
It was true; almost every night he spent in Sengoku Jidai he had the hardest time trying to fall asleep. Whether it was the eerie calmness of the forest, the smell of fresh earth, or Shippou's snoring, he didn't know.
Glancing around, he noticed everyone sleeping peacefully. He let out a low growl, envious and annoyed that no one else seemed to have trouble falling asleep.
The only person missing was Inuyasha; he was asleep in a tree outside, near the window. Junichiro shook his head, confused by the hanyou's strange ways of living.
He stretched out his legs, suddenly smelling incense. Looking around, he realized that no one in the room was awake to light a stick of incense.
What the . . . oh, yeah . . .
Ever since he arrived in this era, his senses became sharper and more useful. He could now smell things a mile away, hear things that are hardly audible, and see things in darkness as well as he saw when there was light.
He had thought about what may have caused these new changes in his body, and he could only conclude one thing: the modern day noise and smells had caused him to shut down his senses nearly 100. By staying his past, his senses no longer had the threat of pollution or car screeches.
Speaking of senses . . .
Junichiro's ears twitched as he heard the rustle of leaves outside. Gazing at the window, he watched Inuyasha stir awake, sniff the air, and leap off the tree. Curious on where he was going, he made his way to the window and jumped into the previously occupied tree.
Looking around, he noticed a strange light in the sky, nearly a mile from where the nobleman's house was. Squinting, he could make out the snake-like demons that slithered throughout the air, surrounded by eerie white lights.
Is that where he's going?
Dropping to the ground, he quietly ran through the forest, his speed and stamnia still surprising him. I could get use to this . . .
He sniffed the air several times, making sure that this was the direction his future father was going. Sure enough, it was in the same direction as the strange lights he had seen in the sky.
Remembering something Shippou said about approaching undetected, he crept towards a small clearing from downwind, hearing the familiar voice of Inuyasha and the montone voice of a woman.
A woman?
Peering through the bushes, he watched as Inuyasha walked towards a woman dressed in the tradtional miko garb, her hair pulled back in a low pony tail. Junichiro nearly gasped as he gazed at the woman's face.
She . . . she looks like mother!
Curiousity getting the better of him, Junichiro gave into his temptations and crept closer until he was only about a hundred yards away, making sure he stayed downwind. Studying the woman, he saw differences between his mother and this supposed look-alike: Where Kagome's face was soft, her's were sharp . . . where his mother's eyes were warm and inviting, this woman held nothing but sorrow and grief . . .
Who is this woman?
"Inuyasha," the miko murmured, staring at him with blank eyes.
"Hello, Kikyou," Inuyasha returned, taking a step closer.
Kikyou?! That name . . . she's the other woman?!
"I see you came," the woman remarked, her face twisting into a smile.
"Why wouldn't I?" Inuyasha asked quietly, his body still.
Inuyasha . . . you baka! You're suppose to be with Mother, not this . . . Sniffing the air gingerly, he noticed the woman's strange scent. She's . . . she's not alive!
Kikyou stared at him for a moment, before turning away and facing the tree behind her. "I see you've left my reincarnation alone."
"Kagome's safe with the others," Inuyasha mumbled, a twinge of guilt pricking his heart as the young miko's name was mentioned."
Reincarnation!? What the hell is going on?!?
"Why're you here, Kikyou?"
The miko turned and faced him, her eyes flashing from grief to slight irritation. "I came to check on you," she monotoned, "Is that so wrong?"
"Check on me?" Inuyasha frowned, "What do you mean?"
Kikyou's lips turned upward, a strange smile creeping on her face. "It's only a matter of time, Inuyasha, before you will join me."
Inuyasha took a step back. "Kikyou . . ."
"I will take my leave," the miko announced, her Shikigami flying to wrap around her. "I see that our meeting has not gone undetected."
Junichiro felt his heart in his throat as Kikyou stared straight at him, taking Inuyasha's gaze with her. The two stared at the young man in the bushes, before the miko began to ascend to the sky.
"We will meet again, Inuyasha," she declared, her demons taking her farther and farther away until she disappeared completely.
The dark-haired man stared in wonder as she disappeared, his attention diverted by a certain hanyou who stared at him with a questionable look.
"Junichiro? What are you doing here kid?"
Great . . .
He reluctantly stood from his position in the bushes, facing Inuyasha. "I could ask you the same question," he glared, crossing his arms over his chest.
Inuyasha opened his mouth for a moment, before closing it. Shaking his head, he turned his back on the younger man, muttering, "Follow me."
Junichiro watched the hanyou's retreating back, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he slowly trailed behind. The two walked for a little, before Inuyasha stopped and sat down on a deserted log.
"You're probably wondering," the hanyou began.
"Damn right," Junichiro snapped. "Aren't you suppose to be with Kagome?"
Inuyasha glared at his companion. "Shut up kid, and let me explain."
Sighing, the hanyou rubbed his temple, supporting his elbows with his knees. "The others probably told you about me and Kagome . . ."
"Not really," Junichiro snorted. "I figured it out myself; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you two belong together."
The hanyou blinked for a moment, before muttering a few words to himself. "Anyways . . . that woman you just saw, Kikyou . . . we were . . . she was . . . we were involved."
"Fifty-one years ago, she was the keeper of the Shikon No Tama. I, being half-demon, wanted the jewel to become a full-fledged demon. And well, one thing led to another . . . and before long, we were making plans to be together."
"Something went wrong, and we betrayed each other . . . at the hands of Naraku. She pinned me to a tree before dying from a wound that demon inflicted on her, taking with her the Shikon No Tama to the afterlife."
Junichiro cocked an eyebrow. "You say she died . . . but she looked pretty alive to me."
Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the young man beside him. "She was brought back to life by a demoness; the woman you saw earlier is composed of her old bones and earth from her gravesite."
The dark-haired man sat a moment, trying to let the information sink in. Inuyasha loved another before Kagome . . .
"You're probably wondering what the connection is between Kagome and Kikyou."
"I heard something about a reincarnation?"
The hanyou nodded, closing his eyes. "Kagome is Kikyou's reincarnation. Fifty years after Kikyou sealed me upon the tree, Kagome fell down the well from her era, the Shikon No Tama embedded in her body. She released me from my sleeping spell and ironically, I thought she was Kikyou."
Inuyasha grimaced, remembering the harshness he had inflicted on the young girl. "We fought for it, and in the end, the jewel was shattered; it was then our job to find all the shards and make the jewel whole once again."
"One day, a demoness took the bones and earth from Kikyou's grave and made herself a life-like image of Kikyou. When she called the back her soul, however, she realized that it had already been reincarnated into Kagome's."
"She kidnapped Kagome and bathed her in some sort of potion, calling forth the soul. She planned to take it and give it back to Kikyou, but her plan backfired. Kagome called back most of her soul, only leaving Kikyou a small portion."
"The Kikyou that was resurrected was a mere shadow of her formal self; the woman that walks on this earth is bitter, seeking revenge on Naraku and myself because of her early death."
Junichro frowned. "But doesn't she know that it was Naraku who decieved her, and not you?"
Inuyasha paused before answering. "I tried telling her, but she doesn't seem to listen. She's blinded by her desire for revenge."
There was silence between the two for several moments, the night's calmness deafening to their ears.
"Did you love her?" Junichiro asked quietly.
The hanyou stared into the darkness before answering. "I did love her . . . she was the first person who needed me, as much as I needed someone back then."
"Do you still love her?"
He stared at the hanyou by his side, waiting for an answer. Sighing, Inuyasha met his gaze.
"I feel guilty for her death; I feel guilty that I lived, and she died. She didn't deserve such an end . . ."
"But now that I look back, I realized that Kikyou didn't love me for who I was. She needed me to change for her own security; she couldn't accept me for being a hanyou."
Junichor nodded, understanding his father's pain. "So . . . you love Kagome?"
Inuyasha averted his gaze to the floor. "Kagome . . . Kagome's different from Kikyou. She's not afraid to hide her emotions, and she accepts everyone for who they are . . . including me."
His cheeks began to show a bit of red as he continued. "There was this one time . . . we were against this demon, Kaguya. She tried to turn me into a heartless beast, and no one could stop me . . . no one except Kagome."
"Kagome brings out the best in me . . . she makes me feel wanted, secure. She makes me want to be a better person."
The young man raked his hand through his hair. "So why do you continue to see Kikyou?"
"I . . . I believe the real Kikyou's somewhere in there, deep inside her heart. Behind all the bitterness, all the grief . . . she's in there somewhere. It just doesn't seem right to me to leave her in her current state. I want to help her . . . I know the good's in there somewhere."
Junichiro broke the eye contact with the hanyou. He's full of conflicting emotions . . . like me . . . ha, like father like son . . .
So . . . all he wants to do is help Kikyou . . .
And Kagome makes him a better person . . .
Stupid baka still won't admit he loves her!
"I don't know why I spilled all that to you, kid," Inuyasha grunted, standing. "There's something about you that neither I or the others can figure out."
His golden eyes were narrowed in annoyance again, but the pools showed relief. "Let's go back before they find out we're gone."
Junichiro smiled inwardly, and followed his future father to the nobleman's house. A feeling of sadness fell over him as he stared at the back of Inuyasha's head.
I wish I had this kind of father-son bonding growing up . . .
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AN: whew . . . another chapter. I swear, I just can't stop writing!! But what better way to kick off the new year than a new chapter?
so Junichiro finally found out who the other woman was . . . if you didn't quite get how Inuyasha felt for Kikyou now, he only feels remorse that he lived and she didn't, so now he's trying to find a way to help her . . . or something :-P And even after that little speech on how much he cares for Kagome, he didn't say he loved her . . . aacck, INUYASHA!!!!!!!!
lol . . .I'm crazy . . .
Father-son bonding . . . you gotta love it!
thanks for the reviews . . .
Stay tuned!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!