A QUESTION OF INCARNATION

CHAPTER 4 Of Scars and Birthmarks

A/N: Chapter 4- Woot! This ones not my favorite myself, kinda slow if you ask me, but it has some important stuff in it, so it's necessary. Just consider it a brief break before it really gets going.

Kagome was a pretty good shopper if she did say so herself. She could find all the sales, still manage to get name brands, and without too much walking even. Her mom had a rare talent for knowing people's sizes by just looking at them, so she wasn't concerned about the clothes not fitting Adrian. What she was trying not to notice was that he was the same size as Inuyasha, and that the last time she had gone shopping for someone else had been for the fashion-challenged hanyou. Heck, that had been the last time she had gone shopping period. Shopping for herself hadn't held much appeal when she wasn't trying to impress anyone, or cared about what guys thought. It had been a long time since she had felt that way.

She lugged her bags out of the car over to where Adrian was hard at work in the garden. He was currently concentrating on weeding the western corner, so his back was to her. She called him over. "Hey, you there! Mud man! We have some presents for you!" For some reason she felt rather cheerful. She didn't really know why. He strode over, noting the bags in her hands.

"You didn't have to do this you know." He said.

"Yeah. I did." They both were silent for a moment, remembering. Those clothes were special, even if they did fit him. They both knew it. "My mom's getting ready to cook dinner- why don't you go shower and try some of these on." Kagome said, making an attempt at alleviating the now tense atmosphere. He seemed to appreciate the effort and smiled back.

"Thanks. I'll be down in a bit." He pushed his sweaty black and yet not black hair out of his eyes, only succeeding in making it more unruly than before. The amber eyes met the chocolate brown ones. Kagome's breath caught in her throat and she broke away from his gaze, picking up his bags from the ground. He thankfully left then, and she went in to help her mother.

Man, that gaze of hers held so many secrets. It was so familiar. He pushed it from his mind, as the distraction was bordering on the point of being dangerous and climbed in the shower. The cool water cut through the sweat and dirt and cleared his head. For just a moment he felt like his old self again. It was a good feeling. Coming to the Higurashi shrine was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time, if only for the sake that he had decent, cheap, room and board. But he knew there was much more to it than that. Never one to believe in fate, his faith was being sorely tested. Shaking such thoughts from his mind he toweled off, wrapping it around his waist, exiting the bathroom to examine his new wardrobe, which he had lacked the foresight to bring into the bathroom with him.

Kagome came down the hall with a fresh load of towels. She knocked on his door. "Adrian- I have some fresh towels for you-" she shouted. Hearing no answer she once again called out, "Adrian?" She still heard no answer, so she entered. She stifled a gasp. Man- He was hot. The muscles- She dropped her load, seeing he was clothed only in a towel (yeah, well, a bath sheet. She hated small towels. There wasn't a single one in the house except the one she used as a turban for drying her hair.). She mumbled an apology and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. She leaned against it, gasping. He had a birthmark in the upper right part of his chest. In the exact same place Inuyasha had had a scar- from where Kikyo's arrow had held him to a tree for 50 years.

"That... was... interesting." Adrian mumbled, more to himself than anyone. He continued pawing through the bags. A set of flannel pajamas, for the winter months that were soon approaching, but a lighter set of pajamas that consisted of shorts and a tank top. A pair of board shorts, doubling as a swim suit. A few pairs of jeans of varying shades. Several t-shirts (one he noted to be golden yellow), another red sweatshirt and a jacket. A pair of skateboard shoes, a pair of boots, and a pair of leather flip flops. They even thoughtfully provided a couple packages of underwear (he blushed at the thought of some girl he had met just the day before buying him underwear, but still marveled at it. 'How did she know I wore boxers? I guess it's like the tootsie pop commercials- the world will never know.'). All told, it would have come to a total of AT LEAST several hundred dollars. They hadn't been stingy, everything was of good quality, and almost everything was brand name. The generosity of these relative strangers never ceased to amaze him. They opened their home to him, spent very large amounts of money, and yet all they asked in return was that they help them with some of the grunt work around their house. He would do all he could in return.

His stomach rumbled, awaking him to reality. He remembered that he hadn't eaten lunch that day, as he had used his lunch break up snooping around, and even working through it he had had to rush to make it look like he been in fact working all day. Some part of him felt like a real jerk for betraying their trust like that, but a larger part told him that he somehow had a right to it. Don't ask him how. He quickly donned the golden yellow t-shirt and the darker pair of jeans and ran downstairs.

"Wow Mrs. Higurashi- how did you know ramen was my favorite!" Adrian remarked between rather large mouthfuls. All 3 Higurashi's were staring at him, but he preferred to think it was because of the vast quanitity of food he was consuming. When he had finally had his fill he excused himself to the kitchen and began washing dishes. Kagome followed him.

"But Mom! He looks just like Inuyasha! He eats just like Inuyasha! He even, out of all those shirts, picked out that one just like Inuyasha's old favorite! Ramen is his favorite food! How can you tell me it isn't him?"

"Honey, Inuyasha died a year ago."

"No! He didn't! I know he didn't!" Mrs. Higurashi pulled her son close.

"I know it's hard, Sota, but sometimes all the wishing in the world can't make something happen."

"It's not fair! Kagome said he he said he would be back!" Then something occurred to him.

"You said sometimes. Maybe wishing CAN make something happen. Maybe it did." Sota stopped crying. His mother held him. There was nothing to say.

"So- is..umm...everything...umm...satisfactory?" Kagome asked Adrian. She was putting the leftovers away, he was loading the dishwasher. It worked.

"Yeah. It's all great." He replied, turning his attention delibrately to rinsing off an already quite clean plate. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. It's worth it, this place is falling down around our heads since we haven't had any guys around to help with the upkeep. My grandpa died 2 years ago- it was kind of his job, and none of us really could ever quite get the hang of it." She stared into the depths of the fridge. The awkwardness was tangible.

"So, umm, tell me a bit about your family. And yourself. I don't really know a whole lot. I mean, I did only meet you yesterday." A voice in the back of his head was telling him, 'That was exactly the wrong thing to say, moron.' but he selfishly ignored it. He wanted information.

"My mom and Sota are about my only family. My dad died a long time ago, and you already know about my grandfather. I haven't seen any of my other relatives in years, they all live over on the mainland. Gets kind of lonely sometimes, you know? But it's all right. It's been that way for a long time now."

"Yeah, I do know." Neither met the others gaze. "Any friends, boyfriends...?" He cringed as the word slipped out. Who was he to ask her something like that? Why did he care?

"I had a few friends at my old school, but we really haven't talked lately." He noticed that she didn't answer his second question. 'So I was right. That guy in red- Inuyasha- was her boyfriend, not a family member. And something happened.' A small smile threatened to slip out, but he didn't let it. He didn't want to be too cruel, but a part of him that he really didn't want to address was glad that there was no competition.

"What about you?" Kagome asked.

"Me? Well, as I said before, my mother and father were very happy for all of about 6 months after they married. My mom's ex, from what I heard not the most stable of guys to begin with, got wind of her marriage and it drove him over the edge. He killed my father in a drive-by shooting. He was later convicted of pre-meditated murder and given a life sentence. My mom never quite got over it, and her friends later told me that they could just watch her waste away. The doctor's called it cancer, but either way she died before my 7th birthday.

"My uncle took me in, but he didn't really inherit my mother's kindness. He managed to keep me locked up until I was 12, but I escaped eventually. The streets were hard, but it was better than my average daily beating. At least there I deserved whatever punishment was handed out to me. The cops caught me back in March trying to walk off with a sleeping bag. My uncle appeared out of nowhere and posted my bail. I had about paid it off after 5 months, but he forced me to keep working at his restaurant, and kept waving paperwork at me, saying he could get me arrested for again for some reason or another because I was still 17, and a minor. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore, and on the day of my 18th birthday I stormed out. You know the rest." He didn't look at her, but he kept his tone offhand. He had a lot of practice.

'How can he talk about such hardships so easily? He talks about it like stocks, or the weather, or some other boring, mundane topic. Not at all like one would expect someone to talk about that kind of a childhood.' Kagome thought. But she knew better. He was hurting much more than he let on to anybody. Inuyasha had put on the same act, but she had found out long ago that it was just that- an act. Then realizing that she had been scrubbing on the same spot on the counter for the past 5 minutes, and that Adrian had long ago finished loading the dishwasher, they exited the kitchen without another word.

Adrian returned upstairs after saying goodnight for another look at that sword he had found earlier. Like everything else at this stupid shrine, it had been pulling at the back of his mind all day. He was beginning to get a bit tired of this whole Something-Important-Has-Happened-Here/With This/With Them-And-You-Need-To-Remember-It-But-For-Some-Reason-You-Can't business. But, he pulled it out from under the bed and sat down. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" He mumbled with as much disdain as he could manage. He needed to keep some pride. But he was not very keen on just hanging his find up on the wall. He cleared a bit more grime away from the edge of the sheath where it met the hilt pensively. He put one hand on the handle. It felt very comfortable in his hand, but it was more than that. He felt more...complete somehow. More himself, if that was even possible. He grabbed the sheath with his other hand. That hand too seemed to belong in that very spot. He pulled, and the sword slid out like butter despite being buried for 500 years. And with that simple action, he kissed the life that he had known goodbye.

A/N: Ooohh... cliffy. I'm so mean. But don't worry. The story really starts cracking after this. But I'm afraid you may want some tissues with you. And no, I'm not some kind of sadist. You'll see, you'll all see! Bwhaha! They shall all rise above the loss, the death, the fear, above themselves to find happiness. It'll all be alright in the end. Yeah, it's going to get rather grim, but it'll get better. The day would not seem nearly so bright without the night preceding itwaxes profound Just wait. But it the meantime, get some tissues.

P.S. Review or else I shall...hmm...have my horse step on your foot. Yeah. That hurts man...winces I swear, they just do it to hear all the funny noises we make, because they step on you and then won't move for a few minutes. It SUCKS. Note: If you value walking, never wear flip-flops near a barn...

P.P.S. Here's the extra chapter promised for being late! Sorry! Ch. 5 & 6 may be a while, they're all written out but need extensive revison because at the moment they don't make much sense (think, villians randomly rising from the dead and slaughtering people for no reason) and it sounds like a bad spy novel. But no worries!