Chapter 4: Kinship
Kagome felt like crying. Crying, with a captial 'C'. Small demure sniffles would not do, these would have to be big whiny sobs. She had been here for almost a week now, and she was still unable to find a way home to her family. Inuyasha was a slave-driver and never allowed her the opportunity to return to the dry-well and check it. Meanwhile he was rude, insensitive and insulting. They had gotten along briefly while Yura of the Hair attacked – he had given her his fire rat coat, and when all was said and done, he had called her by name. But after Kaede mentioned his mother and father, he became moody and withdrawn again.
Apparently his father had been a great dog-demon that ruled over the Kyushu area, and his mother had been a beautiful priestess. The newest addition to their party, Myouga-jiji, a demon-flea, had expounded on the subject at length. Inuyasha had walked out the moment they discussed his mother though, stating that she had disappeared long years ago. Kagome wondered if his apathy was because he hated humans, or if he was upset about his parents' deaths. Perhaps he had loved his mother so much that her absence ached and ate at her soul, and thus his reluctance to speak of her was prompted by love rather than a dislike of humans.
In any case, Inuyasha had stormed out, and Myouga the flea had followed, ostensibly to talk to him about some grave robber trying to break into his father's tomb. Kagome bet that Myouga really just wanted to suck his blood. She couldn't blame him though, the poor old guy looked so skinny and pale that he might wither away; he needed the nourishment. Meanwhile, she would use this opportunity to sneak back to the well while her protector was occupied. And remembering how badly events had turned out the last time she did this, she carried a bow and arrows just in case.
Honestly, she did want to assist in finding all the shards, and she did worry that her actions might create animosity in their group; however, waiting for Inuyasha to escort her to the well was not an option. She had waited long enough! She missed her mom! The boy would probably deny her anyway; he always seemed to get twitchy on the topic of the Bone Eater's well. Besides, why should she bend to the whim of some violent, overprotective wacko with ears? Even if those ears were super-duper cute? She could do as she pleased.
Only a few more yards and she would be home-free! Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, trying to release her pent up frustrations. The mere thought of returning to her own time made her jittery with excitement, and tears formed in her eyes when she imagined seeing her family. If the well did not take her home as predicted, then she was definitely going to cry, and if it worked, she probably would anyway.
As she burst into the clearing, she stopped short and drew a breath at the sight before her. All lay calm around her – the air was still, the insects were quiet. The forest foliage made the perfect picturesque backdrop to the old wooden well, lit by moonlight and shining with silvery tones. But what stole her breath away was the man beside the well. He stood tall, wearing full armor and a boa of some sort, with impossibly long, white hair that shimmered as he turned in a cascade of sparkling light. She wondered for a moment if the mysterious figure was actually a woman, except no woman in the feudal era could be so tall or… well-built.
Drawing closer to the man with caution, she recalled that he had been peering into the well as she entered the clearing. What did a feudal lord want with an abandoned well in the middle of the night? That is, if he was human at all – the silvery color of his hair reminded her of Inuyasha, and implied he was a youkai. If that were true, then would he attack her for the Shikon no Tama? But before she could phrase any questions the man disappeared without a sound.
Inching her way toward her destination, she carefully slipped into the well and climbed down the vines within it to return home.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Many tears and hugs later, (she had been right about the crying) she sat around the kitchen table with her mother and grandfather. At first, she had been concerned that they would not believe her story, but now she realized that something strange was afoot. Her mother flew into hysterics upon hearing her tale, and her grandfather muttered about sealing up the well, stating at one point that he should have bulldozed the damn thing years ago. Plus, Souta was sent to bed – a sign that serious conversation was about to ensue.
Looking at her mother's crestfallen expression, she felt guilty for falling into the well. Her mom had always been the rock in their family, the solid foundation that kept things together. The only other time her mother had gone completely to pieces had been when Kagome ran away as a child. Although she didn't disappear voluntarily this time, she associated the two experiences when she viewed the hurt in her mother's eyes.
"So let me get this straight, young lady," announced her grandfather. "You're saying that you broke the Shikon no Tama into a billion pieces?"
"Well," Kagome backpeddled, waving her hands, "maybe not a billion…"
"That means that you're the founder of our family shrine!" Her oji-chan's face was happy, puzzled and tormented all at once. Unfortunately, Kagome had not listened to his stories in the past. She twiddled her fingers hoping her grandfather would quickly launch into his rendition of the tale. "The founder of our shrine," the old man explained, right on schedule, "…was a guardian of the Shikon no Tama. If there is no shrine in the era you entered, and the Shikon no Tama currently does not exist there, it stands to reason that the jewel must be made whole again before our shrine can be founded."
Kagome nodded slowly. It was only logical. But why would her grandfather seem reluctant to send her back in time? Considering his incessant melodrama about ancestors, mikos, and youkai, this would seem like an ideal opportunity for her to learn about being a real-live miko. Shouldn't he be excited?
"That means," her mother interrupted worriedly, "she'll have to go back there?" Her palpable distress seemed like a fear of youkai… no, more than that – a fear of time-travel, which meant…
"Hey!" Kagome protested, "You two knew about the Bone Eater's well all along!" Wondering how she could have missed such an important detail her entire life, Kagome asked for details. "Grandpa always said it was made from the wood of the Time-Tree, but I didn't think that literally gave it powers. Except you knew didn't you?"
With a sigh, her grandfather began. It was time they told the truth. "When I was young, the well lay unsealed. No one went near it, or believed in the stories surrounding it. My father even climbed into it once, and nothing happened to him. Later, after I inherited the shrine, your mother used to love sitting beside the well to read. She said it was calming. I thought nothing of it, until one day she did not come home for dinner. Searching high and low we found a book nearby the well. Somehow, she had fallen inside and disappeared."
Shocked, Kagome gasped and turned to stare at her mother, who blushed. "It's true," she said with a little hesitation. "Dad researched all sorts of possibilities for what happened and why, but I think the best description I ever received was from someone I met in the past. He said the women of our descent have time-magic in our blood."
"You traveled through time too?" frowned Kagome, ruffled by the idea. All of a sudden, her mother was no longer boring and down to earth, but mysterious and secretive, with hidden depths. The transformation was stunning.
"Yes," the older woman admitted. "I… I did."
Silence cloaked the room as they waited for her to continue. "Why didn't you say anything before now?" Kagome inquired after a few moments.
Her mother and grandfather solemnly exchanged glances. "It did not seem necessary at the time," her grandfather stated. "But, I think, it is now. If you want…"
"No, it's all right. I can tell her about it," smiled her mother sadly.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
When Kikune, Kagome's mother, had first fallen through the well, she had been even younger than her daughter was now. In the beginning, her father had been ecstatic that the well actually worked. Imagine the money that could be made! Why, they could give tours into the past, and see honest-to-goodness priests and live youkai… She had been eager to explore the past as well, because it seemed like the fairytale worlds that she loved so much in print.
But in reality, it wasn't like that at all.
Things quickly took a turn for the worse. She was kidnapped during a struggle between two rival damiyo whose men clashed near the village. Luckily, a samurai captain learned of her presence before she was raped or hurt, and curious about the woman's strange accent and exotic brown hair, he took her aside to question her in private. Kikune lied as best she could about where and when she was from, but even though she had changed her clothing style to match the traditional kimonos of the past, it was to no avail. She simply did not fit in.
The captain interpreted her lies as proof that she was a youkai. It was partly because of her strange looks, but mostly because this was what he wanted to imagine. Normal soldiers were fortunate if they could kill any youkai they encountered – they were merely swordsmen and could not bind spirits. So capturing a live (female!) youkai was unheard of, and taking her prisoner was greatly auspicious.
With this in mind, the samurai presented her to his damiyo and received a healthy reward, while Kikune was left considering the irony of it all. As long as she posed as a demon, she was safe from the unwanted advances of human men because they were too nervous of what she might do. Yet as long as they thought she was special, she could not go home, because she was kept under a heavy guard all of the time.
After a month, she made a few friends in the palace. One sweet young girl, named Izayoi, especially loved to hear her stories and sat by her side for hours each day. Izayoi comforted her, assuring her that someday she would be able to go home. Sometimes they even planned to escape together. Izayoi wanted to get away from the castle and her overbearing family, and longed to have exciting adventures like her friend. What the girl failed to mention was that she was actually a princess. If Kikune had only known that, maybe everything would have turned out differently. But then again, perhaps not…
As the damiyo's power grew, he came into conflict with youkai more often. But unlike other rulers in his area, he refused to bow down. Making a novel move for a human, he decided to speak to one of the demons. The captive Kikune had demonstrated to him that some 'youkai' were capable of rational thought, and as a result he wrote to a local taiyoukai who was purported to be friendly toward humans.
Courteously stating that he and his men were at the taiyoukai's service and would be justly honored if their castle were ever to be deemed worthy of a visit, he calmly sent his letter. And lo and behold, the taiyoukai accepted. Perhaps honest, open-ended, polite gestures in demon society were as rare as in human circles. The damiyo's court burst into an uproar, servants ran away, and outlying families began to move out of the area, which all made the preparations take a bit longer than usual, but eventually the castle was ready to greet the Inu no Taisho.
They said he was the most ferocious youkai for a hundred leagues, that he was too enormous to fit inside a meager human abode, and that he would surely eat the castle inhabitants. Those that remained were quickly disabused of their notions, however, when a sociable, white-haired, human-sized lord appeared on their doorstep. He came alone and unarmed (discounting claws and teeth) and seemed eager to speak with every human present. It was, in a word, extraordinary. In fact, everything about him was – from his long white hair, to the navy markings on his cheeks, and the powerful confidence he exuded. No one could quite believe the situation, for how often did youkai act civilly to mankind, and how many men would have opened their doors for a neighborly visit? But somehow the damiyo and the taiyoukai got along quite well.
The Inu no Taisho asked for a demonstration of human behaviors and court proceedings. He had long been interested in people, because adopting a two-legged form freed up the hands to use bladed weapons and it was easier to move in a smaller body. For years now, he had encouraged his warriors to abandon their original shapes as well. Youkai taking on human form wasn't a new concept, yet implementing this idea on a massive scale in his army, the Inu no Taisho had won many battles. After a while though, his interest in human affairs had expanded beyond the boundaries of pure utilitarianism. He had started to like them. Presently investigating customs and manners, he took this invitation as an opportunity to study ningen ways.
Meanwhile, Izayoi used this chance to study him. Ever since befriending Kikune, the hime had been curious about youkai. She volunteered to arrange a tea ceremony for the stranger's benefit, and discovered that he was far more exotic and handsome than she had expected.
Seeing his daughter attracted to a youkai, the damiyo began to doubt the intentions of his guest. It was a far different thing to be broad-minded toward youkai in general, than it was to watch a cherished child mingling with one. Suddenly the whole alliance seemed like a bad deal. Since it would have been rude (and possibly deadly) to kick the taiyoukai out after only a few days, the damiyo finally found a use for his resident demon. They had kept her locked away at the outset, unsure how a taiyoukai would react to the capture of another of his kind; however, after Izayoi's performance, Kikune was presented to the Inu no Taisho as a gift. Doubly ironic then, that she was never a youkai at all.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Yes, quite lovely," the white-haired demon replied placidly. His expression was a study in emptiness. Kikune couldn't understand what was going on. When they first had informed her that she would be given away as a present, to a real-live demon, she had been terrified. Not because she was afraid of the demon per se, but because she knew her game would be over. The jig would be up. The youkai would easily be able to tell that she was just a human girl, he would say so, and that would be that – she would never escape her fate.
But instead, the taiyoukai (who was, incidentally, just as handsome as Izayoi mentioned) had said nothing. He had simply asked if such gifts were customary among humans, before accepting their offer. She couldn't decide whether this was good or bad. As the retainers filed out of the room, he smiled wryly in amusement, and she decided he was good. No one could smile that beautifully and be malicious or evil.
With the doors shut, they were alone in the room. "I see that I have acquired a most interesting youkai servant," he said as he seated himself in front of her. She cringed, but he didn't add anything else, merely waited for a reply. Observing the wavy haired brunette, he noted with fascination that her nails were painted and her brown hair was growing out black at the roots, showing that a coloring agent must have been used to achieve the effect. How could the humans mistake this petite little girl for a demon? Yes, the hair, nails, and eyes were unusual shades of brown, red, and blue, but it was a stretch to imagine that she was dangerous by any means.
When she opened her mouth though, he realized the contrast they must have heard. Her accent and wording were either foreign, or an incredibly distant usage of Japanese. " I told them I was a youkai so they wouldn't hurt me. To be fair though, it was their idea first. I just kept it up."
The taiyoukai chuckled, and from behind they heard a tiny gasp. Izayoi crept out from behind a shoji screen where she had been hiding, and looked toward the two others. "You mean…" she said in a small voice, "You are not a youkai?"
Kikune was shocked – what was Izayoi doing here? What if the youkai had been dangerous, and he had eaten them both? Admittedly, he didn't, but still… Glancing at the man with the golden eyes, she saw he was not surprised by the other girl's emergence. Maybe he had known all along. "I…" she gulped, "I'm not, no."
"That which you told me of your village was all a lie?" Izayoi murmured. Just by looking at her, Kikune could see her sadness and hated to think she was the cause. Evidently her stories had mattered to Izayoi more than she had first thought.
Trying to reassure her friend, she hastily defended herself, "No, that was true, I promise. Just the bit about being a youkai, that's all… er…" More importantly, would the girl reveal her secret now that it was out in the open?
"You said the villagers could fly – that there were stone streets, markets with fresh food all year long…" Izayoi whimpered. And finally, the real reason why this was upsetting her so much, "You did not trust me enough to speak the truth?"
The youkai said nothing, only watched as the two human girls spoke and observed their demeanor. Remarkably, he could detect no trace of deception from the brown-haired girl on the floor, yet the other felt certain she had been deceived. Even more entertaining – both girls were ignoring him in favor of each other. Kikune twisted her hands into her kimono and replied nervously, "Things are very different in my city. Technically I told the truth, I just didn't correct your assumption… I'm sorry, I should have said something sooner…"
Izayoi stood gracefully, and bowed deeply to the taiyoukai. "My apologies for such a disturbance, my lord. I will not intrude again."
As she exited the chamber, the taiyoukai chuckled again, and Kikune turned on him angrily. "It's not funny! She's really upset." At this, he laughed even harder. Such interesting creatures, these girls.
"Mom?" Kagome asked softly. Her mother seemed lost in a memory and had stopped recounting the tale. Grandfather was sitting close by holding his tea, and nodding his head as though he knew what she was thinking. And he did. He had heard this story before and it held no surprises, only a shared sense of sadness.
From outside the door, they heard a scuffling sound, and it was just enough to break her mother's concentration. The older lady sighed and rose to her feet, opening the screen to their kitchen. Thump! Souta fell backwards as the door slid back, but it was too late to pretend that he had not been eavesdropping. Too shell-shocked to even make excuses, the boy gazed up at his mother with teary eyes. She nodded and he silently joined them at the table.
"So where was I?" smiled her mother, to both her children this time. Kagome wondered where she found such a reserve of patience and fortitude. "Ah, yes. The youkai accepted me as a gift, even though he could obviously tell I had been fibbing to the other humans about my true nature all along. I think he found it funny that no one had noticed, more than anything else. And at the end of his stay at the castle, he took me too.
"I thought that he had seriously taken the damiyo up on his offer," said Kikune. Her cheeks reddened slightly. "But in the end, he simply asked me where my village was, and kindly offered to take me there. He said, if my stories were to be believed, he very much wanted to see the place too."
"So you told him about the well?" Kagome asked, dumbstruck. It didn't seem like a good idea to give up such valuable information to a stranger. Well, she had told Inuyasha, but that was because the villagers had already known about the properties of the well, and… Oh wait. That was because of her mother too! "Hey, Mom!" she asked out of the blue. "Do you remember a miko named Kaede?"
"Kaede?" her mother puzzled over the name. "No, I'm sorry. Was that one of the people you met?"
"Um… yea." Maybe her mother had never gone to the village beside the well. Besides, interrupting the story for such a trivial detail was rude. She chastised herself. "It's nothing. Please go on."
"Well, I told him about the time-traveling well," continued Kikune, "And he expressed a desire to see me again… So once Father was all right with the matter, I returned. I traveled many times across the well to see him." Now the blush was clearly visible, snaking its way across her cheeks. Souta and Kagome exchanged glances. They had never seen their mother embarrassed before.
"Once when I returned, Izayoi was there. She said that she had always longed for adventure, and that she did not want us to part in anger, so she had run away from home to be with us. I'm not sure if she missed him more than me, but in any case, it caused quite a scandal. Her disappearance caused the damiyo to attack every youkai in his area. And as soon as the youkai caught wind of the rumor, they made even more trouble for my lord.
"He encouraged Izayoi to go home, except her father tossed her right back out again. The damiyo maintained she was spoiled and insisted that he had no use for a ruined daughter. I remember she cried for days. After that, he kept us both by his side.
"And eventually…" Here, her mother paused and drew a deep breath. "I found out that I was pregnant."
Souta's eyes nearly came out of his head at this news. Turning to his sister, he broke into a wide grin. "Whoa! Kagome! And all these years I thought you were just a dorky sister. I had no idea you were so cool!"
Kagome motioned for him to shut up with one hand, while staring at her mother. Little brothers could really be pests sometimes. Couldn't he see that this was a difficult story to tell? No point in making things worse. And surely, her mother would have said something by now if it were true.
"Young man!" interrupted their grandfather opportunely. "I'll have you know that no miko from this family is related to a youkai in any way, shape, or form! This was many years ago, when your mother was a young girl!"
"So what happened then?" Souta asked, unable to contain himself. The sun had been down for hours, and the whole lot of them should have been in bed long ago, but no move was made to evict Souta from the kitchen or to leave the story for another day. Both children were completely enthralled.
For a moment, Kikune tensed, then eased her grip on her cup. "He asked me to marry him."
"You have a son already?" Kikune responded. "That's wonderful! What's he like?"
They were walking in the woods, under the peaceful afternoon canopy. Pacing a few more steps, the Inu no Taisho shook his head. At last, he turned to face her with a cryptic reply and a small smile. "He tries very hard."
"The other youkai would not accept a human as their lady, and this created a whole new set of problems for him. He was often gone, and I had only Izayoi for company. But once our son came, he practically hovered over us. Oh, he was the most wonderful baby – with little furry dog-ears, and white hair." The more she said the easier the words flowed, and Kikune seemed almost happy at this point, while remembering the tiny figure.
Oji-chan snorted at the thought of one of his grandchildren having puppy-ears of all things, but he held his peace. It was all long past, and even if he had known how painful things would become, could he honestly conclude that things should have ended differently?
"Dog-ears?" Souta asked with great uncertainty.
"Yes! And little claws," Kikune sighed happily. Her eyes had a starry glaze to them. "I suppose you'd have to see him to understand. I think I have a picture somewhere… Let's see…"
As their mother moved to rummage around in one of the drawers, Kagome added under her breath, "Weird. Sounds like Inuyasha."
Grandfather froze and stared at her, aghast. "What did you say?"
"Er…" Squirming, she tried to figure out if she had done something wrong. She had merely been contributing to the conversation to let them know she believed the story. "I said, it sounds like Inuyasha?"
This time the whole room fell still. Overwhelmed, her mother gripped the counter to keep from falling and looked to her father for reassurance. "That was his name…"
"… That was what he named our son."