Chapter 6: Revelations, Part II

"Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Kenshin gripped his reverse-blade sword as the strange creature grabbed his leg. Kill it! The Battousai screamed. Kenshin felt his self control slip for a brief moment before he managed to shove the former Ishin Shishi into the back corner of his mind. The strange toad man was now bawling into his hakama and the bewildered swordsman could only find one response.

"ORO?"

Shippo watched in hidden fascination as three very different expressions crossed the human's face. His first response had been one of shock, followed by a very brief moment of cold rage. That had intrigued the kitsune, as the human's eyes had briefly turned golden before fading back into his natural color. Now Sesshoumaru's reincarnation was staring down at the miniature youkai with almost comic bewilderment.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" A deep, male voice yelled.

The kitsune turned his attention to the taller human male. His brown hair seemed to spike out from his head, much like a rooster's comb. The strange human stalked over and grabbed Jaken by the collar, pulling him off the smaller man.

"PUT ME DOWN YOU INSOLENT HUMAN!" Jaken lashed out at the human, but to no avail. He finally swung his staff at him, causing one of the heads to spit fire.

"WHA…!" Sanosuke dropped the creature in surprise as fire spurted out from the staff. That thing has heads on it! The creature laughed mockingly at him, further agitating the already angry human.

"Take that human!"

"Of all the…"

"You want more?" Jaken prepared to launch another assault at this human who would keep him from his lord, but a strong hand stayed the staff. He looked up in surprise and sputtered as Shippo pulled the staff from his grasp.

"We are guests here Jaken."

"Give me my staff!"

"Not until you are of a clearer mind."

Jaken glared at the kitsune, but backed down as the other male gave him a piercing look. The much smaller youkai muttered under his breath before turning to look at the red-haired human again.

Kenshin had not moved an inch. He was only now recovering from the sudden shock, which caused another response as his mind started to work again.

"Oro?"

Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke were all now gathered around their friend. Kaoru watched as the strange, red-haired man stood in front of Kenshin. Her young apprentice gaped in fascination at the red fox tail swishing back and forth behind the man. Ayame and Suzume's reaction was to grip Kenshin's hakama pants even more and hide behind him.

Shippo looked down at them in surprise. Then he turned his attention to the woman standing close to Himura Kenshin. Are they his daughters and mate? Kaede hadn't said he would have a family. The kitsune slowly bent down to the children's level, but they hid behind Kenshin. The kitsune thought for a moment before pulling some flower buds from his sleeve. Using his kitsune magic, he transformed each them into two bouquets of brilliant wildflowers.

"Would you two like these?"

Ayame and Suzume peeked around the edge of Kenshin's pants to eye the strange man. What they saw was a kind look that was not unlike that of their 'Uncle Kenny's.'

"Thank you Mr. Fox Man!"

"Tank you Mr. Fox Man!"

Now having no fear of Shippo, the two girls came out of hiding, each clutching the flowers to their chests. This very much put Kenshin at ease, which had also been the kitsune's intention. Shippo stood up to eye the human before giving a polite bow.

"Please forgive us, especially Jaken. He was just…excited. My name is Shippo and this is my daughter, Sango." He rested a hand on his child's head.

Questions whirled through Kenshin's mind, but as the other man had so far been courteous, so should he.

"This one's name is Himura Kenshin. My friends are Kamiya Kaoru, Myoujin Yahiko, Sagara Sanosuke, and Genzai Ayame and Suzume," he said as he indicated each one. He saw a brief look of confusion cross the other man's face.

"What is it?" Kenshin asked.

"These aren't your children?" Kenshin gave a start at that, but figured that the mistake was understandable.

"No, Ayame and Suzume are the granddaughters of our friend, that they are."

"Oh. So Miss Kaoru is not your mate then?"

"Oro?"

Sanosuke began to laugh hysterically. Both Kenshin's and Kaoru's faces now burned a deep shade of red. Yahiko began to laugh as well, until Kaoru couldn't take it anymore.

"Shut up!"

Both Sanosuke and Yahiko began to laugh even harder. Kaoru's face amazingly turned a deeper red.

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"What does mate mean, Uncle Kenny?"

"Uhh…"

"Unca Kenny is all red!"

"Did I miss something?" Shippo asked. Just great, one minute into the conversation and I've already said something stupid, he thought. Jaken gaped in astonishment at Kenshin, who was behaving nothing like his former self.

"Stop embarrassing Lord Sesshoumaru!" he yelled loudly. Six pairs of human eyes latched onto the small youkai.

"Lord Sesshoumaru? Who's that?" Kaoru asked.

"Yeah, I've never heard of him," Yahiko said.

"Never heard of him!" Jaken stared at them, aghast. "How could you never hear of…" He broke off as a leaf suddenly smothered his mouth to keep him from speaking. Jaken attempted to rip it off, but the leaf refused to budge. Instead he glared up at Shippo, who was ignoring him. YOU DAMNABLE FOX! His mind screamed.

"Sesshoumaru was a powerful youkai lord," Shippo explained calmly.

"Youkai?" Kenshin asked. He took a closer look at the three strangers as he suddenly understood.

"All three of you are youkai," he stated. Kaoru and Yahiko stared in confusion at them while Sanosuke gave them a wondering look.

"I didn't think youkai were real," Kaoru said.

"What are youkai?" Yahiko asked.

"They're supposed to be immortal," Sanosuke answered. "I've heard that the mountains and forests are full of them."

"Not so much as there used to be," Shippo replied, "But yes, that is where most of us are now." The kitsune saw that Kenshin had become deep in thought.

"I suppose you and Mr. Sagara have heard of us then?"

"Yes," Kenshin said, "But unlike Miss Kaoru and Yahiko, I know that the tales are not just legends. Master Hiko himself killed a youkai that attacked us, but it was nothing more than an animal. He said that the most dangerous youkai were the ones that resembled humans, that he did." Kenshin saw a look of amusement cross Shippo's face at the description of being dangerous.

"Really?" Yahiko asked as he looked at Kenshin with amazement. He heard a grunt from Sanosuke. The boy turned to look at him.

"Oh and I suppose you've seen one too?" Sanosuke crossed his arms before answering.

"Captain Sagara always used to tell Katsu and I how a wolf youkai had once saved his life. He'd said that he had looked mostly human, except for the pointed ears."

Wolf youkai, I wonder who that was? Shippo thought. He heard angry mumbling and looked down at an irate Jaken. The little youkai was trying to pull the leaf off again. Stubborn old man.

"If I remove the leaf, will you behave Jaken?" Jaken nodded his head up and down. Shippo sighed and wondered if he was about to make a mistake. He snapped his fingers, causing the leaf to release its hold on Jaken.

"YOU DAMNABLE FOX!" Snap. The leaf resumed its former position.

"MMMFFFFHHH!" Jaken yelled. How dare he?

"Calm down Jaken," Shippo said. Jaken glared up at him, swearing that the fox was enjoying this. The kitsune turned to his daughter.

"Sango, please give me the swords."

"Yes Father." She held the swords up to him and he took them in his strong hands. Shippo turned and presented the swords to Kenshin.

"This sword is the Toukijin and this one is the Tenseiga, a sword of healing. Both are youkai made and once belonged to Sesshoumaru."

"Why are you showing these to me?" Kenshin asked. Shippo's lips twitched as he handed the Tenseiga to him.

"I want you to hold this for a moment."

"Why…" Kenshin trailed off as his eyes became fixed on the sword. It was pulsating right before his eyes! His hand slowly reached out to it, acting without consent from its master. It enclosed around the handle, slowly pulling the sword out of its sheath.

Kenshin brought the Tenseiga to his face, staring transfixed at it. The blade seemed to have some strong hold over his mind. He faintly heard his friends gasp as the sword began to glow a faint bluish-silver.

"Tenseiga," he murmured, and came to a start as he realized what was happening. Kenshin slowly tore his gaze from the blade to find a pair of jade green eyes studying him.

"These swords belong to you, Himura Kenshin. You are the reincarnation of Sesshoumaru."

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"Where the hell's Myouga when you need him!" Inuyasha raged. Namu stood quietly off in a corner with Kirara. Why does he need Myouga for?

"Calm down Father," the raven-haired woman said. The hanyou stopped his pacing long enough to look at his daughter. Amaya was very much the image of Kagome, with the exception of her golden eyes and clawed hands. Being only quarter youkai, his daughter wouldn't live as long as a hanyou, but her life span still greatly exceeded that of a normal human.

"Your kid's right Inuyasha," Kouga said. The hanyou glared at the wolf, but said nothing. The two had since settled their differences, even if they still irritated the hell out of each other. Kouga had married Ayame, even though the hanyou knew he would always love Kagome. The wolf had reluctantly let her go after he'd realized how much she loved Inuyasha. The hanyou had to respect him for that at least. But still, it had come as a bit of a shock when his daughter had married Kouga's son, Akio. Now he and the stupid wolf were in-laws. Damn the irony of life.

Kouga watched as Inuyasha took a deep breath. The hanyou had matured greatly since their days fighting Naraku. Inuyasha usually had better control over his temper now, but since his son's death nearly a century ago in the Great Youkai War, the hanyou's temperament seemed to have darkened slightly. The wolf was secretly glad of Namu's presence. The young fox hanyou seemed to fill the void of Inutari's death in Inuyasha's heart.

"Why do you need Myouga, Inuyasha?" Akio asked. Inuyasha flicked his attention over to his son-in-law, who was sitting with his and Amaya's infant daughter, Izayoi. Inuyasha watched his sleeping granddaughter for a moment and found the action to be very calming.

"He has information I need."

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Kenshin stared at the red-haired kitsune with a look of disbelief. Everyone else was gaping at him.

"What do you mean, this statement of yours can not possibly be true."

"I am quite serious." Shippo pointed to the sword that was still in Kenshin's grip. "The Tenseiga only reacted to Sesshoumaru, he was the only one who could truly use it. Yet here it is, reacting to you. Do you have an explanation for that?"

Kenshin felt slightly dizzy. What this strange kitsune said couldn't possibly be true.

"How can Kenshin be the reincarnation of a youkai when he's a human?" Kaoru asked.

"It is possible. Tell me, have his eyes ever changed?"

"Changed?" she asked. She, Sanosuke, and Yahiko looked warily at each other for a long moment before they felt a sudden chill.

"Yes…they've turned golden before." When he becomes the Battousai, she thought.

"Sesshoumaru's eyes were golden," Shippo stated. He heard a soft murmur and looked down at Jaken. The kitsune snapped his finger, releasing Jaken from the leaf. The smaller youkai rubbed his mouth and glared briefly at the kitsune before turning to speak to the humans.

"I've heard it said that you were Battousai the Manslayer during the Revolution," Jaken said. "Is this so?"

Kenshin tightened his hold on the Tenseiga, as if gripping a lifeline. He answered softly.

"It is so. But this one is no longer the Battousai."

Jaken eyed him for a moment before continuing.

"It's also been said that you are the greatest human swordsman of this era."

"I'll actually agree with that," Sanosuke muttered.

"Quiet you! I'm not finished!"

"Shut up you son of a…"

"Sano, please." It was all Kenshin had to say. His friend gave the youkai a menacing look, but shut up. Jaken cleared his throat, clearly just getting warmed up.

"Whenever your eyes turn golden, your youkai soul is in control. That is why your strength and speed increase so much." Actually Jaken didn't know for sure, he was just guessing. His guessing apparently hit the mark though, because Kenshin's face seemed to withdraw even more.

"Why?" Kenshin finally asked.

"What?" Jaken asked in surprise.

"If what you say is the truth, then why was I reincarnated? Why are you even here? I should not think it would matter if I knew the truth or not, unless if there was a reason."

Shippo held the Tenseiga's sheath out to Kenshin. After a moment of hesitation, the human slid the sword back in. The kitsune felt a great deal of emotional stress coming off of the human, even if he showed no outward sign of it.

"Perhaps we should make ourselves comfortable," the kitsune said. "The story is long in the telling and much more suited to sitting down." This should give the human a few minutes to collect himself.

Kaoru gave Kenshin a reassuring look before leading everyone into the house.

"All right, I'll make us some tea. Then we can talk."

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Author's note:

Just some name meanings.

Amaya means "Night Rain." Akio is "Smart Child", Izayoi was the name of Inuyasha's mother and Inutari is my own creation.