DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: This author has no financial or non-financial relation nor do they possess any right to "Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale" franchise. Full ownership of all characters is the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Four

Struggling against the tears prickling at the back of his eyes and the lump in his throat, Inuyasha felt himself crashing hard after the euphoric wave he'd been riding hit a wall. Because this shrine would be her shrine now, wouldn't it? Couldn't be one of the other dozen or so shrines that existed in this stupid city. No. Of course it had to be his mother's favorite shrine to visit. The one that had reminded Mother of where she grew up. Inuyasha wasn't supposed to know that his mother came from outside the safety and protection of the habitable zone. No one was supposed to know there were others who were still managing to survive in the midst of a nuclear wasteland. It was speculation but Inuyasha had always suspected that was why Mother got so seriously ill. Even with all the mutations in the world, no one could survive high doses of radiation and live a long healthy life. How she, an outsider who shouldn't exist, managed to meet his father had never been fully explained and she never would say exactly where she came from but wherever that place was had a shrine that was almost identical to this shrine and therefore, Mother had made a point to visit every other weekend for as long as Inuyasha could remember.

In hindsight, he really should've done some background digging of his own. If he had known that this shrine was that shrine, he would've happily stayed back and lived off Doritos.

"I know it looks intimidating but her mother is very kind," came the irritatingly desperate boy's hopeful voice, "As is the rest of her family. Be advised, however, that her grandfather will give you a long tedious history lecture at his earliest…"

"What makes you think I give a shit whether they're nice or not?" Inuyasha huffed hoarsely as he gave the violet eyed boy a menacing glare.

"Good for you. So glad you think like that," Sango's irritated voice suddenly chimed in as she went a withering glare over her shoulder. Inuyasha furrowed his brow.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means eat shit and die," Sango huffed as she stopped and began to advance, "Listen, I get that this whole trip has been a disaster but so help me if you ruin the rest of my holiday by causing a scene and being mean, I will personally drag you back to the train station and throw you onto the next train back to school."

"I'd like to see you try," Inuyasha snarled but the woman didn't so much as flinch. Miroku, however, did react and seemed to be more concerned for Inuyasha than he did for the girl.

"Well now that the threats have been made, shall we go in?" Miroku sighed as he gave the bristling girl a patient look. The fact that the girl seemed incredibly confident in her ability to force him onto the train and the boy's clear agreement with that assessment gave Inuyasha pause while also irritating the shit out of him.

"I could take you down in a second," Inuyasha snapped as he rolled his shoulders and tried to look intimidating, "You're just a puny…"

Weird how blue the sky looked today and how quickly the ground came up to forcibly meet him. Somehow in the span of less than a second, the girl had managed to flip him over her shoulder before he could react.

"Just why?" Inuyasha heard Miroku mutter under his breath as two semi-dazed amber eyes watched the defeated looking boy quickly move to scale the staircase.

"You need us not the other way around," Sango hissed as she moved out of arm and leg reach, "It's one thing to train against a programmed machine. It's another to fight a living breathing human being with martial arts training and physical stats to back it up. Now get up."

Nostrils flaring, Inuyasha set his jaw and seriously considered starting a full on brawl but thought better of it. The girl had a point and she had demonstrated it expertly. He had to give her that. Even if it did make him want to punch her in the face.

"I thought you were their defensive team member" Inuyasha accused angrily as he pushed himself into a sitting position and glared, "Seems like you have offense covered."

"Martial arts is a defense oriented. Not that you'd know that since you've actively avoided any training courses," Sango scoffed as she folded her arms across her chest, "Going it on your own and refusing help makes you weaker."

Inuyasha's scowl deepened as he got to his feet.

"How would you know I didn't take any…"

"Because I take every single one the school offers and you're not in any of them," Sango cut him off before sighing heavily and shaking her head, "Look, I'm sorry I threw you but…."

"If you had to say 'but' then you're not sorry," Inuyasha snapped half-heartedly before rolling his shoulders and nodding towards the stairs, "Is what he said true?"

"Yes. The grandfather will indeed attempt to bore you to death."

Inuyasha had to check his responding smirk as he picked up his thrown suitcase and shifted his weight.

"Well if that's the worst thing…"

"The little brother, Sota, will insist on explaining to you every detail of whatever book he's reading," Sango added bemusedly, "Which is infinitely more annoying."

Inuyasha furrowed his brow and gave the impressive woman a questioning look.

"He's into fantasy. There is a lot of canon," Sango offered by way of explanation, "And typically extensive backstory that he will want to explain to you in great detail. You can avoid the grandfather. He's a neutral. Kagome's little brother is an empathic tracker. There is no hiding from him. He knows when you're awake, when you're bored, when you…"

"So he's like Santa Claus but his gifts are shit," Inuyasha snickered and Sango blinked in confusion.

"Sandra who?"

Cringing, Inuyasha mumbled a quick 'forget it' and made a beeline for the stairs. It was going to be hard to know what he could say and couldn't say. Having never had friends before, he didn't exactly know what was common knowledge and what wasn't. Sure, in the comfort of his home, things like that had been said and taught but for some asinine reason, he always assumed that fantastical men breaking into your house to leave you a gift was something common. In primary school, no one had ever really talked to him or included him in anything. For many, many years 'a new friend' had pathetically made it into his letters to this Santa until he got old enough to realize Santa was just his mom. Maybe Santa was something Mother had just made up for his benefit. A quirky family tradition to give a lonely, confused little boy some hope and bring a smile to his face.

Shit, what if these assholes didn't put up a tree or exchange presents?

Inuyasha let out a soft curse as it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't even have any presents to give. Not that he had any money to buy gifts or the will to make a handmade one but how did everyone else celebrate the holidays? Not for the first time he wished Mother had exposed him to more. In Cheapside, businesses didn't even bother putting advertisements anywhere and the stores there didn't bother selling anything more luxurious than brand name soap. Even when...

Despite being lost in thought, Inuyasha had enough wits about him to notice several things at once. It took five, maybe six, seconds before he heard a muffled gasp and the sound of dainty footsteps rushing across the tiled courtyard. Saw shadows in the gold accents of a middle aged woman making her way towards him. Felt an almost overwhelming sense of doom and dread before he could even take his next full breath.

"Oh my goodness! When Kagome said she was bringing a new friend I never would have expected it to be you!" the woman, presumedly the mother, gushed excitedly before seeming to remember something very important and giving him a guilty grin, "It's okay if you don't remember me. Let me introduce..."

"I'm not an idiot. I know who you are," Inuyasha huffed - trying to figure out why this woman was acting Iike she knew him. More likely, she just recognized him because imaginably, seeing the same white haired dog eared child come to visit your place of business every weekend for years on end would leave an impression. Still didn't give her the right to act so friendly.

And despite being snapped at, the woman looked downright giddy. Which made no sense.

"Is your mother joining you?" the woman asked excitedly as she glanced over his shoulder like she expected the missing and no longer with the living woman to be behind him, "Oh I've missed her. She hasn't been in a few months and I…"

"She hasn't been because she's dead. If you really knew anything, you'd know that," Inuyasha clipped before squaring his shoulders and nodding in the direction the other teenagers were heading, "I'm assuming the house is this way?"

Instead of reacting in a normal way to being called out on bullshit, the now subdued and entirely too pale woman nodded absently while her fingertips slowly raised to her lips and her jaw trembled. Was this bitch seriously going to cry like a frequent tourist meant a damn thing to her? Seriously?!

Setting and resetting his jaw, Inuyasha made to go inside the house and find a place to sulk in private before freezing and going rigid when he heard the woman whisper to herself 'that's why she stopped calling…'

As far as Inuyasha knew, Mother never called anyone and she sure as hell never talked to this woman while the numerous times they visited here. Shit, he wouldn't have been able to pick this woman out of a crowd much less…

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Kagome's mother finally offered with genuinely sympathy as she shook her head and gestured for him for follow, "Come. Come. I have lunch all ready. I had just been setting out plates."

Agonizingly uncomfortable with this abrupt and random transition, Inuyasha for the umpteenth time considered just getting back on the stupid train and going to live off his stash of Doritos. Despite what that Sango girl had said, he was fairly confident he'd make it through the first round of the Selection on his own. True, he'd probably sign up for a few of those defense electives now that he saw the benefit but he could still go it alone just like how he'd planned. There was a reason these assholes wanted him on their team after all and this whole trip had been one disaster after another.

Still, if he was being honest with himself, he really didn't want to spend his first holiday without his mother truly alone. That and how many people actually wanted to be friends with a murderer?

Miroku wasn't normally such an anxious, reserved mess. Normally, he could charm the pants off of anyone and was as smooth as butter. That being said, normally he couldn't care less about whether the person actually liked him much less felt the need to impress them. Sure, he liked wooing people and his ultimate backup career path was marketing, but this was different.

No matter what Sango had impulsively said out of anger, they actually did need Inuyasha way more than he needed them. Sure, in theory, the current trio could handle the first few rounds of the Selection without issue. All of them had formidable offensive and defensive tactics but the problem was that statistically, with only one exception in the history of histories, the Champions had four people. Some had five but 99.9999999999% of them had four people. An even number so one person didn't get isolated and ambushed in the more difficult challenges. They were also limited. Yes, Sango could destroy someone with her fists but she had to make contact. Okay, Kagome could use her ability to absorb energy to manifest weapons and barriers and long-range attacks but that wouldn't help if someone got close enough and also there was the little issue of her having a meltdown of nuclear proportions. By far the most useless team member was himself who had exactly three, maybe four, attacks and all of them could only be used in limited amounts before he sped up the timeline for his imminent demise.

Inuyasha's abilities were virtually limitless and his weaknesses? Well, apparently he had one but that was an easy fix and Miroku was absolutely confident the boy could learn to control it. It was a weakness that they could manage.

One problem. Just a quick point. Inuyasha hated them. Rightfully so since all they'd been doing was a bang up job giving him reasons why. From leaving the poor boy waiting for hours probably thinking it had been some cruel joke to Kagome being wholly un-Kagome-like by messing with Inuyasha's empathic ability even though she knew his heart had stopped beating for a moment to Sango essentially attacking him for no reason…

Someone had to broker peace and try to ingratiate themselves. That task fell squarely on Miroku's shoulders and for the first time in his life, he felt himself floundering.

Especially when, upon being told they'd be sharing a room, Inuyasha looked like he would have preferred death. A reaction that was odd seeing as how everyone – no matter how rich or special – had a roommate in the dorms. Maybe he assumed he would be staying alone? Or perhaps he wanted to hide from them during his stay? Not that Miroku could blame him for wanting...

"Which one is yours?" Inuyasha finally sighed – taking Miroku's nervous gaze for fear of being placed in a room with a murderer rather than a reaction to Inuyasha's genuine shock that a house of this size didn't have more rooms. After all, the people who ran tourist attractions – especially ones with religious significance – were loaded. While everyone else in the world lived in apartments, those types of people had actual homes and yards and luxuries like built in HVAC units. They were paid handsomely for the services they provided. Had all the benefits usually bestowed on Champions. Well, okay, not all but most. They had power and influence and were on governmental boards and…

Just thought there'd be more than five bedrooms for some reason. Not that five wasn't a lot of bedrooms but just seemed like fewer bedrooms than he always imagined that kind of money would provide. Unless, of course, these people didn't have money and it was just another item of propaganda that got put out there. Something which was entirely possible.

After all, sunshine and rainbows didn't fly out of the Capital's ass contrary to what everyone in the outer regions seemed to believe. Well, okay, he took that back. Kushimi thought the Capital was crap but the other regions, especially Sakimi, definitely thought…

"I defer to your judgment," Miroku offered with a strained smile, "I have no preference."

Nodding absently, Inuyasha glanced between the two beds before choosing the one furthest from the door. Even though he'd been in shared living quarters his entire life, it never ceased to be weird to be in a room with a door. A life of sharing a small studio apartment with his mother, complete with its communal bathrooms and suspiciously damp smell, had made being given true privacy uncomfortable. For that reason, he was secretly grateful that someone else was going to be in the room with him.

On the other hand, he didn't know shit about this guy other than what a quick glance over his register had told him. Space naturopath. Caused some earthquakes. From Kushimi. Enough said but it wasn't like he could really judge the bastard for having parents that were labeled terrorists. You could throw a rock in Kushimi and hit a dozen of people who thought the Capital was up to something more than taking care of its citizens but as far as Inuyasha knew, there was no evidence for any of the charges that got thrown around. A conspiracy that there was a cabal who was really in charge of the Capital and more troublesome, the greater country of Tama. Which was an insane thing to even suggest much less believe. But half of the Kushimi region believed the tales and because of that, other year some merry jackass would go blow something up to try and blow back the 'curtain'.

Those people were stupid. Shit, everything was stupid anymore and nothing ever got better. People just sucked. No amount of atrocities ever made people learn.

Setting down his suitcase, Inuyasha let out a weary sigh as he glanced out the window into the marble tiled courtyard. Speaking about people sucking ass, weird how Kagome's mother said that his mother used to call her. Mother didn't have friends and if she did, they never helped with anything. They were always struggling and always alone. Not that…not that he would've expected anyone to help them financially, but it would've been nice to have friends growing up. Maybe, if he did know more people, things wouldn't feel so…

"Are you feeling better than you were this morning?" Miroku interrupted Inuyasha's train of thought and with a soft grunt, Inuyasha nodded absently before flipping open the bag's clasp to start the arduous task of unpacking.

"I'm fine. Not a scratch on me," Inuyasha sighed as he shrugged off his coat and lay it haphazardly over the twin bed. An awkward moment passed before Inuyasha cleared his throat and added - trying to lessen the tension that was so thick in the room it was suffocating, "Crackers helped."

"I am aware it's not the same but when it's my turn to assist, I found crackers helped settle my stomach," Miroku offered meekly as he scratched the bridge of his nose, "That and humming to myself."

Inuyasha simply nodded in acknowledgment as he unpacked his toiletries.

"What type of empath is she anyway? I've never seen someone go nuclear like that," Inuyasha asked casually as he began to set out the three light grey shirts he owned and a pair of dark grey sweatpants.

"She's a receptive conductor," Miroku offered immediately and Inuyasha snorted.

"A receptive conductor?" Inuyasha repeated skeptically, "The bitch put out feelers. She's clearly an influencer and she told me she could manifest weapons by absorbing the energy she takes in which means she's also a feeder."

"We're not attempting to deceive you," Miroku sighed heavily, "That is the classification the government assigned her."

"But that's not..."

"Any trait you have witnessed is a mirrored one," Miroku continued to explain, "Those aren't hers. Her body is a library of every ability she has ever encountered and she can mimic them at will. However, when she experiences strong emotions of her..."

"Upset the bitch and she goes boom. Got it," Inuyasha grunted as he slowly picked up the soft package his mother had sent him and frowned, "Guess that's why we're all in the Academy instead of training on our own to be walk ons. We're all fucked up in some way. Got things that need an expert touch."

"Is that why you applied to the Academy?" Miroku asked hesitantly and Inuyasha shrugged but didn't elaborate. Truth be told, Inuyasha wanted to be the Champion so he could get his Mother out of poverty and give her access to medical treatment she had sorely needed. Also, being poor meant they didn't have the resources for him to train independently and back in the Capital, his teachers hadn't exactly been what anyone would call supportive. Sure, he'd had good grades and kept his nose clean but when it came to...

Point being, he'd done all this for his Mother and ultimately ended up killing her instead. Good job him. Excellent decision making. Gold stars across the board.

"Not that I agree that..." Miroku suddenly amended as he realized what his question implied but thankfully Inuyasha was already answering.

"I wanted to be a Champion. Seemed the best way," Inuyasha huffed before placing the package on the bed and glaring over his shoulder, "Don't touch my shit."

"I would never..."

Inuyasha sniffed once and absently arranged the various items which comprised everything of value he owned outright. They were the last things his mother had given him. Some clearly more special than others but everything else he owned had been gifted to him by the Academy as part of their package deal. Mother had been the one to give him these. His father's old suitcase. A new jacket. The scarf around his neck. Three grey shirts. A new pair of sweatpants. Some socks. Underwear. The mysterious package which probably held more socks and underwear.

He'd chose them over gold any day.

"Just don't touch them," Inuyasha huffed as he finally turned around, "So does this shithole got more than one bathroom or are we all sharing that too?"