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 intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Five

In the far corner of the shrine shrouded partially in shadow, Inuyasha lounged in a comfortable lawn chair and scowled at the Capital citizens who were desperately trying to show their visiting family members a good time that didn't involve them staying at their house. For them, this shrine was nothing more than a way to occupy their time and not one of them seemed to appreciate what they had. Teenagers rolling their eyes as their parents tried to engage them in conversation. A grandmother being ignored by their own children and being told to sit down because they were too slow. A father reading the newspaper instead of paying attention to his adorable little son who was very clearly bored and wanting to be entertained.

Half of these people were from outside the Capital visiting their blessed relatives who had been lucky enough to get a ticket to success within the wealthiest region. The Capital was the crown jewel on a long string of cities built in the habitable zone. A melting pot lacking any distinct culture or architecture. Just borrowing off the old rather than contribute anything new. Just bland filthy cement and equally dirty brick. There were a few remnants of the old world that had somehow survived the war that decimated the planet. Kinda. Knock off copies of ancient architectural landmarks. A famous Roman fountain. A red bridge suspended over the small bay on which the Capital sat. A few temples and shrines from various South American and Asian cultures. All sprinkled around the only city still standing able to boast having a population of over a million people. A fact which seemed odd given how strict they were about immigrating into the city.

Only one of the other regions even came close population wise. Sakimi. The southernmost fishing 'village' best known for being where the majority of naturopaths lived. Home to over eight hundred thousand people, the buildings there were architectural marvels modeled by beings able to make nature bend to their will. Even though they strangely had the fewest number of champions win the Final Selection, they had the monopoly on cultural ambassadors granted Capital citizenship. Musicians. Artists. Scientists.

Third place for most people fell to Kushimi. Kushimi, when it was first founded, was basically the old world Australia of the new world order. All the undesirables who managed to survived the nuclear purge wound up there to the disadvantage of the population that had been there previously and, unfortunately, they weren't exactly known for being upstanding citizens of the world. Not that it was an unfair stereotype. Fifty years ago, there'd been a random uprising and after history's lamest civil war, a large swath of the region's population found themselves dead when bombings started happening across all five regions. Even now, Kushimi was an unstable region. Every few years some type of highly publicized terrorist attack threw the region into chaos. There were good people there, naturally, but the region was poor and poverty naturally led to an uptick in crime. Inuyasha honestly wouldn't be shocked if Miroku was an excellent scam artist. A fine-tuned skill born out of need not greed. Maybe greed too. Too soon to tell really.

Then there was, of course, the Arami region known for housing the highest concentration of the empaths and healers in the world. Per capita of course. As if that wasn't enough to make people uncomfortable, they also had the highest concentration of animorphs. That last one was mainly because getting a visa wasn't difficult when it came to travel between the four regions. All it took was a quick painless application and a short interview and you too could work at the only food manufacturing plants in the world. Animorphs had a bitch of a time finding regular employment so most animorphs eventually found there way in Arami. Had to make a living somehow because nothing had really been learned about the dangers of capitalism and nothing in this life was free.

Anyway…

Carrying on…

These bastards clearly counting the minutes their relations returned to whatever region they were originally from didn't know how lucky they were. Just taking their loved ones for granted and counting down the days until they were gone. Sure, not all families were created equal and everyone could agree that family knew better than anyone how to push buttons but one day, when they were gone, there'd only be regret left over. A wish they'd done things differently.

As it was, Inuyasha was sitting hating these people and bitterly regretting not just staying put. Maybe his father had been right. Being a Champion might not've been all it was cracked up to be. It certainly wasn't worth losing everything in a matter of weeks. Not worth losing the chance to say goodbye. To have some closure. If he had just gone to Publix school, he could've just worked at the corner store or for the municipal government the rest of his life. Been normal. Well, as normal as someone like him could ever be.

Instead, he was spending the holiday break without the one worthwhile thing in his life. What was even the point in becoming a Champion anymore? In joining these people's team? A part of him wanted to just drop out while another part desperately wanted to make his mistake mean something. For there to be a point to it all.

"So…lunch is ready," came a timid version of the most annoying voice in the world, "And I was wondering whether you wanted to try and train later. The shrine closes at 1500 so there wouldn't be…"

Trailing off when Inuyasha turned his angry glare on her, Kagome cringed subtly and cleared her throat.

"We both need to train," she continued hesitantly, "All of us do. Miroku wants to practice his defensive techniques and you can practice attacking someone defense heav…"

"He's a walking black hole. Why would I let him direct that shit at me?" Inuyasha interrupted gruffly as he settled more comfortably in his chair and let out a heavy sigh, "I don't need any of you. I'm fine on my…"

"Because if you chose to not be on our team, he'll eventually be directing it at you and there will be loads of people with equally dangerous powers. Besides, everyone else will have teams. Everyone. And some of them…"

"If you're talking about the cousins, I'm not scared of…"

"Of course you're not. The only thing I can tell you're afraid of is social interaction," Kagome countered dourly as she placed her hands on her hips, "Now lunch is ready so we're going to go eat it and then we're going to train, okay?"

Inuyasha's scowl deepened considerably.

"Just leave me alone. I'm not hungry anyway," he countered acidly and Kagome visibly had to repress the urge to just yank him inside by his ear. Sighing, she clasped her hands together and held them up to her lips.

"Just come eat."

"No."

Another long sigh escaped the young woman.

"Please come inside and eat."

"Not happening."

"Fine. Then you can just buy your own food from now on and we won't worry about feeding you," she countered before regretting the comment when a flicker of hurt flashed behind Inuyasha's expressive amber eyes.

"Maybe I will then," Inuyasha bluffed as he abruptly got to his feet and began storming off – having utterly no idea where he would even go but not willing to stick around with someone who knew or should've known of his circumstances and try to use that to…to manipulate him or some bullshit. Honestly, he had half a mind to just take that ticket back and go back to the school.

"Wait. Wait. I-I didn't mean…" Kagome scrambled desperately as the full ramifications of what she'd just flippantly said caught up to her, "Wait! I just…"

When her hand impulsively grabbed his wrist, both teenagers froze immediately – one because he couldn't break the contact and the other for having yet again crossed a very clear cut boundary. Releasing him instantly, Kagome cradled her hand against her chest as tears welled in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just…I…"

With an angry huff, Inuyasha turned away and stormed off. Wanting to go anywhere this girl wasn't and absolutely regretting ever being so pathetic to have accepted an invitation from the likes of her.

It had most likely been hours since he left the shrine and mindlessly wandered the familiar path that once had led him home. A home that undoubtedly was leased out to someone else by now while their earthly possessions got taken off to the dump never to be seen again. Maybe though the clerk at the local store would recognize him and let him have a small meat pie on the house or even a bag of chips. Some small kindness? But that wasn't going to happen. Nothing good was going to happen from heading into Cheapside without a place to go into after dark.

Turning a corner onto a street lined with barred windows and layers of Capital bashing graffiti, Inuyasha glanced up momentarily at the street signs just to make sure he hadn't made a wrong turn someone along the way. It was absolutely possible in his own misery that he turned left or right far too early and somehow ended up on a street that was even more dangerous than the one he'd grown up on. Something which would be entirely too easy to do.

But no. He had found himself at the right intersection looking up at the tall nondescript brick building on the left filled with people who couldn't afford housing and families were given small studio apartments to curb homelessness. It was ridiculous really. Absolutely ridiculous.

"Inuyasha?! Hey! Hey!" a small child's voice rang out and Inuyasha winced as he tried to duck back around the corner. In no uncertain terms did he want to talk to the most annoying child in the world whose only source of entertainment for years had been pranking his older neighbor. It would be one thing if it was only the manifested gummy bombs and talking mushrooms but the shapeshifting and the gotcha moments…

Inuyasha cringed and sped up the pace as the sounds of tiny feet pitter pattering grew closer.

"Wait! I didn't think you'd be coming back!" Shippo's tiny voice called out as he continued scrambling behind the teenager, "Wait!"

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself. Go home," Inuyasha snapped as he stopped and turned to face the little boy who looked much thinner than he remembered, "Where are your parents?"

There was something in the way the little boy's smile faltered that had Inuyasha's stomach sinking.

"Oh they're, um, just at work today," Shippo offered awkwardly as his little tail drooped and he played with his hands before elaborating, "Mama is, um, visiting some friends and Papa got a taxi so he's gone a lot."

Inuyasha furrowed his brow momentarily at the strange correction before sighing heavily and holding out his hand.

"Come on. You need to get back home. Its not safe. You know that," the much older boy muttered as he gestured for the boy to take his hand, "Come on."

Instead of taking the hand like he'd done a thousand times, the little boy slowly shook his head.

"I can make it home myself," the little thing mumbled miserably before backing away and nervously glancing over his shoulder like he assumed someone was watching, "Papa'll be back soon. He promised."

Lowering his hand, Inuyasha set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. While true he wasn't good at reading people normally, he'd seen the signs of an orphaned child and knew what it looked like when one was trying to avoid being thrown into the system. Shippo had just turned five. Not in school yet. Government care boxes got delivered to front doors once a week. No one would've realized…

"Well, I'm staying with some friends. You want to come with me and go see them?" Inuyasha offered in what he hoped was a kind tone as he once again raised his hand and gestured for the boy to take it.

Shippo shook his small head and averted his eyes.

"Papa said he'd be back. I c-can't..."

"How long ago was he supposed to be back?" Inuyasha asked quietly as he knelt down and gave the boy a weary look.

A shrug and Inuyasha had his answer. Without another word, Inuyasha scooped up the small boy and began walking towards the old entrance to their dismal old apartment to get whatever was of sentimental value before taking him to Kagome's mother. Even though that woman gave Inuyasha many reasons to question her, she seemed kind enough to take and maybe even adopt a kid off the street.

"Put your hand on the scanner Shippo," Inuyasha ordered as he adjusted the boy on his hip and angled him so he could better reach.

Except the boy didn't and instead looked a thousand times more miserable. The tense silence that followed had Inuyasha sincerely regretting stopping at all but even though he was a solitary creature by nature, the last thing he wanted to do was leave another orphan to fend for himself. Especially one left with nothing more than the shirt on his back. Cheapside brats had to take care of their own since no one else was going to do it. It was entirely possible the government knew Shippo was alone and…

"It won't let me in," the little boy mumbled miserably as his tiny frame trembled, "Hasn't."

"Where are you staying then?" Inuyasha sighed heavily – not the least bit surprised but sickened nonetheless.

"The Brothers made me a deal," Shippo mumbled as he unsuccessfully tried to shimmy out of Inuyasha's grip, "Said they could keep me out of…"

"Yeah no," Inuyasha scoffed as he turned and began to follow the familiar path back to the shrine before the notorious Brothers who ran the criminal underground could catch wind that someone planned on taking their newest member, "Come on. We're heading back."

"But…"

"Just shut up and let me protect you," Inuyasha hissed quietly as he glanced around to make sure the street really was as abandoned as it seemed, "Unless you want that kinda life?"

Shippo fervently shook his head and wrapped his tiny arms around Inuyasha's upper arm.

So it was that Inuyasha headed back completely – or at least intentionally - unaware that he'd just opened a can of worms above his head.

If there was ever a way to avoid coming home for the holidays without sacrificing the unlimited resources at her disposal, Kagura would have done it in a heartbeat. However, as it was, staying at school or even running away to live outside the covert dictatorship her father had created all those centuries ago wasn't an option. Sure, elections were held but they were almost always fixed. At some point or another, a different one of her 'siblings' had taken up the empty mantle of Prime Minister while her father pulled the strings. Every ten years or so another child was taken from one of the unlucky bastards who discovered the truth and raised to be the newest addition to the Naraku family tree. Taught everything they needed to know to run a country and charm the pants over the outsiders who were worried that the Capital was actually a totalitarian government after all.

Yes, there were outsiders. Millions in fact. A whole world of various regions that had survived the nuclear war that had decimated half the planet. In terms of the average citizen, only the Champions ever got to learn the truth. Any immigrants, something which was infinitely rare, were kept quiet by various means. Anyone else who learned the truth was addressed and the threat neutralized. Kushimi was a growing problem though. What with the rise of technopaths who were growing increasingly adept at breaking through the virtually impenetrable firewall and discovering that the region they called home wasn't one of five but rather thousands. They also saw the stories and speculation about Tama and a seemingly immortal leader and realized what was really happening.

So, they rebelled and then died pointlessly. Over and over and over again. A series of generations there had grown up as orphans.

Kagura's father always made a point to kill multiple people at once and in creative ways. Poison gas. Plagues. Mysterious incurable ailments. Explosions. Good old fashioned firing squads. Electrical accidents. Fires. A hundred years into Father's reign, one 'tragic' tsunami destroyed the farthest region of Shikon after it declared independence and by the end of the next century, its existence had been wiped from the history books. All of it explained away and most of which fell well below everyone's radar.

At least she had decidedly taken herself out of the running for the next political figurehead. Graduating next year and none of the family business had been explained to her in any amount of detail. It was made clear she was a liability rather than an asset. She had too much a mouth on her. Was too unpredictable. It wouldn't surprise her, at all, if she wound up dead in some seemingly innocuous…

No. More likely she'd wound up being married off to the highest bidder. That's where her future lay. Some older bastard with a big fat belly and…

"Must you always sulk," a cold yet bemused voice asked as the grand master himself appeared in the doorframe to the small study, "I provide everything you could possibly want and yet you still defy me."

"Being in the study while your friends drink wine isn't defying you," Kagura replied with a heavy sigh as she met her father's cold glare, "It's staying out of the way."

"The rest of your siblings have joined me," Naraku pointed out casually, "And there are certain individuals which I'd very much like you to meet."

Kagura was certain that was true. It wasn't out of fatherly concern or love that he sought her out. Heaven knows that half of the other 'children' were sulking in rooms of their own or flat out refused to come. It was to put on display the prettiest of his adoptive children to entice someone to step forward and make an offer. Someone who wanted the connections and wealth that would come with marrying into the family that ran the world as they knew it.

But maybe there was still a chance to change her fate. Break free before she got locked into an impossibly more abusive and controlling situation. She only had a few more months to formulate a plan though before she graduated and had no distance whatsoever. Or…at least the illusion of distance.

Naraku always seemed to know where his children were.