Chapter twenty-six – Telling one the truth

"There certainly is a lot of commotion going on out here" said a male voice.

Everyone turned around to see and saw a young looking man. He had golden eyes, long silver hair, though it was about as long as Kagome's.

Kagome gasped and ran until she was standing in front of him "Ecaro?"

He smiled "it's a pleasure to see you again, Kagome" he looked at the two kids who were walking up to them "and it's nice to see you again as well Rin, Shippo"

They smiled and said their hellos while Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango stood a little confused. Miroku walked up next to Kagome "you know this…youkai?"

Kagome looked at them and smiled "yes, he's Edoksu-sama's son. Everyone this is Ecaro" she looked at the dog demon "Ecaro, this is Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango" she pointed to each one as she said their names.

Ecaro bowed "it's an honor to meet friends of Kagome"

Sango smiled "it's nice to meet you as well"

Kagome then looked at Ecaro confused "mind if I ask what brings you here?"

Ecaro looked at her and smiled "not at all, I'm here-"

"To make sure you are kept safe"

Everyone turned to see Sesshoumaru walking up to the rather quickly growing group. He stopped next to Kagome "Edoksu-sama and I had talked at the youkai ball that should I have to leave, he would send Ecaro to watch over you until I return"

Kagome raised an eyebrow "you make it sound like I'm a child and he's my babysitter"

The taiyoukai stared at her for a moment "I assure you it's only for your protection while I'm away"

Rin grinned at looked at the eastern lord's son "so you're going to be staying with us awhile?"

Ecaro nodded "yup"

Shippo hopped on his shoulder "this is going to be a lot of fun"

Ecaro turned his head to look at the kitsune "why is that?"

"Because then we have one more person to play tag and hide-and-go-seek with!"

Ecaro gave Kagome a confused look "huh?"

Kagome smiled "their kid games I use to play when I was their age"

Ecaro stared at her for a moment. Something was off, he sensed it earlier and ignored it, but now he realized it was coming from Kagome. He walked up to her and sniffed "Kagome, you smell…different" he sniffed again before his eyes widened "you mated with Sesshoumaru-sama?!" he nearly yelled, but was still able to remember that in the presence of people to call his older cousin 'sama'; he took another sniff "and did the bond?!!"

Kagome's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and her cheeks turned a deep red. She quickly looked at the ground. Well the cat was out of the bag. She was hoping she would have been able to talk with Sango about it later or something, but well…now everyone knew.

Miroku looked at their friend from the future "is this true?"

Inuyasha blinked before he walked up to Kagome and sniffed the air. He could smell something different so he moved till he was sniffing close to her neck before his eyes widened with shock "it's true" he confirmed. He heard his brother's low growl of warning to back off because he was a little too close to his mate. Inuyasha lifted his head from being close to her neck and took a step back, looking her in the eye "congratulations then"

Kagome nodded "thanks Inuyasha"

Sesshoumaru placed a hand on her shoulder "I believe it is time for lunch"

At the mention of the word 'lunch', Rin and Shippo both took off towards the dinning room. Kagome and Sango chuckled at the sight as they then walked after them with the men following behind.

At lunch, Sesshoumaru listened with half an ear while everyone was sharing their life story with one another. Ecaro seemed rather interested with the monks cursed hand and surprised that a demon exterminator was hanging around demons. He tried to get Kagome to explain herself, but she kept saying that she wasn't allowed, so Ecaro then turned to the taiyoukai "well then, Sesshoumaru-sama, will you please explain why your mate dresses differently than other females? I've never seen an outfit like hers"

Sesshoumaru casually looked at his younger cousin "you will learn later in life when I think the other lords should know the truth about her"

Kagome looked at him and mouth a silent 'thank you' before returning to eat her meal.

Ecaro raised an eyebrow "truth about her?"

Sesshoumaru smirked "she's not your everyday human"

Inuyasha couldn't help, but chuckle "don't worry Ecaro, you'll learn soon enough, but right now it's not really safe to talk about the truth of Kagome's background with Naraku about"

Kagome sighed. She was beginning to feel like a different species with the way they were talking. She then frowned, what would be the real harm in letting Ecaro know the truth about her? He was family to her now, a cousin-in-law, and shouldn't family know some of your big secrets? Besides she was sure she could trust him not to tell anyone and Naraku knew most of her history except she was from the future, but chances he might know that too from spying were pretty good.

Sango looked at Kagome who was sitting next to her and leaned over to whisper "is something wrong?"

Kagome looked at her and shook her head "no, just thinking"

Sango wanted to ask what she was thinking about, but the look on her friend's face showed she was already back in deep thought, so she left it be. As the meal was ending she excused herself and Kagome and both left the room.

Kagome looked at her friend "is something wrong, Sango?"

Sango looked at her "more like, is there something wrong with you?"

"I already told you it was nothing" she replied.

Sango shook her head "Kagome, I know you better, something is on your mind and it's bothering you" she stopped in the hall to face her "so tell me, what is it that's bothering you?"

Kagome sighed. She quickly looked towards the doors that led to the dinning room before grabbing Sango's hand "let's go talk about this in your room"

Sango nodded and went with Kagome down to her bedroom where she shut the door and locked it "alright, now will you tell me what's going on?"

"I just don't understand why we can't tell Ecaro the truth" she admitted "I mean what would be the harm? I'm practically part of their family now; shouldn't I be able to trust them?"

Sango frowned "I don't know Kagome, some times with certain family members it's not safe to indulge secrets, especially one as big as yours"

Kagome stared at her friend for a moment "but I trust Ecaro not to tell anyone and besides with all of Naraku's spies around he probably already knows after all this time of fighting him, what would be the harm?"

Both fell into silence while they wondered what they should do. Sango looked at the girl from the future "you are my friend and I may have just met him, but he does seem trust worthy" she placed a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder "it's not my place though to tell you what you should do, this is an important secret you want to tell and you have to discuss it with the man your spending your life with"

"You mean Sesshoumaru, don't you" she stated rather than questioned. Kagome then took a deep breath before slowly releasing it "okay, I'll talk with him, I only hope he agrees"

Sango smiled "well I can't tell you what to do with the big important problems now, but I can help you with your small problems by giving you some advice"

Kagome blinked "what do you mean?"

"I can help you give him reasons to tell Ecaro why he should know the truth about you" she replied.

Kagome went wide eyed before hugging her "great! I'm going to need anything you can give me to win this battle" she took a step back "I may not be going on the physical battle field, but at least I get to have a verbal battle of wits" she laughed "alright, tell me what you got"

Sango smirked before starting to give Kagome some hints and words of advice.

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Sesshoumaru continued to sit with Inuyasha, Miroku, Ecaro and the children long after Kagome and Sango had left. He was bored and would have loved nothing more than to go to his study where he would be left alone.

Rin looked over to Shippo. She was bored with all the adult talk going on. It wasn't interesting and had nothing to do with her "do you want to go and play?"

Shippo looked over to her and grinned "I'd love to; all this talk is boring me"

Rin nodded before clearing her throat and getting everyone's attention "may we be excused Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru looked at the plates in front of them before giving a nod "make sure Jaken is with you"

Both nodded and with a quick "hai" they were out the door.

Ecaro watched them for a moment before looking at the taiyoukai "they are wonderful children Sesshoumaru-sama, but how on earth did you come to own them? Especially the human girl"

Sesshoumaru looked at him "Ecaro, we are amongst family and friend of Kagome, there is no need to be so formal"

"As you wish" he replied "will you explain how you came to own them then?"

The demon lord remain silent for a moment "I found the girl dead on the road and decided to test tenseiga on her and she's been with me ever since and as for the kitsune you'd have to talk with Kagome about how she came to own him"

As if on cue, Kagome walked in with Sango by her side. She quickly noticed the two empty seats "where are the kids?"

Inuyasha looked at her "they left to go play, apparently they were bored with us talking about things they didn't understand"

Both girls took their seats again. Miroku noticed how close Sango was and his hand found her butt. Sango screeched "pervert!" and slapped him hard.

He sighed "it was worth it"

Ecaro blinked at the scene and noticed how Inuyasha and Kagome merely ignored it and Sesshoumaru didn't even look like he had been paying attention to it "I take it that happens often?"

Inuyasha smirked "at most, once a day"

Ecaro quietly shook his head and looked to Kagome "I had been asking Sesshoumaru how he acquired Rin, would you care to explain how you got Shippo?"

Kagome looked at him "his parents were killed by the thunder brothers and he tried to steal the jewel shards I had" she almost laughed at the memory "it didn't really work with Inuyasha around to stop him, anyways, I was eventually captured by the brothers and both Inuyasha and Shippo came to my rescue and he's been with us ever since"

Ecaro blinked "you didn't mind having a youkai child with you?"

She shook her head "nope, I rather enjoyed his company. It was much easier to listen to after listening to Inuyasha and that"

Sesshoumaru stared at Kagome for a moment. Something was not right with her, she seemed calm to everyone else, but he could tell she was uneasy or troubled about something. He then stood up and began to leave "Kagome, come with me"

Kagome stared at him as he continued to walk. She looked at her friends "sorry, I'll come back as soon as I can" and with that she stood and left.

The taiyoukai waited a moment for her to catch up to him before taking her to a private room and shutting the door "something is troubling you" he stated.

Kagome was a little nervous about this "uum, yea, it's nothing really"

He stared at her "explain"

"Well I was just wondering why we couldn't tell Ecaro the truth about me" she replied.

Sesshoumaru growled, he knew what she was getting at "no"

"Awe, come on Sesshoumaru, you've already talked about telling the other lords so why not tell Ecaro now, why he's here"

"I said I would tell him when I deem it the right time" he retorted

She glared at him "and when would that be?" she was answered with silence and she sighed "if you were to tell him now about me and where I come from, he might stand a better chance of protecting me when it came time to fight"

Sesshoumaru almost smirked "how would that help him?"

She was silent for a moment before she groaned "alright, so it may not help him, but it would help me. I wouldn't have to hide the truth from him, am I not part of this family now?" he gave a nod "then I think we can trust Ecaro with the truth, who would he tell while he was here?"

Sesshoumaru walked up to her "would it please you to be able to share this with him?"

"I think it's only fair" she answered "no secrets this important between family members, well, unless we can't trust them"

Sesshoumaru stared at her for a moment longer before kissing her forehead "very well then, let us go tell him"

Both walked back to the room where Ecaro was listening to Miroku explain some of the battles they had been through, most with Naraku being involved. The dog youkai winkled his nose in disgust "he sounds like a dishonorable demon"

Inuyasha huffed "he's a hanyou like me, but different"

"A hanyou!?" Ecaro said in disbelief.

Miroku quickly gave the run down about Onigumo, Kikyo, and how Naraku came to be. By the time he was finished, Ecaro looked more disgusted about the hanyou villain. At the sound of someone clearing their throat the three men turned to looked at Sesshoumaru and Kagome who took seats beside each other.

"Ecaro" Sesshoumaru stated "still wish to learn the truth?"

Ecaro looked at him with slight confusion "about Kagome? Yes, I am very curious"

Sesshoumaru gave a nod "very well then you shall have it"

Kagome smiled at him "Ecaro" she watched as his gaze fell on her "the reason I'm not like other humans is because I'm not from here"

"You come from another part of the world?" he questioned.

"More like from another time in world history" she answered.

Ecaro blinked in surprise "a-another time?"

"I do come from Inuyasha forest, except in about 500 years it becomes the Higurashi shrine and my home" she quickly explain that 2 years ago on her 15th birthday how she was dragged into the well by a centipede demon, then how she met Inuyasha, Shippo, Sango, Miroku and even Sesshoumaru. By the time she was finished it was time for supper. Rin and Shippo had come to join them and ate quietly while the adults were still talking.

Ecaro stared at Kagome "I can't believe you're from the future, it's so…"

"Weird?" she finished.

He nodded before smiling at her "what is the future like?"

Kagome looked at the taiyoukai, wondering if she should answer that. Sesshoumaru gave a nod before looking at the other dog demon "keep in mind, cousin, what she tells you cannot be changed, it will happen"

Ecaro nodded "I will keep that in mind"

Kagome looked at him, seeing he was ready to listen. She hesitated "uum, where to start, much has changed"

Ecaro nodded "as curious as I am I'll only ask a few questions not and we can talk more later, after all, I'm going to be here a while"

Kagome smiled an nodded "okay, then ask your first question"

"Well, are there any demons?"

She shook her head "not that I know of, humans are the dominate species now"

"How did that happen?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm not really sure" she said honestly "before being dragged into the well and meeting Inuyasha I thought demons were only myth"

Inuyasha gave a nod "trust me Ecaro, if they saw a demon there they would be scared out of their minds"

Ecaro nodded "I see, interesting, so have humans changed?"

Kagome smiled "very much, we're much more advanced and educated"

"You're educated?"

She nodded "it's required that you must do 12 years of school then a higher education at a college to become whatever you want"

"So I take it there are many jobs?"

"Too many to name" she replied "some people become vets, doctors, lawyers, mechanics, scientists, teachers for the schools, builders, painters, singers, anything you can think of"

Ecaro nodded "I can see I'm going to want to learn more, later of course"

Kagome laughed "maybe when the others leave we can talk more?"

"Sounds good to me" he answered.

Sesshoumaru growled. He didn't really like how his cousin was acting like he knew Kagome his whole life. He was being just a little too friendly towards her.

Inuyasha leaned over to his brother and kept his voice low enough for only the taiyoukai to hear "is somebody jealous?"

Sesshoumaru looked at his younger brother and growled "you'll be wise to stay silent, hanyou" he breathed out so not to draw attention to them.

"Calm down, Sesshoumaru, remember Kagome picked you" his voice sounded almost remorseful "she wouldn't cheat on you with anyone, that's not her, she's totally faithful to whoever holds her heart"

The taiyoukai knew that was true; he'd seen it many times when she was with the hanyou. He almost let a smirk pass his lips 'now her loyalties lie with me' he thought as he stared at her.

Rin yawned. Adult talk was so boring and all they were talking about was Naraku this and Naraku that and then the brief talk about the future. None of it was exciting since she'd personally seen the future. She yawned again and looked over to Shippo to catch him yawning as well. She then leaned over to him "let's go draw or something"

Shippo looked at her and nodded. Both got off their chairs and started to leave when a voice halted them.

"And where do you think you two are going?" came Kagome's voice.

Shippo turned around and looked at her "we're bored here, so we were going to go and draw in Rin's room"

Kagome looked at their plates to find it mostly empty before looking back at them "okay, I won't be too much longer and then I'll come and get you guys ready for bed"

Rin smiled "okay Kagome, we'll be waiting" and they both ran off.

Miroku smiled before staring at Kagome "my, my Kagome, you seemed to have taken to parenting well"

"I just remember what my mom use to do with me" she answered.

Sango shook her head "it would still be hard to look after two kids, especially if they are orphans and you had never really dealt with kids before"

Kagome smiled "well I always had my little brother to look after whenever my mom went out for some reason or another, so I already had some idea how to look after kids"

"And you do it well I might ad" complimented Miroku before he covered his mouth to stifle a yawn "if you excuse me, I think I will retire for the night since we do have to be up early tomorrow"

Inuyasha gave a nod "that's probably a good idea, we don't know what's going to happen once we reach the appointed battle field"

Both stood up and said their good-nights to everyone before leaving the room. Sango then yawned "I think I should get some sleep as well" and she stood up "good-night everyone"

Kagome nodded "good-night Sango" she then looked to the two demons that were still left "I guess I should put the kids to bed now before I go myself" she stood up and smiled at the inu youkai "good-night Ecaro, see you in the morning"

Ecaro smiled "good-night Kagome, have pleasant dreams"

She giggled "I'm sure I will" she then looked at the taiyoukai "I will see after I get the kids to sleep"

Sesshoumaru gave a nod and watched her walk away. Tonight was his last night with his new mate for who knew how long. He would have to make sure the battle ended quickly so he could return quicker. Movement to his side caught his attention and he turned his head to see his cousin standing up "retiring early as well?"

Ecaro looked at his cousin "only to my room, it's peaceful here and I don't have my father trying to teach me how to be a lord all the time, so while I'm here I'm going to take the time to work on a few things" he gave a small bow "good-night elder cousin"

Sesshoumaru gave a nod "as to you, younger cousin" he watched the youkai leave before he, himself, got up to go to his chambers. When he entered then he saw Kagome just starting to crawl underneath the covers. She looked at him and gave a sad smile. He walked up to her and stroked her cheek with his hand "what causes you this cheerless smile?"

"What there to be cheerful about?" she questioned "your leaving tomorrow to be gone for who knows how long or worse you might not even come back" a tear escaped her eye, but she quickly whipped it away.

Sesshoumaru moved to sit next to her. He was not one to show his emotions or to comfort those in need, but this was his mate and he would do anything to make her feel better. He gently pulled her on to his lap and kissed her neck before speaking softly "no tears"

Kagome almost laughed through her tears as she was reminded when she had first met him "is that an order?"

"Hai" he said simply.

She turned her head to look at him before smiling and turning her body around in his lap so she could wrap her arms around his neck in a tight embrace "than I have no choice, but to obey, Sesshoumaru-sama"

The taiyoukai pulled her back a bit and let a smirk show "if that is how it is going to be then I order you to come to bed and give me a farewell present"

Kagome blushed as she looked at him. It would be her second time doing this and she was still very shy about intimacy, but this was his last night at home. Who knew when he would be home, so she looked at him and smiled, trying to hide her nervousness "hai, Sesshoumaru-sama"

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Taiyoukai- great demon

Youkai- demon

Hanyou- half demon

Kitsune- fox

Hai- yes

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Note: alright, so many reviews for ch.25. Thanks so much to everyone who has been reviewing. Gladly appreciate it. Okay so here's the deal. I can't update for at least 3 weeks. That's why I made this chapter long. I'm not abandoning this story. I'm going to finish it, but it's going to be hard to update right now because it's exam week starting Wednesday for me and I really need to buckle down and work. Exam week is normally 2 weeks long, but then we start the new semester and I'm going to need that week to get use to my classes. Okay? So I'm not updating for 3 weeks, but I promise to keep writing every chance I get. Send me lots of reviews. I so love reading what people say. Speaking of which, here are some replies to some reviews. Oh and one more question, lots of people have been asking if I'm going to write a sequel. Well I'm going to leave that to you fans. Do you want a sequel to this story? If you do I will get started on the outline.

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Mystic Hanyou- easy answer, the mark will scar and stay visible.

LadyAkina- don't worry. If people want a sequel to my story I'm going to have her kick Kikyo's ass. It will be so much better. And don't worry Kagome's going to fight someone in this chapter. Reni T. gave me the idea of who she could fight.

Miko's Sorrow- don't worry, I hate cliffies too, but I've learned that ya get more reviews if you just leave them hanging.

Harry/Ginny91- I've always been told I have too big of an imagination. Good for me I always replied. Lol, funny you mention it. I was thinking of having Kagome kick Kikyo's ass, but maybe in the sequel. If no one wants a sequel then I'll have Kag kick Kik's ass in this one.

kogas love 41- are you serious? My story is the first one you've read on this site? Damn I feel special. Thanks for the review.

Viper- I've got plans for Kagome, that's why she ain't fighting Naraku.

Caitie- lol, hope you didn't get in trouble about that 3 page paper. Don't worry, if you looked at me you'd never know I was an anime fan….well until I talked about it, but other than that you'd never tell. You know, your not the only one to tell me I should print my stuff, even my mom has thought so. I'm beginning to consider it, I'd have to learn how it's all done though before I could.

- How does it feel to get drunk? Hmmm, if you have enough it's kinda hard to walk straight, practically everything is funny and you can actually tell the truth about stuff and not care until the next morning. So all in all, it's fun to be drunk until the next morning, then it sux. But you should always drink responsibly and make sure you got a designated driver with you and a couple friends.

NekoNoodles- same here. I don't like how some fics portray Inuyasha as such a big jerk that even I begin to hate him. From the show, it's easy to tell he's not like that 24/7 and he is nice to Kag…most of the time, so I try to keep him the same as much as I can.

gryffindor at heart- not sure if there'll be a sequel, guess we'll both have to wait and see what everyone else things…hmm I am curious though.

Mad-4-Manga- My friend and I were quite shocked when I opened my e-mail to find many reviews for one day, then learned they were all from you. Thanx so much for taking the time to write them. I will read one of your stories as soon as I have some free time.

RoxyFoxyKitsune- Hmm, can't tell ya if he lives or else that would wreck the ending. The way to make Rin live longer is to pretty much do the bond him and Kag did, but he doesn't bite to drink her blood. That's the mating way. If she drinks his blood she will live longer. Hmm not totally sure. For this story there is definitely going to be one. If I have a sequel I may add another kid. We will have to see. Inuyasha and Miroku? Hmm, can't tell you if they live either, I wouldn't want to ruin the ending, but I can tell you if Edoksu is going to live………..he is. Like I'm going to kill him, he's my favorite. I think I may even try to draw him one of these days when I have time. Uhg, so many things I want to do…so little time to do them. Ack! Speaking of which I gotta finish my art assignment! What's my favorite color? Damn good question, I really have no clue. I hate pink with a passion, but I like dark colors like black and navy blue. For bright colors I like red, blue, green, yellow. Almost every color except pink, can't stand the color, which is funny because I use to love it.