Updated Feb 2017

All the credit to Rumiko Takahashi for creating this world!

The Third (part 2)

"WHAT?!"

The reaction from the group's surprise didn't seem to phase Inunomaru's calm façade at all. He had clearly expected a response similar to this when he revealed himself to them. Kagome, in particular, noticed a particular glint in his eyes, an odd trait that both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had when they were amused, though far more prominent in the former and far more threatening in the later. She honestly wasn't sure if this was a true observation or one that simply popped up out of shock, either way it was a detail she was definitely going to store for later.

While she scrutinized over details she could make out from the distance, the daiyokai's head moved in a slow nod, responding to their earlier less-than-quiet question, "Indeed, we are brothers. I have noticed that all of you have been having troubles as of late, and thus decided this was the most opportune time to finally introduce myself to you and your comrades."

Inuyasha broke out of his surprised look first and growled, "Having troubles?" He aimed the Tetsusaiga's blade at Inunomaru, obviously testing his motives, "How long have you been following us?!"

As Kagome expected, Inunomaru didn't show any reaction to Inuyasha's distrusting movements. "I have always been keeping some sort of an eye on you, Inuyasha," he held out his hand, conversational-like, "However, it was only after you and Sesshomaru almost defeated the hanyou, Naraku, that I began to keep a more diligent track on you both."

Before she even thought about it, Kagome took the words out of Inuyasha's open mouth, "You mean you've been following Sesshomaru-sama to?"

Inunomaru's golden eyes turned to her and her breath hitched, hopefully that squeak she heard was only in her head. "Indeed, Kagome-sama," he bowed lower then raised and caught her eyes again, "Sesshomaru is my younger brother as well."

Kagome's mind and body jumped again at both his reply and unusually high honorific, he knows my name! How in the world could they not have picked up his presence at least once during their travels, or even heard about him somewhere? Surely a daiyokai of his caliber was known someplace, right? This doesn't make any sense!

Inuyasha looked over at Kagome's alarmed face then back at Inunomaru, he inquired his head and whispered to his shoulder, "Hey Myoga, you still here?"

"Y…yes Inuyasha-sama?" was the nervous reply through red silk. He had managed to wedge himself between Inuyasha's kimono to try and hide.

"Who is this guy? If he really is my brother like he says he is, then shouldn't you know something about him?" His narrowed eyes never left the daiyokai in front of him.

Myoga was silent for a few seconds as he thought about what to say, "I'm sorry, Inuyasha-sama but I've never heard about him before."

"What?!" Inuyasha yelled at him, "I thought you were with the old man all his life?!"

Though his voice was stuttering, Myoga managed to return the volume, "T…there's no way anyone can promise that! But Inu no Taisho-sama confided in me everything! Th…there's nothing about him I didn't know about!"

Inunomaru's voice cut through the conversation like a hot knife through butter, "Are you so sure, Myoga-san?" his eyes grinned, testing.

Myoga started trembling even more from the personalized statement, "O…of course I'm sure. He would've told me if he'd fathered a child! …Unless…" he went silent, completely awestruck.

Inunomaru nodded slightly, "Indeed, Myoga-san, my father did not know of my existence. My mother ensured this when I was born." His eyes fell and Kagome noticed a small twinge of emotion go through them before disappearing just as quickly when he looked back up, "She helped father when he was in dire need, and, though their naïve transgressions after were…unintentional, he would not have been the daiyoukai he was otherwise. Unfortunately for my mother, since my father was already with Sesshomaru's mother, she believed that if he discovered he ignored his vows and fathered a bastard son he would fall into a depressed state and the lands would plummet into chaos. So, she used her power to erase his memory of their mistake, and upon my birth, she used her life force to conceal my existence from him and everyone he knew."

His words went straight through Kagome's heart, stopping its rampant pace all together. Fear turned to pity; pity for what he had to have gone through. Inunomaru was born alone in this world. His father knew nothing about him and his mother gave her life to hide him from everyone and everything that could have been a family to him. The sheer tragedy of it all made her throat tighten up. She couldn't help but to look over at the hanyou at her side, and I thought Inuyasha had it bad; she thought, at least he had his mother, if only for a little while.

Myoga seemed to believe Inunomaru's explanation, "So that's why I knew nothing about him! His mother masked his presence from all who had had contact with Inu no Taisho-sama."

"Keh, all I hear is a convenient excuse," Inuyasha still glared hard at Inunomaru, obviously less convinced at the daiyokai's words, "You show up out of nowhere claiming to be here to help. But if your mother killed herself to hide you from the old man like you say, then why the hell would you bother helping me and Sesshomaru? You should hate our father for taking your mother away from you like that and hate everything associated with him."

It was strange, but Kagome could sense a bit of inner guilt coming from Inuyasha. Inuyasha, is there still a part of you that blames your father for everything that's happened to you? She wanted to console him but his new brother beat her to the punch.

"How could I?" Inunomaru said quietly.

"Huh?" the hanyou's confusion rippled across his face.

Inunomaru continued, "Even though I never met our father, I still learned from him. I learned of his strength, courage, and especially his feelings for humans," he glanced toward Kagome, Miroku and Sango; making them tense under his gaze. His eyes held onto Kagome's for longer than she was comfortable with before turning back to Inuyasha, "The greatest of these feelings were shown with your mother, Inuyasha."

"My…mother?" Inuyasha said in a short breath.

"I had lived most of my life watching the conflict between him and Sesshomaru and only saw the hard sides of his heart. But, when he sacrificed himself to save you and your mother, I knew that deep down he had a compassionate and protective spirit. My respect for him grew after this, even though I did not, and, to a point, still do not, completely understand his motives."

Inuyasha looked down, trying hard to fight off any more emotion. Kagome wanted to grab his hand and tell him that everything was okay, but her body still wouldn't respond to her mind's orders. Before she had even gained enough physical control to move properly, Inunomaru shocked her again.

"I am sorry, Inuyasha," Inunomaru's blank tone had a slight hint of sympathy to it now.

Inuyasha shook the feelings out of his face and looked quickly back up at the daiyoukai, any emotions he had now reverted back to his confident normality. "Keh, sorry? Sorry for what?" He shrugged out of his fighting stance and sat the Tetsusaiga on his shoulder, "I could care less about what you say about the old man. Never met him anyway," his lie was poorly covered.

The edge of Inunomaru's mouth turned up into a small smirk and he closed his eyes, "Indeed, Inuyasha," Inuyasha twitched before Inunomaru's eyes shifted, "Kagome-sama…"

The sudden mention of her name again made Kagome jump back to reality. She tucked her hands to her chest habitually, "Um…y…yes?" she squeaked again. Just great, there go your chances of staying out of this little family reunion, Kagome! And now you probably sound like a squirrel!

He held out his open hand, revealing four sacred jewel shards.

Everyone around her froze at Inunomaru's gesture, but for some strange reason Kagome was completely relieved. The breath she had been holding came out in a reassured sigh, "Y…you mean you're just going to give them to us?"

His voice almost sounded bored, "I have no use for them." If he had been Inuyasha, Kagome could have sworn he would've shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Th…thank you, Inunomaru-sama." If all he wanted out of this was to give them the shards then that was safe, right? Besides, he hadn't given them any basis for worry…yet. Hoping that her fight-or-flight instincts weren't necessary, she put on a forced smile and took a deep breath. Grab and go, grab and go, grab and go, she chanted as she started to walk towards sprinted in front of her, cutting off her forward movement. "Inuyasha…" This is hard enough already! Don't you dare stop me and give me time to think about how stupid I am!

"I don't trust him, Kagome," the Tetsusaiga was back out in between them, and he looked even more on edge now that Kagome was directly involved, "There's no way he showed up after all this time, claiming to be my brother, to tell us some weak ass sob story and just hand over some measly jewel shards!"

Inunomaru's lowered eyebrows narrowed his eyes even more, "If I had wanted to kill you, Inuyasha, you would already be dead."

"Keh, like I haven't heard that a thousand times," Inuyasha fangs gleamed red under the firelight.

Kagome ignored the obvious threats on a life and gently pushed past Inuyasha. "Stop being an idiot, Inuyasha," she glanced back at him and forced another smile, "Where's the trust? He's not going to do anything to me." She turned back around and looked down at the ground, biting her lip hard. Her decision was made up, but she still wasn't sure that this was the sanest option in her field of choices. Man I hope my hunch is right, she thought, if not, then you might as well carve the tombstone now. Here lies Kagome, flambéed while getting lovely little pink pieces of a jewel that she broke in the first place. Oh, how she will be remembered.

She took a deep breath, built up what courage she had left and looked up; strait into Inunomaru's piercing golden eyes. The sheer intensity of the molten orbs made her blood pump even harder in her ears, from terror or pure awe she wasn't sure. Yet, even under their intensity, she instantly recognized that unmistakable inu-glint of amusement she had seen a hint of earlier.

The dark light from the fire hadn't given much of what he looked like from a distance, and now that she was close to him, she could make out every last detail. The first and most obvious thing she noticed was his size. She wasn't short to say the least, but he must've been over a foot taller than her, probably making him almost seven feet tall. The curved armor over both shoulders definitely reminded her of Sesshomaru, arching wide and regally around his already wide shoulders. The armor around his torso was very similar to Sesshomaru's as well except the chest piece didn't have his unapproachable spikes protruding from it. Instead it had a large, ruby-like jewel in its center set in a simple onyx and metal base. His kimono was so white it seemed to glow under its own light and was detailed with deep scarlet accents of two simple stripes on his right shoulder and on each sleeve. His obi was a pale blue, accented with the same style in ebony that fell below his knees. His hair, she found, acted strangely in the breeze. It didn't seem to have any form of weight to it and reflected the light from the fire much like spider webs.

Curse these inu-youkai and their perfect hair, she declared.

His face made her hate youkai genetics even more. Much like his younger brother, Sesshomaru…wow that's an odd thought…it had the illusion of youth to it, making him look like he wasn't even out of his twenties yet. However, this illusion was broken when one noticed the centuries written into his blank and emotionless demeanor. He had one blood-red marking that drew along each high-set line of his cheekbones, a jawline you could cut diamond with, and an aqua colored star on his forehead that seemed to mirror the glow from the most intense liquid-gold eyes she had ever seen. She couldn't help but feel awkward and completely out of place under those eyes, let alone terrified at what could possibly happen if she wasted too much time staring at them.

Finally, she broke eye contact, forced herself to keep any emotions off her face, and held out her trembling hand for the shards. If she was going to die right now, at least she was going to die with a brave face.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled behind her, but didn't make any action to move. The bloodcurdling growl he gave made her feel even worse. Thanks for the positive reinforcement there buddy.

Inunomaru ignored Inuyasha's threatening growls and continued with the handoff. He lowered his almost dinner plate-sized hand, palm down, into hers and gently opened it. The shards slid onto her palm as his claws grazed lightly over her skin, sending a shiver down her body and another glint of amusement in his eyes. When he returned his hand to his side, she squeaked a thank you then backed off toward the group.

"See, no problem at all," she said when she reached them, her voice still trembling and much too high pitched. She kept walking past the confused group and, once she reached the fire circle, completely lost her composure, only then realizing she hadn't taken a real breath since she looked into his eyes.

Inunomaru returned his attention back to the sword wielding hanyou, "Inuyasha."

Inuyasha turned back to Inunomaru, his attention so focused on making sure Kagome returned in one piece that he almost forgot the possible source of danger was still there, "What?"

"I have something else I need to do before I leave," these words made them tense up again.

"I knew it!" he griped the Tetsusaiga tighter, "I'm not gonna go down easy. Bring it on!"

"So eager to fight, Inuyasha," he shook his head slightly and grinned, "You would not last five minutes."

He growled even louder, "Well aren't we a confident one." He spread his stance in preparation for what he thought was coming.

Inunomaru ignored Inuyasha's actions and grew serious again, "I simply wanted to warn you."

Inuyasha's face grew concerned then cautious in a flash, "And what exactly would you want to warn me about?"

"Naraku is planning a large scale attack soon," his eyes found Kagome's again, "I do not know what these plans are, but all of you must be prepared and on your guard for anything that could somehow be related to him."

Miroku wasn't as convinced, and glared harshly, "How do you have information on the actions of Naraku? He disappeared after Inuyasha and Sesshomaru-sama fought him in his castle and no one has been able to pick up any trace of him since."

Inunomaru returned his glare with blank eyes. Miroku tightened his fingers around his staff and ground his teeth together in a scowl.

"I knew it! You're one of Naraku's spies aren't you?" Inuyasha accused, "That's why we saw Naraku's siamyosho at the village. You were relaying information back to him weren't you?"

The air around them grew thicker as Inunomaru's youki flared and his eyes turned into an icy cold glare. His voice became sharper but remained uncomfortably calm, "I was doing nothing of the sort. You forget, Inuyasha, that I have seen all that Naraku has done to each of you. The ways he has hurt you disgust me," the rumble that came from deep in his chest gave them chills, "He is a stain on human and youkai kind and must be eliminated as soon as possible. The siamyosho were after Kilomaru's jewel shard, nothing more. I was there to retrieve it when you and your comrades arrived instead."

Inuyasha was still not convinced, "Well, if you want him gone so much, why don't you get rid of him yourself? You claim to be powerful, so why don't you prove it?"

Inunomaru sighed and looked down slightly, "Again, I have my reasons. This task lies with all of you, I cannot interfere."

"And why not?" they all turned in surprise at Shippo who had been staying quiet near the fire. "You could help us a lot if we run into Naraku again," he crossed his arms and grinned, "And it couldn't hurt for Inuyasha to have a big brother around. He needs somebody besides Kagome who can keep him in line. It gets pretty hard for her sometimes."

"Shippo…" Inuyasha growled through closed teeth, giving the kitsune a death glare.

Inunomaru grinned warmly down at him, "Little Shippo-kun, always so positive," Shippo squeaked and hopped behind a log.

Kagome had finally recovered from the lack of oxygen to her brain and walked up next to Inuyasha, "Shippo is right though. We could always use more help," she looked supportively over to Inuyasha as she continued with an ever softer voice, "Besides, family is the greatest thing anyone can have and I'm sure both you and Inuyasha would appreciate it in the long run."

The mention of family didn't change the hanyou's attitude like she had hoped. In fact, it may have soured it more. "Keh, I don't need no stinkin' family!" he growled, then his voice fell slightly, "I've…had too many problems with family." He relented his fighting position and finally sheathed the Tetsusaiga, "Just get out of here."

"Very well," Inunomaru agreed with a small nod, "You will not have to worry about my company, Inuyasha."

"Huh?"

Kagome couldn't help but feint a smile at his contradictory reactions. Maybe he wasn't as hateful of family as she thought.

"I came here to give you warning of Naraku and to hand over my jewel shards. I hope that I have helped in the long run," he bowed a curt farewell and started to turn to leave.

"Inunomaru-sama, wait," Kagome said. He paused and glanced back. She smiled pleasantly and walked back up to him, "Don't make yourself a stranger okay. Feel free to come and see us whenever you like, and don't worry about helping us once in a while, you know we need it sometimes," she whispered so only they could hear, "Also, I think Inuyasha could really use your company sometimes. You two have a lot in common."

He gave her a soft smile, making her heart start to race again, but not in the way she expected. There was no fear behind her chest now, only the quickened pace of a heart that had been dealt a great kindness.

"Thank you, Kagome-sama," he said, "I will keep your suggestion in mind." He turned back around and started to walk off, "It was enjoyable to finally meet you in person, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha crossed his arms and cocked his head up, "Keh, yeah whatever."

Shippo ran up next to Kagome, "Where ya going, Inunomaru-sama?"

"I have another brother to meet," his form disappeared back into the fog.

"I bet that goes well," Inuyasha said sarcastically to himself.

After a few seconds, Inunomaru's presence could no longer be felt through the air and everyone finally relaxed.

Miroku made his way back to the fire and sat back down next to the now dwindling flames. "I don't know about all of you, but I like him," he took a sip of tea.

Sango sat next to him and pulled her feet under her, her voice not as confident. "He seems alright, but…I still can't get over how he looked," she shivered, "He's like an alternate version of Sesshomaru-sama. It's kind of disturbing actually." Kirara mewed in agreement next to her.

Shippo giggled, "I think he's just a nicer version of Inuyasha, nothing bad about that."

Inuyasha growled at him, "And what does that imply?"

"N…nothing, I just thought…AHH!" he screamed and ran away as Inuyasha rushed him.

Miroku sat with a blank face, still sipping his tea, "Yes, definitely an improvement on Inuyasha."

Sango mirrored Miroku, "I would have to agree with you there."

Inuyasha was still trying to catch Shippo who was dashing in and out of the surrounding bushes, "Don't you guys side with him either!"

The argument continued as Kagome remained silent, looking over to where Inunomaru had disappeared. He had come and gone so suddenly that she still couldn't quite put a finger on everything that had transpired. She hoped the daiyoukai would agree to her suggestion and return to them. Though he didn't show it, she got a feeling that he had wanted to stay. Her thoughts trailed off, I hope you do decide to come back soon, Inunomaru, she looked back at Inuyasha and smiled, it seems like Inuyasha isn't the only one who's yearning for a family.

Peace, love, and donuts!

Till next time ;)