Chapter Thirty-Eight
Enter the Angel
Disclaimer: Don't own InuYasha – simple and clean
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It was cold, really cold, that much InuYasha could tell that and the near crippling pain that filled his body even when he breathed, well, attempted to. That girl … Ijin and her little friend with the white hair that gave him the creeps … what was her name again? Oh right, Monto. What a weird name, why would someone name their child 'follower' and why the hell was he thinking about something so stupid when he should be trying to get himself some help.
With that thought in mind, InuYasha gritted his teeth against the surge of pain that greeted him when he even made a movement as simple as moving his arm to try and prop himself up. Breathing heavily, InuYasha paused in his movements for a moment before letting out a pained cry when he finally managed to move his arm closer to his body. The edges of his sigh were beginning to blacken as the inu hanyou fought to keep his consciousness. The darkness crept up onto the hanyou and InuYasha growled, forcing his broken, bruised and battered body to move, to rise as he had always risen after he had been left for dead.
Panting and gasping for air, InuYasha's vision began blurring, his body burning and screaming at him to let it rest but he would have none of it. Using Tetsaiga to haul himself off the ground, a mangled cry escaped the hanyou's lips at the massive amount of pain the action caused him. Gritting his teeth, his eyes were squeezed shut as sweat, proof of his exertion, began trickling down the half demon's forehead. When he opened his eyes, he could only mutter curses as he saw tiny flakes of white, cold snow fall silently from the sky, onto the leaf covered ground below his feet and onto him, slowly thickening as more and more fell.
Slowly and painfully, the hanyou made his way through the forest, only coming to a halt when he lost his footing while drudging through the snow, landing face first in it. His body had become soaked with sweat from his exertion and InuYasha now lay in the cold snow, it melting mostly on contact and soaking him further, sending shivers through out the hanyou's body. Lifting his head slowly, fighting his severely blurring vision and fighting to keep his conscious mind, InuYasha had to blink a few times just to make sure what he was seeing was real. A girl with long gold hair and fox ears and tail was standing before him, the white snow falling around her made her seem surreal, almost as if she wasn't there. She looked like that girl that had just randomly shown up at the castle and vanished the same way but something was different about her. She was taller, a lot taller and she was obviously not a child as was made apparent by her quite busty qualities.
The hanyou's eyes focused on her lips as she spoke but he could hear nothing. He strained his ears as her lips moved, obviously indicating that she was speaking, but despite his best efforts, he could not hear what this strange girl was saying. But … what was this feeling? It was warm and comforting, like being wrapped in a warm blanket sitting by a fire after just being out in the cold. It actually felt a lot like Kagome's priestess powers but … different, he didn't know how; he just knew that it was, which belong to a typical InuYasha line of thinking.
The hanyou paused when she just held her hand out for him with a smile, almost as if saying that it was alright, that everything was going to be fine. InuYasha didn't want to, Lord knows he didn't want to, but his body wasn't listening to him and his clawed hand was embraced in her … non-clawed hand? What the hell? The loud, brash half demon snapped out of his haze, jumping to his feet as if he wasn't injured at all and … paused. His clothes still had blood on them but … there were no wounds. Shoving that away for later examination, InuYasha grabbed Tetsaiga and pointed it at her with a growl.
"Who the hell are you?!" He demanded. Pausing for a second time, this time he took notice of her strange clothes that … looked one hell of a lot of what Kagome would wear back when she was still going to her time to go to her 'school'. The only difference was that it wasn't the white and green color combo he had been used to seeing and it appeared to be a brown dress with a brown and pink blazer and the hem line was still short, just not outrageously.
The girl held her hands out in front of her, signalling that she came in peace, bright blue eyes sparkling prettily. "I'll tell you that as soon as we get back to the castle and speak with Lady Kagome. I expect that you have some questions that you would like answers for as well." InuYasha paused for a third time. At first he was curious about her then wary then curious again but now he was just outright confused.
With a frown, InuYasha walked right up to the girl, watching her blink a few times, probably feeling a little confused herself. Lifting a hand up, the hanyou's eyes never left the strange girl; ever. Then, he did what no one would ever expect InuYasha to do – he flicked her, right on the nose.
The shock of the inu hanyou coming so close to her and the shock of having been flicked caused the strange girl – as the hanyou had so nicely named her inside his mind – to stumble back, landing on her bottom in the snow. "That hurt, you jerk! And here I was trying to help you!" Getting up quickly, it was quite evident that she was angry; very angry. The look in her eyes was a look InuYasha was all too familiar with and he instinctively took a few precautionary steps back, away from the girl.
"Sit boy!" With a mangled cry of surprise, the hanyou was sent face-down in the snow. "That's the last time I help you! I'll find the castle by myself even if it takes all night!" With that, she stomped in a random direction she prayed was the right one. InuYasha managed to pull his head up to watch her walking away. Just who the hell was that girl and how the hell had she been able to sit him?
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"And she freaking sat me!" The hanyou finished, looking into the confused eyes of his longest and probably first friend. Kagome frowned, tilting her head to the side, not looking at all worried, which made InuYasha narrow his eyes at her.
"Are you even listening to me, Kagome?" The girl blinked and smiled at her friend. "Oh, InuYasha, when did you get here?" The half demon fell over, literally, as in he was on the ground, twitching every so often as if she had just sat him. The girl had to cover her mouth to avoid breaking out in a fit of giggles. She had heard him, every last colourful word but the temptation to toy with him was just too great at that moment.
"Are you outta your god damn mind?!" InuYasha demanded loudly and Kagome burst into laughter at that moment. "I'm sorry, InuYasha, I couldn't help it." The inu hanyou's growl fell on deaf ears as Kagome turned more serious, though she was much more concerned about something other than the fact that some strange girl was able to 'sit' her half demon brother-in-law. No, her concern was rightfully placed somewhere else altogether. Concern for her youngest son that been taken by those girls, Ijin and Monto and the resemblance that InuYasha had informed her of. Concern had also been placed in the fact that no one had heard of these girls or where they came from until today. The fact that the one girl, Ijin, as InuYasha said her name was, had been able to defeat InuYasha, a feat that had been deemed near impossible, ranking him up there with Sesshomaru in terms of power.
"Are you sure that they didn't give you other any information as to where they were taking him?" InuYasha shook his head, his mood changing with the seriousness of the conversation. The pair fell into silence and Kagome looked to her slumbering Sesshomaru. Ever since Kin had disappeared, everything seemed to be rapidly going downhill and, so far, the golden haired girl had been at the centre of the problems as of late.
A whisper of power flitted across Kagome's skin, sending her miko senses tingling. A flittering image of gold and brown flashed across her vision and she turned to the door to see the very girl InuYasha had been describing. Rising to feet to protect her venerable mate from any harm that may came his way, Kagome couldn't help but get the feeling of de ja vu. Before she could get a word in edge-wise, the girl with very modern or futuristic –depending on the way you looked at it- launched herself at Kagome happily.
The party which now consisted of all her children minus a currently MIA hanyou, a retired demon slayer and a not-so-retired perverted monk, watched the scene play out with curiosity. Slowly, Kagome brought her hands to the girl's shoulders, gently pushing her back. If you took away her fox youkai qualities then she really would look like a normal girl in the time that Kagome used to consider normal before she pulled down a magic well when she was only fifteen.
"Do … we know each other?" Blue eyes blinked and she smacked herself lightly on the forehead. "Geez, how could I be so stupid? Of course you don't know me, at least not yet." Jumping back, the girl straightened smoothed her uniform. Bowing low in greeting, she smiled at Kagome brightly. "I am Mitsukai, daughter of Shippo and Beppin, granddaughter of Lady Kagome and Lord Sesshomaru. I attend Mizuho Nogei High School and I am fifteen, in the ninth grade and I was born on July fifteenth." Everyone that was in the room stared at her as if she'd just grown two heads.
Kagome lifted her eyes from the girl that, most certainly, looked much like her adopted son who only shook his head wildly, a clear indication that he had no idea what the girl was talking about. Kagome rested her eyes on the smiling girl in front of her that proceeded to tell them that every one called her 'Mii-chan'.
"Mitsukai-san?" The golden haired, blue eyed girl turned around and smiled at the retried demon slayer. "Oh, wow, Aunt Sango, you really haven't aged a day since I last saw you! And … Uncle Miroku, Aunt Rin, Uncle Kasei, Aunt Takara and … well, everyone's here except for Uncle Katsu and my mom, of course." She said happily, as if the fact that her mother wasn't present at the moment was an obvious fact for everyone there.
"Girl, if you are not willing to explain why you are here then I will advise you to go back to where you came from." A gruff and slightly cranky male voice said from behind Kagome. Everyone gasped lightly, well, except for the person that was, clearly, not bothered by the suggestion that was really a command. She leaned around Kagome and smiled, waving lightly. "Hi Grandpa."
Despite everyone's best effort, they could not get past the hilarity of Sesshomaru being addressed as 'Grandpa' because even the children that had been adopted did not refer to the great demon lord as 'Grandpa'. A gasp could be heard from the girl when she spun around, her eyes lighting up and her hands covered her mouth at the sight of the figure that walked through the door. Toga had to take an involuntary step back when "Mii-chan" completely invaded his personal space.
"Oh my God …" Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked up at the demon that towered over her. "It's really him, I mean, you, I mean … it's really the great Dog General, in the flesh … Wow! This is SO COOL! This is like the coolest thing that has happened to me today. Aside from falling down the well at great-grandma's shrine." She added in a casual voice, her eyes still locked on the Dog General that was before her.
Toga blinked at the girl, clearly uncomfortable with the proximity of said girl. His eyes lifted to his daughter-in-law, silently begging her to help him.
"Ah, Mitsukai-san," Kagome began, earning the girl's attention, "I'm not sure I understand what you're saying." She pressed on when the girl nodded. "None of what has happened for you has even happened here and won't happen for another 500 years." Mii-chan blinked at her grandmother a few times. "Oh, I know that."
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A while later, everyone was sitting in the same room that Kagome had been in for the past two days, watching over her now awake mate, most with cups of tea between their hands. Kagome sighed lightly, her head slightly spinning with all the new information the girl possessed.
"Alright, so we've established that the strange wench is from Kagome's time and she's attending that 'school' thing Kagome was always babbling about." InuYasha stated, not noticing the two annoyed glares that he received in result of his comment.
"Sit boy!" Two voices shouted at the same time, causing everyone to become silent, just staring between the two females. Kagome blinked and shook her head lightly, thinking she was just hearing things. Pushing herself to think past what had just happened; Kagome turned her sights back on the newcomer, who was, apparently, her granddaughter from her time.
"So, how is it that you came to … well … be, exactly?" Mii-chan blinked a light blush on her cheeks and she laughed nervously, scratching her cheek lightly, finding the floor in front of her very interesting. "Well, they teach you about it in Sex Ed class but it's never very comfortable talking about your parents … doing what … they teach you … in the class …" The females in the room blushed and Kagome cleared her throat. "I didn't mean it in THAT way, Mitsukai-san." The girl with the golden tresses blinked and then blushed … deeply, her mouth forming a little 'oh'.
Once the embarrassment had passed, Mitsukai sighed deeply and looked into the faces of her relatives, not feeling at all out of place. "How in the world did you manage to get here? And doesn't anyone else find it a little weird that she's from the exact school that me, Kasei and our own mother went to?" Everyone's eyes, including Mitsukai's were drawn to the half demon with dark raven tresses and dog ears, the squeal that interrupted the silence was almost as ear piercing as the silence itself.
"Oooh … Aunt Takara, can I pet your ears? Please?" The look the blue eyed girl received rivalled one of her father's own ice glares though it went completely unnoticed, her brothers and her uncle bursting out laughing at the comparison, the rest of her family, excluding her father, wasn't fairing much better. One glance around the room told her exactly what she already knew; no one was going to help her and locking gazes with the girl in front of her just broke her resolve. With a sigh, she crossed her arms and let out a gruff, "fine". The girl squealed again and began attacking the soft ears with her fingers.
After everyone had calmed and Mitsukai had calmed her need to pet her aunt and both her uncle's ears, their attention was back on her. She sighed, figuring it was time to reveal why she was here and how and, well, any other questions they surely had.
"Alright, I'll start from the beginning. I'm not supposed to be here and I'll probably get into a lot of trouble for being here and interrupting the time flow of this world but I'll get to that later. By the way, Grandma, you were off by another 500 years. I'm not from your time, but 500 years after that and while people like me exist, it is generally not known to regular humans, especially not from outside the Royal Family." Anyone who hadn't been listening to the golden haired girl was certainly listening now.
"Royal Family?" Kagome echoed. Mitsukai blinked and then moaned loudly, pulling at her hair. "Oh man! I've totally said too much already! Just … forget I said anything about that, alright?" Attentions turned to a red clad inu hanyou who growled. "I don't think so, brat! You've already given us so many questions that we can't answer on our own so start talking and don't even think of leaving anything out!" A short staring contest ensured before Mitsukai crossed her arms with a 'humph', facing away from her half demon uncle.
"Fine but don't go blaming me if your times gets all messed up because you all know what you're not suppose to know." She stated, though resigned herself to the fact that this was most likely going to come back to haunt her.
"We are all part of the Royal Family of Japan because Grandma and Grandpa are the Emperor and Empress and they currently rule all of Japan but reside in Tokyo, at great-grandma's shrine. It has expanded a lot since you and Uncle InuYasha, Uncle Kasei, Aunt Takara and Uncle Katsu and, of course, my dad, have seen it last. Well, in my time, at least." She continued, addressing Kagome. The girl looked at the other girl curiously, more than a little surprised to hear that the family shrine was still standing, even a thousand years in the future. That last thought made Kagome pause and she regarded the girl. She was saying grandma and grandpa and …
"Mitsukai, who is your great-grandmother?" Kagome asked, watching the girl's 'as-if-you-don't-know' expression but smiled when she just sighed, complying with her question. "Well, I've always known her as great-grandma but I've heard grandpa address her as Mya and since the shrine that is still on the property is sometimes known as the Higurashi Family shrine, I am assuming she would be Mya Higurashi."
"And she's still alive in your time. Mitsukai-san?" Sango asked the girl gently, unsure of her moods. Golden tresses flowed at her confirming nod, causing everyone in the room who understood what they were talking about to frown.
"Would you mind explaining to us how that is possible?" Kagome asked gently. Another sigh came from the girl but she could only smile softly. One look at her grandmother made most of her irritation fade and though she sighed, yet again, she went on to answer the questions being tossed at her. "It's because you're mated to grandpa and because that annoying fairy gave you demon qualities though the weird thing is that you still look human."
"Well, we know that Kagome's life has been greatly extended, if not made as immortal as any other demon of Sesshomaru and Toga's calibre but what does that have to do with her mother and making her live so long?" Sango questioned. Mitsukai rolled her eyes as if the answer was so obvious, even a baby could figure it out. "Because she is grandma's mom and, therefore, are of the same blood."
"Interesting, very interesting." A male voice spoke and everyone turned to Miroku. "We were all aware of the effects mating with a demon or even a half demon would have on the human said demon or half demon was mated to but were all quite unaware of the effects it had on the human's family. Now, Mitsukai-san, you spoke of us like you had only recently seen us so, are you implying that we too are alive in your time?" She nodded and Miroku frowned.
"How is it that, since Rin, Sango and I are all fully human, carry no traces of demon blood in our veins, that we are also a part of your future?" Blue eyes blinked as if she had just been asked what the answer to one plus one was. "Because of the jewel." A hushed silence fell upon the room and a chill ran up Kagome's spine. So even a thousand years in the future, the Shikon Jewel still haunted her and her family and friends? Everyone heard a growl and, to their disbelief, the very same youkai that had been in a coma as a human for the past two days was standing front of the very strangely dressed new comer and was clearly very irritated. What they didn't notice, however, was the robe that the Lord wore was open, exposing himself in all his male glory.
Mitsukai's face turned beet red and she instantly found her hands extremely entertaining and enlightening. Sesshomaru growled low, grabbing the girl roughly by the chin. No one dared disrespect him in such a manner as she already had, well, aside from his mate had done countless times during her travels with his brother and their companions. "You WILL look at me, girl." She narrowed her eyes, not taking orders lightly. "Well, I WOULD if you would close your robe! And my name is not 'girl'! It's Mitsukai! Mit-Su-Kai!" InuYasha couldn't keep from bursting out into laughter and was rolling on the round, roaring with it while Kagome flushed a deep red.
"H-hey, Kagome are you sure she isn't your daughter from the future or something?" InuYasha asked between bouts of laughter. "I always knew those words would come back to haunt you!" Kagome's blush deepened, as did her embarrassment. Well, at least she knew where the familiar sense of that had been radiating off the girl since she got there came from. With a resigned sigh, Kagome gently pried her mate away from the staring contest he was having with the new girl, leading him back to the bed though he certainly didn't go willingly or without complaining. Honestly! He could be worse than InuYasha at times!
Kagome sighed, a tiny bit frustrated at all the interruptions and sat down, taking a sip of her tea to calm herself. Setting the cup down, she looked to the girl, deciding it was time for a bit more aggressive line of questioning. "Alright, Mitsukai-san, let's continue with how you were able to get down the well in the first place." The girl blinked her blue eyes and then smiled.
"Oh, that's easy. When I was born, I was really small and really weak and I died. None of the doctors could help me, even with all of our advanced medical technology. My parents were so heartbroken and so sad that you couldn't help but try something a little radical and you gave me part of you, including some of your priestess powers. My body reacted by turning me human for a little while then one day my parents woke up and I looked like how I look now, well, except more like a baby." Everyone was silent at her ghostly tale; even Sesshomaru who had been silently cursing her had become placid. "I was so little that I don't remember any of it but my parents told me about it when I grew up more. Anyway, because I am connected to Grandma and Grandma is connected to the jewel, we can all travel through the well."
"Speaking of the jewel," Sango began earning the girl's, who was currently being questioned or interrogated – again depending on how you looked at it – attention. "What has become of it? You speak of it as though it still exists in your time." Mitsukai nodded. "It does and … it doesn't. Grandma has the completed jewel around her neck on a pretty little chain, even though it's pretty much harmless now, she says that she wears it to remind her of everything she fought her when she was my age."
A finger rested on her cheek as the owner of the golden tresses frowned lightly, obviously thinking. "I used to not understand that but I think I can now because I'm older." Everyone sweat dropped, thinking the same thing; man, she really babbles.
"What do you mean by 'pretty much harmless'?" One of the few people that hadn't spoke the entire time, questioned and everyone looked to a spitting image of the killing perfection only with dog ears. The question caused her ponder again before responding.
"Well, as far as I know, the jewel still contains its original power but it doesn't call to demons anymore. I don't know why, though, no one tells me much since they want me to have as much of a normal teenage life as I can, being a princess and all. A time travelling princess, now." She added with a bright smile. "Then how do you know as much as you have told us?" Kagome asked curiously, watching the girl smile. "Eavesdropping."
Kagome couldn't help but giggle. "Sounds like Shippo alright."
Once the laughter had subsided, a silence stretched between the large group, sitting in the chambers of the lord and lady, as they sipped their tea quietly. A shrill noise broke the silence, causing the new girl of obviously demon heritage to jump, dropping her still hot tea on her lap in the process.
Jumping up, Mii-chan aka Mitsukai dug into her school bag, producing a small gadget that was apparently the source for the loud noise. All those unfamiliar with the gadget stared at it as she flipped it open.
"Hai, you've reached Mii-chan." She stated cheerfully before holding the phone out at arms length while another shrill noise erupted from said phone.
"Mii-chan! Where are you?! Are you okay?! You're not hurt, are you?! You've been missing for two whole days!" Mitsukai winced and gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm alright mom and, don't worry, no one has kidnapped me or anything and … I'm actually closer than you think …" There was a pause and then a sigh.
"What have you done now?" Kagome smiled, recognizing the tone that every mother used at least once a week with their children.
Mitsukai smiled sheepishly, almost as if the person on the end of the strange object could see her. "Well … I kind of … fell down the well …" Silence filled the room before the girl's blue eyes blinked and she looked at the object with a sigh. "Great … my phones dead. Maybe I have a spare battery in my bag …" She proceeded to rummage through her bag with her tongue sticking out. Her search apparently came up empty because she sighed yet again.
"Well, at least she can't yell at you now, Mii-Chan." A tiny voice said from her shoulder. Mitsukai blinked and lifted up her hair, revealing a tiny figure with large amber eyes, light brown hair pulled into a ponytail and a set of orange cat ears nested atop her head. Everyone stared at the tiny figure wearing what they could only describe as a cream coloured ballerina tutu. Large, almost transparent cream and green wings that were taller than the figure herself fluttered lightly behind her.
"It's still a bad idea that we're even here in the first place!" Another voice chirped up from her other shoulder. A pinkish purple head with pointed ears and matching eyes became visible and settling herself on the much larger girl's shoulder. Her outfit, though it was rather simple, was quite pretty. A short flowing dress barely covering her assets tied in large bows at her shoulders. White arm socks that matched the dress and a pair of white slippers that laced up her legs accented the outfit. Like the smaller figure, she also had wings though they were not transparent, they were still beautiful with soft tones of pastel green and blue ran the length of the wings that shaped an 'X' behind her.
Kagome blinked and leaned forward. "Are those … real fairies?" Everyone leaned in, curious about the two little figures that were perched on Mitsukai's shoulders. The two magical figures looked at the large amount of faces and though the, obviously, older one only recoiled slightly; the younger one was a different matter entirely.
"Ahh! Scary! Scary!" In a matter of seconds, the smaller fairy was hiding in the golden tresses of the one she called Mii-Chan. Said girl just gave a nervous chuckle, sweat dropping lightly, thinking of the lecture she would be receiving now, especially after revealing yet another thing that they weren't suppose to know about – her guardian fairies.
"These are some really life like toys." Takara said in awe, moving her finger to poke the older fairy, only to recall her finger in pain. The older fairy was holding a pink and red wand with a heart shaped handle and angel wings adorning the base and a jewel adorning the tip.
"I don't care who you are but I assure you that we are not toys." She all but snarled. Mitsukai's mouth fell open. "Saori!" She exclaimed with horror before a whimper caught her attention and she turned her head to her other shoulder, with a light chuckle. "It's alright, Ume, you don't need to be scared." She only sighed as questions bombarded her again. It was going to be a LONG day.
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Once everyone had settled further back, the two fairies seemed to settle down, though the majority of the group still had yet to recover from the shock. Mitsukai cleared her throat and held out her hands, the two girls jumping down onto her palms.
"Go ahead and introduce yourselves." With an encouraging nod, the oldest fairy sighed but shook her head slightly before lowering herself into a graceful bow.
"How do you do? My name is Saori and I am Mitsukai's Guardian Fairy." Everyone let out a round of 'ooh's, followed by impressed clapping. The youngest scampered back up into Mitsukai's hair, only her impossibly large amber eyes visible.
"Ume, it's your turn." The smaller fairy shook her head, shrinking back slightly. With a sigh, Mitsukai lifted her hair, catching the little fairy just as she gave a squeak and made a dive for the protection of the golden tresses.
"Now, it's your turn, Ume." The little fairy sighed in resignation and gave a bow, though it was not nearly as graceful as the other fairy's. "I am Ume and I am Mii-Chan's Guardian Fairy, too."
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A/N: Wow … I finally finished this chapter and it only took me like two weeks xD Well, anyways, I hope everyone liked this chapter, I made it extra long and I hope you all like my little creations.
I apologize for lack of romance in this chapter and even though I was planning on ending the fic on the 40th chapter, I don't think I'm going to be able to now, especially with everything I've just added in this one chapter.
I would like to thank: condorfan and Fabulous Georgina for their reviews on chapter 37.
I would also like to take this time to let everyone know that I tried hard to include everyone in this chapter but even with 10 pages, I still couldn't get everyone in. I'm sorry for that!
Until next time, though.
Later days!