Chapter Two

They touched ground not more than an hour later. Only then Kagura dared to open her eyes to see a busy village much like any other. The ascendance of a youkai from the skies didn't seem to surprise the inhabitants; they cared on with their business not even looking their way. Kagura couldn't analyze the new environment though, since Sesshomaru started walking on a rapid pace and she had no choice but to follow him.

Their goal was a large house, its walls shaking from inhuman screams that were coming from the depths of the building. Young girls were running errands assigned by the women assisting with the delivery. Their faces were white from raw fear. Even their hands were trembling, which caused the constant dumping of things, for what they were obviously scolded by the older women, that didn't look better themselves.

Sesshomaru entered the house as he had all right to be there, and Kagura wondered why nobody questioned his presence. Men were strictly forbidden to be present during deliveries.

"Thank goodness you came, Sesshomaru," greeted a young woman dressed in miko clothes. "I thought you will follow the scent, but you didn't come, so I was heading to ask Inuyasha to bring you."

"This Sesshomaru was detained."

"Oh and you brought help, how nice." The woman's babbling suddenly stopped when she looked at Kagura properly. Kagura didn't understand why somebody who was seeing her for the first time, looked as she'd seen a ghost.

"Kagura is a new caretaker of Rin. She lives with Tanaki," Sesshomaru explained the situation. Too briefly for Kagome's liking, but it could wait for later.

"Follow me then. Why doesn't it get easier with every time, Sesshomaru? I mean, I know the process inside out and still…"

"Everybody just get more stupid. We tell them, warn them, and it still happens," Sesshomaru remarked bitterly.

"Everybody has the right to have a family," Kagome stated with unshakable belief.

Kagura marveled at the way the miko was handling the youkai – like an equal, and even more so, she was standing up to him! Yes, the woman looked tired and unkept because of the hours with difficult labor, but some powerful aura was coming off her. Who was that miko exactly?

Another heart wrenching cry echoed through the building with thin rice paper walls almost ripping them to shreds. The group of three hurried to the source with Kagome giving instructions to the other women on the way.

"Kagura… Kami-sama, even the name," Kagome added under her breath, "you did it before, right?"

"Yes, at least five times in my village."

"Good, it is a bit different this time, so be prepared for something you've never seen before, and don't let your shock take control over your actions or thoughts. We must bring this baby into this world, other things don't matter."

Kagura nodded in agreement, confused by the miko's words, but what else could she say?

All three entered a large room with a woman on the floor mats. She was tossing around adding strange slithering motions. The woman's appearance instantly revealed to Kagura the difficulty and the mystery around the ordeal – the female was no human. She had long emerald green hair and big yellow eyes with abnormal – vertical – irises.

Kagura had to admit that the youkai was beautiful even with sweaty forehead and tangled locks. She understood why men could be tempted to be with her, but going as far as having a child? Who was that crazy man? Oh yes, Tanaki's brother.

Meanwhile, the women started to fill the room, and Kagome assigned them with tasks. Kagura was given a task too, but she kept watching 'Sesshomaru-sama' with the corner of her eye.

Of all possible things, he sat down with crossed legs onto the mats and put the head of the woman onto his lap. He was telling her something in a soft voice and she, in turn, vigorously shook her head.

"There is no other way if you want to live with your husband and son," Sesshomaru's impassionate voice echoed through the room and everything stilled. Unconsciously. Everybody knew that something was going to happen, but what? For some reason, Kagura pressed the towels she was given closer to her chest.

In complete silence, Sesshomaru's clawed hands went under Hitomi's shirt and brought to the light an intricate medallion. He pulled onto the string and it broke. The woman screamed, but no scream came; it was a hiss of thousands of snakes brought together. Her canines grew larger to form two long fangs, eyes flashed with maniacal yellow, blue-green scales started to cover her neck and face…

Half of the women cried in horror, some of the younger ones fainted, but Kagura watched the transformation with terrified fascination. One moment one, the other – another. There seemed to be much more to youkai than she thought.

A steady chanting filled the room calming the women and the transformed youkai and then a sudden "Push!" and everything went into motion once again. Another two hours with hisses and the danger of having the arm beaten off, the snake youkai disappeared and Hitomi's head fell onto Sesshomaru's lap, the woman having no more strength to hold it on her own.

The baby boy looked as any other human would except for the eyes which he inherited from mother. Kagome showed the baby to Sesshomaru who scratched the baby's cheekbones with his claws drawing blood and leaked the droplets off.

"Son of Naruki and Hitomi, Kiodji."

"Beautiful, isn't he?"

Sesshomaru didn't reply - he was leaving. He didn't have any more business there.

As if some kind of spell was broken by Sesshomaru's departure, the women came into motion and started tending to the resting woman, who kept pressing to her chest the medallion so easily discarded by Sesshomaru earlier. Kagura was holding the towels so she neared Kagome who was bathing the crying baby.

"I noticed you hadn't been frightened as the rest of the women," Kagome remarked when Kagura was close enough.

"It was completely unexpected, I must've been too shocked to be afraid," Kagura replied intently watching the baby. It was different but still so like a human.

"Can you hold it for a bit?"

With caution, the reason of which was not only the nature of the burden, Kagura rapped the blankets around tiny Kiodji. Kagome put one hand on its head and the other – onto its stomach and began to make circular motions. A few minutes later a white light appeared under her fingertips and entered the baby's body.

"What did you do?" Kagura asked dumbfounded, looking at now peaceful baby who was in turn staring at her with big yellow eyes.

"I purified Kiodji so he won't have a demon side."

"So this is a hanoyu?"

"No, Hitomi is one. The medallion around her neck prevents her demon side to manifest as you've seen earlier. I purify all the babies with youkai blood that are born here. It is impossible with adults so I make artifacts that allow hanoyus live a normal life."

"So he will only look different?"

"Well, inhuman strength and agility will be all there, but he won't turn into a bloodthirsty beast."

"You seem to know the silver-haired youkai rather well," Kagura made a change for the topic she was curious about.

"You mean Sesshomaru?"

"If you want to call him that."

"Yes, we've known each other for quite a long time. I can't say we are close, but we are rather close relatives."

Now Kagura was even more confused. Kagome couldn't be a youkai since she was a miko, so in what way could she be related to the silver-haired beast? Her questions were left unanswered however since there was a knock on the wall.

"This is Naruki, can I come in?"

All the women finished their duties, so Hitomi was presentable enough to meet her husband and to show their child to the father. Everybody but Kagome and Kagura left giving permission to the man to enter. Naruki didn't wait another second to comply and he wasn't alone. Two young men accompanied him, one looked nineteen and the other not older than sixteen. In Kagura's personal opinion, they both looked like younger versions of Sesshomaru, but without the face markings.

The baby was given to its parents and not family members left the family to their new joy after extending their congratulations.

"The funniest thing is that I remember Naruki being exactly the same - a little wiggling baby who couldn't stop screaming. I wonder if this one is the same," the older of the Sesshomaru's copies said.

"Don't be rude, Yasha," Kagome scolded. "You will have your own pups one day."

"And till then we have another kid to spoil," the younger man, who couldn't even be called a man yet, stated with a big smile that revealed small but nevertheless present fangs.

"Did you pay your respects to your Oji-san (uncle)?" Kagome questioned in an authoritive tone.

"Of course. Asked if he would give his fangs for our swords."

"And what did he say?"

"What he always says: 'Over my dead body'. As that will happen any time soon!" Yasha exclamation was full of sarcasm.

"Behave you two!" Kagome scolded again, this time hitting them both over the head.

"Why me too? I haven't said a word," the boy protested.

"But you were thinking it, Ryou (hound)," Kagome explained, and the boy looked down full of guilt. "Now go and tell everyone the good news. Both the mother and the baby are alive."

"Does that mean we have one slayer less? With Naruki having a family and all?"

"It is possible, Yasha. But there is less and less youkai around, so one member less won't compromise your youkai exterminating quest."

"Especially if slayers continue to marry them or their relatives," Ryou said chuckling.

The young men took off right from the entrance of the building, leaving fuming Kagome and utterly lost Kagura.

"Sometimes, I am ashamed to call myself their mother," Kagura finally stated.

"They are your sons?" Kagura exclaimed now losing all logic of the situation. Kagome looked two years older than the hanoyus. At most. Even her being their sister was doubtful, a younger one maybe, but the mother? "Yours and his?"

"Like Hell they are Sesshomaru's!" came from behind Kagura, after she experienced a sudden movement of air. Whoever said that must've jumped from the roof and no human could do that. That meant…

Kagura slowly turned around to come face to face with another silver-haired golden-eyed creature. This one, however, had dog ears in his silver mane. Both their eyes widened but for different reasons.

"Kso!" Inuyasha cursed, jumping back and almost colliding with a wall. "And a human…"

"Yasha and Ryou are mine and Inuyasha's sons, Kagura," Kagome cleared up the misunderstanding.

Inuyasha slowly returned to his senses, but now he was looking questioningly at Kagome. "Kagura?" His question obviously had a hidden meaning only his wife could understand.

Kagura looked from Inuyasha to Kagome and back, confused once again. Why were they reacting like that the moment they see her face and hear her name? There was nothing special about either.

"Kagura lives with Tanaki," Kagome supplied an explanation, this time for Inuyasha.

"I see," Inuyasha drawled, looking Kagura over from head to toe.

Such attention didn't please Kagura in the slightest. "I must head back. It's getting late and I have a lot of chores to do."

"Your village is a two day ride from here."

"Two days?" Kagura said astonished. "But the trip here took less than an hour!"

"Sesshomaru is still here. You can try to persuade him to take you back. He is at the cemetery," Kagome suggested, with impish sparks in her dark eyes.

Not even attempting to give a second thought about the underlying meaning of Kagome's words, Kagura departed in a huff, civil pleasantries of saying goodbye forgotten.

"Hey, Kagome," Inuyasha uttered, when Kagura was out of the ear-shot, "She can't be her, right? I mean, even the name is the same. It can't be a coincidence."

"She is definitely not Kagura the wind mistress, but she could be an incarnation. Kikyo and I weren't that different either, right, Inuyasha?"

"I always could tell you apart," Inuyasha mumbled, uncomfortable as always when the subject of Kikyo brought up.

"Let's see if Sesshomaru can."

"Huh?"

…

Kagura didn't need to ask for directions to find the cemetery. It was located at the same place in every village – at the outskirts of it. While she was walking through the village that looked nothing extraordinary comparing to other villages she visited in her twenty two years, this one, Inuyasha's village, as she heard it was called, was certainly different in aspect of population. Hanoyus of all kinds walked freely as if it was completely normal for them to live alongside humans. Moreover, on her way Kagura encountered several youkai slayers, who, by the words she overheard, came to congratulate their teammate on becoming a father.

Kagura marveled at the words she heard. A union of a youkai slayer and a hanoyu was not only approved but praised. The whole conception was against everything she had been taught since birth. Youkai were supposed to be bloodthirsty beasts, which had only one purpose – destroy and devour. They don't have a soul or possess a way of rational thinking. They are even worse than animals.

But that day Kagura learned a lot about youkai that contradicted with her previous knowledge. She was puzzled, but she wanted to learn more, to understand why Tanaki married someone with youkai blood, what Rin will turn into and why… why he associated himself with humans.

The cemetery came into view with its lonely tombstones. One tombstone wasn't lonely though. Beside it sat a person in white Kagura couldn't mistake for any human village inhabitant. She watched as the youkai was motionlessly sitting and staring at the tombstone as if communicating with its residents. In front of the stone lay a bunch of flowers that looked freshly picked.

Kagura stepped towards the grave without attempting to conceal her steps, understanding that he must've already known about her presence. The very first name on the stone caught her attention – Rin.

"You have no right to be present here," Sesshomaru uttered in his usual indifferent voice, but with just a bit of coldness that showed his displeasure.

"I know, and I am sorry. And not only for being here. I indeed don't know much about youkai and men for that matter. I was brought up to become a perfect wife and nothing more. In these several months I've seen things I would've never seen if I had remained in my village."

"Followed your previous destiny."

"Yes."

"Have you discovered a new one?"

"I don't know yet. I hope time will show me."

"Time… Humans always lie about it to themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you come to ask me something, Kagura?" Sesshomaru questioned, turning to face her for the first time.

Kagura was present on the burials only two times, but she clearly remembered the grief and pain the eyes of the people were full of. The people that lost somebody they loved, cared for. Somebody who will never return to them. And those feelings were exactly what she saw in Sesshomaru's eyes. The astonishment was so great that she almost fell to the ground. Youkai could feel sadness? He could? But didn't he resemble a piece of marble with no feelings, no life within him?

"Well, Kagome and then her… husband, I presume, acted strange the moment they saw my face. Why? We've never met before," Kagura replied hesitantly, not sure she actually wanted to receive the answer. She had a feeling that it wouldn't be simple, moreover it was personal. To whom? She was afraid to find out.

"Youkai and even hanoyu have a long lifespan. We meet thousands of people, some of them happen to look alike."

"So there was another woman who looked like me? Who was she?"

"A wind youkai."

It was obvious for Kagura that Sesshomaru didn't want to continue the conversation, but she couldn't let it go. There was something captivating in his words, the eternal wisdom that even the oldest monk in her village didn't possess. She sat down onto the grass, indicating that she wasn't going to back off.

"Were you close?"

"I trusted her."

"Only trusted?"

"I hardly trust my step-brother."

"So this woman was important to you," Kagura concluded, looking closely for any shift in the youkai's glance. After a little observation she understood that if he felt anything, it was seen in his eyes. Only in his eyes.

"She taught me a lesson."

"It must've been something remarkable," she noted with a smirk. To teach something the great taiyoukai, what a woman!

"Indeed. She taught me that having a weakness doesn't make one weak. Not admitting it does. If one admits to his weakness and fights to overcome it, it makes one strong. Even stronger than someone who has no weaknesses."

"It is impossible to have no weaknesses at all."

"But it is possible to think so."

"Indeed." Kagura looked at the person in front of her. It was impossible not to feel the power he emanated. Everything about him seemed perfect, but it wasn't. She couldn't place what was amiss, but for some reason she wanted to discover it. "Why do you protect humans?" she blurted out, instantly regretting it. It was pointless to even hope to receive a reply to that.

"The youkai are extinct."

"So you keep track of everybody with youkai blood?"

"Rin was human."

"What do you mean, Rin was? Stop talking in riddles!" Kagura blew up suddenly, her temper ablaze. "Can't you explain things just as they are?"

"Why should this Sesshomaru explain anything to you?"

"Because taking care of Rin makes me a part of this mess," she spat.

"What mess is that?"

"Damn you," Kagura cursed under her breath. That piercing glance of his was unsettling. She couldn't control herself or her words in the least. "I meant to say," she began after collecting herself, "that I don't neither know nor understand what is going on around me. Rin is such a sweet and lovely girl, and she will… she will…"

"She was," Sesshomaru agreed, his hand resting on the gravestone. "And she grew up, and she grew old, and she died. A hundred years passed and it will be the same once again."

Kagura followed his glance towards the first name engraved on the stone and understood. She didn't know exactly why a human girl Rin, the first one, staid with the youkai, but she knew that the reason changed him.

While Kagura was contemplating her discoveries, she didn't notice Sesshomaru stand up and move away. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Her plea fell on deaf ears. So what? She ran after him as fast as her tight kimono allowed.

When she felt she was going to fall from exhaustion, he stopped. "Why are you following this Sesshomaru?"

"Take me back," she managed to rasp out between deep breaths. "It will be faster than by ordinary means. Just on a slower pace this time."

"This Sesshomaru doesn't have time for this."

"So you don't lie about time to yourself like humans do?"

"No, this Sesshomaru doesn't waste it like humans do."

"An hour for you is just a blink of an eye. And I… don't want to ride with a stranger."

"And this Sesshomaru is not a stranger?"

"Well, you obviously won't try anything…"

"You say that to a youkai?"

"If you harm me, Rin won't get anything to eat for supper. So it's your choice."

"Not yours, Kagura?"

"We are wasting time, let's just get on with it," Kagura actually ordered, coming to stand beside him.

A clawed hand came around her waist and they rose encircled with sparkling energy. This time Kagura didn't close her eyes, but watched the passing woods under them – it was a fabulous view. Once she made a trip into the mountains and at the very top looked down - the grandeur of the surrounding world overwhelmed her. Now she had opposite feelings – she was above the world now.

From the corner of her eye Kagura noticed a white flash moving from the trees. For a moment it resurfaced on the top of the tree and she recognized Ryou. He was aiming with his bow at something on the ground.

"Is there a youkai?" she asked quietly, as if afraid to scare the pray, or simply scared.

"Yes."

"Aren't you going to do anything?"

"It is his pray and his territory."

"You are their Oji-san?"

Sesshomaru wrinkled his nose in contempt. He was clearly very touchy about the subject. Kagura stored that little piece of information.

"Those pups are no concern of mine."

"Do you have, ehhh… pups?"

"No."

"Why? You yourself said that youkai extinct."

"They extinct because of their own foolishness, letting their demon side to overcome their being, turning them into brainless animals. Their only goal in life – to satisfy their bloodlust. To breed and to bring up a decent continuation of their line… A pointless waste of time to their mind."

"But you seem to be different." There was obviously no reply to such a comment, but Kagura pressed the matter further. "All you do is criticize and adopt human families that have no blood connection to you."

"And yet you do the same. You take care of Rin, who doesn't relate to you in any way."

"I will have my own children some day," Kagura declared.

"And what about your vow never to be with a man?"

"I changed my mind, when I saw Hitomi giving birth today. She must've gone through a lot of difficult experiences being a wife of a youkai slayer. Furthermore, she was aware of the danger of giving birth, but still did it. With time I may overcome my fears. All men can't be rapists. That is my choice."

The rest of the flight was spent in silence. Kagura couldn't understand the reason for the abrupt end of the conversation. Did she offend him? Dare to speak of what he couldn't? And why did she even care?

They landed on the field of flowers behind Tanaki's hut. They didn't even touch the ground, but Rin was already running towards them, arms stretched out for a hug.

"You came too Sesshomaru-sama!" the girl screamed with joy. "Kagura-san, father brought big fresh fish today, we are going to have a wonderful supper! I am going to help you to cook! Are you going to stay, Sesshomaru-sama?"

To Kagura's total astonishment, the taiyoukai only ruffled Rin's hair and disappeared into the night.