Last Time:
As Kagome reached out to the sword, she pulsed; if she would have taken the time to notice, she would have observed the sword doing the same.
"It recognizes your blood, dear," Kagome's mother explained. "It accepts you."
Kagome's eyes shifted to her mother momentarily, signaling to her that her explanation had been heard. She grasped the sword's sheath with her left hand, lifting it out of its box. She pulsed again. She grabbed its hilt and slowly began to slide it out of its encasing. Pulse. The sword's full length was revealed as she lowered her left hand down by her side, examining the blade. It was beautiful. It didn't have the seemingly rusty and useless appearance that camouflaged Tetsusaiga; it simply shone. It was also slightly larger than Tetsusaiga in its untransformed form.
'I wonder if it transforms as well?' Kagome mused to herself.
"You might want to return it to its sheath for now, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi advised. Kagome did as she was told, all the while wondering why. "As Inuyasha can probably confirm, that sword emits a distinct aura when outside its casing. It will undoubtedly attract the attentions of any remaining youkai in this era. It would probably be best for the two of you to return to Inuyasha's time with the sword for now. I'm sure your friends are worrying about you anyways," she added with a warm smile.
~*~One Hell of a Surprise~*~
A smirk crawled across the face of an unknown figure. "So the girl has been reunited with daddy's old sword, has she...excellent."
Kagome and Inuyasha passed through the well—Kagome feeling more light-hearted since the talk with her mother and Inuyasha growing more somber as they crossed over to his era—to find their friends sitting on the edge of the well clearing, awaiting their return. Shippo raced toward Kagome, being the naïve child that he was, while Miroku and Sango only stood up and took a few tentative steps. When Kagome fully embraced the kit with a small giggle escaping her lips, their bodies visibly relaxed and things carried on almost normally.
While hugging and reassuring the kit, Kagome was taking in huge sniffs, her nose thoroughly enjoying the fresh air…that was getting fresher? She now realized that there had been a strange twang in the air at first, which her inexperienced nose had been unable to detect until it was leaving.
"Inuyasha, what was that smell that just went away?" Kagome asked curiously, still taking in lots of air, clinging to the last bit of the lingering scent.
Inuyasha had been in deep thought and oddly silent until that moment, so he responded without fully thinking things through. "Anxiety."
"Oh…" She committed it to memory for future reference. Then the scent came back again, full strong…no this time it was slightly different. It seemed to be emanating from around Miroku and Sango, who happened to look a bit twitchy.
"What about that one?" she asked again, though she thought she already knew the answer.
"Nervousness," he replied, only consciously this time.
"Oh, I see," was her unintelligent response as she noted the slight difference between the two emotions. 'Has Inuyasha always been able to read us that easily?' she wondered before returning her attention back to the situation at hand.
"So what're you two so nervous about?" Sango and Miroku's spasmodic mannerisms suddenly ceased.
"Us…nervous?" Miroku sheepishly replied.
"Yes, come on. Don't try to cover it up. My nose knows," Kagome quipped back, tapping her nose with her index finger for emphasis while enjoying her little joke.
Sango took over this time. "Well you see, we were nervous because you found out we'd been feeling anxious. We didn't want you to get the wrong idea. We just weren't sure if you were feeling better about everything and we didn't want to upset you."
"Well, I'm not exactly what you'd call fine, but I do feel slightly better after talking with my mom. I found out quite a lot, actually." As Kagome told the others about what she and Inuyasha had learned from her mother, Inuyasha continued to remain quiet and thoughtful, only actually hearing bits and pieces of the retelling.
"And that's when she gave me this, my father's old sword!" she exclaimed as she finished the tale, showing the heirloom to Sango, Miroku, and Shippo for emphasis.
"That looks so cool, Kagome!" Shippo shouted his excitement. Kagome merely chuckled in response.
"Kagome," Inuyasha finally interjected. Kagome looked at him. "Can we uh…talk for a minute?" he asked, unsure of exactly what he would say if she agreed.
"Yeah, sure Inuyasha," Kagome replied with a smile. She stood up—everyone except for Inuyasha, who had merely settled for leaning against a tree, had sat down during Kagome's story—and said, "Let's go for a walk."
He nodded and left for the forest as she trailed along behind him. Neither spoke for a while until finally Inuyasha stopped and turned to face her. To his disappointment, the words hadn't just hit him, as he had hoped. He knew what he wanted to say, he just didn't know how to say it.
Kagome could smell that same nervous scent from earlier coming off Inuyasha, so she thought she'd better break the ice. "So you've been pretty quiet since we got back. Want to tell me what's been on your mind?"
He remained silent for a moment before crossing his arms. "You know things are gonna be a lot different now, for all of us, but mostly you."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that," Kagome said, sarcasm tingeing her voice.
"Kagome, I'm being serious here!" Kagome was needless to say somewhat taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor. Inuyasha, on the other hand could no longer contain all the thoughts that had been plaguing him over the last hour. "Things are gonna be a lot harder for you now. You'll be treated…differently."
"I know Inuyasha, but incase you haven't noticed, I've always been treated differently here."
"Yeah, but you're a half-demon now; you've seen the way they're treated by humans and demons alike. Things may be a little better for you because you don't have ears like mine, but humans will still know you're different from them. Demons will be able to smell you're not pure. Have you forgotten Jinenji? Or what happened on Hourai Island?"
Kagome couldn't remember the last time Inuyasha had said so much at once. "No, I haven't," Kagome replied, her voice soft. "Nor have I forgotten what's been done to you, Inuyasha. That's why you'll just have to train me so I can be strong." Kagome closed the distance between them, feeling that if she just held him everything would be okay; that she could somehow take his pain away. She wrapped her arms around his waist and added in a whisper she knew he'd hear, "Besides, if it's too much for me, I know you'll be there to protect me." Inuyasha slowly lifted his arms to encircle her and she nuzzled deeper into his chest. He rested his chin lightly on her head. She felt completely enveloped by his scent, which she had failed to truly notice before now. It smelled so natural, like the very woods they stood in, but there was something else too, something she couldn't quite decipher just yet.
They both stepped out of the embrace and looked at one another. "Should we get back to the others, now?" Kagome suggested.
Inuyasha, however did not agree. "Not yet, there's still more you should know."
"Okay, let's sit…up there." She pointed toward a branch hanging above them before attempting to jump for it. Her newfound hanyou powers did not kick in on their own as much as she had hoped. She could tell she would fall short, until a strong arm grabbed her by the waist and took her the rest of the way to the branch, safely settling them there.
"Thanks," she said while blushing at her failure.
"Keh. It'll probably take a little while for your powers to completely awaken. I've never met another half-demon in your situation, but normally our powers strengthen as we age."
Kagome jokingly responded, "As if being a priestess who traveled back and forth over five hundred years wasn't strange enough."
Inuyasha's ears flattened back against his head, "It's not funny, Kagome. Do you realize the only village we'll be welcome in now is probably this one? It was hard enough before with one half-demon, two will be almost impossible."
"I know this is a big change, and it will definitely take some getting used to, but if this is who I am, who I'm mean to be, then I don't regret this happening to me Inuyasha, do you?" He was silent for a minute and Kagome took it as a yes. "Oh, I see." Her eyes filled to the brim with tears, threatening to spill over any second.
"Dammit Kagome, don't cry! That's not what I meant. It's not 'cause you're a half-demon, it's all the stuff you're gonna have to go through now; you shouldn't have to experience those sorta things."
Now her sadness morphed into anger, as it often did when Inuyasha was concerned. "Inuyasha, I'll be fine! We've always gotten by before; we'll manage just fine now, too. You don't like villages anyway, so I don't see why you even care."
"Maybe we should just go back to the others," he said, changing his mind. The conversation had not gone at all like he'd hoped; it would be best just to try again some other time.
"Alright, whatever you want."
Inuyasha jumped from their perch with well-practiced grace and agility, then looked expectantly up at Kagome.
"You don't expect me to jump from way up here, do you?" she asked, sounding slightly panicked.
"Of course, wench. You're a hanyou now, so what's the problem?" he retaliated with a smirk.
Kagome made a disconcerted sound while nervously eyeing the ground. After a moment she took a tentative leap, which involved a lot of flailing, and resulted in her briefly landing on her feet before falling on her butt.
"Oww…" she whined as she rubbed the offended body part.
Inuyasha laughed before lifting her up and setting her on her feet.
"I guess we should start on some basics tomorrow, wench."
"Whatever you say, Inuyasha. Hmm…I think I'll make ramen for dinner tonight."
~*~One Hell of a Surprise~*~
As the two half-demons returned to their friends they were immediately assaulted by the words of a pervert.
"So, what have you two been talking about all this time?" Miroku inquired oh-so-innocently.
Inuyasha landed a rough punch to his head, while Sango reprimanded, "Today's been a long day, Houshi. Now is not the time."
Kagome just sighed and shook her head. At least some things never change.
~*~One Hell of a Surprise~*~
Present-day Tokyo:
Kagome's mother stood in the kitchen washing dishes, thinking over everything she had talked about with her daughter. If only she had known the day was fast approaching, she would have told her sooner. She sighed as she put a stack of plates in the cabinet. 'If only you were still alive Kisho, things would be so much easier on our precious Kagome.' She returned to her place at the sink, resuming her work, as she gazed out at the Goshinboku. As she did a strange sight caught her attention. She looked closely and swore she saw a glimpse of black against all the green, but then it was gone. Did she just imagine that? She sure hoped so, but she didn't like the feeling it gave her.
A/N: I know I know, Inuyasha is such a pessimist.
Hourai Island: the setting of the 4th Inuyasha movie.