Feudal Affair

I don't own Inuyasha

Chapter XVII

Rin slowed her pace as the village came into view. Although she had visited a few times since Kisata's birth it never was the same. The memories that she'd built over the years had all but been erased by one fateful year. A marriage that should have never been, turned friends into bitter enemies and a life lost. Friendships had been shattered at Kisata's birth. Even now she could tell that Inuyasha and Kagome had an estranged relationship with Kohaku and Miroku. There was remorse on both sides but it didn't change what happened and she still felt bad that it had had to come to death. There was never a moment when she didn't blame herself. Rin replayed every scenario in her mind that would have been more effective than marrying Kohaku but at the time, she'd made the decision broken-hearted in an attempt to accept what she thought Sesshoumaru would never agree to do. Rin felt her hand come to a rest in Sesshoumaru's. As she looked to him she smiled in gratitude. Despite Kisata's abilities he refused to fail her. Kohaku was still very present in the village but they'd kept a wide birth from each other. They'd only seen each other at a distance once in the times that they'd visited.

Sesshoumaru could see the hesitation in his mate's eyes. She'd agreed to come back to the village for Kisata's sake. As much as he'd claimed he didn't see Inuyasha as family in truth he couldn't deny the half-demon had their father's blood too and it wasn't fair to Kisata to keep her from family. He'd owed it to Kagome as well for trying to protect their daughter. He was sure that Rin felt the same. He felt Rin tighten her grip on his hand before leaning into him as they walked. He'd embraced her, keeping her worries at bay while keeping an eye on their daughter. Kisata always managed to stay one step ahead of them. Two white pony tails swung at the back of her head. She'd asked Rin to do her hair like her grandmother. Kisata skipped back and forth around Jaken tagging him by bopping him on the head getting him to give chase. He couldn't help but smile at the little demon's annoyance but Jaken had benefited many times over from Kisata's abilities. She never failed to heal the wounds he endured from trying to keep track of her or trying to protect her. Little did Jaken know, Kisata was far from his protection and could defend herself. Certainly, her strength was healing, but he hadn't neglected to teach her how to fight. It simply made Jaken feel better to know he still had a purpose in their family beyond pulling Aun around with them.

Kisata jumped out of the way as Jaken attempted to tag her before turning and running into the village. She'd immediately run into two young women, identical to each other. She could tell neither of them seemed enthused to see her. Her parents had warned her that everyone in the village was not accepting of their relationship. She'd known her parents were not traditional but she hadn't cared much about it.

"You little bastard!"

"Yuka, don't."

"She was your mother too Yara! How dare she and her wretched family show their faces here again?!"

"She's just a little girl. She didn't have anything to do with it. Let's just go."

"One day, your family will pay for what you've done."

Kisata watched as Yara looked up, a frightful look appearing on her face before pulling her sister with her .

"Kisata"

She watched the two women hurry off before turning to her father.

"Daddy why are they so angry?"

"They don't agree your mother's and my union."

"I know, but why?"

"We'll explain it when you're a little older." Rin playfully rubbed one of Kisata's ears attempting to take the child's mind off the situation at hand before Sesshoumaru left them both hanging in the balance with silence. Kisata giggled and ducked out of the way.

It hadn't taken them long to find Inuyasha and Kagome. Kisata's reaction to the two of them never failed to disappoint. Her embrace of Kagome always seemed to wake Kisata's energy and Kagome always seemed to feel renewed by the child's touch. Sesshoumaru tried to feign disinterest in the way that Kisata greeted Inuyasha but Rin and Kagome always pulled his attention back to it with laughter. It was less of a greeting and more of an attack. She'd felt the need to test her strength against her half-demon uncle. Inuyasha never seemed fazed by it and actually embraced it, taking on the defensive before conceding to Kisata's final attack which usually ended in a hug. It was the same with her two cousins who had her both in height and age but were still outmatched.

"She's definitely all Rin, but I guess she's got some of you in there too."

Sesshoumaru let his brother's words settle.

"I can agree to that."

"Kohaku hasn't been around as much. He's kept himself pretty busy with slaying demons. Seems like more of an obsession lately."

"He's preparing himself."

"You don't think...? It's been seven years Sesshoumaru!"

"He's waiting for the right time."

"There's never going to be a right time."

"Rin was sure that he wanted me dead more than anyone. I took what he thought was his. And even when he tried to take her away from me, death wouldn't fulfill his wishes."

"Don't challenge him."

"And what would you do if he were to challenge me? Try to stop him? Interfere, like you did before?"

"I couldn't just let you kill both of them."

"Why? It would have solved this problem long ago."

"They happened to be my friends long before you accepted me as family if you've forgotten that."

"I haven't and yet the fact is irrelevant when it came to the lives of my wife and child. Surely you know as much."

Inuyasha sighed but nodded, taking notice of Kagome as she spoke with Rin possibly of some challenge bringing up part-demon children.

"Daddy, momma said to ask you if I could go with Aneko and Taro around the village. Can I? You said I could? That's part of why we came right? Please?"

Sesshoumaru tried process every question that Kisata had unraveled in a matter of a moment. It was the same way Rin had asked questions many years ago in rapid fashion when she was nervous.

Rin noticed Sesshoumaru eyeing her after she'd sent Kisata over. Rin smirked at this necessity for direction. It was unlike him but his concerns were valid. The presence of the twins was concerning but not necessarily threatening as neither of them possessed any of the abilities of their mother or uncle. Kohaku was out of the village for the time being and Kisata would be with her cousins which was better than being by herself. Sesshoumaru had in fact promised Kisata that they would come to the village for that very reason. Rin nodded to him. She immediately knew it wasn't the response that Sesshoumaru wanted her to give but she knew he would internalize the worry and let Kisata go.

"Alright. Stay in the village. Understood?"

Kisata smiled and nodded before joining her cousins. Aneko was the oldest and most poised of the siblings at thirteen. She looked the most like Inuyasha and herself. Two white folded ears, hazel eyes but no markings. Taro looked like his mother but acted like his father, brown hair with hazel eyes gave away his mixture. He was the junior of his sister by two years. Kisata always enjoyed when the three of them were able to explore together. The few times that she'd been with her cousins they'd gotten into enough mischief that would last them a lifetime and always got them into trouble but luckily neither of their parents were overly upset by the antics. Despite her cousins being older she felt naturally drawn to be the leader and they typically followed her as she freely found villagers that might be in some distress. They'd watched her and Aneko had tried to mimic her, calling up her own aura but was never able to use it for the purpose of healing. After exiting one of the villager's dwellings Kisata picked up the scent of blood. She'd followed it until Aneko grabbed her.

"Kisata, we're not supposed to leave the village."

"But..."

"No buts. You know what your father said."

Kisata looked to the forest, still drawn by the scent of blood.

"Can't you smell the blood?"

Aneko looked to her brother a bit confused.

"Kisata, we don't smell any blood." Taro looked back to the forest, knitting his brow, trying to catch a scent.

"It's there! Someone is hurt, bad. We can't just leave them there to die!"

Taro chewed at his lower lip as his sister stood her ground.

"Our parents said not to go there. You can't save everyone. People die and there's nothing we can do about it. Even you can't heal illness and old age."

Kisata nodded even as she balled her fists beside her. Aneko was right. She couldn't save everyone but she at least wanted to try.

"Tell my father I'm sorry I disobeyed him."

"Kisata wait!" Taro called to her as both he and his sister ran after her into the forest.

Kisata had been surprised by her cousins following her but she kept her focus on the scent of blood that grew stronger as she got closer.

"Kirara!" Aneko picked up the little cat demon that was exhausted and barely able to open her eyes. She mewed before laying her head down against Aneko's arm. Kisata let her hands hover over the little demon. She'd required little energy to heal the wounds before Kirara opened her eyes again. Kisata smiled as Kirara rubbed against the remaining warmth of her hands but her attention was pulled again. The scent of blood hadn't been coming from Kirara. Taro grabbed Kisata's arm before she could go any further shaking his head. He could now smell the blood too and knew exactly who lay beyond the trees.

"What are you doing?"

"Mother and father, told us to never let you get near him."

Kisata looked to Aneko for understanding. Even as she petted Kirara her eyes never left the ground.

"Who is he?"

"Kohaku was a friend of our parents but something... bad happened and they stopped being friends."

"You know what happened?"

"It's not my place to say..."

"Aneko what happened?!"

"Mother said your father killed Kohaku's sister."

"Why would you say that? Why would he do that? Aneko, you have to tell me!"

"I over heard mother and father talking. I wasn't supposed to hear the rest. I think Kohaku was married to your mother but she was in love with your father. Kohaku found out that you weren't his daughter and he killed Aunt Rin because of it. Your father took the life of Kohaku's sister, Sango, because she was trying to kill Aunt Rin too. The twins are her daughters."

"But momma's alive."

"You saved her when you were just a baby. You've always had your powers from birth."

Kisata shook her head trying to understand. When her parents had said their union wasn't traditional she assumed they meant between human and demon and they'd always alluded to her being born after they were married. Kisata could feel her fists balling again at her sides. Her cousins would not stop her from coming face to face with the man who'd killed her mother.

A/N: There's at least one more chapter to come. Thanks for reading and reviewing and hope everyone is having a good holiday season so far!