A/N: Wow….once again I'm amazed at how many people left reviews! It's incredible :D Thank you so much everyone! I hope you all enjoy this new chapter ^_^

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Kaka Kara No Bourei

Part Six:

Afterlife

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Kagome glanced around the campfire with tired eyes. What are we going to do now?

Save Sesshoumaru and the Inu no Taisho, the shard hunters were exhausted. It'd been a long, stressful day and everyone was ready for some well-deserved rest, but there were a few things they needed to discuss before going to bed. Kagome decided to voice the question echoing in her brain. "What are we going to do now?"

To her surprise, Inu no Taisho answered her first, though it was with a question of his own. "Do, miko? What is there that needs to be done?" he asked softly. His topaz eyes, presently darker than both Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's, burned with a terrifying intensity when he turned them on her.

Kagome looked at him from across the fire and violently beat down the blush that threatened her cheeks. She didn't quite understand why the sound of him speaking made the base of her spine tingle, but she tried her best to ignore it. "Well, for starters, we should find you some real clothes, Taisho-dono." She successfully kept her gaze from dropping to his lap as she spoke. In all honesty, the fire rat robe was little more than a loin cloth on the daiyoukai, and she found herself increasingly distracted because of it.

"I am no longer a lord," he suddenly said. "You do not need to address me formally." He flicked his blazing eyes over each member of the group. "Call me Katashi. I would prefer we were all comfortable with one another."

"Then . . . Katashi," Kagome began uncertainly, and almost flinched when he focused on her again, "would you like me to introduce everyone?"

Katashi smiled, and Kagome thought her heart was going to fall out of her chest. "I would very much appreciate it, miko."

Subtly shaking off her amazement, Kagome gestured to Sango and Miroku, who were sitting side by side to her right. "Miroku here is a monk, and Sango is a demon slayer." They both bowed politely as she said their names, and Katashi nodded his head to them.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," he said warmly. "I am happy to meet friends of my son."

From his place high above on a tree branch, Inuyasha snorted derisively, and Kagome immediately snapped her head up to look at him. "Don't make me do it," she hissed threateningly. "I'd hate to embarrass you in front of your father."

Inuyasha blanched and shrank away. "Keh," he muttered. "Whatever, wench."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Katashi tense, and she quickly moved on to introduce a snoozing kitsune and fire cat. "That's Shippou over there with Kirara. I took him in after he lost his parents, and Kirara is Sango's battle companion." She glared at the hanyou in the tree mumbling to himself. "And you know Inuyasha. That's everybody."

Katashi was quiet for a moment, and Kagome dug her fingers into the thick material of her hakama as abrupt anxiousness washed over her. "Is something wrong?" she inquired.

"No," Katashi replied, but he was no longer sitting across the fire from her. Startled, Kagome and the others looked to where his voice was coming from and all, with the exception of Sesshoumaru, gasped in surprise.

Inuyasha scowled at his father, who now sat next to him on his tree branch. "What the hell are you doing, old man?" he demanded. "Get away from me!"

Katashi glowered right back at his youngest son. "Your attitude leaves much to be desired, Inuyasha."

"Who cares about my attitude?" Inuyasha barked. "And who are you to talk to me like that? Keh, yeah, you're my dad, but don't come back from the dead and start trying to act the part. I've been fine without you all my life, and I'll keep being fine without you. Go away!"

"Hm . . ." The former Western lord regarded the half-demon coolly. "You've got quite a mouth, but I don't particularly like the way you use it."

Before Inuyasha could even respond, Katashi had him by the jaw and brought them face-to-face. "Careful, son," he murmured dangerously, "I'd hate to cut you." Inuyasha jerked, and a thin line of blood dribbled down his chin. Katashi grinned darkly. "These claws of mine are rather sharp. It would be in your best interest not to move."

Inuyasha snarled viciously. "Let me go!" he spat. Diamond-hard edges raked into his flesh as he struggled, but he ignored the sting. "If you know what's good for you old man, you'd better let me go!"

Katashi arched an incredulous brow. "And now you threaten me, Inuyasha?" His grip tightened unbearably and the hanyou yelped. "Have you no instincts of self-preservation?"

"'Course I do! If I didn't I woulda been dead a long time ago!"

"True," Katashi agreed, "but it seems as though you do not know when to fight, and when to retreat. Now, for example, is when the wise . . ." Claws sank deeper into Inuyasha's skin and he bit back a pained cry. ". . . would back down."

"Why the fuck are you doing this?" Inuyasha choked out. "I ain't done nothing to you!"

Katashi stared at his son, and Inuyasha was a little frightened at the blankness in his father's eyes. "Tell me something, boy. Do I seem deaf or blind to you?" he asked softly. "Do you think I did not see or hear how you treated the people you call friends today?"

Silver ears snapped back as Inuyasha snarled like a rabid dog. "What?"

"Abusing the fox pup," the demon went on, indifferent to his son's sputtering, "belittling the monk and taijiya, refusing them rest and pushing them all past their limits. And Kagome . . ."

Inuyasha roared savagely. "What about Kagome?! You saying I treat her badly?"

"Terribly," Katashi continued, seemingly unconcerned with Inuyasha's growling. "The way you speak to her is truly appalling. I must say that, watching you today, I was entirely ashamed of you."

The aforementioned miko, who had been sitting stunned in the grass below as she listened, nearly fell over in shock. Why does he care how Inuyasha talks to me? she wondered. Why does he care about me . . . at all?

On his part, Inuyasha did not take Katashi's words well. Heedless of the lethal claws still holding him, the half-demon began to thrash fiercely. Blood poured down the front of his white underclothes, but he paid it no mind. "Shut up! Don't talk about Kagome!"

"Behaving this way only proves you know I am right," Katashi alleged, and Inuyasha instantly froze. "You know you treat her poorly, and yet you continue to do so. Why is that, I wonder?"

"Shut up," Inuyasha forced through clenched teeth. "Just shut up. Why do you care how I treat the stupid wench−"

Fresh blood gushed forth as Katashi brutally hurled his son from the tree, and Inuyasha hit the ground so hard that the earth caved in. "Stupid wench," the inuyoukai repeated hotly as he leapt after his stubborn child and landed next to his prone body. "I've an idea, Inuyasha." He yanked the inuhanyou roughly into the air by the back of his inner haori and twisted both his arms behind him. "From now on, I will call you 'bastard' instead of your name. That is, after all, what you technically are."

Inuyasha balked in disbelief and started to protest, but Katashi was having none of that. "Since you have no qualms about calling others disrespectfully, I will do the same to you. It is only fair, is it not?"

"I don't care what the hell you call me, asshole!" Inuyasha yelled. He was sick of being manhandled, and he was sick of listening to his father talk. "Let go of me!"

Tutting disapprovingly, Katashi rearranged his hold so one of his hands was free. "And you still insist on being rude." With a heavy sigh, he clapped Inuyasha on the shoulder and murmured, so that no one else could hear, "I understand you are angry with me. I died, and left you and your mother alone to fend for yourselves. I will not, however, apologize for sacrificing myself to save both your lives."

The hanyou stilled and whipped his head around. "What are you talking about?"

"You resent me," Katashi said plainly. "You are angry with me for dying, have been angry with me for dying. Now I have suddenly returned, and you do not know how to handle it, so you are lashing out. I know you are uncouth by nature, but your behavior within these last few hours is beyond that." He released Inuyasha's arms and stepped back. "But if you are angry with me, attack me and not your friends."

Stumbling forward, Inuyasha spun to face the daiyoukai, his chest heaving. "You don't know anything," he muttered, mouth set with remembered pain. "Don't act like you do."

"Then tell me," Katashi implored. "Tell me what it is I do not know."

For a brief moment, Kagome and the others thought Inuyasha might open up to his father, but that hope was dashed as he turned away and stalked through the grass, intent on the woods. "Just leave me alone, old man."

Katashi watched him go with mixed emotions. Sango and Miroku glanced at each other, not sure what to make of what had transpired, and Kagome stared into the fire, determined not to care where he went or what he did.

No one noticed Sesshoumaru melt into the surrounding darkness, silent as the wings of a bird in flight.

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"You have questions."

Kagome twisted her head so fast her neck cracked. "Katashi-san," she breathed. Her heart was racing, and her pulse thundered in her ears. "I didn't know you were still awake."

It was late. The moon was low in the sky, and a cool breeze curved the tops of the trees. The others were fast asleep, though Inuyasha had yet to return. The fire had died long ago, steeping the Inutachi in shadow, and the overall effect was rather eerie. Kagome snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag and sighed. "Aren't you tired?"

He smiled softly. "After having been dead for so long, sleep is the last thing on my mind." His eyes were filled with amusement when he looked at her. "Your curiosity is eating you alive, it seems. Ask me what you will. I do not mind."

Pink stained her cheeks. "Oh, well . . . are you sure?" she asked shyly. Inwardly, she was amazed he even knew she was curious about him. How was he able to pick up on something like that?

"Yes," he assured. "You're so agitated you will never be able to rest until you have answers to your questions." He flicked strands of moonlit hair over his shoulder as he spoke, and Kagome realized his hair was so long he had to sit on it. Frowning, she sat up and reached for her bag. It was sure to get tangled if he left it like that.

Katashi eyed her as she rummaged through her yellow monstrosity. "What are you doing, miko?"

Kagome grunted as half her body disappeared. "I'm . . . looking for something," she said vaguely. "Hold on . . ."

Now overtaken with his own curiosity, Katashi waited patiently, his sharp gaze taking in every move she made. Curiosity, however, was quickly overwhelmed by admiration when the miko's sleeping 'shorts', as she had called them, slid upwards, and the milky white skin of her thighs was exposed.

"Found it!" she exclaimed quietly, and Katashi looked away as she turned to him. "Here you go."

In her hand she held a small black tie, and Katashi took it hesitantly when she offered it to him. "What is this?" he inquired.

"It's for your hair," Kagome explained. "I noticed that it's kind of getting in your way. You can use that to tie it up if you want."

He blinked in mild surprise. "Thank you," he said sincerely, and Kagome had to shove down another blush. Standing fluidly from where he sat, Katashi went to gather his silken lengths of hair, and then paused. "Kagome . . ."

"Yes?"

"I'm afraid this is not strong enough," he said, referring to the tie. "I do not think it will be able to hold, and I do not want it to break. My hair is rather heavy."

"Oh." She hadn't thought of that. "Well . . . would you like me to braid your hair for you?"

Kagome almost reeled back when he was suddenly sitting in front of her, the smooth ends of his locks brushing over her cheeks as they settled against his back. "Yes, if you would like to."

Choking back laughter, Kagome gently combed slim fingers through his tresses and began to separate them. "You seem . . . rather eager, Katashi-san," she observed.

He hummed in response. "I am inuyoukai. Forgive my over eagerness, but we naturally crave contact with others. I could not help myself."

Kagome frowned. She heard what he hadn't said. "I guess you didn't get much contact with others during the last two hundred years."

There was a long pause, and just when Kagome was sure she'd offended him, he murmured, "I did not. On the other side, I was alone."

Alone? Brow scrunched together, the miko knew she would have to comment. "How is that possible, Katashi-san? I'm sure you couldn't be the only one in heaven."

He chuckled derisively then, and Kagome flinched at the sound. "But I was not in heaven, Kagome, and neither was I in hell. My soul refused to move on, and so I was trapped. For the past two centuries I roamed my own personal graveyard."

"You mean . . ." She trailed off as his meaning sank in. "You were stuck between worlds at your burial site?"

"Yes."

Pursing her lips, Kagome ventured cautiously, "So . . . you weren't with Izayoi all this time?"

Katashi's back stiffened, so much so that she thought his spine might break, and Kagome immediately regretted saying anything. "I'm so sorry Katashi-san," she whispered quietly as she snatched her hands away from him. "God, I shouldn't have asked−"

"Do not apologize."

"What?" Kagome blinked dumbly at him when he looked over his shoulder at her. "How can I not? It wasn't my place to ask something like that."

"Curiosity is not a sin," he said. "I expected I would eventually be asked a similar question, but not by you. I was surprised. Do not be concerned."

But Kagome, being who she was, couldn't not be concerned. "Still, I'm sorry," she said while reaching up and quickly finishing his braid. "I shouldn't have said anything. I can't imagine how much you miss her."

Katashi was silent until she tied off the ends of his hair, his mind turning, considering. Perhaps . . . he could begin to tell her. With Inuyasha gone, it was a perfect opportunity. He would be a fool if he did not take advantage of it, and he was anything but a fool.

"I did miss her," Katashi admitted. "At first."

Kagome, intent on repacking the various supplies she had thrown from her bag in pursuit of a hair tie, froze and turned to look at him. "At first?" she echoed.

The daiyoukai nodded. "She was my wife. I worried and feared for both her and Inuyasha. Without me, I did not know if they would survive, and when Izayoi passed away I was certain Inuyasha would not be far behind her. Fortunately, he proved me wrong."

"But you were trapped in your grave, Katashi-san," Kagome interrupted. "How did you know what was happening to Izayoi and Inuyasha?"

"The Tetsusaiga allowed me a kind of limited awareness," he clarified. "Through it, I could channel my spirit and Inuyasha's black pearl acted as a conduit, allowing me to see through him, so to speak. I watched Izayoi's funeral from his eyes."

Kagome's heart dropped into her stomach. "How old was he when Izayoi died?"

"Young." Katashi crossed his arms behind his head and laid back, in a way that reminded Kagome painfully of her hanyou friend. "Very young. Perhaps eight in human years. He was almost entirely defenseless but, miraculously, he managed to survive to adulthood. And then I saw him meet you."

For some reason unknown to her, the miko flushed. "You did?"

"I did." Laughter was clear in his voice as he recalled his first impression of her. "You were unlike anything I had ever come across. And the verbal thrashing you gave Inuyasha was quite entertaining."

If possible, Kagome reddened even more. "Oh no . . ."

Katashi grinned. "I must say I never understood how he could confuse you and Kikyou," he confessed. "I saw her only once, before she sealed Inuyasha to Goshinboku, but I see no resemblance between you both."

"You . . . seem to know a lot," Kagome stated as her blush subsided. "Like our whole story."

"Ah, not the whole story, I'm afraid. I do not know who this Naraku character is, or why he chose to restore me to life, and I do not know the nature of your relationship with that Kikyou woman, or why Inuyasha incessantly compares you to her." He raked his amber gaze over Kagome as he spoke. "His treatment of you completely baffles me, and I have no patience for it."

"Is that why you were so angry earlier?" Kagome asked timidly.

"Yes," he replied bluntly, and the priestess felt her mouth fall open in shocked surprise. "I let four years of frustration get the better of me, but the boy needed to be taught a lesson. I do not regret it."

"Wait . . ." Confusion clouded her blue eyes as she stared at him. "Four years? What do you mean?"

Katashi fought down a rather evil-looking smirk as he answered her. "Exactly what I have said. Do you remember the day you and Inuyasha fell into my tomb?"

"Of course. Were you . . . Katashi-san, did you see all that?!" Kagome nearly shrieked.

"Oh yes," he chuckled, "and I was not at all pleased at the time, especially when Sesshoumaru took it upon himself to try and kill you. Then, I had to intervene."

Bewildered didn't even begin to cover what she was feeling right now. "You intervened? So . . . was it . . . oh my . . ." Kagome gaped at the former lord, totally awestruck as she put two and two together. "You saved me," she breathed. "You saved me from Sesshoumaru."

Katashi's fanged teeth gleamed in the moonlight when he grinned at her. "I would enjoy retelling that particular occurrence from my side. But . . ." He took in her slumped shoulders and half-mast eyelids. "You are tired. Sleep now, little miko. I will be happy to talk with you again tomorrow."

"'Kay," Kagome replied sleepily. Arguing with him never crossed her mind, though her curiosity was far from satisfied. She was exhausted now. "Goodnight, Katashi-san," she called while burrowing back into her sleeping bag. "See you in the morning."

"Sleep well, Kagome," he bid, and watched through thick dark lashes as she curled up on her side and almost immediately fell asleep. "I will see you in your dreams."

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A/N: Wow . . . for some reason, this chapter took me FOREVER to finish. I'm not sure why, but I struggled with the Inupapa-Kagome interaction :P I'm pretty happy with what I've done though. I hope you all liked this one!

Please review!