Moar Updates! ^^ I've had this on my computer for awhile. See, I'll come up with a story, generally in the middle, and write what I think so I don't lose it, and then I have it for later.
So: enjoy ^^
White ears twitched on the top of the small boy's head, his amber eyes looking around at the city in excitement, his hands touching the base of the window from his car seat in an attempt to pull himself up.
"Miss Kagome," he asked for the millionth time, excitement laced in his voice, "are we finally gonna meet my daddy?"
"That's the plan," the woman told him glancing at the rear view mirror, the nervousness concealed in her eyes yet her voice wavered slightly, "but you cannot tell your mommy about this okay? She won't be happy."
"I know," Akihiko mumbled, his face looking somewhat saddened about lying to his mother.
"Don't worry," Kagome smiled, "we'll tell her soon."
"Okay," the boy murmured, his eyes glancing at the skyscrapers and people passing by the young woman's car, "why wouldn't mommy be happy about daddy?"
"Because," Kagome sighed, wishing that the child in the car seat wasn't as inquisitive as a police detective, "because mommy and daddy… didn't part on the best of terms."
"Why not?"
"It's… a long story," the young woman told him, "you should have your mommy and daddy tell you about it."
The boy nodded and remained silent at the unease in his mother's friend's voice, reading signals and cues was something he had always been attuned too, his mother teased him about it, the boy only laughing before she rained kisses down on his nose and forehead, telling him that she loved him, her little angel.
The car turned a corner before it slipped down a ramp, the sight becoming dark, cars of different colors and makes passing across the boy's eyes, his little body practically bouncing in the car seat.
"Alright," Kagome announced, the car pulled into park, the emergency brake pulled up in her spot, her head turned to smile at the little boy, "we're here!"
The boy giggled as the woman stepped from her driver's side to walk over to him, her hands swift in undoing his buckles, moving aside to let him hop out of the car, the little boy had been incredibly independent since he was a babe, his mother letting him try to expand it every day. His tiny hand was taken in Kagome's, his other balled into a fist around the straps oh his yellow backpack, his amber eyes looking around in excitement while the young woman looked nervous and unsure, the excitement in the boy radiating from his small body.
It had taken Kagome the better part of three weeks to allow Rin to take her son out on her own, slowly building up the trust she had lost over the years, guilt racking her body as the thought crossed her mind about how devastated Rin would be if she found out about her alternative motives.
Kagome took him up the flight of stairs, the two of them making it slowly to the main lobby of the building, marble and gold decorated the floor and walls, the boy looking up in awe at it all, the young woman leading him to the gold elevators.
The two entered an elevator, Kagome's slender finger pressing the button for the top floor, the box shuddering as it rose, the little boy beside her practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched the lights glowing for each floor, illuminating the numbers for each level. Kagome was thankful that no one entered it with them, it would be hard enough to explain to anyone let alone Sesshomaru as to why she was walking around with the small dog eared child.
His black jacket was brushed by a tender hand, any lint and fibers on the soft material removed before Kagome straightened up, her own jacket straightened as she took a deep breath, the elevator doors opening with a small ding and she gently pulled the boy along, ever thankful that the top of the building were full of offices and boardrooms, all their blinds closed while she approached the desk, the small imp siting behind it taking no notice of her as she sat the child on one of the leather armchairs.
"Sit here and I'm gonna talk to Jaken, okay?"
He nodded happily while Kagome moved over to the small green imp, the black wool making him hot, the jacket peeled off his body and placed neatly over the armrest.
"Good morning Jaken!"
"It's noon," the demon retorted, "what is it you want, Mrs. Takahashi?"
"I just want to talk to Sesshomaru for a bit, that's all," she told him sweetly, the boy watching their conversation in eagerness.
"He's busy, he's meeting with a client right now," Jaken informed her curtly, "you can make an appointment for a later time."
"Or I can just wait until he's done," Kagome said simply, "I don't mind waiting-"
"No you silly girl!" the imp suddenly snapped, glaring at her with wide green eyes, "he's busy all day! Why can't you leave it be! You're as bad as," he paused for a moment, his face falling slightly before finishing, "you're as bad as she was."
Kagome swallowed thickly, she knew the imp and though he griped about Rin repeatedly, her absence was greatly missed by him.
"Look," the young woman started again, "Jaken, this is really important, please, just trust me."
"What's so damn important," Jaken snapped at her, "that you feel the need to interrupt Master Sesshomaru right this second!"
The bickering pair were too enthralled in their argument to notice the little boy slip off his chair and gently approached the double doors when he heard the scuffling of shoes on the carpet, his tiny body hidden as a smiling man in a business suit slipped out the door, Akihiko sliding into the room first chance he sought, the little boy practically shaking with nervousness.
His amber eyes were glued to the man that sat hunched over his desk, his own head of silver-white hair slipped behind his back and ears to avoid it falling in his face as he focused on his work, his senses only detecting the boy once the door had clicked shut, his own amber eyes looking at the boy with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
"Is there something I can help you with?" his rich deep voice cut through the boy's thoughts, the child swallowing his fear as he sucked in a deep breath.
"Uh-um," the child stammered, his feet shuffling and his fingers fidgeting, "I-uh-I-um…"
"Are you lost?" the demon asked as he stood to his full height, certain that the child must be a child of his cousin's, his father had so many it was impossible to keep track of them all and one might just have stopped by for a visit.
"Uh…Uh-no," the boy shook his head of white hair, his amber eyes watching the demon as he approached the elder, his hands pulling at his backpack to bring the opening towards his body, "are-are you Se-Sessh…omaru Taka-Takahashi?"
"Yes…" the demon started slowly, his eyebrow raised as he watched the child fidget and rummage through his backpack, the boy refusing to look at him in the eye, "why do you ask?"
"W-Well, I-I uh-"
Slowly, the demon rose from his seat as he took himself to the child's side, Sesshomaru shook his head to shake his thoughts loose, "how did you get in here?"
"M-Ms. Kagome let me come," the child told him quietly, "she-she said…"
"Said… what?"
The boy swallowed thickly before he looked up at the demon, "she said… I could meet my daddy."
Much to Sesshomaru's confusion, the boy reached in and grabbed what he was searching for, his hands pulling out a framed photograph to look at before he handed it to the demon, Sesshomaru taking it in his own hands, his own amber eyes widening slightly from confusion as his heart tightened. Sesshomaru stared at the picture the boy had handed to him, his jaw slaking slightly as he took in the sight of a dark-eyed, dark-haired beauty smiling at him, her skin just as pale as he remembered and her smile equally as beautiful and radiant, her arms wrapped around the small boy that now stood in front of him who looked no more than three in the photograph, the child's own ears twitching out of nervousness as he fidgeted.
"Who-um-who is that woman in the photo with you?" the demon asked the child, his throat clearing as he kept his normally stoic mask, his hands trying to steady themselves as he extended the photo to the child.
"That's my mommy," the boy mumbled, his eyes darting to the photo before he looked back up at the demon, "her-her name's Rin an' she's lots prettier in real life."
"Y-Your-" Sesshomaru stammered, his throat tightening as his head felt light, his hand on his desk as he steadied himself, the floor feeling as though it were moving beneath him, "your mother?"
"Y-Yeah," the boy stammered softly, his eyes worrisome and his ears against his head, the entire effect disheartening.
"B-But… how old are you?" the demon asked, his eyes looking over at the small boy in shock, the child seeming to try and shrink back into himself as the demon tried to make sense of the who scenario.
"F-Four," the child mumbled, his fingers held up to emphasize his point, "m-my birthday's in April."
The demon felt his breath deepen as his mind spun; if the child was born in April, which meant his conception was most likely in July and was he to be taken at his word, then that meant that when he left her, Rin was three months pregnant.
"Sesshomaru, welcome home! I-I have some wonderful news for you!"
A hand clamped over his mouth as his memories decided to torment him. The day he left her, the young woman seemed so happy but nervous, her smile was ten times more radiant than he had ever seen, making his heart shatter as he forced himself to leave her, telling himself that it was all for the best, lying to himself. This made sense to him now, the so-called flu, her headaches, mood swings and then her happiness on that day; she was trying to tell him that she was carrying his child.
A small tug on his pants forced him to look down in shock at the boy, the amber eyes, white hair and ears were his while the cheeks and nose were akin to Rin's from the pictures he had seen of her as a child. Presently, his ears were against his skull and his face was worrisome, the demon noticing how expressive his eyes were, just as Rin's.
"Uh-Um," the boy stammered before he swallowed his courage, "a-are you… m-my d-daddy?"
The demon just stared down at the child, feeling faint from the timid question, his mind still reeling by the fact that he might have a child by the one woman he loved more than anything, his heart hammering in his chest as he thought that there just might be some merit to what the child was telling him.
"Wh-Wha-"
"Akihiko!"
Both heads turned to the voice, Kagome barging into his office and practically running towards the small boy, the child looking embarrassed as the woman made it to the two of them.
"Big brother, I'm sorry," the younger apologized before she turned to Akihiko, "I told you to stay put!"
"And I told you to stop calling me that!" Sesshomaru snapped at her, his eyes looking towards the small boy, his expression softening at the sight of the child, "what are you doing here with him?"
"Well, um," Kagome blushed as she looked from the boy to her brother-in-law, the child looking from her to Sesshomaru with worry, the boy looking as though he was going to break into tears, "r-recently, InuYasha and I saw Rin… at the store. I-I sort of found her a-and… well," she looked down to Akihiko before back to Sesshomaru's now stunned face, Kagome's smile and her face apologetic, "surprise."
"Surprise?" the demon whispered, his face morphing into disbelief, "you find out about my son… what? A month ago and all you can say is surprise?"
"Month and a half," the young woman half-whispered, looking as bashful as Sesshomaru was furious.
"A month and a half?" he whispered, now practically livid, "you saw Rin, and my potential son, and you didn't say a word, for a month and a half!?"
"I-I didn't know how too!" Kagome defended, "We-We didn't know if you'd believe us-"
"So both you and my brother decided to keep this from me!"
"Not forever!" the young woman protested, "just… until we could prove it to you!"
Shaking his head, the demon reached for the phone on his desk, Kagome wincing slightly.
"If you're going to call InuYasha," she murmured, "then you might want to call InuTaisho… we-we sort of told him too."
"Is there anyone in my family that doesn't know about him!" Sesshomaru snapped, his eyes narrowed as the boy ducked behind Kagome's legs, his voice softening, "get my father and your husband in the meeting room, it's not being used and we can all talk there."
It only took the other two Takahashi's less than five minutes to get themselves into the room, Sesshomaru standing with his arms over his chest while Kagome stood behind a seated little boy that they did not know by name but could just as easily guess who he was.
"Sesshomaru what's going-"
"You know exactly what's going on!" Sesshomaru cut his brother off, his eyes glaring as the small boy looked from one to the other, his own amber eyes widening at the sight of the other half-demon, his body flinching at the finger that pointed at him, "this is about the little boy claiming to be my son and your wife backing him up!"
"Sesshomaru! Stop shouting!" Kagome snapped, sticking up for the little boy, "you're going to scare him!"
The demon sighed slightly as he noticed the worried look on the boy's face, his father looking interestedly over the chair.
"So this is Akihiko," the demon smiled kindly down at the younger, the boy looking up at him with a mixture of worry and nervousness, "it's nice to finally meet you."
"Just how did you know about before I did?"
"Well…" InuYasha trailed of, his own ears against his head in embarrassment as his brother practically fumed, "I didn't know how you'd react!" the half-demon defended, "but… dad figured it out on my face and-"
"We had no intention of telling him before you," Kagome defended, "he just… found out."
"In my defence I did tell them to tell you," InuTaisho held up his hands, InuYasha glaring at his father.
"Yeah right!" the half-demon snapped, "not only are you throwing me under the bus, you said you wouldn't tell!"
"I said I wasn't planning on it," the demon corrected, "and I said to approach this with caution-"
"None of which was said to me," Sesshomaru interjected, his brother and father looking almost as uncomfortable as Akihiko was sitting in the chair, InuYasha noticing his nephew's discomfort and looking through his backpack to pull out a Rubik's cube.
"Look, kid, here," InuYasha told the boy as he handed Akihiko him a Rubik's cube, the boy taking it in his small hands, "now, Sesshomaru, I get that you're mad but-"
His words were cut off by a small tug on his pants, his eyes looking down in confusion as the boy handed him a completed cube, the colours all matching much to the adult's amazement.
"How… did…" InuYasha trailed off as he looked from the cube in his hands to the little boy, Akihiko looking back at him, his eyes calm and interested.
Without another word, the half-demon began to shuffle the cube in his hands once more, the colours mixing on all sides before it was entirely multi-coloured, the toy handed back to the child.
"Now," the half demon tried again, the boy tugging on his pant leg stopping him once more, three sets of amber eyes looking at the boy that was handing him the same cube completed a second time. "Must've seen me mix it," InuYasha muttered as he turned his back to Akihiko, the child now smiling softly, his amber eyes flickering to Sesshomaru who in turn smiled softly back. "Here!" InuYasha announced as he handed the Rubik's cube back to the boy for a third time, his eyes fixed on the boy as Akihiko took it.
The four adults looked with interest as the boy turned the cube over in his hands, his own eyes scanning the mismatched colours before his hands fiddled with the sides and tops, the child taking no more than three seconds before the toy was completed, all six colours perfectly on all six sides.
"How did you do that?" InuYasha asked in awe, his hands turning over the cube, "it takes me a week!"
"Removing the stickers doesn't count," his father teased as he too, looked on as his grandson's work with amazement before looking down at the boy, "a very good job, Akihiko."
"Thank you," the boy blushed, his smile bashful as Sesshomaru felt his heart twitch at his manner; it was entirely Rin, "it's not that hard really."
"Rin told me he was smart," Kagome grinned, "right, Akihiko?"
"I-I guess…"
"She even mentioned you," the young woman told Sesshomaru, "she mentioned you around your son!"
"Did she?" Sesshomaru asked softly, Akihiko twitching slightly in discomfort.
Four pairs of eyes looked at the now embarrassed boy, his eyes looking down at the hands in his lap and his ears drooped slightly.
"You told me that your mother let slip that you looked like your dad," Kagome told him, now thoroughly confused, Akihiko swallowing his nervousness before turning to smile weakly up at the young woman.
"Sorry," he murmured softly, his shoulders shrugging while Kagome's jaw nearly plummeted to the floor.
"You lied to me?!"
"I didn't think you were planning this!" the boy said defensively, "but… I knew you knew something about my dad so I thought… that if you thought I knew about my dad…"
"So what, you played me?!" Kagome asked, her face disbelieving as the boy's ears flattened against his skull.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I-I didn't think you were gonna let me see him b-but I-I wanted to know-"
"How were you to know she had a connection to me?" Sesshomaru interrupted the two, the now almost tearful boy turning to look at him, his hands taking the back pack on the chair beside him, a shoebox pulled out and passed to the demon.
"My mommy reads the paper in the morning," he told the demon as Sesshomaru flicked through the folded articles, his amber eyes looking from them to his son, "when-when something makes her sad, it almost always has a picture of you guys."
"So you thought that that meant he's your dad?" InuYasha asked as he leaned over his brother's shoulder to look at the folded paper.
"Not all of it," Akihiko shook his head, "but… it was also the same kinda sad that she gets when I ask her about you."
"I see," Sesshomaru murmured softly, impressed at the boy's deduction skills, his mouth opened to say more but was cut off by Kagome.
"Be that as it may," she told the child, "you're still in trouble when you get home."
"Why?"
"You lied to me!" Kagome told him, "I'm sure your mother didn't teach you that! She's going to be very disappointed in you!"
"So… what are you going to tell her?"
"That you lied to me-"
"Lied about what?"
All sets of amber eyes turned to Kagome, the young woman now seeming to be frozen at the boy's words, the child sitting in the large chair looking at her with interest.
"You told me to keep this a secret form her," the boy told her smartly, "but if you tell her that I lied she'll want to know what it's about and since she told you that you shouldn't talk about it-"
"How did you know about that!?"
"You told me."
"When?!"
"Just now," Akihiko grinned cheekily up at her while Kagome visibly paled, "and I might get into a little bit of trouble for lying to you, but what's she gonna do to you for telling me what she didn't want said?"
"You know," InuYasha muttered to his brother, his eyes wide at Kagome's shocked face, "if there were any doubts about him being your son, I'd say they're gone now."
"Hey!"
"He has a point Sesshomaru," InuTaisho interrupted, his hand hiding his grin, his eldest son grumbling for a minute before he turned back to the little boy, the child's smile faltering a little at the almost saddened gaze.
"May I speak to Akihiko for a moment in private?" Sesshomaru asked the group, his body standing behind the chair the boy sat, the other three nodding for a moment before the demon guided the small half-demon off the chair and back out the double doors, the two sliding through into Sesshomaru's study, the boy looking extremely nervous as the demon shut the door.
"I'm sorry," the boy blurted out once the door was shut, Sesshomaru surprised at the tears in the child's eyes slowly slipping down his cheeks, Akihiko crying as he carried on, "I'm-I'm really sorry! I-I didn't mean to-to embarrass you or-or anything like that! I-I just-"
"Hey hey," the demon murmured softly, dropping to his knees to the crying boy, trying to comfort the child that had his fists to his eyes, "shh, what's wrong?"
"I-I just," the boy hiccoughed, his ears against his head, "I just wanted to-to meet m-my d-daddy-ju-just once!"
"Akihiko-"
"I'll-I'll never bug you again!" the child pressed, "I-I promise! I'll-I'll leave you alone!"
"Akihiko!" Sesshomaru tried once more, his voice firm but soft, the tearful amber eyes looking up at him as the boy took gulps of air in an attempt to calm himself; slowly, the demon moved his fingers to the child's face to remove the offending tears, "look," he sighed, his own amber eyes soft, "this is just… a lot for me to take in right now. For five years I… I didn't say a single word to your mother a-and," his shoulders shrugged, a sad apologetic smile on his lips, "and now… I think I have a son by her; it's… confusing, even for me."
"I-I didn't want to cause trouble," the boy mumbled, his hands gripping onto the hem of his blue t-shirt, "I-I'm really sorry-"
"Come here," the demon told him softly, his large hand taking the smaller one and guiding the boy over to his desk, Sesshomaru rummaging around in a drawer before pulling out a tissue, his fingers dabbing the cheeks and eyes gently, his body on his knees for the child, "you can't go home to your mother like this," he told the boy softly, the small smile on his lips causing one in the boy, "she'll know something's wrong."
The boy giggled for a minute as he sniffed, the demon pulling back to sit on his chair, his eyes looking over the small child with interest; his mannerisms and personality was Rin through and through, his nose and cheeks looked were as his love's were when she was his age, his hair had her thickness but his colour as were the child's expressive eyes. The thing that set it in stone of the demon was the boy's smile, radiant and kind, genuine though small, reaching his eyes with an ease that the demon had only ever seen in Rin.
"You're a lot like her," Sesshomaru murmured softly, "you act like your mother."
"Kagome says I look a bit like my dad," Akihiko mumbled his eyes looking down at his feet in bashfulness, a light blush on his cheeks making Sesshomaru smile just a little wider; it was Rin, pure Rin, she had always been so modest and bashful whenever he complimented her on something.
"A bit," the demon whispered softly, the ears flicking as his sensitive hearing heard the elder's words, "the eyes, the hair colour… the ears."
"But… how come you don't have the ears I do?"
"You saw my brother," Sesshomaru smiled softly, "the other demon is my father… your grandfather, he's InuYasha's father too."
"So, why is he a half-demon and you're not?" the boy asked, his head tilted slightly.
"Because his mother is a human like yours is," the demon murmured, "we're… technically half-brothers."
"So… if you are my daddy like Kagome says," Akihiko pieced it together, "then, is Inu…Yasha technically my half-uncle?"
"He would be yes," Sesshomaru nodded smiling softly, "you're a very smart boy."
"I… guess," the boy mumbled, his eyes now looking back down at his feet, this time more out of shame than anything.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just…" he struggled to find the words, "everyone says I'm so smart but I can't read good."
"That's normal for kids your age-"
"No it's not," Akihiko shook his head, "mommy took me to a doctor an' everything for it."
"A doctor?"
"Yeah," the boy nodded, "he-he said I had Dystixia… Dystic… Dys-"
"Dyslexia?" Sesshomaru asked softly, the boy nodding once more.
"Yeah," he mumbled, "I can't read real good, everything looks like a big jumble to me, even when my mommy tries to help me."
"She tries to help you?"
"Uh-huh," the boy smiled timidly, "she-she puts me on her lap and tries to get me to read."
"Does it work at all?"
"A little," Akihiko smiled lightly, "she's real patient with me, won't ever let me give up."
"That sounds like her," Sesshomaru smiled softly, "that sounds like the Rin I know."
A tiny hand touched his knee, the demon looking down at the small boy, his eyes worried at he looked up at the demon.
"Do you," Akihiko started, his body shuffling out of nervousness, "do you think… you're my daddy?"
Sesshomaru stared into the similar amber eyes, the boy's ears faltering slightly; the demon studying his face for the umpteenth time, the features too similar to be anyone's but his and hers.
"Well," he whispered as he smiled softly, "I hope so."
Bad little Akihiko, lying to the lair... weird how their spelt so different... hm... anyway, I hope this doesn't seemed rushed or too fast-paced, it is gonna slow up a little.
Reviews my lovelies ^^