Disclaimer: I do not own Inyuasha or Yashahime.

Chapter 3: Daughter of Sesshomaru

After several minutes of walking, Moroha led Towa and Kazuki to some sort of small rural village. Both Towa and Kazuki noticed right away there was something very off about this village. There were no paved roads or power lines, and all of the structures they passed were small wooden houses. Then there was the way the people they all passed were dressed. Every man Towa saw out and about had his hair in a topknot.

"Okay, Towa? I think I know what's going on here, but it's going to sound totally crazy," Kazuki spoke.

"After what we've just been through, I'm willing to believe anything at this point," Towa responded.

"Alright, then I'll just say it. I think we've gone back in time."

"…Yeah, that tracks. The question is how?"

"Not sure, but there's something else. Those demon soldiers or whatever they are, I think they might be from the far future. I've been examining the blaster I took from the first soldier Moroha killed, and even without taking it apart I can tell it's way more advanced than anything from our time."

Towa nodded. "Makes sense, but what I can't figure out is how Suzumi is involved in all this."

"It's only a theory, but I think those soldiers were after her. She opened up that temporal anomaly in the well to escape into the past and we got dragged along for the ride. It's likely soldiers we just fought were probably looking for her."

"Okay, but why were they looking for?"

Kazuki shrugged. "Right now your guess is as good as mine."

"Well, we're here," Moroha told them as they arrived at another small wooden hut at the edge of the village. "Looks like my mom's home. Follow me."

Towa and Kazuki followed Moroha into the humble dwelling. Inside they found a woman with long dark hair dressed as a priestess working with some herbs. Towa was stunned upon seeing the woman. She had seen her face many times before in old family photos. It seemed impossible considering the circumstances, and yet the proof was right before Towa's eyes. Moroha's mother was her Aunt Kagome.

"Hi Mom," Moroha spoke, stirring Kagome from her work.

"Welcome back," Kagome responded with a smile.

"Is Dad around?" Moroha asked as he looked around the hut.

"He left yesterday to help the demon slayers take out a real nasty demon that's been terrorizing another village. He probably won't be back for a couple of days."

"What? He left to take on a powerful demon without me?"

"Well, you weren't around," Kagome pointed out as she got to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. "You were off somewhere chasing one of those bounties of yours."

"Yeah, and I ended up getting barely anything for it!" Moroha exclaimed as she crossed her arms. "Stingy old man."

"Honestly I wish you would give up that bounty hunting job of yours Moroha. It's dangerous, and we don't need the money."

"Speak for yourself Mom! We live in a crummy little one-room shack! I'd like to get the money to build a place that has more than one room so I don't come home and walk in on you and Dad trying to make me a sibling right when I enter the front door!"

Kazuki cleared his throat and raised his hand. "Pardon me for interrupting what seems to be a sensitive family discussion, but my name is Kazuki Tachibana. My friend, Towa Higurashi and I were recently pulled into a temporal anomaly while trying to escape futuristic demon soldiers of some sort and ended up here in your time period. Your daughter indicated earlier that you might be able to help us somehow."

Kagome stared blankly at Kazuki for a few moments. "Uh…what?"

Moroha sighed. "Oh yeah. These two claim they came out of the old Bone Eater's Well."

Kagome gasped. "The Bone Eater's Well?"

"Yeah, and get this. One of them's a half-demon."

Towa stepped forward. "I'm Towa. Years ago I was adopted by your little brother, Sota. I guess that sorta makes you my aunt."

Kagome came over and took a good look at Towa. "It really is you, isn't it?"

"You…you know me?" Towa shook her head. "Wait, how is it that you're in this time? I don't understand anything about what's going on!"

Kagome put a hand on Towa's shoulder. "It's okay. I can explain. But before that, why don't you and your friend tell me how you got here."

Towa and Kazuki spent the next few minutes telling Kagome about the events leading up to them jumping into the Bone Eater's Well and ending up in the past. Towa also told Kagome what she remembered from her early childhood, about her first clear memory was of being found on the street by Kagome's younger brother while he was on his way home from work. When the two were finished, Kagome started to recount the story of how she ended up in the past.

"Back in 1997 I was pulled into the Bone Eater's Well by a centipede demon while looking for our family's cat," Kagome began. "It's kind of a complicated story, but the short version is I was in fact the reincarnation of a priestess who protected a magical treasure called the Shikon Jewel."

"Wait, Great-Grandpa's told me about that thing," Towa interrupted. "The shrine sells replicas of this jewel you're taking about as keychains. I actually use one. But I always thought the legend was just a bunch of bull."

"Just like pretty much all the so-called legends of your family's shrine," Kazuki added.

Kagome let out a heavy sigh. "Grandpa hasn't changed a bit I see. Anyway, after falling through the well I ended up in this time, and soon after I met Moroha's father, Inuyasha. He and I didn't exactly get along at first, but we ended up working together in a long battle for the Shikon Jewel. At first the jewel had been lodged inside me because it was burned with the body of my previous incarnation when she died. It got removed from me when the centipede demon I mentioned earlier attacked me.

"Later on then jewel ended up getting shattered into tiny little shards that spread all over the country while Inuyasha and I were trying to get it back from another demon. I spent the next few years traveling between my old time and this one helping Inuyasha collect the shards of the jewel while battling a very evil demon who was also after the jewel, Naraku. During that time, Inuyasha and I fell in love. After the battle was finally over I was pulled back to my old time, and it seemed like I would never come back to this time period again. But right after I finished high school the passage through the well opened up one last time, and I chose to come back to this time and spend the rest of my life with Inuyasha."

"And then you two settled down and eventually had me," Moroha interrupted. "Kinda giving them the short version, aren't you Mom?"

Kagome chuckled. "Well if I told them the whole story, we'd be here all night."

"Papa-Sota and the others always told me you and your husband moved out to the country," Towa interjected.

"Not exactly a lie," Kazuki remarked. "To call this village a rural community would be an understatement."

"Anyway Aunt Kagome, how is it you already know me?" Towa asked. "Are you saying I was born in this time?"

Kagome nodded. "You were born right here in this village in fact. Your mother was a human woman named Rin, and your father was Inuyasha's older half-brother, Sesshomaru."

"Half-brother?" Kazuki repeated. "Okay, let me see if I have this straight. Moroha said she was only a quarter-demon, which makes her father a half-demon. Supposedly Towa is a half-demon herself, which would make her father a full demon, am I right?"

"Exactly," Kagome confirmed. "Inuyasha's mother was human, while both of Sesshomaru's parents were demons. I should mention that because Inuyasha is a half-demon, he and Sesshomaru never really got along."

"Kind of an understatement, don't you think Mom?" Moroha interjected. "You told me Uncle Sesshomaru even tried to kill Dad a few times."

"Seriously?" Towa asked, shocked.

Moroha nodded. "From what I heard they had some big tiff over the sword my dad inherited from my late grandpa, the Great Dog Demon."

'Great Dog Demon, huh? Guess that explains why Moroha sniffed Towa like a wild animal,' Kazuki thought.

"But, my dad loved my mom at least, right?" Towa asked.

Kagome looked at Towa a moment and smile. "Yes. Or at least it seemed like he did to me. Your mother and father…they had kind of a strange relationship, but your father cared about your mother very much."

Towa squeezed her knees. "Did I…did I have a sister?"

"Yes. A younger twin sister named Setsuna. She wasn't with you in the modern era?"

"No. I was all alone when Papa-Sota found me. But…I have dreamed about her. I was never sure if those dreams were real though. Aunt Kagome, what happened to my parents? How did I end up in your old time?"

Kagome shook her head. "I honestly don't know. Like I said, you and your sister were born in this village, but not long after you were born other demons who wanted to get at your father started to come after you, your sister and Rin. Eventually Sesshomaru moved you all off to a place in the mountains to protect you all. Inuyasha and I did come to visit you once."

"I don't remember that at all."

"You were still very little the one time we did visit, so I'm not surprised you don't remember."

"And you only came to visit us once?"

"We did come to visit you a second time, but when we did…the place Sesshomaru got for you was a mansion, small but pretty extravagant. The first thing Inuyasha and I noticed when we arrived was that the front gate had been broken. When we got into the courtyard we found the demons Sesshomaru had recruited to protect you and your family had been killed. There was no sign of you, Rin, your sister…or Sesshomaru."

Towa swallowed. "Does this mean my parents are dead?"

"I honestly don't know, sweetie. We never did find out what happened to them. Inuyasha searched for all of you for weeks and never found a trace of you. He can't bring himself to believe Sesshomaru is dead though. I honestly can't really believe it either. Your father was a very powerful demon. It's hard to believe there could be any other demon who could be powerful enough to beat him, not since Naraku."

"But you don't know, right? So for all we know…I could be the last surviving member of my family. Which means my sister…"

"Towa, you shouldn't give up hope so quickly. It's like you said, we don't know anything for sure. We certainly don't know how you ended up in the modern era. Setsuna might've ended up there too, but just in a different place."

"You mean she might've ended up in the U.S. and have been raised by a poor elderly farm couple from Kansas or something?" Kazuki interjected.

"What, and became some sort of superhero from those American comic books you like to read sometimes?" Towa asked, sounding a little angry.

"Sorry, stupid attempt to lighten the mood on my part. But you're aunt's right, Towa. We don't know anything about what happened to your sister or the rest of your family. Making a conclusion about something without sufficient information is never wise. The fact is we need more data."

"Well how are we supposed to get it Kazuki?"

"I'm not sure, but the best place to start might be to find Yoshina-chan."

"Oh! Right, the friend of yours you said opened the pathway through the Bone Eater's Well," Kagome recalled.

Kazuki nodded. "It's only a theory, but I suspect Yoshina-chan might be from the same time period as those demon cyborgs who came after us. She did seem to know quite a bit about them."

"But what does that have to do with what happened to my family?" Towa asked.

"It's kind of a leap, but right now I suspect who or whatever attack your family's mansion might be connected to those soldiers you and Moroha fought. It's the only thing that comes even close to explaining how you ended up in modern times."

"I've…always had this dream. I always thought it might be a memory, but now I'm sure it is. In this dream I'm trying to hold onto Setsuna's hand as we're falling through this tunnel of light. That tunnel was a lot like the one we went though when we jumped into the Bone Eater's Well."

"So Kazuki might be onto something then," Moroha interjected.

"Aunt Kagome, did I have any other siblings other than Setsuna?" Towa asked.

Kagome shook her head. "Not that I know of anyway, unless Rin became pregnant after the one time Inuyasha and I visited you all."

"In those dreams, Setsuna was always holding the hand of another girl. She was about our age, so I don't think she was another sister. But I have no idea who she is." She sighed. "I finally find out where I come from and all I have is more questions."

Kagome reached over and placed her hand on Towa's. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out."

"And right now the best way to start is to track down Yoshina-chan," Kazuki added.

"You're probably right, but how 'bout we wait until morning to start the search?" Kagome suggested. "It is getting pretty late, and this area can get a little dangerous at night."

Towa nodded. "Fine by me. I just hope no more of those soldiers show up until then."

Out by the Bone Eater's Well, eight right lights flashed into existence, fading away seconds later to reveal eight more demon samurai. A ninth light came into being and from it emerged a young-looking man with incredibly pale skin and a feminine-looking face. He had ruby-red lips and long blond curled eyebrows resembling the feelers of a moth. His long wavy blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail. The man was clad in armor similar to the armor worn by the soldiers, and a long sleeveless red coat with the yellow symbol of a nine-tailed fox emblazoned on the back.

"Lord Saionji, it appears the troops sent to retrieve the girl were all slain," one of the soldiers informed the blond.

A look of disgust formed on the face of the blond man known as Saionji. "Feh! I would've thought even you pea-brained cyber oni would've been able to handle such a simple retrieval job on your own. Then again I suppose that girl has always been trouble to capture. I had her in my grasp once years ago and she slipped from my fingers thanks to some cheeky little resistance spy."

"My lord, it appears these troops were slain by a very powerful opponent," the soldier from before noted.

Saionji put a hand to his chin as he looked at the remains of the bisected soldier Towa had slain. "True enough. And I smell the scent of a half-demon around this well. I wonder if it was the one from the legends? The one said to be the younger brother of the demon who was protecting the girl years before. Now he was a formidable opponent! I've always thought we should go after the brother as well, but the Empress has always felt such half-demons are beneath our attention."

"Orders milord?"

"Engage the self-destruct system on the bodies of these failures. We don't need the simpletons of this era stumbling upon them and using the technology contained in their bodies to somehow change history. That could be bad for us. Afterwards, fan out and start searching for the girl. Bring her back alive, but eliminate anyone or anything that gets in your way."

All eight of the soldiers nodded. Two of them went over the corpses of their fallen comrades, knelt down and opened a panel on their chests. Behind each panel was a single red button. The moment the soldiers pressed the buttons, the bodies of the corpses glowed red and disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but scorch marks on the grass and soil. With the bodies destroyed, the soldiers fanned out in all directions.

Saionji remained by the well and crossed his arms. "Feh! To think I, Saionji of the Nine Tails has been relegated to overseeing such a bothersome mission. Ah well. This time I'll make sure to succeed. There's no way I'm letting that wretched little girl escape my grasp."

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