Chapter 12 – When You're Estranged.
May 3rd, 1986
Grumbling, Inuyasha tapped his pencil against the pages of the workbook in front of him. "I don't get any of this, why the Hell do they make it so complicated?!"
Kagome sighed as she looked over the page in the workbook. How Inuyasha made it to junior year equivalent at his high school in Japan was an absolute mystery. The guy's math and reading comprehension skills were abysmal to say the least. But when his aunt Chieko asked the young woman to help tutor Inuyasha for his upcoming GED exam at the community college, she agreed to take on the challenge as a way to make a little extra cash now that Summer was around the corner and her tutoring schedule was no longer booked up from finals. Besides, her senior year was fast approaching and she figured she could use the experience to her advantage when submitting college applications.
"It's simple." She explained. "You should use an adjective in that sentence instead of a verb, so I would red line the word 'scoot' since it doesn't belong in the sentence."
"I think I need to learn English a lot more before I even attempt this test."
"Trust me, you're doing fine! You'll get it!" Kagome lied, but Inuyasha needed reassurance so that he didn't just quit on the spot. Besides, if borderline illiterate convicts could pass the GED exam so could her half-youkai friend.
"Can we at least take a break for a bit?" Inuyasha asked, leaning back in one of the wooden dining chairs with his foot propped against the leg of the kitchen table.
"Sure, but try to finish finding the rest of the grammatical errors in the passage first. Look, you're almost done!"
Nearly fifteen minutes passed before the hanyou handed the workbook over to Kagome to look over. Taking out her highlighter, she highlighted the answers that Inuyasha got wrong.
"Well, you got three out of five wrong, but it's a start. Here, I made some notes in case you got stuck. I wrote them in Japanese but with the English translation under them so that you can try to immerse yourself a little better." She explained, reaching into her backpack for the spiral notebook of hand-written notes.
Inuyasha looked over the notes. It was a good thing Kagome's handwriting was feminine and clear, if it were Miroku's chicken scratches he'd probably fail the test even harder. As he skimmed the notes, he made corrections as he went along. More time passed and finally he was done with the corrections.
Kagome looked over the worksheet again, this time it was an improvement, Inuyasha managed to get 4/5 corrections right. "Good Job, Inuyasha! You got 4/5 right this time."
"By the way Higurashi, why aren't you going to that prom thing with Sango and Miroku?"
"Oh that. I'm not graduating this year and I don't go to the same school as Sango so there's no need for me to tag along. Why do you ask?"
"No reason, just wanted to know what it is. Is it like a banquet or something?"
Kagome brought her index finger to her chin, answering his question in the best way she knew how. "Kind of, I mean there's usually food but really it's more like a formal dance party. It's a way to celebrate the end of high school before the graduation ceremony, there's music, a spotlight slow dance where the student body votes on what two students will be crowned king and queen."
"Sounds kind of lame. And these prom things are common here?"
"Yeah, most high schools have them, there's other dances too, like Homecoming but they're not as big of a deal as prom is. I guess the equivalent to an American high school dance would be your cultural festival. Different extracurricular activities for student morale."
"You lost me there, Higurashi." Inuyasha replied, scratching his head over the bandanna.
Kagome gathered her belongings in her backpack. "You've made a lot of progress today so how about we call it quits and do something fun since I have free time and the others are busy."
"You mean like a date?" Inuyasha's cheeks flushed pink at Kagome's suggestion. Sure she was pretty, beautiful even, but he wasn't ready at all to start dating anyone. Let alone a girl he hadn't even thought about confessing to.
"No, not at all. I already have a boyfriend!" Kagome responded, flustered at Inuyasha's assumption. "I just mean like casually hanging out at the mall and getting a burger at WcDonalds at the food court.
"You buying? I ain't got no damn money."
"Yeah, duh. It's my treat." Kagome responded taking Inuyasha's hand. "Let's hurry and get to the van before the mall parking gets too packed with the lunch rush."
"Hold on, I need to get the Tessaiga." Inuyasha protested, reaching for the sword propped up against the side of the table. Carefully, he wedged the sword under the belt of his pants.
"Good thinking, Inuyasha. With Sango and Miroku away, we may need that just in case a youkai sighting comes in from Sentinel HQ."
Kagome reached for the doorknob, in doing so she opened the door unaware of the two gargantuan men in suits waiting for her on the other side. Carelessly she bumped into the midsection of one of the large men. Immediately, she stepped back. Inuyasha sensing the danger, ran in front of his new friend, shielding her from the two strangers. "Stay back, Higurashi. These two reek of youkai." His hand was at the ready on Tessaiga's hilt, just in case the two cloaked oni decided to show their true forms.
"Inuyasha-sama, do you also smell lilac and cigars?" Myoga said in a nervous tone of voice, revealing himself from underneath the bandanna on Inuyasha's head.
"Yeah, that means he's here." Inuyasha nodded.
"Gon, Kon, step out of my way." A deep masculine voice spoke from behind the two suited oni in human form. The two did as they were told and a tall, yet slender man in a designer suit approached the door. His cloaked form had short white hair that was tastefully slicked back with hair product, his fierce golden eyes glistened from what little sunlight seeped through the edge of the awning over the porch. Kagome took a good look at the exceptionally beautiful man. Could he be Inuyasha's elusive brother, Sesshomaru? She wondered, still taking cover behind her friend.
"I thought I smelled a rat bastard. The fuck you want, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha responded with a scowl on his face.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Sessshomaru-sama!" A shorter, cloaked, black-haired youkai man in a suit yelled from behind the billionaire youkai businessman. "You weren't just going to leave me in the limousine now were you?" He panted, completely out of breath.
"Quiet, Jaken." Sesshomaru snarled. "Inuyasha. I believe you have something that belongs to me. The Tessaiga, where is it?"
"Right where it belongs. And you ain't gettin' it back." Inuyasha snarled as he got into a defensive stance.
"Why must you always make things so difficult, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru sighed as he snapped his fingers. The two larger bodyguard oni swooped past the hanyou teen, grabbing Kagome in the process. The girl wriggled under the arm of one of the oni. "Let me go!" she protested, kicking and screaming. Using her teeth, she bit into the arm of her oni captor, causing him to drop her in the process. Just as she was about to make a break for it, he scooped her up again.
"Hey boss, this one is putting up a fight what should I do with her?" The cloaked oni carrying Kagome asked.
"I don't care what you do. Just get her to the limo."
Feeling the weight of the cloaked oni's strong arms crush her midsection, Kagome gasped for air. It was no use, with the pressure she couldn't breathe. Within seconds, she went limp in the oni's grip.
"Let Higurashi go! She has nothing to do with this! I'm the one you want!" Inuyasha yelled chasing after the oni as they approached the limo.
"Don't worry little brother, you'll get your woman back after I get my sword back."
"My what now?"
"The girl. I assumed she was yours by the way you protected her."
"Hardly. She's my English tutor, not my girlfriend!"
"Interesting, so you don't mind if I dispose of her then?"
"You lay one claw on her and I'll take this sword where the sun don't shine! I mean it, Sesshomaru!"
Sesshomaru chuckled as he tossed a small wooden ring box to Inuyasha.
"What, are you proposing to me? I got news for you buddy, I don't swing that way." Inuyasha jeered, catching the ring box in midair. He opened it to find a brand new golden cloaking ring.
"Idiot." Sesshomaru spat. "Punch in the coordinates on the lid of the box to activate teleportation mode on the cloaking ring and meet me at the destination in Otherworld. Do as I say, otherwise, you'll never see the girl again."
A bright light flashed and as fast as Inuyasha could open his eyes again, Sesshomaru along with Kagome and the henchmen were gone.
Hurriedly, Inuyasha slipped the ring over his middle finger. Pressing the hidden button on the side, he was able to access the hologram keypad to enter the coordinates to activate the portal to Otherworld. Within seconds of stepping into the portal, he found himself cruising down an electric tunnel of pure magical energy. Soon, he landed on the ground in Otherworld with a loud 'thwomp.' Inuyasha surveyed the strange landscape, finding that it looked very similar to Earth but somehow different as if the colors were all wrong with the normally green grass at his feet inverted to a strange light purple color. Even the sky was a different hue with shades of orange and green. Inuyasha got up from his seated position on the ground. He'd landed in a vacant lot near the marketplace of a large youkai city with older shacks and towering buildings where many youkai of different species as well as other foreign, magical beings carried out life as normal as possible.
Surprisingly, the youkai world hadn't advanced nearly as far as the human world, still relying on cars that looked like they were from the 40s along with Rickshaws and carriages pulled by flying horse youkai. Not to mention the lack of modern clothing styles or infrastructure, it was like everything was stuck in the Japan of old but somehow the technology was just as modern with crystal-powered televisions blaring daytime talkshows and youkai children in kimono and hakama riding on with what could only be described as youki-powered hoverboards. Inuyasha's stomach fiercely growled at the smell of cooked meat and freshly made dango from the stand to his right. Fucking Sesshomaru, if he was going to drop him here, the least he could've done was spare some coin for some grub. This was absolute torture. As the hanyou teen caroused around the village some more, on the horizon he spotted a gigantic sky palace looming over the village. That must've been the place where the lord of this land resided. He wondered how far he had to go in order to find Sesshomaru and Higurashi. Maybe one of the townies could help him find out the right way to go. Stepping over a bridge at the edge of the marketplace, Inuyasha managed to catch a toad youkai running past him by the collar of his yukata.
"Mind telling me where the Hell I can find Sesshomaru, Toad Boy?" Inuyasha asked, bringing the toad creature close to his face.
The toad gulped as he looked the teenage hanyou in the eyes. The stranger's eyes emitted the same golden glow as Lord Sesshomaru, not to mention the similar scent. Realizing that he'd encountered another inu-youkai, the toad went pale. Loosening his grasp on the toad's collar, Inuyasha let the creature down.
"Here, take it back, I don't want it anyways!" the toad yelped as he emptied a sack of golden zeni from the inner pocket of his yukata.
Inuyasha picked up one of the small golden bars. "I get it, you're nothing but a petty little thief. That's why you were in such a hurry."
"I beg of you Inu Youkai-san. Please don't tell Sesshomaru-sama of this. I'll surely be killed if milord finds out." The toad bowed on all fours, pleading with Inuyasha to spare his life. "I just wanted to feed my family. Please, we haven't eaten in three days."
Inu Youkai-san? Does this toad think I have some authority around these parts or something? Might as well play the part. Inuyasha pondered while watching the toad at his feet.
"Alright, hand over a few zeni, and I might be able to look the other way." Inuyasha bargained, still thinking about the dango and grilled meat skewers from the stall before.
"Bless you, sir." The toad groveled, handing over five zeni to Inuyasha before placing the sack back into the inner pocket of his yukata.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a huge blast of youki hit the toad as he tried to make a break for it, splattering the poor creature all over the bridge. Looking up, Inuyasha saw another white-haired inu-youkai in humanoid form clad head to toe in a finely embroidered white and red kamishimo approach the remains of the toad with what looked like a shotgun in his hands The unknown inu-youkai male picked up the blood-soaked sack of stolen gold from the bridge. That was when Inuyasha noticed his family's crest on the man's clothing. The high ponytailed stranger more than likely had to have something to do with Sesshomaru if he bore the family crest.
"Inuyasha-sama, I presume?" He said in a masculine voice that contrasted his lithe form. Inuyasha watched in awe as the shotgun materialized into thin air and back into its cloaked form as one of the many silver stud earrings on the man's left, elf-like ear. Youkai on the other side were something else if they had mastered the art of cloaking weapons so easily. He wondered if the other earrings on the man also contained various concealed weapons.
"Yeah, that's me. Who wants to know?"
"Pardon the intrusion, My name is Nemu of the Western Inu-Youkai clan, I was sent to escort you to the castle per request from your elder half-brother, Lord Sesshomaru. You could say I'm also a distant cousin of the late Inu-No-Taisho and by extension, you."
"Yeah, yeah. That's all well and good, Nemo. But can you tell me where I am? Your 'Lord Sesshomaru' fucking sucks at giving directions." Inuyasha asked, emphasizing the sarcasm at calling that dick of all people 'Lord Sesshomaru.'
Nemu scratched his head. For a son of the noble Taisho family, this Inuyasha kid seemed incredibly dense to not realize that he was in the late Master's territory. Then again, Inuyasha was a hanyou and his kind couldn't freely travel between realms without a cloaking ring made of brass or gold. Forged with state-of-the art Elven teleportation technology, cloaking rings were not only incredibly rare but sought after by not only hanyou, but the denizens of Otherworld who lacked the ability to phase between worlds. Nemu took another look at Inuyasha, based on the kid's lower-class appearance and vulgar vocabulary more suited to the dwarven mines in the far-west territory of Durnhold than the Inu Youkai court, he probably couldn't afford a cloaking ring, let alone a gold one without the clan's help. While there were 'by-the-hour' paper charms that cloaked hanyou from human eyes; In the mortal world, it was always better to have one of the rings not only due to the permanent cloaking effect when worn, but the ability to cross over to Otherworld once the teleportation mode was engaged.
"My name is Nemu, not Nemo. And to answer your question, you're in the central hub of the Western Lands. You of all youkai should know our clan's territory, even if you're a bastard hanyou."
Nemu snapped his fingers, summoning a floating carriage with two flying horse youkai at the front. Cloud like smoke billowed from their hooves as the carriage descended.
"We must make haste, Lord Sesshomaru is anticipating your arrival any minute now, Inuyasha-sama."
Inuyasha reluctantly boarded the carriage along with Nemu. His hands gripped the seat when the carriage shot up in the air once again. As Inuyasha rode in the sky carriage, a metaphorical light bulb went off in his head. Now it all started to make sense. Sesshomaru didn't want to fight him in the mortal realm due to his thriving business with the humans, so he led him to the one place where they could duke it out with as little casualties as possible, he just never expected it to be here of all places. Inuyasha heard about the fabled Western Lands from Myoga, who pretty much gave him a crash course on his paternal side shortly after receiving the Tessaiga. Though in his mind, he didn't expect the territory to be so vast. Inuyasha looked out the window again as the carriage flew over pastoral youkai villages surrounded by rice paddies and farmland. Clearly, the old man held more prestige in Otherworld than he initially thought.
Moments later, the carriage parked on the floating island where Sesshomaru's castle resided. Inuyasha took in the sights of the massive compound in front of him. He already knew Sesshomaru was incredibly wealthy in the mortal realm but the palace in front of him was something else entirely.
"Come, Inuyasha, We must enter." Nemu said as he opened the front gate of the castle. Rolling his shoulders back, Inuyasha followed the man into the unfamiliar territory.
Passing through the foyer of the palace, Inuyasha observed every detail about the place. It really was like stepping back through time. Youkai servants bowed at his feet as he and Nemu walked further towards the eastern wing of the castle to meet Sesshomaru. A group of elegant inu youkai noblewomen took notice of the young hanyou and began to gossip among themselves. With his hands in his pockets, Inuyasha grumbled, annoyed that the walkway seemed to go on forever. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small figure dart back and forth behind him but couldn't quite make out who or what it was. Thinking nothing of the anomaly, he shrugged it off, only to get the eerie feeling that whatever that thing was, it was now following him.
"Inuyasha-sama. Do you also get the feeling that something may be following us?" Myoga spoke up from underneath the hanyou's bandanna.
"Yeah, keep your guard up. Could be one of Sesshomaru's traps."
Moments later, Nemu stopped at another ornate gate. "This is the eastern courtyard, Lord Sesshomaru is waiting for you just behind this gate. I bid thee farewell, Inuyasha-sama." The vassal said, bowing as he opened the gate to let Inuyasha through. Inuyasha stared in awe at the massive size of the courtyard, its rocky terrain had to be at least three football fields long and just as wide. Sesshomaru was barely a blip on the opposite side.
Sesshomaru stood in silence in his regal youkai form waiting for Inuyasha to approach him. His appearance was similar to Nemu's with the same long white hair down to his hips and ornate armor befitting a noble youkai prince. Crimson slashes marked his cheeks and a violet moon crest sat between the center-parted bangs on his forehead. Inuyasha looked around some more, Kagome was nowhere to be found. "Alright, Sesshomaru. I'm here now where the Hell are you hiding Higurashi?"
Sesshomaru smirked as he placed his hand on the shorter of the two swords at his hip. "The girl? She's back in the mortal realm at your residence. Honestly Inuyasha, did you really think we'd bring a mortal through the barrier between worlds?"
"Just so you know, I didn't need to use Higurashi as an excuse to kick your slimy ass." Inuyasha remarked, taking off his school uniform jacket in order to create better momentum when using the sword. Tessaiga began to pulse at his side. Sesshomaru's eyes widened as he watched the sword call out to Inuyasha. This could only mean one thing, somehow the dimwit hanyou managed to break the seal on his own rendering the sword useless to anyone but the seal-breaker.
"You want the sword so bad, Sesshomaru. Come and take it." Inuyasha goaded his older brother, readying himself in a battle stance for combat. He then unsheathed the sword, calling it by name to initiate the transformation. Wind whistled throughout the courtyard as the sword took its true form.
Sesshomaru quickly unsheathed his battle sword, Tokijin. With precise speed, he clashed blades with his younger half-brother. "How dare you break the seal, you wretch!" he snarled, blades gnashing against each other. "You don't even know how to use Tessaiga. What makes you think you're worthy?"
"The old man seemed to think I was worthy enough." Inuyasha responded with a cocky grin, dodging an oncoming attack from Sesshomaru. "Outta my way!" The hanyou teen grunted, shoving Sesshomaru back with the fat side of Tessaiga's fang blade.
"Stubborn hanyou filth!" Sesshomaru snarled, leaping in the air. With a flick of his right hand, he emitted a cloud of concentrated poison from his claws aimed directly at Inuyasha who began to cough.
"That was a cheap shot, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled, blocking the remainder of the poison cloud with Tessaiga. Sesshomaru lunged at Inuyasha again with Tokijin. Inuyasha blocked the blade with labored breathing as the poison entered his bloodstream. Keeping on the defense, Inuyasha began to wheeze as the muscles in his legs started to tense with every blow from Tokijin. He couldn't keep this momentum up for much longer. Within a few minutes into battle, Inuyasha found that he could barely move his feet at all. Shit, this is bad. I can't move my legs! What the hell did you do to me, Sesshomaru! Inuyasha's inner voice screamed. Attempting to block the sword one more time, Inuyasha lost his footing, falling flat on his ass and the sword with him. Poison whips from Sesshomaru soon followed, slashing through Inuyasha's clothing and flesh as the elder inu-youkai brother showed no mercy to the hanyou. Once out of Inuyasha's grasp, the sword went back to the old katana form. Sesshomaru approached his downed half-brother bringing the point of Tokijin to Inuyasha's neck. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't slay you right here and now?" Sesshomaru asked the rhetorical question all while his boot heel dug into the open wound on Inuyasha's ribcage.
Inuyasha screamed in pain, blood spewed from his open chest wound the more Sesshomaru dug his heel in. "Inuyasha, you're a fool for even trying to best me. You deserve to rot in the ground with your whore of a mother like the miserable abomination you are!" He taunted, kicking Inuyasha's severely injured body across the dirt.
Beaten within an inch of his life. Inuyasha remained on the ground, motionless. Memories of his childhood and the events of the past few weeks at Auntie Chieko's home looped over in his head as he struggled to remain conscious. Auntie Chieko, Uncle Kyo, Miroku, Sango, Kagome and even Bratty little Rin. They all protected him, accepted him as is. His family, his friends. His home wasn't in Tokyo, it was where his loved ones were, where the air had the crisp, sublte flavor of sea salt and palm trees swayed in the breeze. Inuyasha felt his youkai blood pulse through his veins. No, he wasn't going to die, for their sake he going to live no matter what. Inuyasha rose to his feet, clothing tattered and bloodied from Sesshomaru's poison whips. Letting out a hard cough, Inuyasha wiped a mixture of saliva and blood from the poison on the back of his hand. "You think a little poison is going to stop me?" Inuyasha clenched the hilt of Tessaiga. He didn't quite understand what was going on himself. It was as if the swords' power was merging with his own resolve to defeat Sesshomaru. Suddenly, Tessaiga transformed back into the fanged form.
"How are you doing that Inuyasha- Tessaiga is not supposed to transform unless you say its name!" Myoga spoke up from under Inuyasha's bandanna.
"I don't know! It's like the damn sword has a mind of its own!" Inuyasha responded with a grunt, attacking Sesshomaru head on.
"Impossible! You have to be controlling the sword somehow!"
Myoga's comment fell on deaf ears as the winds of youki emitting from the sword became violent, blowing the bandanna clear off Inuyasha's head and Myoga with it. In the cyclone of energy from pure determination, Inuyasha's eyes glistened red for a brief moment. Using Tessaiga as a shield, Inuyasha blocked a barrage of energy attacks from Tokijin, deflecting the energy back to Sesshomaru who quickly jumped in midair.
"Enough of this!" Sesshomaru growled, summoning his own youki in order to transform into his true form, starting with his head and then his limbs. Inuyasha watched as his estranged half-brother's humanoid form transmogrified into a giant dog beast with clouds of smoke billowing from his tail and paws. Fully transformed, Sesshomaru charged at Inuyasha with an aerial attack. He quickly dodged it and the others that kept coming after. Inuyasha's sneakers skid across the dirt while running to the far edge of the courtyard to get as much distance from Sesshomaru as he possibly could. Quickly, he assumed a two-handed grip on Tessaiga, positioned in a defensive stance with his legs apart just enough to give him leverage. Tessaiga pulsed in his grip again. In a last ditch effort, Inuyasha raised the sword high, concentrating his youki into the blade, mirroring what he witnessed Miroku do with the staff during their last battle with the horned youkai. If concentrating mana into a weapon worked for the warlock, it should work for youki-based attacks as well. Intuitively, Inuyasha struck Sesshomaru with a gale-force of youki in mid air by slicing through the invisible current where his and Sesshomaru's energy collided. Feeling the full blast of whatever the hell Tessaiga just did, Sesshomaru fell to the ground with a thud. The youki coming from Inuyasha and The Tessaiga cleared up, revealing a trail of destruction all across the eastern courtyard of Sesshomaru's castle.
"I-I can't believe that actually worked!" Inuyasha spoke between labored breaths. "No wonder Miroku was so sapped after the battle with the horned youkai." He said with a pant. Inuyasha grabbed his injured arm from where Sesshomaru's poison whips cut him up and sat down on the ground, feeling like all of his youki was sucked right out of him with that one attack. Charging a weapon used much more power than his claws alone. Stumbling, Inuyasha approached his downed half-brother laying on his side in a crater caused by Tessaiga's raw power. The blue-blooded youkai lord tried to move but the blow dealt from Tessaiga was too much.
"What are you waiting for, Inuyasha? Finish me off. Let me die an honorable death." Sesshomaru spat up blood as he rolled over to his back, struggling to speak from the internal injuries.
"Get up, Sesshomaru. You and I both know you ain't dying so cut the 'honor' crap." Inuyasha responded in an irritated tone of voice, sheathing Tessaiga back into its scabbard. Heading out of the courtyard Inuyasha picked up his jacket lying next to the gate. "Ay Myoga, wherever you are. We're going home!" He yelled out to the flea. Yards away, the bandanna moved with Myoga under it. Inuyasha grabbed the bandanna and tied it over his ears again, putting the jacket on afterwards. Though feeling like he was going to fall over any minute, Inuyasha walked away from the battle with Sesshomaru, victorious. For now at least. There was no doubt in his mind, this wouldn't be the last time Sesshomaru would attempt to claim the Tessaiga. He would bet on it.
"Now, how the fuck do I get home with this thing, Flea?" Inuyasha asked, looking down at the cloaking ring on his finger. Myoga hopped onto Inuyasha's hand to take a look at the ring. "That's easy, just set the dials to 1-11-111 and it should take you back to your starting point in the mortal realm." Inuyasha punched in the numbers on the ring's hologram keypad. For a second time, he stepped through the portal to ride the energy tunnel to the mortal plane. Back home, he found himself in the living room, standing in front of the door when Kagome pulled up in her van outside. Inuyasha scratched his head, this had already happened earlier that day so why was it repeating? Furthermore, his injuries and clothing damage from the battle with Sesshomaru had all but vanished.
"I should've mentioned this before, Inuyasha-sama, The cloaking ring when set to all ones will rollback time in the mortal realm an hour early in order to get you to a new timeline. You can do this with any repeating number based on how many hours you want to go back in time." Myoga spoke up, crawling out from under the bandanna to jump on Inuyasha's hand.
"So, if it's one hour early does that mean Higurashi will have no memory of being knocked out by Sesshomaru's goons?"
Myoga nodded his head. "Precisely! And in this timeline, Sesshomaru never shows up to begin with since he's injured in Otherworld where time moves at a much slower pace."
As the portal from the cloaking ring attempted to close, a puff of sable and cream colored fur came through the portal. Inuyasha grabbed onto the furry anomaly, yoinking the rest of it from the portal. It turned out to be a tail attached to a pipsqueak of a youkai child with large green eyes and brown hair tied into a ponytail with a royal blue bow. He looked human enough, the only thing really off about him were his pointed ears and rabbit-like feet sticking out from the hem of his hakama. Inuyasha brought the kid close to his face, poking its nose with his finger, angering the runt to the point of biting said finger. Distracted from the sudden attack, Inuyasha's grip on the kid's tail loosened and he was able to escape into the house.
"Why you!" Inuyasha snarled as he attempted to catch the youkai kid running up the stairs on all fours into the spare bedroom. Quickly, the youkai child hid under the bed, turning himself into a goofy, googly-eyed, stone statue with transformation magic. Inuyasha grabbed the broom from next to the bathroom door.
"Inuyasha, are you home? It's Kagome, I'm here to help you study!" Kagome yelled from the bottom of the stairs, having let herself in through the open front door.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute!" Inuyasha yelled, his voice echoed in the empty house. Thankfully, Uncle Kyo, Auntie Chieko, Miroku, and Rin were all out until later that afternoon. He could only imagine what they'd say if they knew another un-cloaked youkai was lurking about in their house. Sure, Myoga never truly left the Hoshino Household but he was a flea and often went out to do his own thing during the daytime.
Kagome pursed her lips, something was off about Inuyasha's tone of voice, almost as if he was in a rush to do something other than study. If he thought he was going to get out of tutoring, he had another thing coming. The young woman rushed up the stairs, pausing when she saw Inuyasha out of his youkai form, standing by his bedroom door with a broom in one hand. His white mane was gone, replaced with inky black tresses that swayed from the breeze of the ceiling fan in the hallway. Even his eyes were different, instead of their normal golden hue, they were a deep brown. Pretty, but not quite as striking. Poking out of the side of his bandanna she saw the edges of his ears: Human ears. "Inu-yasha?"
"Yeah, what?" He responded, puzzled at her confused expression. Why was she looking at him like that?
"Your hair, it's black!"
"Are you colorblind, Higurashi? My hair is how it always looks? See!" He replied, picking up a section of his hair to show her that it was in fact, white.
"No, it's clearly black and your ears, they're human! I thought you said that you don't change into your human form unless it is the night of the New Moon? It's still daylight outside!"
Inuyasha looked down at the cloaking ring on his right middle finger, remembering that he still had the device on from earlier. So, the ring does work after all. To me, I'm the same as I always look but to humans like Higurashi, I look just like one of them.
"I can explain. But I'm afraid you're going to have to get the short version while I do a little pest control." He replied, shoving the broom's bristle end under the bed in order to flush the youkai kid out.
"Come out, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to TALK." Inuyasha goaded, swiping the plastic bristle end of the broom under the bed in a side to side motion.
The youkai kid's nose twitched as dust from the broom's bristles hit his nose, causing his transformation spell to wear off prematurely. Frantically, he scurried to the far right corner of the bed where he heard a woman's voice speaking to the hanyou. Avoiding the broom again, he carefully crept to the side of the bed to take a look. He'd never seen a human woman before and was curious to see what one looked like. Lifting his head, he peered up at the girl called 'Higurashi' by the hanyou. Curiously he stared at the woman, finding her to be super pretty, just as pretty as the inu-youkai ladies of the court that were attended to by the female kitsune in servitude at the castle. He wondered if all human girls were beautiful like Higurashi-chan. As her footsteps came closer to his hiding spot, he skittered back to the far edge of the underside of the bed. That was a little too close.
"What is it, a mouse?" Kagome asked, noticing her friend on all fours crouched down beside the bed, poking around with the broom.
"I wish it were a mouse." Inuyasha grunted, still knocking the broom around. "Long story short, Sesshomaru showed up to get the Tessaiga from me. He gave me a cloaking ring, which is why I appear human to you. The cloaking ring brought me to to Otherworld where I kicked his ass, and somehow a tanuki followed us through the gate between worlds. And that's when you came in the picture."
Kagome's eyes lit up at the mention of a tanuki. "Oh wow! A real tanuki?! Let me see!"
"I'M NOT A TANUKI! I'M A KITSUNE, DAMMIT!" A child's voice echoed from under the bed. With a puff of smoke, the youkai child reappeared in front of Inuyasha and Kagome. "See, FOX!" He pointed to his fluffy tail. Inuyasha picked the kid up by the tail again. "HEY LET ME GO YOU DUMB DOG!" The child yelled, squirming in Inuyasha's grasp.
"He's ADORABLE!" Kagome squealed, clasping her hands together. "Can I hold him?"
"Wait..what? No, the brat has to get his ass to Otherworld before my relatives come home. If the Hoshinos find out there's another youkai in the house, they'll flip!"
"OUCH!" Inuyasha yelped, feeling something heavy hit his left foot, it was another one of the kitsune kid's doofy looking stone statues. Quickly, he let go of the kid to grab his injured foot.
"Serves you right for grabbing my tail!" The kitsune spoke up.
"Little shit! You'll pay for tha-"
"Inuyasha! Hush!" Kagome commanded, taking another look at the kitsune. This was the first time she'd ever seen a child youkai. Most of the youkai she and Sango encountered were adults and frankly, hideous but the child looked like something out of a whimsical storybook rather than a gnarled beast. "Who are you, anyway?" Kagome asked, crouching down to the child's level.
"The name's Shippo. I followed the hanyou and the flea but I never thought I'd wind up in the mortal realm though."
"Nice to meet you, Shippo-kun! I'm Kagome and this is Inuyasha." Kagome introduced herself and Inuyasha to the young kitsune. "You don't have to tell us but I'm curious to know why you followed Inuyasha and Myoga-san from Otherworld?"
"It's like this, The Kitsune Clan of the western lands and the Raijin Tribe were at war for a very long time over an unoccupied territory in the Western Lands called Raimei Valley. My father was the leader of the Kitsune Clan and he was slain in battle by the Raijin Generals, Hiten and Manten. Since my father was the leader, the Kitsune Clan surrendered and we were captured by the Raijin Tribe and those of us that weren't slaughtered were sold to Lord Sesshomaru of the Inu Youkai clan who rules as lord over the Western Lands. When I saw Inuyasha step through the foyer of the castle, I knew he was from a different territory despite being a despicable inu youkai. So, I followed him and the flea in hopes of escaping from the castle so I could train to get strong enough to enact my revenge on Hiten and Manten who slayed my father and my kin."
"Well, don't get used to staying on Earth, kid." Inuyasha spoke up. "You have to go back to Otherworld. Go on, phase out like you pureblood youkai always do."
"That's just it, I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?!" Inuyasha balked at the kid's refusal to phase out.
"You don't get it because you're a half-breed. I'm a kid, in case you didn't notice. I can't phase out on my own until I'm a full-fledged kitsune. So, I'm stuck here just like you."
Kagome pressed her index finger against her lips. Now it was starting to make sense why she and Sango never saw child youkai in the mortal realm before. Not that they didn't exist, they just didn't have the power to cross over like the adults. "Interesting... So children can't cross over at all?"
Shippo shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I can't cloak either but I can transform with fox magic. But, it only lasts for five minutes at most since I haven't had the opportunity to train for the rest of my powers yet."
Kagome glanced at the cloaking ring on Inuyasha's hand. I wonder.. "Hey, Inuyasha. Why don't you try lending Shippo your cloaking ring?"
"Why the Hell would I do that? I just got the damn thing! Are you aware of how hard these rings are to come by?!"
"And? You look human enough to do without it. Shippo-kun doesn't!"
"I'm still not taking it off."
"Well, I guess it is sentimental, after all it was a gift from your dear, sweet, older brother: Sesshomaru, who definitely adores you." Kagome sighed, egging him on by hitting his pride. To nobody's surprise, Inuyasha took the bait, giving the girl a disgusted look in response to what she just said.
"Fine, take it." Inuyasha groaned, handing the ring to Kagome. Carefully, Kagome placed the ring over Shippo's finger where it automatically resized to the young fox's ring size. Immediately, instead of a youkai child in front of her, she saw a young, green eyed, brunette boy around age nine dressed in Japanese clothing.
"It worked! Shippo-kun! You look totally human!"
"Really? Let me see!" The young fox exclaimed, rushing over to the full-size mirror on the closet door. His smile turned into a disappointed frown, realizing that he looked the exact same, tail and all. "I don't look human at all."
"That's because the effect of the cloaking ring only works on humans, moron." Inuyasha chimed in with a bite of sarcasm. "Human or not, he's going to stick out like a sore thumb in that getup."
"You're absolutely right." Kagome nodded in agreement. "I think my little brother, Sota, may have some old clothes that would fit him back at my house."
"So, are we just going to cancel today's tutoring session then?" Inuyasha asked, knowing full well that he already went through it in the other timeline before Sesshomaru interrupted his plan to get lunch with Kagome.
"I'm afraid so. We'll have to schedule our study session for another day."
"Come on, Shippo-kun. We're going to my place to get you some clean clothes, ok?" Kagome addressed the kitsune with a warm smile. "Just follow me out to the van. Don't worry, I'm an excellent driver."
Shippo nodded, accompanying Kagome to the van. Inuyasha followed the two to the door.
"Are you coming with us Inuyasha? I was thinking about stopping by WcDonald's on the way there."
Predictably, Inuyasha's ears perked up at the mention of food. "As long as you're buying. You know I ain't got no damn money."
"Of course! It's my treat." Kagome replied while helping Shippo buckle up in the middle seat of the van.
Quickly, Inuyasha jumped in the passenger seat. "Alright, Higurashi. Hurry and start the van up I'm fucking starving like you wouldn't believe."
80's Mix Tape: Track 12
Stan Bush - Dare