To say she was drooling was an understatement, and not because of the magnificent display of food that overflowed the breakfast table where InuYasha's brood was gathered. Savouring some jasmine tea, Gwen couldn't keep her eyes off Tōga who tried to understand the broken Japanese of a little boy whose starry eyes didn't stray from his face.
Competition in the form of an adorable toddler. So unfair.
"The yukata looks nice on him."
Gwen almost lurched out of her skin when Towa's voice echoed in her ear, her cheeks reddening by the minute.
"Yes. Good choice," she responded, diving into the cup of tea to hide her flustering. To no avail; whether by scent of by sheer observation, she'd been caught. Towa, if overly cheerful, had a keen sense of human interaction and she couldn't have missed how Gwen literally devoured her man in his new attire. Officially, he started wearing them because it was easier to slide on and off with his bad shoulder, and allowed his thigh to be bandaged tight without any pant leg getting in the way.
Officiously, it gave her an aperçu of what he might have looked like in times past.
"Dark blue is a standard for men's kimono, but 'Pa prefers his whites."
Gwen nodded, observing the contrast between the midnight cotton and Tōga's golden skin; Towa had chosen well. But he, too, used to wear white as the Inu no Taishō.
"Does he still wear traditional kimono often ?"
The half demon scrunched her nose in distaste before she picked up a piece of grilled fish with her chopsticks. "Sometimes… and he would definitely give you an earful if he heard you."
Confused, Gwen cocked her head aside. "How so ?"
"Kimono is not right. His are furisosode."
"Uh ?"
The white-haired young woman proceeded to explain how the word 'kimono' only meant 'a thing to wear', and was adopted after the Meiji revolution when occidental culture crushed Japanese traditions so badly that they lost their own words for traditional clothing. Sesshōmaru, as a lord of the past, would never abide by it.
Fascinated, Gwen learnt that kimonos had many, many names depending on their design. After the feudal era, furisode – literally long sleeves – were reserved to unmarried women, but not at the time of Sesshōmaru's prime.
"We'll get one for you. You cannot be the great dog general's lady without a proper furisode."
"Why the long sleeves ?"
"It is traditional. And the question is more, why the short sleeves on married women?"
Towa knew exactly what carrot to agitate to get her mind rolling.
"OK, I'll bite."
"When a woman gets married, she cuts the sleeves of her kimono to make a trousseau for her children."
Gwen's cheeks flamed at the memory of her late-night conversation with Tōga, and a teenager butted in on her other side in Spanish.
"You're boring her with your old stuff, Auntie."
Towa made a face at her niece, and Gwen jumped to reassure her new friend.
"No, not at all. I am just glad you speak such good English because my Japanese is too rudimentary for all of this. I studied languages and cultures before I became a firefighter, you could keep me entertained for days and I'd forget to eat and sleep just to hear you."
Towa's large, curious eyes widened with glee.
"Then you really need to speak with 'Pa. No one wants to hear those old stories anymore. He is desperate for someone that wants to learn."
"If he tolerates me, I'll gladly do."
The young woman rolled her eyes and grabbed a pot of dark coffee that smelt delicious.
"He's grumpy with everyone, but don't take it personally. 'Ma was just a ball of sunshine, and she never took it to heart. She just kept speaking, and he would eventually respond something like 'Hn'."
Gwen smiled; she couldn't possibly tell Towa how she'd crushed the merest possibility of friendship with Sesshōmaru by delving into his pain with both feet on their first encounter. Fortunately, Gwen was saved from causing more heartache by InuYasha's antics as his boisterous voice echoed in the room. Joining his fingers like a TV frame, he lifted his eyebrows at his former father and laughed.
"So you have just discovered you are the father of a full-blooded 900-year-old yōkai and a 700 hundred years old hanyou. How are you holding up ?"
Golden eyes blinked twice, Tōga was unaccustomed to such boldness. For a moment, he hesitated, exchanging one puzzled look with Gwen who just nodded. After all, he had recognised Sesshōmaru on the spot, so why lie ?
"I… always knew it ?" the former general responded.
"And the fact that the Iceprick is your great-grandpa ?"
Iceprick ? There certainly was no love lost between the brothers.
"Didn't see that one coming," Tōga muttered with a smirk.
His response caused a round of laughter to spread around the table; Gwen couldn't, for the life of her, remember whose members were InuYasha's family and whose belonged to Sesshōmaru's side. But no one batted an eyelash at the nickname. Truthfully, she had trouble wrapping her head around the fact that the daiyōkai was both Tōga's son and his ancestor three times removed.
Talk of a paradox.
Towa's laugher died beside her as her twinkling eyes caught hers.
"InuYasha is pretty rough, right ?"
"Is it customary for him to call his brother such names ?"
"He's usually way less polite."
Gwen gaped; she couldn't imagine calling her little brother anything so derogatory in front of his loved ones. Sure, they had a few nicknames in private, but Sesshōmaru had saved their lives, and provided both Tōga and she with accommodation, healthcare, food and a family. No matter how callous he appeared to be, he took care of them all with dedication.
"Why ?"
Towa addressed her a sheepish look.
"That's … a very long story."
Feeling the twin's reluctance, Gwen decided not to antagonise her first friend. Especially since she spoke such a good English that exchanges were spontaneous.
Speaking of languages…
"Right. So I heard a lot of Spanish around the table."
"Oh yeah. We're back from Columbia. Moroha's son settled there, and InuYasha decided to move in. The country does suit him a lot. Papa stayed with us for a while. Never too long, he says it's too noisy."
"But he likes his tango," interjected InuYasha. "Who knew he could sway like that with that beam up his ass?"
An audible slap echoed in the room and Inuyasha's dog ears suddenly folded upon his white head.
"InuYasha !" Tōga growled, his hand still raised behind his son. "No name calling, he's your brother."
"Hey !" the half demon protested. "You're not my…"
Silence. Golden eyes widened at the enormity of what he was about to say, and his ears perked up mischievously.
"… father. Well, actually you are. But I'm stronger than you, so don't go slapping my head anymore, old man !"
Bushy eyebrows rose and Gwen snickered, mouthing 'old man' over the table.
"You're seven hundred. Who's old ?" Towa deadpanned.
"I know how to count. And I can beat your ass anytime, squirt," he snorted dismissively.
Suddenly, the atmosphere lost ten degrees. Eyes wide, Gwen watched Towa's agreeable features close off, a fresh wave of yōki colliding with InuYasha's own energy in a battle of dominance. Her eyes turned icy in an uncanny imitation of Sesshōmaru's glare.
"Te haré comer a tus palabras en el dojo, tío." (You'll eat your words in the dojo, Uncle.)
An almost feral smirk lifted the corner of InuYasha's lips. Gwen shuddered, suddenly reminded that the family she was sharing breakfast with was comprised of half demons… or worse.
"Dale, dale !" (Bring it on !), he responded with nonchalance, but his posture betrayed that Towa was an opponent worthy of his time. For a scant moment, Gwen wondered whether to flee or to witness the future training between uncle and niece. She shared a long glance with Tōga, who had not been able to understand the last exchange and looked positively puzzled by the sudden change of mood. Apparently, rivalry between the brothers seemed to extend further down the line.
Fortunately, a little voice broke the tension with an innocent question.
"Porqué le pego a abuelo ?" The little boy asked, tugging on Tōga's sleeve with a weary frown. The former general shrugged.
"He's asking why you slapped his grandpa," Gwen provided. Tōga's features relaxed in understanding as he explained in Japanese, detaching his words to be better understood by the toddler.
"Because he said nasty things about his brother. It is forbidden."
The toddler blinked, unable to comprehend the words in a language so very different from his own. Another desperate glance and Gwen translated to the boy the best she could.
"Tu abuelo dijo malas cosas sobre su hermano. No se puede."
Tiny eyebrows knit in worry, and the toddler pointed his index finger to his grandfather – namely InuYasha.
"Oh ! Malo abuelo !"
The sight of the half demon, properly chastised by a two-year-old boy was so hilarious that the table dissolved into laughter again. Gwen giggled behind her hand, trying to remain inconspicuous but InuYasha's eyes narrowed at her.
"Keh ! Your accent is horrible. You sound like a madrilene."
Another slap at the back of his head got him to literally growl at Tōga. In the face of his father's displeasure, the half demon shrugged.
"Relax Inu-papa. Just listen."
Gwen shot Tōga a look that screamed wait; fortunately, the message got across, for the pissed general accepted to back down. His jaw, though, remained tense and his back stiff.
InuYasha proceeded to recite a traditional Colombian poem, words flowing from his mouth coated in the lilting accent of the country. It sounded nothing like the Spanish she'd learnt in school, and Gwen had to admit that the distance had somehow mellowed out the harsher tones of continental tongue, rendering it more fluent, more melodic than its counterpart. In the end, she could only incline her head.
"That was beautiful."
Half demon and English lady stared at each other for a moment, neither of them willing to back down before they both inclined their heads the Japanese way. Thus was dissipated the tension; an unspoken truce… for now.
When Gwen retreated to her rooms with Tōga limping on his new crutches, she felt like she'd fought a thousand battles.
"Both your sons are pretty intense," she whispered to her companion. The tall man studied her for a moment, his gaze unreadable until he pursed his lips in a gesture she'd come to recognise as annoyance. The former general wasn't too pleased with his younger son's manners
"His bark is worse than his bite."
Gwen hummed her assent; InuYasha's brash attitude certainly bordered on rudeness, but he didn't seem like a bad person. Just rough around the edges. Compared to the aristocratic brother he called an iceprick, he certainly stood out. But Gwen had seen the deadly potential of said iceprick… Sesshōmaru would issue no warning, using silence as a deterrent before he stroke.
"And Sesshōmaru's the opposite."
Tōga groaned his assent. How difficult the situation must be for him, to find himself thrown in family dynamics he knew nothing about, his sole responsibility relegated to the rank of sire. Gwen allowed her hand to run over his forearm in a tender gesture, crumbling the cotton as she squeezed his muscle.
"At least, he called you dad."
Tōga's eyes remained focused straight ahead; he didn't want her to sense the turmoil within.
"Not in Japanese."
Was it what annoyed him ? That somehow, he could not be the father he was meant to be at the time of his death ? That those years lost was irreparable, if only because his absence had set things into motion that had shaped his sons in their rivalry. Faced with the challenges of this new life, Tōga was probably realising that there was no fixing the past, and it hurt him.
"It feels like Japan has not been his home for a while," Gwen told him in hopes of raising his mood.
"Yes," Tōga rumbled. "He's found a home in Colombia."
Gwen opened the door wide and stepped back, watching her lover's broad back ripple under the fabric of the yukata. He would need plenty of support to handle the new challenge that was his family, and she was unsure about how to help him in this endeavour. As she sat on the bed beside her companion, she caught a wistful look upon his face.
"I'm going to have to learn Spanish if I want to understand my great-grandchildren," he told her, holding his hand out for her to snuggle by his side. Gwen nodded; with her field of study, she'd learnt many languages, past and live ones. Her auditive memory ensured that once the logic was understood, new languages were not a challenge. But it might be a whole different issue for Tōga.
"Speaking of dads," she mused. "I need to call mine. He's going to worry."
"Please do, my lady. Tell him I'm looking forward to meeting him for Christmas."
Startled, the young woman addressed her companion a shocked look. But there he sat, firm in his decision to honour his engagement, even though he'd nearly been crushed to death nary a week ago.
"Are you not weary enough that you want to take on another challenge, beloved ?"
"I doubt your family will be worse than this mess."
A chaste kiss landed at her temple, and Gwen suddenly felt nostalgic of their little apartment in the fire station.
"Very true," she sing-songed, picking up the secure landline and composing her father's number.
What could be worse than a house full of hanyou, quarter yōkai and full blooded yōkai trying to bite each other's heads off after all ? Certainly not her dad.