The Sins of the Father

~Tokyo, 2012~

It was late, and emotions were running high. Shippo had already helped Kagome up to the stairs and to her room - much to the consternation of Kenshin - leaving only the samurai and the hanyou teen in the sitting room. Much still needed to be discussed, but they had all decided to wait until the morning.

Yuki looked for a spare blanket and pillow in the small closet in the hallway; her eyes trained on the red-haired man standing forlornly in the open doorway.

She noticed how very lost he seemed, and couldn't help feeling sympathetic toward him. From the little bits of information she had gathered, he had lost someone dear to him and was suffering greatly. Not to mention that the poor guy had woken up in a strange house, with strange people, in a completely different time, and didn’t even know it. It all had to be unsettling for the guy. She didn't know if even she would be able to deal with it all.

Still, despite his hardships, the guy had been overly affectionate with her mother, and that had bothered her some. But her mother was a nurse and a miko and had brought him back to the land of the living, so Yuki had written the whole thing off as an after effect of the -- what did her mother call it? Oh yeah, the 'blood bond'. Either that or the sudden affection was a result of the patient/nurse comfort thing that she knew sometimes happens to people after losing someone they love.

Her mother had told her about that once, on one of the rare occasions where Yuki had asked her about her day. She didn't often care to hear about her work – her mother was a trauma nurse, after all -- but that day, she had come home a complete mess; her face swollen and her eyes red from crying. At first, her mother didn't want to talk about it, but she eventually caved under Yuki's persistent inquiries.

"Patients who have suffered a great loss often crave physical affection. I can't tell you how many times I am embraced by total strangers. But today was the worst... today I spent the whole day holding a woman in my arms that had just lost her child in a car accident. The boy was only five years old."

After that, she never questioned her mother when she came home from work with her eyes filled with tears.

Therefore, when Kenshin had desperately pulled her mother against him and cried himself out on her shoulder, Yuki had not said a word.

But now, as handed him the blanket and pillow she had procured, she got a good whiff of his scent -- a scent that was mixed entirely too much with her mothers to be from a simple hug. Her assessment of the situation rapidly changed, and Yuki scowled. It suddenly became extremely difficult for her to keep control and not reach for her sword.

He noticed the change in her demeanor and abruptly stiffened, as his expression changed from thoughtful to wary.

She regarded him carefully, considering. What would have possessed her mother to even do such a thing? Who was this guy anyway? She knew what Shippo meant to her mother, but this guy -- he was a complete and utter stranger. They knew nothing - absolutely nothing - about him. None of them did; not even Shippo.

Yuki narrowed her eyes, determined to find out more about this guy. She wanted desperately to confront her mother and throttle her for leaving out some very important details regarding the so-called 'blood bond', but first she needed to make sure that her mother hadn't bound herself to some crazed, homicidal assassin or something like that.

Not only had the guy had come to them covered in human blood, but he had had for a moment the fiercest set of eyes she had ever seen. If she combined those facts with the distinctive scars he had on his cheek – scars that could have only been the result of a sword fight -- it all added up to some mucho skeletons in their visitor’s closet.

Still, she wouldn’t find out anything by acting offensively. Plus, her mother would probably be pretty pissed off if Yuki started a fight with her new – whatever he was.

Yuki relaxed a bit, and backed off. After a moment, the red-haired samurai did the same, but he still regarded her carefully.

"I'm sorry for being so tense - it is difficult for me to trust anyone with regards to my mother. She has had... a difficult life," Yuki said, apologetically, gauging his response. She relaxed some more when he gave her a small, sad smile. Perhaps he wasn't so bad... but still, she had to know for sure.

"That's quite alright, miss. I understand completely, de gozaru."

'Okay, the sickeningly polite thing is just kinda wiggy. Add another check to the must-be-hiding-something chart,’ she thought to herself.

"Tell me, what is your name? Mine is Higurashi Yuki," she asked with a nod of her head.

If he noticed the overly curious gleam in her eye, he did not show it as he bowed low in return.

"Sessha’s name is Himura Kenshin, Yuki-dono."

Yuki tried to hide her calculating smile as she met his eyes again.

"Oyasumi nasai, Kenshin-san. Enjoy the couch; it looks bad, but really is quite comfortable."

"Oyasumi nasai, Yuki-dono."

~~~

Kenshin watched the young hanyou retreat with a mixture of relief and trepidation. He had been absolutely sure for a moment that the girl was going to attack him. A part of him really wished that she would have attacked him. Kami knows that he deserved it.

He sighed to himself and made his way over to the couch.

"Such a strange material," he said aloud as his fingers brushed against the dark green, velvety fabric of the couch. So many things about this house and these people were strange. He felt alien and displaced, and those feelings, compounded by his grief, only heightened his unease. He highly doubted that he would be able to sleep at all.

Yet, as he settled himself upon the soft cushions, and covered himself with the fleecy warm blanket, fatigue quickly overtook him and despite himself, he settled into a fitful sleep.

~~~

'He was cornered; they had him backed up against a wall. He felt trapped, and he bared his fangs in warning. The pungent scent of blood was surrounding him, fogging his senses, and feeding his bloodlust. He snarled at them, but they still rushed at him; prodding him with their sharp swords. Growling, he ruthlessly clawed at one of them, separating the man’s flesh from his bones. He screamed in agony as he died. Still, they kept coming. He tossed the man’s body aside as yet another one attacked him.'

Kenshin shifted on the couch, and curled himself into a ball.

'Her long black hair was fanned beneath her on the soft white pillow. She gasped, as his teeth and tongue worried the spot between her neck and her shoulder, and she mewed when one clawed hand grasped and kneaded her breast. He felt the beginnings of a low growl in the pit of his chest, and he flipped her over, ruthlessly. She complied with his demands, submitted to him completely as she spread her back legs invitingly. His blood pumped rapidly through his veins, and he was heady with lust as she bared her pink, glistening sex to his view. With a feral growl, he thrust himself into her warm, tight hot sheath and moaned; he had to have her, had to completely devour her, and he couldn't push himself into her far enough to satiate the intense need to claim her. She was so warm, and he could still taste her blood on his tongue, driving him further into ecstasy. She was so pure and so powerful. He could feel her muscles starting to flutter around him, pushing him to the edge and he came inside her with a mighty roar. His instincts were screaming at him to sink his teeth deep within the side of her neck, so he complied; delighting in the sweet, coppery taste of her blood as it filled his mouth.'

Kenshin woke, face flushed and brow covered with a fine sheen of sweat. His dreams were so very... vivid, not to mention alarming. The first dream... well, it wasn't as if he was never visited by nightmares of his crimes, but this one -- he felt as if he was inside the body of a wild animal. As for the second dream... he was deeply affected by it, as was evidenced by the current state of his body.

Even though he was a healthy, warm blooded male, Kenshin had always tried to clamp down on his libido as much as possible. Lust was something he equated with the Battousai - a powerful emotion that seriously frayed the edges of his control. Still, there were times when he saw Kaoru -- oh, kami, Kaoru -- and he couldn't help himself. But he never acted on it.

Yet the occasional stirrings of desire he felt for Kaoru were nothing compared to the carnal burning he had felt for the woman in his dream; the woman he recognized upon waking as Kagome. The worst part of it was that he could not justify the intensity of his attraction. Sure, she was a beautiful woman -- and if Kenshin was being honest with himself, she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. But beauty alone had never held much weight with him. Megumi was beautiful, and yet she did not awaken the types of feelings that this Kagome did, and he had known Megumi for almost a year. Kagome, he had just met yesterday. And he felt guilty as well -- guilty for feeling such desire for another in the wake of Kaoru's horrible death. Another woman should be the very last thing on his mind. This -- whatever it was -- was baffling. His attraction to Kagome was entirely incongruous to his normal behavior, and a part of him was seriously disturbed by it.

He shook his head as he stretched and rose from the couch. The strange western garments he wore were scratchy and clingy, and he wistfully hoped that his own clothes would be available to him soon. He reached up to adjust the binding on his hair, but paused when his fingers brushed over a strange piece of jewelry around his neck. Puzzled, he fingered the rosary of bone and beads, and mentally added it to his long list of questions for his 'hosts'.

It was early - around sunrise. He did not need to look outside the window to know for sure -- he had always been an early riser, and today was no different; despite his body's fatigue and mental weariness. What was different was his intense longing to see his new hosts, or more specifically, the woman Kagome.

His rational mind was fuzzy as he made his way up the stairs until he found himself standing in front of Kagome's bedroom. Her door was ajar, and he couldn't help but peek into the room. His eyes opened wide at what he saw.

She was awake and standing there, in two of the most indecent garments he had ever had the pleasure of seeing. Both garments were white and lacy, and neither one hid the features they were ostensibly covering. He immediately felt his body heat rising as his face burned hot, and he wanted nothing more than to go in there and pound her into the bed. He silently groaned to himself as the Battousai inside him threatened to take over.

He forced himself to turn away, but before he did, he caught sight of the other occupant of the room. Her ki was identical to the girl with the demon ears that he had met last night - 'Yuki,' his mind supplied - except she looked entirely human. She had a handful of strange, white paper in one hand and she looked furious. Neither one of them seemed to acknowledge his presence, so he quietly stepped back out of sight range to listen in on their conversation.

"How could you, okaa-san? What were you thinking? Do you even know who you bonded yourself to?"

"Yuki, for the last time I don't wish to discuss this with you. I don't have to discuss this with you. You are the child here -- not I -- and you have no right to question my decisions."

"Fuck that, mother," the girl continued vehemently. Kenshin's eyes shot open in shock at the girl's language. A child of that age shouldn't even know that word.

"Look... I spent a good part of last night looking up this guy on the internet. He's a killer, mom -- a mass murderer. I mean, look at this!"

Kenshin heard the shuffling of paper, and then a large sigh.

"Yuki… honey… I'm not going to justify my actions. You don’t really know how the bloodlust affects a hanyou during his developmental stages. You don’t know, because I made damned sure you had that sword with you at all times. That sword has the fang of your father and your grandfather, and it binds your youkai blood. Shinta had nothing – nothing at all to help him during his youth. So I am not surprised to find out he had been a well known and feared assassin in his youth -- in fact, both Shippo and I knew that of his past."

The pallor of his skin was increasing dramatically as the two continued their conversation. ‘Just how the hell did that girl find out about my past in a matter of hours? And what’s this about bloodlust and demon swords?’ His eyes widened in alarm.

"Whatever. Explain this then.”

There was more shuffling of paper.

“This didn’t happen in his youth. In fact, this is what I think must have happened before they came here. He is a fugitive, mother."

There was a moment of silence.

"No words mother? Can't read? Perhaps I should read it for you. It's difficult, being that it's a print of a jpeg of a microfiche from a news release over a hundred years old, but I can make out the general gist of it. Let's see: Battousai goes on rampage at the Kamiya dojo, by Tsukioka Tsunan... blah, blah, blah... oh here we go, 'A dozen officers were brutally slaughtered in their attempts to take Himura Kenshin into custody for the murder of Kamiya Kaoru. Kamiya had offered her home to the former Hitokiri Battousai, and he had been a ward at the dojo for the past year. His motives for his actions are as yet unknown.'"

In the hallway, Kenshin paled. He knew he did not kill Kaoru, and it burned him that Katsu could write such a thing. Still, the officers... did he really do that? A flash of the dream he had came back to him, and he felt a wave of nausea in his stomach.

"Yuki, there is more to it than that and you know it. Shippo said that when he found him he was in full youkai mode; it's very likely that he doesn't even remember what he did."

"He's a monster, mother! Why can't you see that? I know what Shippo means to you, and kami, I understand, but you have gone way too far mom! You’re so much of a bleeding heart that you can't even tell when you are putting yourself in danger!"

Yuki had a condescending note to her voice, and while Kenshin privately agreed with her assessment of him, he found himself feeling somewhat aggravated at the tone she was taking with her mother.

"You... you don't understand, Yuki. Your youkai blood has never taken full control of you."

"That's no excuse!"

"THE HELL IT ISN'T!" Kagome argued vehemently. She sighed loudly before continuing.

"You know, I never told you this, but I once had to watch your father slaughter a dozen men - evil bastards, yet they were men who were begging for their lives - he killed them in cold blood, because he wasn't in control. The demon was. So don't tell me--"

"BULLSHIT, mother. Fucking bullshit."

Kenshin winced as he heard the slap that soon followed.

"You will watch your mouth, young lady. I allow you a lot of liberties, and I love you, but you will CEASE cursing in my presence. I am only telling you the truth."

"Whatever mom. You expect me to respect you and believe that? How can I, when you turn yourself into a whore."

This was followed with a sharp gasp.

Kenshin sat in the hallway, stunned. Why would she say such a thing to her own mother? He felt outrage on Kagome's part, and had to clamp down on his own anger.

"Get out, Yuki."

Silence.

"I SAID GET OUT!"

"G... gomen nasai, okaa-san. I... I didn't mean it--" Yuki said softly

"Just... go…. get ready for school. We’re done here."

The now dark-haired girl came storming out of the room. She shot him a harsh glance, before storming past him into another room and slamming the door behind her. Her actions were soon followed by a loud screeching sound consisting of strange instrumentals and high pitched voices from beyond the young girl's door.

Kenshin hesitated for a moment, absorbing what he had overheard.

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of Kagome, sobbing quietly in her room. An ache filled his heart at the sound, and he stood, intending to go comfort her, but stopped when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Iie. Let her cry it out, Shinta. Now is not the time to approach her. Besides, we have our own issues to discuss."

Kenshin glared at the kitsune-youkai. Shippo only smiled sadly in response, before heading down the stairs, indicating for him to follow.

Kenshin glanced once more in the open doorway at the petite, desolate woman within, and with a heavy heart followed Shippo down the stairs.

~~~

A/N: Now don’t be all hating Yuki – she is a teenager, AND Kagome & Inu’s daughter. To me, that translates to mouthy, bossy, foul-mouthed and stubborn. She also doesn’t think before she speaks. Teenagers are like that. Me, I firmly believe that between the ages of 13 and 18, we are a different species entirely. But anyway, it was a much needed scene. Next up we will see some Shippo/Kenshin interaction, and probably more of Kohaku. For those wanting to see more of Kenshin/Kagome interactions: Don’t worry about it – once they return to the Meiji era, there will be plenty of that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! It’ll probably be the last one for a few days – I want to work on my other story, and I really desperately NEED to work on my thesis – which, as far as my husband knows, I currently am. My bad. ;)

Japanese Words:

de gozaru – to be. Extremely polite form.
Kami – god (gods)
Hitokiri – assassin
Battousai – kenshin’s name as an assassin
Hai – yes
Iie – no
Sessha – ‘I, who is not worthy’ or ‘this unworthy one’ – self depreciating
Oyasumi nasai – good night
Miko – shrine maiden
Youkai – demon
Hanyou – half demon
Ki – life force
Okaa-san – mother
Gomen nasai – I’m sorry