The Sins of the Father

~Tokyo, 2012~

It was a new day, and they were almost ready to begin their sojourn down the well. Kagome was just waiting on her brother to arrive; for she had made the decision not to bring Yuki along with her.

Souta was now a grad student at Tokyo University, and while he normally shared an apartment on campus with his long time girlfriend Hitomi, he agreed to stay at the shrine to watch Yuki during Kagome’s absence. Hitomi, who knew of Yuki’s nature, would also be staying at the shrine. Their classes were scheduled at different times, so there would always be someone at home with her thirteen year old daughter.

For her own part, Kagome had called the hospital and requested an extended leave of absence for family reasons. They were not too happy about it, and it could quite possibly mean her job if she didn’t return soon enough, but she had no other alternative.

The men had gone outside after they had finished their breakfast so that Shippo could work on teaching Kenshin some illusionary magic. This gave Kagome some time alone with her daughter, so that she could tell her what they had planned. Predictably, Yuki was not taking it well at all.

“I can help you, Mom. I really can. Ask Shippo – he sparred with me, he even said I fought like my father. Please, please take me with you.”

Yuki was very near tears in her frustration. She couldn’t understand why her mother wouldn’t let her go with them. So she was only thirteen, so what? Her mother was only fifteen the first time she went down the well. And it wasn’t like they were going back to a period of time heavily occupied by youkai. Besides, even in her human form, Yuki was taller, stronger, and a better sword fighter than her mother could ever hope to be, and since they ran more of a risk of coming head to head with a swordsman than a demon, she felt that she would be a hell of a lot more useful to them than an out of practice Miko.

Kagome’s brilliant sapphire eyes met determined brown ones, as she looked at her daughter with compassion. She had so very many reasons why she did not want Yuki accompanying her, the first and foremost one being that she knew how dangerous things could get. Yuki had no idea what she was asking her for; none what so ever. What kind of mother would she be if she willingly allowed Yuki to put herself in mortal danger?

In retrospect, she can’t even imagine how her own mother ever let her go down the well. Now that she was in her mother’s position, she really thought that she must have either been insane or seriously deluded about the amount of danger that Kagome had been in at the time.

Plus, the Meiji era was extremely unfriendly to youkai and hanyou; especially those that could not mask their appearance. Shippo had told her that most of the youkai had long left Japan for uninhabited regions of the world and some had even chosen to go to another dimension. The few that remained were living in hiding amongst the humans of the time. That had been how Shippo had managed to survive. And there was no way that Yuki could hide her nature when the sun went down. If she was seen as a hanyou, it could mean her death.

There was also the little matter of her daughter’s immaturity and stubbornness.

Kagome had not been happy about Yuki’s suspension. Although she knew that her daughter had good reason to be upset, Yuki had as usual went about channeling her anger the wrong way. In fact, if the circumstances were different, Kagome would have compounded the suspension with the removal of some of Yuki’s privileges. But as she felt extremely guilty about the way that Yuki was feeling, she could not bring herself to do so.

Kagome sighed as she reached across the table to cup the side of her daughter’s face with her right hand. She studied her daughter sadly for a moment, committing to memory her features since she did not know how long it would be before she saw her again.

Yuki had such strong cheekbones, so very like Inuyasha’s. She was so much like him in both looks and attitude, it was sometimes scary. Many have often said that Yuki resembled her mother, but Kagome could never see it. Well, perhaps her full lips and slightly wavy hair, but the rest was all Inuyasha. At almost six foot tall already with a budding figure that was lithe and athletic, Yuki was growing into quite a beauty.

Kagome could only hope that she would live to be able to see it.

She knew that she had to protect the timeline at all costs, and leaving Kohaku that powerful and unchecked in the past would definitely change the future they knew. The fact that the well had allowed Shippo and Kenshin passage at all meant that she was destined to go back with them. And Kagome knew very well that to defeat Kohaku, it may cost one or all of them their lives.

“Yuki, I love you. You mean everything to me,” Kagome finally said in a hushed voice. “I need you here. Please understand that.”

“But –“

“Someday, you are going to grow up to be a beautiful woman, Yuki. A strong and fearless woman capable of handling whatever obstacles life hands to you. But in order to do that, you need to grow up. Please, Yuki. Please understand it would kill me if anything were to happen to you. You’re still my baby girl, you know. I need you to stay here.”

Yuki opened her mouth to respond, but didn’t get the chance. For at that moment, the door opened and Souta entered the kitchen, followed by both Shippo and Kenshin who were staring at Souta rather oddly.

Souta had grown up to be quite handsome, although Kagome thought his personal sense of style was a bit too modern for her own tastes. He was about the same height as Yuki, and had large, brown eyes that were always filled with mirth. His hair was spiked and shot through with blue highlights, and his left eyebrow was pierced with a small gold hoop. He was wearing a pair of form fitting jeans, and a black tee shirt with the emblem of some American rock band displayed prominently on the front. Souta was also fairly muscular, and had a tattoo in the shape of a dragon on his right upper arm.

The few school friends that Yuki had were all enamored of him. Yuki herself loved her Uncle Souta and usually thought him the epitome of cool, but today she was just not all that enthused about his presence. Because now that he was here, it meant her mom was leaving.

“What’s up, Yuki-chan?” Souta said with a half grin as he approached the table and stole a slice of toast of off Yuki’s plate. “Not happy to see me? C’mon girl, where’s my hug?”

Slowly, and not very enthusiastically, Yuki stood and gave her uncle a quick hug.

“That’s more like it. Don’t worry kid, we’re going to have a great time here.”

Yuki nodded briefly before giving her uncle a false smile, and left the room. She just couldn’t deal with it all right now, and she wanted nothing more than to go to her room and sulk.

Meanwhile, Souta turned his attention to the two red haired men that were dressed in clothes that had been out of style for over a century.

So Kags, are you going to introduce me to your… strange friends?”

Kagome laughed.

“They probably think that you’re the one that’s strange Souta,” she teased, as she pulled on Souta’s arm until he bent down enough for her to place an affectionate kiss on his cheek. She heard a slight growl as she did so, so she shot a glare toward Kenshin.

“The one with the scowl on his face is called Kenshin Himura. He’s a—“

“An assassin from the Meiji restoration,” Souta finished, awe apparent in his voice. “Far out. I kinda thought you’d be taller, though.”

“Well, I was going to say samurai – but wait; how did you know that he was an assassin?” Kagome asked, bemused.

Kenshin for his part was now staring at Souta in stunned disbelief, while Shippo was smirking with barely repressed amusement.

“I’m a history major, Kagome,” Souta said with a roll of his eyes. He walked up to the diminutive swordsman and bowed slightly. “Higurashi Souta. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Souta studied the legendary swordsman in front of him. Something was nagging him at the back of his mind from his history books. His eyes narrowed in slight suspicion once he remembered what it was.

“Hey, wait. Aren’t you supposed to have some sort of scar?”

Shippo grinned in triumph, while Kagome’s head whirled around to Kenshin in slight surprise at Souta’s words. For the first time she noticed that Kenshin had been successful in using illusion to hide his scar.

The baffled samurai nodded slightly in response and closed his eyes. A moment later, the distinguishing cross-shape scar once more adorned his left cheek.

“Wicked,” Souta commented, before turning his gaze over to the green eyed kitsune on Kenshin’s right.

”And that’s Shippo,” Kagome continued, watching her brother very carefully for his reaction.

“Shippo? You mean the kitsune that you and Inu… that you traveled with?” Souta asked. His eyes widened momentarily in amazement.

“It’s okay, Souta. You can say his name, I can handle it. And yes, he’s the same one. Of course, he’s a lot bigger now.”

Souta looked at the kitsune somewhat confused. Really, he was even an inch or so shorter than the assassin. “If he’s a lot bigger now, how small could he have been?” he muttered under his breath, momentarily forgetting about the enhanced senses that the youkai possessed.

Shippo laughed loudly, as he let his illusion fall. He had heard much about Kagome’s brother in his youth, and now that he met him he found that he liked him. He certainly found him amusing, to say the very least. Too bad they didn’t have more time.

“Wow, that’s so cool,” Souta said as he took in Shippo’s changed appearance. “So, can you do any other tricks, or do you have any cool, special attacks?”

“Sure. Watch this! Kitsu-“

“SHIPPO! IIE! I do NOT want you to set my kitchen on fire, thank you very much!” Kagome shouted, her heart pounding a mile a minute.

Shippo at least had the grace to look somewhat sheepish as he apologized. “Gomen nasai, Kagome.”

Kagome just shook her head in amusement. Things were certainly going to be interesting.

~~~

Up in her room, Yuki laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. How could they all be so… flippant with each other? She couldn’t even stand to listen to them all, laughing as if they weren’t about to take her mother and bring her to someplace dangerous. Yuki frowned at the thought. They were all going to get themselves killed. How the heck did they plan on facing off against a crazed hanyou with but an old bow and a reverse blade sword between the three of them?

If she was allowed to go, at least they’d have the Tetsusaiga with them as well. In fact, the more she thought about it the more upset she got. She’d made the thing transform; she could wield it, damn it.

She could be of use to them.

Besides, what if something happened to her okaa-san on the other side of the well? What if she never saw her again?

Yuki launched herself off the bed and walked towards the other side of her room, where the Tetsusaiga was leaning haphazardly against the wall in between her backpack and her stereo. She took the hilt of the ancient katana into her hand, and tried hard not to cry. For once, Yuki felt like a little girl who only wanted to be very, very good so that her mommy would be happy with her and bring her along. Of course, it would never happen. Her mother had already said no, and once she makes up her mind there was no changing it. But oh, how she wished she could follow her anyway – if only to help protect her mother.

To her surprise, the blade pulsed in her hand.

Was the sword trying to tell her something? She had always felt as if the blade had a life of its own, but it had never pulsed before. What had she done to make it do so?

Yuki was puzzled.

She had done nothing, really. Nothing but wish that she could follow her mother down the well.

The Tetsusaiga pulsed again.

‘The sword wants me to go down the well,’ she thought to herself as her brown eyes widened in realization.

There was another pulse, and the wheels in Yuki’s mind began to turn.

~~~

It was time. They had made all the preparations, Souta was here for her daughter, and there was no reason for delay. None at all, except that Kagome couldn’t go without making sure that Yuki was going to be okay.

She walked up the stairs with a heavy heart, and knocked on the door to her daughter’s room.

“Come in,” her daughter said in a soft voice from behind the door.

Kagome entered the room slowly. Her daughter was leaning against one wall, holding the Tetsusaiga. She didn’t look too upset, and Kagome couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief as Yuki offered her a small smile.

“Is it time, okaa-san?”

“Hai,” Kagome answered as she sat on the end of Yuki’s bed. The tears started to well in her eyes as she looked at her daughter. “Come here,” she said, opening her arms wide.

Yuki dropped the sword and launched herself from the floor into Kagome’s arms within moments, and Kagome couldn’t hold back the tears anymore as her daughter buried her head against her chest and wrapped her arms around her back.

For several minutes they sat there, holding each other and silently crying.

”I love you, Yuki. Don’t ever …” Kagome started, but suddenly stopped as she realized it sounded too much like the last words that someone she loved dearly once said to her. There would be no last words to Yuki, no goodbyes.

“You take good care of yourself, Yuki. You listen well to Souta and don’t get into trouble. I will be back as soon as I can,” Kagome continued, hoping and praying that she would be able to keep her word.

“Okay okaa-san. I love you. Onegai, be careful.”

“Hai. I will, Yuki-chan. I promise.”

~~~

A/N: Okay CoffeeGyrl, I always want to accommodate my best reviewer, so I tried to work in the visuals a little better in this chapter ;). And yes, they are outgunned right now on purpose. I really don’t want to say anything more on it, because I don’t want to give away my plot. As far as offering grammatical suggestions, I really welcome the critiques. I don’t have a beta per say – I tried it, but found that it really slows me down, so I do most of my proof reading myself. Of course, by the time I’m done with a chapter I’m usually pretty tired and I have a tendency to miss a couple of things. Diane’s been a big help to me on that front, and I certainly appreciate all of my other reviewer’s comments and suggestions. I want to make this an enjoyable story, and I know that the better the flow, the easier it is for the reader to understand my intent.

Now I’d like to throw a question out to the reviewers: I am seriously considering hooking Yuki up with Sano. Now, now, don’t look at me like that – Sano’s only 19. Still, Yuki is very young, so if I do hook them up I promise you I will not cross any lines. It would be more comfort stuff just bordering on a possible romance; maybe an innocent kiss or two as the story progresses. I just want to know how everyone feels about this? If it turns people off I won’t do it; however they are going to be traveling together and their personalities are very compatible.

This was a transition chapter. I admit, not much happening here, but I needed to tie up some loose ends in Kagome’s time. Next up: Sano, Kohaku, and possibly Kouga.

Japanese words:

Kitsune – fox
Youkai – demon
Hanyou – half demon
Kitsune-bi – fox fire
Iie – no
Gomen nasai – I’m sorry
Okaa-san – mother
Katana – sword
Onegai – please
Hai – yes