Stops, Starts and Silly scenes

Kagome’s Grandfather caught her trying to sneak away in order to get out of spring cleaning duties at the shrine and using his amazing skills at manipulating his grandkids to talk her into cleaning out the storage shed so he wouldn’t have to this year. Grinning from ear to ear he snuck off to have a little nip at a very nice vintage of sake that his buddy from the market lost to him in their last mahjong game.

Several hours later it was coming up on lunchtime when he checked back with her. He was very impressed with the amount of progress she had made. It looked like she was about finished. “Kagome are you ready for lunch?” he asked.

“Yeah Grandpa, I’ll just be a minute I just got this one last shelf to do and I’ll be right there!” she called out from the back corner. He nodded to himself thinking of what else he could talk her into doing this afternoon as he wondered back to the house for his lunch.

Kagome listened as her grandfather walked of mumbling to himself and wondered what he had up his sleeve and if she could maybe dodge more chores. Sighing to herself she reached for the box that was pushed back to the far bottom corner of the shed under the shelves. Grumbling when she realized that she would have to climb under the shelf to get to it she got down and crawled partially under until she could reach the box and when she tugged it and it didn’t move she borrowed a few of Inuyasha’s favorite words, stringing them together in new and imaginative ways.

Reaching a little farther in she grabbed the far sides and pulled hard bashing her head on the shelf above her when the box broke and cussing again as she rubbed her sore head. Looking back at the broken box and the spilled contents she’s surprised to see photographs spread out every where. Kagome was confused. She was sure all the family photos where in the attic of the house or her mother’s room.

Curious now Kagome reached out again and dragged several loose photos and an old album toward her. Flipping through the loose photos she smiles at the black and white pictures of her Grandfather as a young man. There’s one of him with his friends at school, one of him with a really nice old car, one of him in his priests robes grinning like an idiot at some kind of celebration and one with him and a beautiful young woman in a super steamy kiss. She wonders if that’s her Grandmother. After she died her Grandfather was heart broke and she’d actually never seen a picture of her Mother’s mother. She’d been told that he just couldn’t take the reminder.

She set the loose photos aside and picked up the album and as she did a large portrait size photo slipped out and into the main aisle of the shed under the lone bare light bulb. Kagome slid over and reached out to the photo only to stop in shock. There’s no way that she was seeing what she thought she was. No possible way was she looking at a family portrait of her family with and extra boy and a woman who looked like Kaede being hugged by her Grandfather. No way.

Kagome picked up the photo and looked closer. Her father had prayer beads wrapped around his right hand. She looked at the boy. He looked to be about six or seven. She had a sick feeling in her stomach as she thought that the boy looked like a chibi version of Miroku, but that couldn’t be.

Looking at her mom she saw that her mother was holding a small baby that must be Souta and looking at herself just in front of her mom she realized that she would have been four. Glancing back up at her grandparents there was her Grandfather proud as could be and beside him a woman who was most definitely Kaede; and if that was Kaede then…feeling sick, confused and betrayed Kagome picked up the photo and went in for lunch thanking all the Kami that Souta was at school today.

Kagome’s Mom looked up from the table with a smile when she heard her daughter come into the house. As Kagome rounded the corner into the kitchen her smile faded at the ash gray pallor of her daughter.

“Kagome what’s wrong?” she asked worriedly and she crossed the kitchen to her.

Kagome didn’t say a word just raised her arm and held out the photo. Looking from Kagome’s face to her hand her mother didn’t even need to see which photo it was she knew that the only photos that were kept out in the shed were not meant to be found. It’s why they buried them beneath and behind everything.

“Kagome,” she said, “I can explain.”

“That’s good, because as mad as I am, you need to and now.” Kagome said quietly with an odd tone in her voice.


It was several hours later when Kagome made her way from the well to the village just after night fall. She was almost to Kaede’s hut when she heard Shippo call out her name but he didn’t follow through with his usual greeting of racing to her and jumping into her arms. He stopped just a few feet from her with his head tilted to one side and a confused look on his face.

“Kagome are you ok?” he asked.

“Yeah Shippo, I’m fine.” She answered tonelessly as the rest of the group caught up to them.

“Kagome? We weren’t expecting you back for another day or so. Is everything alright?” Sango asked when she saw Kagome’s expressionless face.

“Guys I need to talk to Kaede and Miroku in private if you don’t mind.” Kagome said as she mounted the step to the old miko’s hut.

“Keh. Ain’t nothing you got to say to them that you can’t say to us. We’re pack we don’t keep anything from each other!” Inuyasha fussed.
“Inuyasha after I talk to Kaede and Miroku we’ll tell you what you need to know but first I have to talk to them.” Kagome said through gritted teeth.

Noticing he strain on her face Sango grabbed Inuyasha’s arm and picked up Shippo, “Call us when you’re done Kagome. We’ll be nearby.” She said dragging the grumbling hanyou along with her as she walked away with Kirara following her.

Miroku, more than a little confused followed Kagome into the hut and just as he was about to ask her what was going on she asked him to place a soundproof barrier around the room never taking her eyes off Kaede all the while he did so.

“Alright Kagome it’s done.” He told her softly after he placed the last ofuda.

“What ails ye child?” Kaede asked somewhat suspiciously.

“Well Grandmother Kaede,” Kagome said emphasizing the honorific watching Kaede’s one eye widen slightly at the emphasis, “you know that the cherry blossom festival is coming up yes?”

“Cherry blossom festival? I do not know that festival. This is from your time?” She asked.

“Oh yes it’s a fairly recent festival I guess. Happens every spring just as the tree blooms open. Well we do our shrine’s spring cleaning just before the festival and my chore today was to clean and organize the storage shed and can you guess what I found buried in the far back corner under all the other boxes and shelves?” Kagome groused.

“How would I know this child?” The old miko asked quietly.

“Kagome should I step out and let you two work this out?” Miroku put in quietly not knowing why the miko from the future wanted him there.

“No Miroku,” Kagome answered gently turning to him, “you need to be here this has bearing on you too I’m afraid, and I’m sorry to bring this to you in such a manner but I feel it best to rip the blindfold off quickly. Forgive me when you can.” Turning back to Kaede Kagome handed her the photo. “Have a look Grandmother and you tell me how you should know.”

Kaede took the photo tentatively her hand shaking. Looking down at the portrait her eyes tear up at the same time as she smiles sadly.

“You were not supposed to find this Kagome. You should not have known these things.” She said softly handing the picture back to Kagome.

“I’ve given Grandpa and Momma my thoughts on keeping this from me but you? Kaede when we came to you and talked to you about our plans you didn’t see fit to tell us this? You didn’t think we should know?”

“Kagome you’re getting to upset. Please calm down.” Miroku got up and took Kagome into a gentle hug.

Just then Kagome asked a question completely out of left field, “Miroku can you tell me about your family?”

Feeling confused he questioned her, “What do you want to know? I was young when my father died and I don’t remember my mother at all though Mushin told me I was seven when she died.”

“Did your father or Mushin ever tell you if you had siblings?” she asked at the same time as Kaede voiced, “Kagome no…” Pulling from Miroku, Kagome shot Kaede a look that should have froze her in place.

Miroku surprised looked between the two women before answering. “No. I was told that I was an only child.”

Kagome looked down at the photo and back up at Miroku. “I saw the doctor yesterday Miroku. I was trying to come back here and tell you this morning when Grandpa caught me and made me clean the shed. The babies are well.”

“Babies? More than one?” Miroku asked stunned. His face began to beam when Kagome held up two fingers.

“You’re the father of twins Monk.” He picked her up and twirled her around before kissing her soundly on the lips. Then a thought occurs to him, why bring this up now? Why in the middle of this argument with Kaede?

“Kagome?” he questions as he pulls away slightly seeing the sadness in her eyes, “What in Buddha’s name is going on here?”

In answer Kagome hands him the photo over Kaede’s cry. “Seems I have and older brother I didn’t know. My grandmother, father and brother left when I was four. Souta and I only ever knew grandmother and father through stories. We were never told about our brother. I didn’t know until this afternoon Miroku. I swear.”

Feeling his stomach knot tightly he looked from Kagome down to the photograph and there before his very eyes was his father and him beside a very young Kagome and looking over the people there was Kaede beside an older man he assumed to be the Kagome’s grandfather.

Stunned beyond words he looked up at Kagome with so many questions in his eyes and she just looked at him a moment before simply stating, “Mom wants you to try to go through the well. She’d like to get to know her son again.”

“Oh Kami above!” He exclaimed quietly before turning to a softly sobbing Kaede. “You knew!?”