Regenerist

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

 

December 20, 1990

Bangor International Airport

 

Stepping through the customs lines Sesshomaru flashed his passport. A work visa had been relatively simple to get with the Syndicates assistance. A man in a blue suit and tacky orange tie waved him by allowing him to enter the main part of the airport. The sounds of a loud intercom, and even louder the talking of humans all around was making Sesshomaru’s ears ring. Yellow and red walls greeted him. He was still yawning to trying to pop his ears. He hated airplanes, and the sights and smells of something other than Kyoto streets were confusing his senses.

This land was unfamiliar. Despite ample opportunities in the past Sesshomaru rarely traveled abroad, and this was his first time in the United States. And he had very good reasons for that.

The small bag he slung over his shoulder contained his instructions and few personal items. The only luggage he brought from Japan. He walked trying to sense out where his guide was supposed to be.

 

“Sesshomaru?” A voice of a young man questioned. He felt poorly for a moment that he was recognized first. Sesshomaru looked over to where the young man was sitting in the hard plastic seats of the waiting room. With a little surprise he found that he recognized this man. His automatic surprise response was to tilt his head to the side slightly, and with composure he quickly brought himself back to looking neutral. The young man’s bright red orange hair was still wild though much shorter than he used to wear it. He wore a modern cut that didn’t touch his neck. The young man stood up brushing off his blue pullover sweater as it was covered with cookie crumbs. The box of Chips Ahoy next to him looked as if it was empty. He had been munching while waiting for Sesshomaru to arrive. “I…” The young man looked stunned as if someone had failed to notify him that Sesshomaru was the one he would be searching for. “I can’t believe it’s you.”

Ah. Sesshomaru understood, but that understanding was sad and bitter. The young man never saw him looking this human.

 

“You’re the field agent?” Sesshomaru questioned with a doubtful tone. It was forced but it made things easier for both of them. His doubt was greeted with one large smile which appeared entirely human down to the teeth.

 

“The one and only. Us Kitsune’s can’t be held in one place for long you know.” The young man said running his hand through his short hair. His green eyes flashed mischievously, and Sesshomaru wondered what exactly he was getting into. If this was a choice he would be heading back to his apartment on the next flight, but it wasn’t his apartment anymore. He had to sell it in order to get to America. The Syndicate apparently didn’t want to dish out any more money than they had to and the airplane ticket was entirely Sesshomaru’s responsibility.

 

“You’ve never been able to sit in one spot for more than five minutes unless you were eating or sick, Shippo.” Sesshomaru felt as if he had a right to say that considering he first met the fox demon when he was just a child. It was interesting to see him after so many years. The child who ran around in circles because he was afraid of Sesshomaru, was now a young man who looked carefree and definitely not afraid of him.

 

“Hey, don’t pick on me! You’re going to sound too much like your brother.” Shippo baited him. Sesshomaru found himself smiling. He would never be anything like Inuyasha.

 

“We have a job to do.” Sesshomaru did not want to wait. He wanted to know now if all that he read was true. After all Shippo was one of the few who knew of his Rin. It only served to make the situation more suspicious.

 

“I should have known you would be all about business.” Shippo remarked digging into his jean pockets. For a moment terror needed to be swallowed. He didn’t know what he would do if Shippo was actually here to kill him. Quickly Shippo dug into the big front pocket of his blue pullover and held up two bright pink pieces of paper. “The girl takes dance classes and has a winter recital at the local high school. These are our tickets.” Giving one bright pink ticket to Sesshomaru, Shippo hurriedly walked towards the exit. “Come on! It’s almost an hour drive from here!” The fox called back. Shaking his head Sesshomaru followed.

 

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“Are you sure you can sit down longer?” Sesshomaru asked straight faced. Shippo faked a frown at him as he looked over the small paper booklet that served as the program for the event. So far the Kitsune did not show any signs of deviating from what Sesshomaru had been told, but Sesshomaru could not let his guard down so soon. Leaning back in the padded auditorium chair Sesshomaru stared at the stage waiting as the lights dimmed and people in the audience began to quiet down. He wondered if they stuck out as strange. It wasn’t as if they knew anyone there. No one seemed particularly interested in the two demons though. There were so many people that Sesshomaru had a difficult time believing that the event itself only had seventeen performers.

 

“Why are there so many people here?” Sesshomaru felt he could not quell some of his anxiety. Shippo was snacking again, this time on a long rope of licorice.

 

“Big families.” Shippo shrugged. “Our girl’s parents are down there.” He pointed to a couple near the front. Sesshomaru squinted making out a hefty man with dark hair and a bald spot, and a younger pretty woman with black hair by his side.

 

“She doesn’t have any more family?” Sesshomaru questioned. The papers had been a little lull on her family history.

 

“She has a Chinese grandmother in California. The woman doesn’t visit very often though. From what I understand she didn’t approve of her son marrying a Japanese woman. She also has an Uncle in Japan, but I’ve never seen him.” Shippo said between chewing.

 

“Hm.” Sesshomaru responded. The picture of the girl was not very revealing, he decided. He couldn’t tell that she was happa from it. Maybe she would look less like his Rin in person. He did not like that thought.

 

Music began playing. From the quality Sesshomaru could tell that it was a recording. He did not recognize the music, it was foreign but pleasant.

 

“There she is.” Shippo said pointing to the left side of the stage where a small group of children from five to six all walked on the stage in white leotards and blue skirts. Their leotards had silver snowflakes painted on them and each girl held a sparkling stick that glittered with silver tinsel. He saw her immediately. The regenerist stood right in the middle of the group her jet black hair coming out of the bun that was in the back of her head. She had stepped slightly in front of the other children, and it appeared she was leading them in their dance steps, although they were all awkward and decidedly not graceful.

 

Sesshomaru was silent as he watched the child smiling widely as she twirled, and danced. Memories of another little girl dancing in fields of flowers with lightening bugs around her faded in and out of Sesshomaru’s consciousness. She didn’t look happa.

 

“She looks just like Rin did.” He whispered mind numbing with recognition. He was wondering if the little girl on stage would smell like the child he had taken care of so many years ago. In the crowded auditorium and with his senses still stunned from the change in landscape he could not tell. He wondered if she would grow up to look like her. Shippo was watching Sesshomaru intently then.

 

“The reason why you were put on this mission, Sesshomaru, is because the higher-ups think that this regenerist was your descendent.” Shippo stated then. Oh. Now it was making sense. Now he didn’t have a doubt that the assignment was real. He could see it with his own eyes. Shippo sounded curious, and Sesshomaru couldn’t blame him. The last time Shippo saw Rin they were both children, although Sesshomaru was certain that Rin grew up faster than Shippo did simply because she was human.

 

“I never had children with her, Shippo.” His throat felt raw thinking about it and then thinking about all the things that were attached to it. Or was it traveling allergies?

 

“I thought you took the human Rin as your mate?” Shippo questioned. Too many knew that he supposed. Even now, many excruciatingly lonely years after his marriage and her death, some youkai taunted him for marrying her. Others taunted him for mourning her passing so deep and long.

 

“I did. She couldn’t have children.”

 

Shippo sat back in his seat uncomfortably then. He hadn’t known of course. Sesshomaru believed that there were very few demons knew the details of his first and only marriage.

 

It was likely that over the years Shippo heard little of the demon he had feared as a child. A few things here and there, mostly about his allegiance with old lords who wished for their freedom to walk around in true form, as real youkai. That was during the time that the humans called the Second World War. By then Shippo had given himself over to the side that eventually won: The Syndicate.

 

Sesshomaru didn’t know if Shippo even realized he was alive before this assignment reared its head.

 

Clapping and cheering filled the air as the short program ended. People were getting up out of their seats chattering all the way to the door. Shippo stood up stretching out his arms above his head. Sesshomaru found himself doing the same. Too many hours traveling and staying still, he decided. The heavy conversation from earlier made him uneasy. It was clear from the look on Shippo’s face that he was also uneasy.

 

In the chaotic noise of talking humans they left the school building.

 

“The Syndicate is wrong to do this to you.” Shippo whispered. Surprised Sesshomaru looked over to the young man. “It’s not fair to humiliate you with…”

 

“I did not make a mistake in marrying Rin.” Sesshomaru was quick. He knew what Shippo would say. It was the same as what most said to him. Shippo looked witty then.

 

“You were the one who claimed to hate humans.”

 

Sesshomaru did not deny that. There was a time in his life when he would have said that to anyone. He still felt it to some degree, but the prejudice was fading with age. Rin had a lot to do with that.

 

Shippo stopped short looking at the watch around his wrist.

 

“You will take me to the house.” Sesshomaru sought to change the subject.

 

“Yes. I hope I programmed the VCR to record Mystery Science Theater.” Shippo mumbled more to himself than to Sesshomaru as he fumbled to unlock the blue Nissan. Sesshomaru only recognized the car because for a short period in the 1980’s he took a second job in a factory that manufactured automobile parts. In the end it hadn’t been worth the effort of seeking permission from the Syndicate to take a second job. Sesshomaru was forced to resign when he had a sudden surge of mercenary jobs to attend to, and a very broken Kagura to nurse back to health.

 

The ride home was quiet, and Shippo nervously explained that the radio in the car did not work anymore. Sesshomaru quietly but expertly removed the front radio paneling and found a wire that had dislodged itself and frayed under pressure. There were no dents on the car, but Sesshomaru did not doubt that the wire was damaged due to inertia pressure. When they went down the road that the regenerist lived on he understood why. The bumping was so bad that Sesshomaru felt as if he was bouncing right out of the seat. Pavement was horrible this time of the year. Frost heaves were damaging forces.

 

“The car would not have so much strain if you went a respectable speed.” Sesshomaru growled. It was not much longer when Shippo pulled into a packed dirt driveway. He was cautious while stopping the car, and Sesshomaru discovered it was because the driveway was covered with a layer of solid ice. There was a second car in the yard covered by a couple of inches of snow.

 

“I restocked the house with food and other essentials. So you have to help me get my car out from the yard and I’ll be out of your hair.” Shippo propositioned. That sounded alright to Sesshomaru but he couldn’t help being a little confused.

 

“If that is your car,” He started pointing to the snow covered hunk of metal, “Whose is this?”

 

“Oh, that’s yours. You’ll need it to get around here.” The nonchalant response was greeted with silence. Sesshomaru looked to the car skeptically.

 

“Public transportation?”

 

“Huh?” Shippo was already trudging through what looked like a foot of packed old snow. Sesshomaru wasn’t moving before this was cleared up.

 

“There’s public transportation right?”

 

“No…” Shippo was looking at him strangely now, one eyebrow raised. “You don’t know how to drive do you?”

 

“The last time I drove was in 1937.” There was a particularly interesting memory. The automobile had been Kagura’s and for some strange reason she was convinced that she needed to teach him to drive so that he could assert his manliness. He hadn’t bothered to remind her that was a man for many more years than those contraptions had been around. He also remembered crashing the automobile into a ditch on the side of a country road.

 

Kagura never let him drive again. She loved her cars and always drove with the windows down, even in the middle of the winter, rain, snow, everything. She said it made her happy to feel the wind in her hair. Driving was quintessential to freedom for her.

 

“Oh. Give me a moment.” Was all the young man said before bounding through the deep snow into the house. Confused Sesshomaru looked in through the window to see Shippo stretching the cord of a telephone so that he could motion for Sesshomaru to enter the building through the large windows in the front of the house.

 

Walking through the snow, because Sesshomaru did not trudge or stumble or be so undignified as to make faces when cold wet snow slipped into his shoes and shocked his feet, he decided that one set of inadequate clothing was not good enough. Upon entering the house he could hear Shippo making little affirmative sounds, which were sometimes accompanied by phrases and half sentences.

 

“Alright. Goodbye.” Shippo finally said turning his attention to Sesshomaru, who had stopped in the doorway cold with patches of snow that stuck to his legs. The house was inundated with the scent of burnt pine, and Kitsune. He wondered just how long Shippo had been staying here.

 

“This has been your home for a while.” Sesshomaru stated. The young man shrugged.

 

“Only a year or so.” He lied. Sesshomaru could tell from the scent that the Kitsune lived here for at least three. “Well the office wants me to stay with you until you can get a valid drivers license. I was also instructed to take you to Bangor so that you could meet the areas youkai service providers.”

 

Sesshomaru knew that the service providers were those in the position to make his life miserable. He knew that it would include experts on altering appearance, a full scale police force and other mercenaries. He did not doubt for a moment that they were going to try to intimidate him into forced solitude.

 

“Of course.” Sesshomaru responded coldly. The young man was either pretending not to notice, or simply didn’t care that his demeanor sunk into defense. Shippo was rustling around the tan couch pulling off cushions to search for something.

 

“Well if you’re cold you should put your things in the dryer, and take a bath. The bathroom and laundry room are connected down that hallway.” He pointed nonchalantly before pulling up a television remote control.

 

With the understanding that Shippo was preoccupied and didn’t seem to care whatever it was that Sesshomaru did the exploration began.

 

Throwing his bag on the kitchen table Sesshomaru looked around. Shippo had told him about his new residence on the way to the little show. It was a simple trailer with a two bedrooms in the back separated by a bathroom that had a rather large shower in it. There was a laundry room across the hall from the bathroom. The kitchen and living room were large open areas at the front of the trailer with the living room separated by a step up and ugly green carpeting. Clean dishes were stacked up on the counter. Checking the refrigerator Sesshomaru found that it was full, something he was not used to. He avoided interrupting Shippo, who was completely engrossed in watching some program. A large light blue couch sat against the huge window at the very front of the trailer. A small television, complete with a VCR was in its place near one of the side walls, and a rather nice stereo was against the other wall.

 

Just as Sesshomaru was about to travel to the back rooms to inspect their condition a loud ringing filled the air. At first the tone was so different that Sesshomaru did not recognize it as a telephone. Shippo leapt up from the couch and with his normal cheerful disposition answered the white phone hanging on the wall near the front door.

 

Damn phones, Sesshomaru thought.

 

“Hello.” Shippo sounded comfortable with answering the phone. He put the receiver between his ear and his shoulder and walked as far as the cord would stretch to reach into a low drawer where he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. Suddenly he stopped. The phone nearly slipped as he tried to grab it from off of the wedge between his shoulder and jaw. “It’s for you.” Shippo said looking a little weary and a little shocked.

 

Confused Sesshomaru took the call.

 

“Hello.” Sesshomaru spoke into the receiver.

 

“Hi Sesshomaru. I just wanted to make sure that you made it there alright.” The familiar voice made him sigh. Kagura. Sesshomaru slumped down in a wooden kitchen chair. He regretted for a moment telling Kagura what his new phone number was, and understood completely why Shippo looked so surprised. He doubted that the Kitsune knew that they were still in contact with each other.

 

“Yeah I’m here, Kagura. You can stop thinking that my plane crashed.” Sesshomaru referred to their most recent conversations where Kagura teased him relentlessly about his dislike for the confinements of flying. She joked that he would rip open the hull of the airplane and send it barreling out of the sky. Glancing over at the Kitsune, Sesshomaru wished that the red headed demon would leave the room for a moment. He wanted to speak to Kagura truthfully, and although the young man was jolly Sesshomaru did not know how much confidence he could place in trusting someone with a much higher position in the Syndicate than himself.

 

Shippo wasn’t looking his way. Instead he was hunched over mumbling and laughing as he watched some silly television program.

 

“Sesshomaru?” Kagura must have been talking but Sesshomaru missed it in his concern.

 

“How much were you told about my assignment?” Sesshomaru opted to speak in hushed tones. Speaking in a language besides Japanese might arouse too much suspicion, but whispers may only mean intimacy. And that wasn’t far from the truth.

 

Besides he wanted to know exactly how much she knew.

 

“Just that you got a hefty raise. You’re going to take me out to dinner next time I’m in the states right?” Clueless.

 

“I don’t even know what American food is like.” Sesshomaru responded steering away from the previous topic. Maybe it would be better to wait until Shippo was gone to talk about such things. “I will speak with you later.” He spoke these words not because he was going to call her, but because she would inevitably call him.

 

“Hm. Of course, Sesshomaru.”

 

Hopefully next time they spoke he would not feel so inhibited.

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