The Lucky Ones
Chapter Thirty-Five
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The Lucky Ones
By Terri Botta
Disclaimer: I don’t own
Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I’m poor so don’t
sue.
Rating: R for later chapters.
Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome,
Miroku/Sango
Summary: Sometimes Fate hands
you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to accept it
for what it is.
Feedback to:
tci100@psu.edu
Website: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta
*******
Chapter Thirty-Five
The
streamlined black racing bike purred between his legs like a lover as he
navigated the crowded, smelly streets of
He was early and he knew it, but he’d inherited some of his father’s impatience
and he just couldn’t wait any longer. Besides, if he arrived early he could
make sure all the preparations had been made and that everything was ready, and
it would get him out of the house where his father- overprotective and worried
sick about his pregnant mother- was going ballistic over every little thing.
Half the staff had already threatened to quit because of his tirades, and he’d
terrorized the crew of the chartered yacht so badly that they had actually
considered tossing him overboard into the Pacific.
At dawn
he’d put on his black leather chaps and jacket on over his more formal
‘reunion’ attire, stuffed the remainder of his clothes for the day in a small
satchel, grabbed the bike and headed out. He’d have loved to go without a
helmet, but
had a mandatory helmet law and the last thing he needed was to get pulled over
by the police. He’d be able to avoid any fines of course, all the officer had
to do was look at his driver’s license and see his name before the man would be
apologizing, bowing and letting him go, but still, he didn’t need the
aggravation.
The trip
from the summerhouse in
taken him over four hours but he’d enjoyed the freedom of riding the bike
instead of being cooped up in a train. It took longer, but he relished the time
alone to gather his thoughts and prepare himself for the events of the day. The
moment he hit the outskirts of
however, he hit the traffic and he was rudely reminded of why his parents hated
driving in
He dearly missed the open wide-open spaces and countryside of
and cursed Japanese drivers as they failed to look ahead and pay any attention
to the road around them.
Pulling a
move out of an American action movie, he popped a curb and zipped around a
parked delivery truck on the pavement, narrowly avoiding the pedestrians that
clogged the sidewalk. His mother would have been shocked and horrified by his
recklessness, but he just smiled. His hanyou reflexes saved him every time and
no one got hurt. He knew Kagome hated the bike, and the way he handled it (too
much like his father did), but riding a motorcycle was the best way to get
around
was going to do it, he might as well do it in style. Besides, what his mother
didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.
but you’re still her baby.’
He did
refrain from using the bike to climb the shrine stairs however, knowing such
disrespect would never be tolerated, and he wasn’t that dishonorable anyway.
Stepping off the bike, he secured it and set the alarm, slinging the small bag
with the remainder of his clothes over his shoulder, then
he paused at the sight of the familiar tall steps.
Mama-baachan, I’ve come home.’
He was
surprised at how fast his heart was beating, and he took a moment to calm
himself down. He removed his helmet and checked the concealment spell that masked
his hanyou features. To an untalented human he appeared to be a normal looking
Japanese man in his late twenties with long black hair and brown eyes. To
anyone with Talent or youkai blood, he looked the same as he always had: silver
hair, gold eyes and doggy ears. The spell was keyed to the signet ring he wore
on his right hand, and he fingered the gold band, trying to ignore the naked
place on the ring finger of his left. His wedding ring was gone, buried with
his dead wife.
ring on our trip to
for our 160th wedding anniversary. Silly little Western custom... I
can’t believe it’s been almost 40 years. What’s four decades when you had over
twenty three?’ He felt the pain seize his heart again and drew himself up,
blinking back tears. ‘I will not be sad. I
will noy. Ty. Today is my mother’s day. It’s her day to be reunited with Mama-
waiting to see my grandmother again too.’
He had
memories of his mother’s mother. Mostly it was her scent that was ingrained on
his psyche, and he would occasionally stop by on his frequent business trips to
Japan, unbeknownst to his parents of course, just to catch a whiff of her. When
he smelled her, he always thought of comfort and candy.
A taxi cab
pulled up to the curb while he was staring at the stairs and the passenger got
out, narrowly missing hitting his bike with the car door. He almost barked a
warning and thinly-veiled threat as to what would happen if the bike was
scratched, but he stopped himself at the last minute. Primped, coiffed and
dressed head to toe in Prada, complete with a set of
high-he thi thigh-high leather boots, he’d know her anywhere. Her concealment
spell made her look like a classy blonde but she couldn’t hide the red hair,
pointed ears and sharp claws from him.
He waited
until she’d paid the driver and had made her way over to him before addressing
her.
“You’re
early, mouse-chaser,” he said with a smirk.
“What’s it
to you, boot-licker?”
“You’re
never early for anything. You sleep twenty hours a day.”
“And I can
get more work done in those other four hours than all of you bone-chewers can
in a week,” she shot back.
He grinned.
“It’s good to see you too, Eri.”
“Yeah,
yeah, don’t get too mushy Yukio, or I might feel the need to get familiar
He blew a
kiss at her. “But you’re lovely just the way you are. Ooo,
is that a grey hair?”
He laughed
and she hit him over the head with her purse, nailing one of his ears with
frightening accuracy.
“I’m too
young for grey hairs, you jerk. And you should talk hanyou. Is that a grey
hair I
see?”
He waved
her off with a flick of a two-fingered salute. “I still have another eight
centuries in me at least, probably more.”
The
“Mom
“Still have
your balls?”
“Last time I checked, but she
try.”
“I heard
she took Dad’s away.”
“He smashed
it into an embankment last year drag racing with some guy from Oracle.”
balls?”
“Ah. So, am
I really early?”
He nodded.
“My day
planner said
“We pushed
it back three hours, and you’d know that if you ever listened to your voicemail.”
She
shrugged. “I was busy.”
grin, then nodded his head to the stairs. “I came early to make sure everything
was ready.”
He didn’t
wait for her as he climbed the staircase, his heart fluttering. What would
Mama-baachan do when she discovered it was him?
“So who all
is coming?” Eri asked him as she fell into step
beside him.
make sure he had the date right.”
“Will Uncle
be here too?”
There was
only one Uncle.
He nodded.
“I think so. I’m not sure. I know Aunt Rin was
planning on being here.”
“Hmm, if
she’s coming, he probably will. Hopefully he’ll leave his cell phone at home or
he’ll spend the whole day on it.”
“You know
him, no rest from the building of his Empire.”
“Have you
heard from any of the others? Are they here too?”
“The last
one was Isato and he called last night. His flight
from
“When are Mom
and Dad coming over?”
“Their
train gets in at
a car to bring them from the station.”
He shook
his head. “No. We’ve been at Osaka House.”
She mentally
counted the steps at each property and didn’t come up with any significant
difference. “But...”
Yukio threw
up his hands in surrender. “Hey. I don’t ask questions. With Mom pregnant,
Dad’s gone off the deep end. She’s lucky she can go to the bathroom without him
hovering over her.”
“Wait.
Mom’s pregnant? When thisthis happen?”
Right after we got back from Disney World with Shippou and the great-
“Seven
months! That... that means...”
“She’s in
the third trimester. Yeah,” he replied, mentally crossing his fingers.
other than what’s normal and no abnormal bleeding. I even felt my little
brotor sor sister kick yesterday.’
“And why
wasn’t I told about this?”
“We didn’t
tell anyone until she turned six months. I started making calls about 3 weeks
ago.”
He shot her
a glance and made the motion of holding a phone to his ear. “I’m sorry the
subscriber you have called does not answer,” he parroted in a falsetto. “I’m
sorry the subscriber you have called does not answer. I’m sorry the subscriber
you have called does not answer because she’s too busy screwing jaguar-
comment. They reached the top of the stairs and Yukio paused, taking in the
sight. It was exactly as he remembered it, but then he had to remind himself
that he had been there as a toddler less than a month before. For him it had
been over four centuries, and his child self would never again play among the
hallowed trees and buildings.
“So? Boy?
bringing him out of his memories.
He
shrugged. “Dunno. The doctor who did the ultrasounds knows but Mom and Dad said
they wanted i be be a surprise. I guess they decided the whole Petri-dish and
in vitro thing was enough for them and they wanted some semblance of a
pregnancy.” He lowered his eyes and added more softly, “Mom’s hoping it’s a
boy. She told me Dad really wants a son.”
should have seen the look on his face when I asked him why Hikaru
got a cool sword but all I got was a lousy necklace.”
Yukio
snickered even as he cast a glance to confirm that the ‘lousy necklace’ was
still around her neck.
“You’re
lucky he didn’t put you across his knee for that.”
“He’d have
to catch me first.”
Yukio
giggled.
“So if
everyone is coming that would make... what... seventy-five of us?”
He shook
his head. “I counted 106 on the guest list. I’m hoping this place won’t be too
small.”
“106!”
“Well,
there’s Mom and Dad, thirty-three of us, twenty-five mates and a couple of
significant others tossed in, plus Uncle and Aunt Rin
and their pups, Shippou, Mitsiyomi, the kits and
grand-kits...”
“You think
Yukio
shrugged. “If they do, they do. After thirty-three kids you would think no one
would be surprised that a couple of them turned out to be gay. Mom doesn’t care
and Dad’s getting over it. Everyone else should just follow their example and
accept them. Frankly, I think Dad was relieved the ‘big news’
I’m gay” is a hell of a lot better than, “Dad, I’m going insane and I’m going
to burn
Yukio
sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know what Dad would do if he had to take
down another one of us like he did Hiro. You weren’t
there. You didn’t see him before... and after. Up until the point
trying to figure out a way to bring him back. But I keep thinking, if he
hadn’t… if he hadn’t brought Hiro down with that
strike… We all would have been orphans twice over that day.”
“Well, the
caterers were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago,” Yukio said, changing the
subject.
“You used
right?”
He nodded.
The caterer was youkai owned and operated, and familiar with the unique needs
and ‘tastes’ of youkai clientele. It was also one of the more reputable
businesses and refused to serve anything human-derived. None of the members of
his family condoned, supported or tolerated the consumption of human flesh,
by-products, or related parts whatsoever. He had vivid memories of his father’s
reaction the last time a caterer had tried to substitute a human-based broth in
the soup to cut costs. In the seedy underbelly of the darker youkai world, human
products were cheap because their ‘meat’ rarely had to be purchased.
Thankfully,
the only youkai who would practice such disgusting habits were on the ‘Youkai
Most Endangered List’ and were a dying breed. His family had been involved in
numerous battles between the human-eating and non-human eating youkai, on the ‘
siblings to send the scum back to hell many times.
“Well,
good. They’ll be here. The truck probably got stuck in traffic. I passed a big
accident on the way here in the cab. Turns out some yahoo on aing ing bike
popped a curb and was driving on the salk.alk. People scattered into the street
and two cars got rear-ended when they slammed on their brakes.”
He gulped
but said nothing. ‘Shit… I’ll probably
hear about that if they got my license plate number…I hope no one was hurt.’
“So, what’s
on the menu?” asked.
Yukio
shrugged. “The usual: filet minon, salmon, sushi,
roast capon and duck, half a boar, a few pounds of shellfish, fruit and salads
for the rabbit-food eaters, and the mandatory oden
and ramen. I told the caterer to bring a dozen cases of ramen. That
be enough.”
some small countries, the world at his fingertips; he could have anything he
chooses to eat, and he wants 10¢ salty noodles.”
Yukio
licked his lips. “Food of the gods.”
“Thankfully
the gods don’t get hypertension or both you and Dad would be dead by now.”
“Hey I
talk him out of buying Cup-Men, didn’t I?”
“That is a
plus. Now if only I could convince you to change your taste in wines. The
vineyards made a fantastic Pinot Grigio last year.”
He
shuddered and made a face. “Pinot Grigio…
yechhh. That’s right up there with your catnip
tea and Mom’s curry.”
or Mom’s curry. I happen to like curry. It’s not my fault that none of you
bone-diggers can stomach the spice.”
“I’ll
remember you said that next time you get a bad batch of weed and someone needs
to peel you off the ceiling. I’ll ask Tetsu to do it
instead of me… or squirt you down with a power hose.”
“You
wouldn’t!”
He grinned,
mischief in his eyes. “Just watch me.”
“Mom would
kill you.”
“Yeah, but
Dad would help.”
She growled
and gave him a very cat-like hiss. He just snickered.
Just then,
they heard the sound of hurried footsteps running up the shrine stairs and
Yukio took a deep whiff to see if the newcomer was youkai, hanyou or human. He
recognized his grandmother’s scent immediately and tensed with excitement.
asked, noticing his sudden snap to attention.
he whispered back.
A hand on
his arm conveyed all he needed from her. Siblings, rivals, and sometimes
opposites they might be, but in the end they were family and that was all that
mattered.
“Are you
ready for this?” she questioned.
He nodded,
eyes trained on the stairs. “I’ve been ready for four-hundred and fifty-two
years.”
grandson, Yukio,’
He caught
one glimpse of her however, as she cleared the top step and all of his
carefully memorized greetings and explanations blew out the window.
********
Mama
enough hands to do it with. She was rarely this frantic, but with her only
daughter’s wedding a scant six months away, she found herself rushing to lay
plans and handle all the details while Kagome was in the Sengoku
four months prior for a family reunion of none other than the
had come with the caterer, her knees went weak when she saw it was a veritable
who’s who of Japan’s richest and most influential families. Some of the guests
had been benefactors of her family and the shrine since before she was born,
and she knew that she had to make sure the gathering went off without a hitch.
As a result, she was personally seeing to every detail.
thought, looking at her watch. ‘I hope
She reached
the top step and almost ran directly into the tall, young man who was standing
on the shrine grounds.
“Oh!
skidding to a halt, her grocery bags clattering into each other.
The man
seemed stunned and she took a moment to study him. He was dressed in motorcycle
riding leathers, but the open jacket revealed a formal white shirt with a
Mandarin collar and deep blue sapphire cabochon at the throat. His long black
hair was pulled neatly back into a ponytail and a diamond stud earring
glittered from one earlobe.
racing bike I saw parked at the bottom of the shrine stairs.’
A young
woman dressed in very expensive designer clothing stepped forward. She wasn’t
Japanese she could tell, because she had brilliant blonde hair and green eyes.
She extended her hand like a Westerner and gave her a smile.
“Good
afternoon, I’m Eri Bast,”
the woman greeted, shaking her hand firmly.
recognizing the name and bowed dutifully.
“Welcome to
the Higurashi Shrine, Bast-san.”
“Thank you.
I must ask you to please forgive my brother. He’s mentally deranged, you see.”
“HEY!” the
young man sputtered, his brown eyes flashing rage>
>
The blonde
gave a wicked smirk at her brother’s ire, then spoke in a conspiratorial
whisper, “He was dropped one too many times as a baby.”
“I was
not!”
caterers. I must call them.’
She bowed
deeply to the young man, ignoring his stare.
“Please
forgive me. The caterers are late and I must call to see if something has
happened.”
The woman
looked off in the direction of the shrine stairs and… sniffed?
“They’re
coming,” Eri said.
Mama
blinked and looked towards the shrine gates. “Oh?”
“I’m sure
they’ll be here soon,” she added, completely unconcerned.
Mama gave
her a nervous smile. “I’m glad, but I’ll call anyway as soon as I take my
groceries into the house.”
“I can help
you,” the man offered, reaching for the bags.
I will take in my groceries, call the caterers and return shortly,” she
replied, giving him another bow.
She hurried
to the house, entering and practically kicking her shoes off in the
“
the caterers aren’t here yet…”
came the voice from upstairs. “I am coming!”
Spinning
she turned to go into the kitchen to put down her bags and nearly collided with
the young man.
“Oh!” she
gasped. ‘He followed me into the house.
Is he truly mentally ill?’
say a word. He was very handsome, but his expression was unsettling.
“I’m… I’m
sorry,” she stammered, bowing. “I did not hear you come in, Bast-san.
I will call the caterer immediately. Is there something that you need?”
He was
still staring her and it was making her very uncomfortable.
“My father
is the head priest of the shrine. He will be down shortly. I will call the caterer…”
“My name
isn’t Bast,” he said softly.
She bowed
again. “Please forgive me. I assumed…”
“My family
name is Fushikenwa.”
one of the Fushikenwas himself is in my house. But I’ve
never read anything about them having a son who was mentally ill…’
:1'> “Please
forgive my mistake, Fushikenwa-san,” she apologized
with yet another bow.
“Please
stop bowing like that.”
“I’m… I’m
sorry,” she replied, stopping herself from bowing again. “Is there something I
can do for you, Fushikenwa-san?”
“No,” he
answered simply, then just stood there, looking at her with a curious yet sad
expression on his face, and she didn’t know what to do.
‘
“She’s
outside. The caterers are here. She’s directing them.”
“Oh!” She
scrambled to do something with her grocery bags, but he was standing between
her and the kitchen. “I’ll… I’ll just put these down and…”
He still
blocked her path. “You really don’t know who I am, do you?” aid aid suddenly.
He sounded sad.
“Ah, I’m
sorry, but I don’t know what…”
“I’d hoped
you’d recognize me a little. This appearance isn’t all that different from my
true form. it hit has been a long time and I’ve grown quite a bit.”
Now she was
really getting nervous. ‘Where is
but I…”
“Yukio,” he
corrected.
“My first
name is Yukio.”
Like my grandson…’
“I’m sorry.
I don’t know what you’re...”
The young
man fingered a large signet ring on his right hand, then he slowly removed it
and before her very eyes his hair bled to silver, his eyes turned golden and
his ears moved up to the top of his head as two furry triangles.
“I’m
Yukio.”
She stared,
dumbfounded at the adult hanyou. “Y… Yukio?”
He nodded, giving her a sweet
smile that showed his canines.
she repeated, told old chill of shock flooding through her.
“Yes, Mama-
She dropped
the shopping bags only to remember too late that one of the bags contained
eggs; eggs that smashed all over the floor.
“Oh!” she
cried and bent down to try to handle the mess with her shaking hands and addled
mind.
Yukio
crouched down, placing a small black leather bag on
the floor, and gently took her by the upper arms. “I will buy you a whole case
of new eggs if you will give me a hug,” he said.
She
stilled, unable to stop staring at him, and she covered her mouth with her
hands. Then she suddenly slumped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and
letting him support her because her knees had gone weak.
“Yukio!”
she cried.
“Mama-
Slowly her
brain started working again and with the newfound brain function came a million
questions. How had he grown up so fast? Who was the woman he claimed as a sister?
Where did he get the ring that masked his appearance? But first and foremost in
her mind was the terrible, dreaded question: ‘if he is here as an adult, where
is my daughter?’
Panic
seized her and he seemed to recognize it because he hugged her tighter.
asked, half-terrified to learn the answer.
He pulled
back to look her in the eye and she was never so happy to not see sadness and
grief on his face.
“
Otou-san will be here later. They are both fine. That’s all I can tell you
because Mom wanted to be the one to tell you the whole story.”
“Kagome…
Kagome is alive?”
He nodded.
“Both Okaa-san and Otou-san are alive and well.”
“Then how…”
He sighed.
“After the wish was made, the well closed and not even my father could come
through.”
“But then…”
“Mom will
tell you everything when she gets here. I’ve already said too much as it is.
Besides, I’m not really the one to ask. I was just a little pup when all of it
happened and I don’t remember it very well.”
She took in
his adult face, trying to superimpose her memory of him as a toddler onto this
dashing grown-up man. Gone were the pudgy cheeks of the baby she knew, to be
replaced by fine cheekbones and a strong chin. Only his eyes and smile remained
the same. She placed one hand on his cheek.
“I can’t
believe it’s really you…”
He chuckled
and she realized that his laugh had remained the same as well, just deeper and
more mature.
“I’ve
waited so long to see you. I’ve missed you so much,” he admitted. “I have
memories of you and this place from when I was a pup. I remember your voice and
your scent and how kind you always were.”
“And how I
always had a treat for you,” she added.
He blushed
and laughed softly. “That too.”
He pulled
her to her feet, refusing to let her go until he was certain she had her
footing. “You got egg on your knees. You should go change. I’ll have someone
from the caterers clean up this mess,” he told her, motioning to the broken
eggs and the spots on her stockings.
“Oh. Oh no…
I should clean it up. And there are other groceries that have to be put away.”
He pouted
slightly, then grinned again and his smile was infectious. “Okay.”
Mama bent
to pick up the remainder of her bags but Yukio beat her to it, scooping them up
and taking them into the kitchen for her. Then as she cleaned up the mess in
the hall, she heard him make a phone call on a cellular phone and speak to
someone on the other end.
“
when you come over to the shrine? Mama-baachan
dropped hers when she saw me and I feel honor bound to replace them.” There waspauspause as he listened to the response. “Ummm, hold
on. Baa-chan?”
“Yes?”
“How many
eggs should Miroku bring?”
it. I can get more myself tomorrow. It’s not a problem…”
He ignored
her.
I haven’t heard from Mom and Dad since I left Osaka House this morning. As of
the floors were too heavily waxed and Mom might slip. I had to get out of
there. Yeah, I know, I know, but sometimes I wish we could just… Oh I
would be a lot less stressful for everyone involved. I suggested it, but Mom
just hit me.”
thought, ‘grandmother radar’ picking up on her grandson’s statement.
“Okay. See
you later today. Everything is going fine. The caterers were late arriving but
that’s no big deal. They’re here now and so is Eri,
so you know she’ll make sure they do everything right… or at least her way.”
Yukio
laughed at something the other person said, and nodded. “Yes, yes. Alright,
thanks Miroku. Bye.”
He turned
to her and smiled. “Miroku will bring eggs when he comes over.”
She nodded,
still clutching the dirty dishrag in her hands from cleaning up the eggs.
“Baby?” she
asked.
Yukio’s
face cracked into a huge grin. “That is another thing I will let my mother tell
you about.”
baby is pregnant. But… she’s too young to be…’
“Ah-hah, I
am ready,” Jii-chan announced, entering the kitchen
in full Shinto priest’s robes.
her and grabbed the old man, spinning him around.
Jii-chan!”
“Mama, help
me-e-e-e-e!!!”
“Yukio,
sweetheart,” she ca, fa, falling back into her old ‘grandmother’ voice. “Please
put Jii-chan down.”
He obeyed
immediately, setting the old man gently on his feet.
“Funny,
you’re a lot shorter than I remember,” he teased, scratching his head.
“Demon
commanded, waving an ofuda.
Yukio just
laughed and kissed his great-grandfather on the cheek. “I take it back. You’re
just the same as always.”
He opened
the collar of his shirt to reveal a stone on a braided rope. “I still have the
charm you gave me as a pup.”
It’s me.”
“But…
you’re big!”
“
“
Yukio.”
his great-grandson. “It can’t
Yukio
reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up to his
driver’s license, he showed it to Jii-chan. The old
man looked at the picture and shook his head.
“This isn’t
you!”
Laughing,
Yukio put the ring back on and reactivated the spell that darkened his eyes and
hair, and pulled his ears down to the sides of his head.
“
does it look like me?” he asked with a grin.
“Concealment
spell linked to my ring. Standard survival gear for youkai and hanyous in a
human world,” he explained, taking the ring off again and making the ears, hair
and eyes come back.
“
Suddenly
Yukio caught both of them up in a big hug. “Oh! I am so happy!” he exclaimed,
making little whining noises in the back of his throat.
Letting
them go, Mama saw him wipe moisture from the corners of his eyes.
Her
ndsondson sighed and refastened his shirt collar. “I should change. My mother
will kill me if I’m still wearing my riding leathers when she gets here,” he
admitted.
Mama
nodded.
“She’s
coming through the well?”
“No,
been closed for a very long time.”
“Closed?”
He looked at his daughter again.
“Kagome
will explain everything when she gets here with Inuyasha,” Mama said to his
unspoken question.
Yukio
picked up the small black bag he had set down and looked to her in askance.
“May I use Okaa-san’s old room to change?”
nodding.
He grinned
again. “Is Souta going to be here?” he asked
suddenly.
She blinked
and nodded. “He is coming home later.”
“Great. The
whole family will be together again,” he commented happily as he disappeared up
the stairs.
“I don’t
know,” she replied, shaking her head. “I came home from the store and he
followed me into the house. He was wearing the ring so I didn’t know it was him
until he took it off. A woman who claims to be his sister is out directing the
caterers. That’s all I know.”
Mama put
the dirty dishrag in the sink and set about putting the groceries away. The
routine act of placing all the food in the pantry and cupboards calmed her a
little even as her mind was racing.
Yukio
promised that Kagome was alive and would explain everything when she got there,
but he’d also said that the well had been closed. If that was true then, unless
they had found another way to travel through time to the Modern Era, her
daughter must be over four centuries old.
happened to my baby?’
smile and straightened his clothes.
“I’m sure
there is a perfectly logical explanation for all of this,” she said, even as
tears began to well in her eyes.
“Of
course,” her father agreed.
A small sob
escaped her lips and she fought to hold the rest back. So many questions needed
answers. Jii-chan put an arm around her and patted
her on the shoulder comfortingly.
“I should
go change. My stockings have broken eggs all over them,” she finally said.
herself to go up to her room. She passed Yukio as he was coming down. His
leathers were gone, replaced by a crisp designer suit with a short jacket.
“Going to
change?” he asked her.
She nodded
and he smiled.t sot something nice on Mama-baachan.
This is as much your reunion as it is ours. I’ll see you when you come back
downstairs.”
With that,
he continued on his way and disappeared into the kitchen.
Oh, Kagome, you have so much explaining to do.’
*******
The bedroom
still smelled of his mother. He was surprised how strong the scent was and he
wasn’t expecting it. In this time, his parents hadn’t been in this room for
over three weeks and he had expected their scents to have faded, but they really
hadn’t. Even his pup scent still remained in the crib by the bed, and he was
surprised by the effect it had on him.
He tried
not to think about the intricacies of time travel and paradoxes because it gave
him a headache. On one hand, he hadn’t been in this room for four hundred and
fifty years. On the other hand, he had been a toddler and sleeping in the crib
three weeks before. Four centuries. Three weeks. Both were true. Both existed
in the same timeline. It didn’t seem possible, but there it was. In 2000 he was
both fourteen months and 450 years old. It was enough to give anyone a migraine
just trying to wrap your head around it.
Taking off
his chaps and jacket, he took a few deep breaths.
were whining out there and practically licking their chins.’
He knew he
was acting like a pup but he couldn’t help it. His reactions were instinctive
for an inu-youkai who was welcoming pack members back
home. After so long being separated from his grandparents, it was only natural
for him to show his joy in the best way he knew how.
you’re deranged and haven’t a clue what the Hell you’re doing. Did Okaa-san
ever explain inu-youkai speech to them?’
He pulled
the waistcoat out of the satchel and put it on, adjusting the collar and
shoulders to sit perfectly. Neither he nor his father were too taken by modern
materialism, and they were as apt to shop in Wal-Mart as they were in
well made designer suit. This one was an Armani and it had been made for him
two years ago in
The jacket was short, ending right at his waist with a crisp cut that tapered
to mould to his chest and torso. The slacks were comfortable and form-fitting
but not too tight. Everything about it was expressly tailored to bring out his
most flattering attributes and it performed its task flawlessly. He looked like
a god in it and he knew it, and it fit fabulously whether he was concealed or
not.
The only
part of the outfit that he was displeased with was the shoes, but that was
because he hated footwear to begin with and only wore it when absolutely
necessary. In that, he was just like his father who had to be heavily bribed
into wearing even sandals. Normally if he were attending a social function
outside of family, he would endure the torture of formal dress shoes. Handmade
or not, he despised them and took them off as soon as possible. Because today
was a family function, he chose to forego the dress shoes and opted for his
leather bike boots instead. Polished to a brisk shine, they looked just as nice
as the dress shoes, but didn’t pinch his toes.
‘
long anyway,’ he thought, rubbing away a recently made scuff mark off of one
of the heels.
Dressed, he
checked himself in his mother’s mirror, brushing his fingers through his silver
hair and smoothing it back. His hair wasn’t as long as his father’s, but it did
fall below his shoulders. When he was concealed it was a straight, glossy
black, but in his true form, it was thick and had almost twice the volume of
the black hair. His ears peeked out from the mass of silver on top, twitching
with excitement. Outside he could hear Eri giving
orders and a quick glance out the window confirmed that his sister had
everything under control.
One last
quick inspection and he declared himself ‘as good as
he was going to get.’ He stuffed the riding leathers into the satchel and left
the room. He ran into his grandmother on the way down the stairs. She looked a
little stressed and shaky.
wonder how she is going to react when she finds out that she has 33
grandchildren.’
“Going to
change?” he asked her.
She nodded
at him and he smiled. “Put something nice on Mama-baachan.
This is as much your reunion as it is ours. I’ll see you when you come back
downstairs.”
His
great-grandfather was in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea, and he joined him,
resisting the urge to nuzzle him and sniff his hair. Jii-chan
offered him a cup of tea which he accepted just so he would have something to
do with his hands.
“It looks
like Eri is taking care of the setup and decorating,”
he commented, looking out the kitchen window.
“
giving orders.”
Western
style tables had been set up along the west end of the shrine grounds, and wait
staff were scurrying around with china and silverware. He watched a newcomer
carry in a tray of flowers. Eri met him and began
pointing out where the arrangements should go.
“Hmm,
florist is here,” he said to no one in particular as he took a sip of his tea.
He nodded.
“Thirteen!”
Jii-chan sputtered.
Yukio
chuckled. “Thirteen sisters and thirteen brothers. I
did have fourteen sisters and eighteen brothers but six died.”
Kagom-e-e-e…” the old man moaned.
“We’re
adopted, every last one of us. And I really need to shut up because my mother
will have my hide if I tell you too much. Before I left, she made me promise to
let her and Dad tell you everything.”
“Adopted?”
He nodded
and the admission seemed to comfort the old man some.
“When will
Kagome be here?” Mama-baachan’s voice asked as she came
into the kitchen.
He turned
to see her and smiled at her lovely floral dress and coral necklace.
them the next time I visit.’
“They’re
coming in on the
“
They’re in
He nodded.
“As you’ve probably already figured out, Mom is pregnant. Dad counted the
stairs at Osaka House and Tokyo House, and
had fewer so that’s where he chose to have them stay.”
She smiled
knowingly. “Still over-protective I see.”
He rolled
his eyes. “You have no idea. Mom can’t do anything without him and he goes
ballistic over the littlest thing. I swear I don’t know how she puts up with
it.”
Mama-
he’s changed a bit.”
He finished
his tea and put the cup in the sink. “Here. Let me introduce you to my sister
already met, but I was a little speechless at the time. Besides, we need to get
out there and stop her before she takes over.”
He watched
her smooth her dress and smiled at her self-consciousness.
“You look
fine Mama-baachan. I couldn’t ask for a prettier
grandmother,” he assured her.
She gave
him a nervous smile but took his offered hand, gasping as he pulled her into
another hug. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I have four hundred and fifty years worth
of missed hugs to make up for.”
“You really
are my daughter’s son,” she told him. “I remember how you were always hugging
me as a toddler.”
“Never
outgrew it,” he admitted. “C’mon, Jii-chan, come meet
Eri. I’m sure she’ll be overjoyed to see you. And do
me a favor, got an ofuda ready? Nail her right on the
forehead for me, will ya? Believe me, she deserves
it.”
He put one
hand around his grandmother’s waist and another on Jii-chan’s
shoulder and ushered them towards the door.
“
nervously when he saw that the old man did indeed have an ofuda
ready. “I was just joking about the ofuda. If you hit
her with that, she’ll go into at ant and we’ll have to put up with it all day.”
“Ah,” was
all Jii-chan said in reply.
“Is
asked.
“No. She’s
a neko-youkai actually.”
cat?”
“Mm-hmmm,”
he answered, guiding them out to the shrine where everything was beginning to
come together with remarkable youkai speed.
“She had
the nasty habit of waiting until I’d fallen asleep in a tree before knocking me
out of it and saying that dogs didn’t belong in trees,” he admitted.
He heard
her giggle. “Your father loved to sit in trees.”
“I know. He
used to find the tallest one and...”
“What are
you doing?!”
came Eri’s horrified voice.
He turned
to see his sister hurrying towards them, hands waving, eyes flashing.
“What?” he
answered.
“You’re
you dolt!” she snapped back.
He took a
quick glance around, hoping he hadn’t missed any errant humans that might be
employed by the caterer, but even if there were any they’d be well used to
non-human clientele.
“
and Mama-baachan. Everyone else is either youkai or
hanyou,” he pointed out.
“That’s not
the point!” she huffed. “What if a visitor comes to the shrine? What if the
press shows up? Everyone will see your ears on the
He rolled
his eyes. “Okay, okay!” he gave in, putting the ring back on and activating the
spell.
She sighed
with relief. “Oh good. Now I won’t have to explain to
anyone why my brother’s a dog.”
“Hey!” he
groused. “Jii-chan! I lied.
Get her!”
“Demon
It hit her
square in the forehead and... did nothing.
“Oh look, a
seal. How quaint,” she said, peeling it off of her face. She turned it over in
her hand a few times then slapped it onto her brother’s head. “There. It looks
better on you.”
‘
growling.
As usual
“No! No! NO!
Don’t put those there!” she cried, upset about two ice sculptures that were
being brought in as centerpieces for the buffet table.
ice sculptures for an outdoor banquet in
He was
about to open his mouth to say something but Eri was
already gone. He sighed.
“Anyway,
that’s Eri. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to
meet her later.”
“She’s very
pretty,” Mama-baachan commented.
He smiled.
“That’s her concealment spell, but in truth she’s not bad to look at. She’s got
red hair and pointed ears.”
Mama-
after all, and I am responsible for all of the functions here.”
“Good luck.
If I might make a suggestion, she hates water. Normally I’d just squirt her but
I left my Super Soaker at home.”
His
grandmother giggled and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “I think I can
handle it, sweetheart.”
couldn’t stop the grin that split his face.
“
man.
“Very well,
then. Let’s get this going.”
Yukio
watched as his grandmother strode over to Eri, who
was practically hissing at the poor delivery boy holding the ice sculpture of a
swan. He saw her put a hand on the neko-youkai’s
shoulder, saw Eri start and then her eyes go wide at
whatever Mama-baachan said. Then, to his amazement,
his sister smiled and nodded her head in agreement.
Realizing
that he was only in the way, Yukio moved to sit under Goshinboku
to watch the activity.
his back against the familiar trunk. How many times had he sat there in that
exact spot while he was growing up? The rough bark between his shoulders was a
welcome feeling.
All around
him, the reunion was taking shape and he could barely contain his growing
happiness and excitement.
arriving and Mom and Dad. Everything is coming together so nicely for Okaa-san.
It’s going to be a wonderful day.’