The Sins of the Father

A/N: Warning: some minor yaoi in this chapter; don’t like, don’t read.

~Sengoku Jidai~

Naraku sat against the wall of his castle, considering the battle that would take place at daybreak. The two Inu brothers thought that they would succeed in destroying him, and were camped just outside of his barrier. He narrowed his eyes in thought. He knew well that tomorrow would be the deciding battle in their struggle for the jewel, and he was determined to win at all costs. Still, despite his confidence, he was never one to underestimate his enemy, and a contingency plan started forming his mind as he surveyed the room and took in the appearance of his two most loyal servants.

Kanna stood by his side, devoid of expression as always, ever ready with her mirror. The boy, Kohoku, was leaning up against the wall; a vacant look upon his face.

He studied the boy for a moment more. The boy's mind had long been absent. He was essentially dead, but for the lone jewel shard that animated him. He would have to take the shard of course, but the boy's body could be of some use. 'Yes, he'll do very well,' Naraku decided. He would use the boy for his contingency plan. But first, he would find out what his opponents were planning.

Naraku shifted his gaze toward the void youkai.

"Kanna," he spoke, his voice soft as he caressed the large portion of the jewel he had in his possession.

"Hai, Naraku-sama."

"Show me Inuyasha," he asked, curious as to what the inu-hanyou was up to. No doubt he and his half brother were involved in a last minute strategy session. It would give him an advantage if he was aware of their battle plans.

The child like youkai obeyed silently and approached him, holding the small mirror tightly against her chest. Naraku watched as the mirror fogged for a moment, and then slowly revealed his nemesis. His eyes widened marginally when the image before him showed the hanyou and the priestess were not in the camp with the rest of the group, but instead were rutting underneath the Goshinboku; oblivious to all but each other.

Naraku immediately felt a wash of rage overcome him. He had intended to claim the miko for himself, after all. She was to be his prize; the reincarnation of the woman his human half had so long desired. Oh, how he had wanted to make her scream. It took all of his self control not to reabsorb the void youkai into his body, and smash the small mirror she carried.

He tightened his hand around the jewel fragment in anger, and watched in fascination as its sharp edges cut into his skin and caused his black blood to darken the facets of the jewel.

"That will be enough, Kanna," he said eventually, a measure of relief washing over him as the pale youkai bowed and wordlessly resumed her position against the wall.

"Kohaku. Come here," he said, his attention once again back on the boy.

The boy wordlessly took to his feet and crossed the room until he stood in front of him, head bowed submissively.

"I am going to remove your shard now, Kohoku. You will die when this happens."

A shadow of hope flickered across the eyes of the boy he had thought was dead, and Naraku grinned in amusement.

'So, the child is not as gone as he appears to be. What's more, he craves death. Don't worry my child -- I will give you such a gift, you will seek death no more.'

The boy stood unmoving as Naraku took to his feet and positioned himself behind the boy. With a clawed hand, he moved the fabric of the boy’s shirt out of the way to reveal the place where the shard was kept, at the base of the boy's neck. Quickly, he slashed open the fleshy scar that had formed over the shard, and with two nimble fingers removed the dark purple crystal from the boy. His other hand wrapped around the boy's waist, catching him as he started to fall to the ground.

A long, black tongue shot out from between Naraku's lips, as he bent to taste the sweet crimson blood that had pooled at the base of the boy's neck. Delicious. He suckled for a few moments, until he was certain that he had pulled the last of the child's reiki into himself. Satiated, he threw his head back for a moment in the simple ecstasy that comes with the taste of pure, human blood.

The boy was now completely listless in his arms, his breath shallow and his heart slow. He would die at any moment. He was beautiful.

Naraku carefully laid the boy on the floor, as he focused his youki. With a feral growl, he lowered his head to that of the dying child and pried his lips open with his own, nipping the boy's soft lips with his fangs as he did so. He released some of his own life force into the boy's mouth while he tasted the child, and felt a wash of dizziness as his strength slowly receded. When he felt he could spare no more, he broke away from the boy, and waited.

He did not have to wait long. The child before him gasped, and his eyes flew open; the soft brown replaced by crimson. He took in several deep breaths, and his heart started beating; loud and fast. The boy turned to look at Naraku in confusion.

Naraku only smiled, and leaned in to kiss the boy once more.

"Relax, my child. Do not worry. I have given you a precious gift, my Kohaku. You now hold a small part of my essence. Not a lot, but enough to keep you alive. In time, you will grow strong; as strong as I."

Naraku grinned as the boy slowly nodded in comprehension.

"Excellent. Listen to me well, Kohaku. I am your father now. Tomorrow, I will retrieve the rest of the jewel shards, and I will make you a true demon as well as myself. Together, we will rule all of Japan," he continued, softly stroking the boy's cheek, and feeling strangely pleased as the boy leaned into his touch.

This child had always been obedient to him. It was almost... amusing, how easily he had been able to bend this boy to his will. He should have done this long ago.

"Hai, Father," the boy replied, with a slight smile. The child looked so delicate and beautiful, and oh so malevolent with his eyes that mirrored his own.

He suddenly realized that he wanted the boy, badly.

Naraku's eyes widened in response to the immense surge of lust that welled up deep inside of him.

"Kanna. Leave us," he ordered, his voice thick and raspy with need. He pulled the soft and compliant boy against his chest, and purred in contentment. The delectable boy smelled of forest and blood, and he inhaled deeply of his heady scent. Mad with desire, he brutally drove his fangs into the soft skin between the boy's neck and shoulder. As he proceeded to shred the boy's taijiya outfit with his claws, and map the boy's soft skin with his greedy fingers, he realized that he did not need the Miko after all.

~~~

~Meiji Era~

A tall white figure gracefully descended from the sky, where he landed in front of a small, non descript dwelling that stood alone in a small clearing at the peak of the tall mountain. The figure slowly made his way toward the dwelling, each step an effort, until he reached the door.

"Kanna... ane-ue... open."

The door to the dwelling opened to reveal a child like youkai with grey eyes and hair the color of snow. She assessed her visitor with blank eyes, and invited him inside.

Once inside, the tall white creature shuddered and fell to his knees, as his features changed until he was naught but a beautiful boy, with dark hair and crimson eyes.

"You have returned, Kohaku-sama," Kanna observed, her tone flat, as she bent to help the boy to his feet.

"Hai," the boy agreed. With the other youkai's help, he made his way over to a small futon, where he abruptly crashed.

"You have over exerted yourself again, Kohaku-sama."

"I don't care, ane-ue. It was most worth it. Besides, the dog is still bound, is he not?"

Kanna raised her mirror briefly.

"Hai. His soul is still trapped inside."

"Good. I will need to drain him again."

"You do not worry that you will kill him in the process, my lord?"

"Iie, Kanna. I will be careful. I still need him, after all."

Indeed, his capture and subjugation of the great Taiyoukai was what made his quest for revenge possible. Damn that fox and his friends. Because of them, he had spent so many centuries weak and alone. He was supposed to be a prince; a leader. A lover.

Instead, he was merely a hanyou - a mere shapeshifter - one who still had to steal the youki of others to be dangerous.

How he had hated them, the ones who had taken everything from him. He had long vowed revenge, and now that he was getting it, the taste of it was sweet.

The first to fall was Sesshoumaru. He remembered the day he caught the taiyoukai with fondness. It had taken centuries for him to gain the skill and ability to fool the inuyoukai's senses with his tranformations, but he had finally managed. How sweet it was to present himself as the youkai's ward; injured and frightened. How easily had The Lord of the Western Lands fallen into his trap, and allowed himself to be captured.

Even then, the inuyoukai underestimated them.

Kohaku could only hold the dog demon for a few minutes with his energy ribbons, and yet it was long enough for Kanna to capture his soul in her mirror.

The dog demon had not thought it possible.

He had failed to realize that after the demise of their father; Kanna’s ability with the mirror grew exponentially, thus making her a formidable opponent.

His overconfidence led to his defeat, and it was delicious.

"Kanna, assist me," he ordered, as he indicated the small door on the opposite side of the room.

The void youkai helped him off the futon, and he placed one arm around the back of her neck as she walked with him across the room. She slid the door open for him, and together they entered the small storage area. Against one wall was the slumped and non-responsive body of the tai-youkai. The former Lord of the West was covered with a light coating of dust, and his vacant golden eyes stared at nothing as they approached him. His face was gaunt, and he had a fragile look to him; as if he would break if touched.

Kanna was right; the taiyoukai was weakening. Oh well, he wouldn't need him for much longer. There was only the fox left, and the elusive wolf, after all. He had already taken care of the girl, and the descendants of the houshi and the taijiya. And by now, the fox's offspring was probably dead by his own hands, he thought as the corner of his mouth turned upward into a smirk.

He imagined the look on the kitsune's face when he discovered the fate of his son, despite his pitiful attempts at hiding the hanyou's existence from him. Oh, how the kitsune would despair.

With that image in his mind, he leaned over and caught the inanimate taiyoukai's lips with his own, forcing them open with a rough thrust of his tongue. His eyes fluttered closed as he felt the energy from the other youkai enter him through the vampiric kiss he forced upon the shell of the powerful dog demon. It wasn't long before he pulled a significant amount of youki from the dog demon, and Kohaku felt drunk with the immense strength of his prisoner. Gently, he broke the kiss and fell back upon his haunches; his eyes closed and his expression one of immense pleasure.

He sat there a moment, absorbed in his own ecstasy, before he was interrupted by a soft prodding on his shoulder.

Kanna looked down at him, her eyes for once showing a hint of expression -- one of worry.

"Kohaku - I do not think that he will survive much more of this," she commented softly, her attention fixed on the taiyoukai's shell.

Kohaku silently agreed, but he paid it no mind as he stretched and rose to his feet, feeling like he could conquer the world. He exited the small room and closed the screen, smiling as the small void youkai dutifully followed him.

"Kanna. Show me the wolf."

~~~

Sano had gone home to sleep off the mass quantities of sake he had consumed in his quest for information. The morning light was painful, and he winced from the noise of the day's business taking place just outside of his small hut. Sometimes he really wished he lived on the outskirts of town instead of right smack dab in the middle of where everything happened.

Groaning to himself, he sat up; immediately repressing the urge to lie back down as his head felt as if it had been hit with a brick. Why did he drink so much again? 'Oh. Yeah. Kenshin...'

He forced himself to rise, not bothering to straighten out his futon after he took to his feet. He grabbed a set of clothes off the floor and sniffed them; deciding that they weren't too rank to wear. Sano quickly dressed, and walked over to the door.

As he went to go outside, he looked down and saw a small scroll covered in kanji. He bent over to pick it up, and unrolled it; quickly scanning its contents.

Sano frowned.

"Katsu, you bastard," he grumbled, as he read the words of the scroll. The former Sekihou Tai member turned journalist had apparently heard of the events that transpired at the Kamiya dojo, and took it upon himself to write an account of it; vilifying Kenshin in the news.

'Can't do nothing about it until I find Kenshin,' Sano thought to himself, as he headed toward the Akabeko. Hopefully Tae would take pity on him, and offer him breakfast.

~~~

It wasn't until nightfall that the first of the officers who had gone after Kenshin had returned.

They congregated in the middle of the square, where they were immediately surrounded by noisy townspeople seeking news of the demon Battousai.

"Did you find him?"

"Is he dead?"

"I hope you shot the bastard; he killed my oni-san."

Sano frowned as the townspeople continued to murmur hateful words about Kenshin. He knew what all the evidence pointed to, but he still hated to hear those idiots talk about his friend that way.

Of course, if he turned out to be guilty, Sano had no qualms about killing Kenshin himself; but he had decided to reserve judgment until he could actually talk to the guy.

One of the officers on horseback raised his hand and the crowd abruptly quieted.

"Aie. We lost him, unfortunately."

Sano interrupted with his own question.

"Lost him where?"

"By the oni forest in the east," the officer answered with a small shudder. "I managed to get a shot off on one of them, but they were just so damned fast. Inhuman, I tell you."

'The oni forest in the east?'

Sano had heard of it; it was on the other side of the city, about a day’s journey by horseback. The forest was rumored to be occupied by ogres; hence its name. That is, if one believed in them. Sano did not, but these officers apparently did. No wonder they had given up the chase. Sano snickered to himself. He knew they wouldn't succeed.

At least he now had a starting point.

He had once overheard a fantastic story about a shrine at the end of the small forest, and an old well that was home to a tenshi. They were the drunken ramblings of a thief -- hence the tenshi. Still, it was quite possible that the shrine existed. Perhaps Kenshin and his companion had headed there.

Therefore, that is where he should begin his search. Sano narrowed his eyes in resolution, and quietly backed away from the crowd.

~~~

A/N: THERE! HA! Hope this explains the bad guy. Sheesh! Betcha none of you saw THAT one coming, eh? HA! I never mentioned the fate of Kohaku on purpose. Sango and Miroku simply thought he died, and for the most part, the boy that was Kohaku DID die; He died when he was forced to kill his own kin. Since then, he pretty much walked around a zombie. The demon left in his place is *not* the same person Sango’s brother was. Kinda like Naraku was not Onigumo.

We’ll see more insights into his psyche in future chapters.

At this point, a good portion of the background is set up. I think we’ll have another chapter or two in the present before they all go back in the well, but don’t quote me on that.

As always, reviews are most appreciated. ;)
--julie

Japanese words:

Ane-ue – older sister
Youkai – demon
Inu-youkai – dog demon
Miko – shrine maiden
Tai-youkai – great demon
Oni – Ogre (thanks Diane :) )
Youki – demonic energy
Reiki – spirit
Tenshi – celestial being; angel
Hai – yes
Aie – no
Houshi – monk
Taijiya – demon slayer
Oni-san – brother, uncle, older male
Akabeko – restaurant that sells beef hot pots