Help! My world is upside down!

Chap 9. Here is Inuyasha

“So, how was your day at work today?” Toga was sitting by Kagome in the kitchen; she was making them some sandwiches. It had become a routine for the two of them. When Kagome returned from the office every afternoon they would meet in the kitchen and, while she made some sandwiches, they would talk. Her eyes brightened.

“I love the job Toga! You were so right! I’ll never be able to thank you guys enough! I owe you and Shoja so much for convincing me to accept it! I wish there was something I could do to show you both how much this means to me.”

Toga put his hand atop the girl’s smaller hands and held them comfortingly as he shook his head with a pleased smile.

“You don’t need to thank us, it’s just the opposite. Sesshoumaru speaks wonders of the3 good work you’re doing, and the older clients speak very highly of you to father and I. My dear, it is us who should thank you.” Kagome’s eyes swelled with tears. She had never been so happy in her life; she had never felt more welcomed. What made her swell with pride, though, was the thought that Sesshoumaru had praised her job; that was just so hard to believe!

“Sesshoumaru actually spoke well of me?” Kagome asked incredulously only to be startled by Toga’s laugh.

“I’ve wanted to ask you, how you are dealing with him at work? I know he isn’t easy to get along with.”

She frowned, trying to find the right words to describe her boss and host.

“Well, he isn’t that hard to get along with at all. In fact, I think he is a very good boss. He allowed me organize my job the way I wanted. He must be very lonely though, he is the type to keep people an arm’s length from him.” He saw her fidget and he knew there was something she wasn’t telling him.

“Kagome, I know there is something you are keeping from me. Don’t hesitate to tell me just because he is my son. I know him very well.”

She cleared her throat, she wasn’t even sure how to put into words what were just sensations she had, and she kept thinking they were a product of her imagination.

“Well, I don’t know if I’m imagining things. I think Sesshoumaru doesn’t like me. I’ve noticed that whenever he sees me talking to some of my co-workers he emits what I can only describe as a growl and sends me disapproving looks. That’s why I was surprised to hear from you that Sesshoumaru speaks well of me.” Kagome explained slowly as if trying to piece the puzzle together on her own.

One corner of Toga’s mouth twitched and his eyes sparkled for a second. “Was it like this?” He sent a disapproving growl and Kagome’s eyes widened. “Yes, how did you know?” Toga laughed at the girl’s impressed looks and sent her a knowing look.

“You know how, Kagome. I’m sure you’ve heard that sound before. Am I wrong?” He winked at her. Kagome sent Toga an uncomfortable glance and fidgeted. Toga pitied the girl and took her small hand, once more into the safety of his own.

“It is time you learn more about us, child. There is a secret we have been keeping from you; it has been kept within the family for over two centuries and now it’s time that you share it with us.”

Kagome looked at the man before her. In a short amount of time, he had become a father figure, and she trusted him with all her might. Now, he was telling her they had been keeping a family secret from her, and they were willingly going to tell her?

She followed Toga through the corridors of the manor to a wing she had never visited. It was decorated in an old Japanese style. The furniture was scarce and looked ancient, the floors were like the ones she had seen in samurai movies and the walls were made of wood and rice paper. Everything around her screamed old age! She felt as if she had been transported one hundred years into the past. Could it be that there were others like Inuyasha and Koga? They never really talked about that. She knew there were others like Koga because he had told her about his fiancée and his family, but she never new very much about Inuyasha, it hurt him too much to talk about his family and his past. She only knew that he was older than human standards, even though he looked her age, and he had been terribly hurt by someone close to him. She never knew what had happened to him and didn’t really care because after he opened up to her he had become her best friend.

Toga stopped before a sliding door, pausing only to open it and allow Kagome in. It was dark and dusty and she could make out the supposed shadows of exposed objects. Behind her, the hiss of a torch being lit preceded the tenuous lightning of the room.

As a soft light illuminated the room, Kagome marvelled at the plethora of objects that only moments ago had been but mere shadows. She had to go through her memories of her visit to the museum of archaeology to realise the objects exposed in front of her were even older than the furniture she had passed on her way into the room.

Toga observed the girl before him. Her eyes sparkled with the beauty of the kimonos, the various plates of armour, and the exposed swords. He could tell the girl had recognized them as being old and valuable, almost as treasures. She reached a hand to touch a katana as if she was worshiping it. Suddenly, her hand froze and she turned around to look at Toga, silently asking his permission to touch it. The man nodded his agreement, and the girl ran the tips of her fingers along the hilt. She finally turned around to face him.

“These are beautiful.” Toga had a strange look on his face, he was hoping she wouldn’t get frightened enough that she would run away and want nothing to do with them, but he also knew that it was only a matter of time before the girl would have found the older wing of the manor and asked questions. “They look very old, even older than the furniture we passed on our way here.” Then her eyes went even wider and she went towards Toga and passed by him to look at something. Toga followed the girl with his eyes. She had found the pictures.

“Who are these people with Inuyasha? Do you know him?” She was holding a recent picture of the four of them in their true human-demon forms. Of course, if she had met Inuyasha and knew about him being a hanyou she would have seen him in his hanyou form. But she never saw the others in their human-demon form. When she turned around the picture slipped her hands because there, in front of her, were Toga had been, stood one of the demons in the picture. She gasped bringing her hands to her mouth.

Toga reached his hand towards the girl as if to calm her. “Don’t get scared girl, I won’t harm you. It’s me, Toga.” Her hands slipped down her chin to rest on her chest. “You’re a demon?” Why hadn’t she noticed before? Not many people had long white hair, although the man was old enough to have it, but what about those golden eyes? They were just like Inuyasha’s, but Sesshoumaru had white hair, and was too young to have it. “That’s why you resemble Inuyasha so much! Are you family?”

Toga breathed in again. The girl wasn’t fainting so far. Her eyes sparkled as if she was enjoying the secret, and the man felt relieved. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before. Inuyasha told us that you knew about him being a half demon, but we are very wary about whom we tell about us, and not many people know our secret.” Kagome reached out a hand and reassured her father figure. “I understand about your reservation. Your kind has been pursued in the past and could be threatened even now if your existence reached the media. You can be sure I won’t tell anybody.” Toga smiled, “I know you wouldn’t, but we feared how you would take it if you knew there were more of us”

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Sesshoumaru entered the house and dropped his suitcase carelessly; it had been a hard day for him again due to Kagome’s…naivety. Why was his beast fighting him so much? He never had this type of problem before, even with Rin, not even when she became a lovely woman pursued by humans and demons alike. Then why was his beast reacting so strongly to Kagome? He had even begun to enjoy her scent causing him call her to his office for no reason other than to be near her and smell her. To make matters worse, the reaction she received from other males drove him out of his mind. Fortunately, her talk with Koga made her realise that she had to be less friendly with the rest of the employees and thus their reaction to her had diminished.

He loosened his tie while he made his way into the kitchen; he was wondering what Jaken had prepared for dinner when he heard laughter coming from the dining room. He opened the door and froze in the spot, his eyes widened in surprise. There, in front of him stood the woman, Kagome, with his father and grandfather in their human-demon forms. She was stroking his father’s marks and laughing as he purred.

“Oh, Toga! You purr like a cat, I thought you were a dog demon!” They all laughed unaware of Sesshoumaru’s presence. Shoja raised his head and noticed his grandson standing at the door looking at them as if he had a toothache, and he laughed. The others turned around to see Sesshoumaru sending murderous looks at his grandfather. Toga went to him and patted his shoulder.

“Sesshoumaru, Kagome knows all about us. We had to tell her before she found out by herself, don’t you think?” Sesshoumaru kept frowning as he looked upon Kagome; she didn’t seem to be afraid or disgusted, but why would she be? She had dated Koga and was Inuyasha’s best friend. She had been loyal to them both and had kept their secrets from even them.

“Why don’t you show her your human-demon form?” Toga suggested. Kagome looked at him expectantly. Sesshoumaru sighed, why bother? No matter how much his inu fought him; he was not interested in ningen. However, she was pack; although, not by his choice, she was nonetheless. So, he kept his gaze on her as his humanoid face transformed slightly into his demon form. His ears elongated and became pointy; two maroon stripes marked both sides of his cheeks, and a blue half moon appeared on his forehead.

Kagome was at a loss for words. She had found Toga’s and Shoja’s markings quite pretty, but Sesshoumaru’s markings were… She couldn’t find the words to describe them, but the word sexy kept jumping to her mind. Without another thought, she reached her hand and with the tips of her fingers she followed along the markings.

Sesshoumaru was cursing inwards. He regretted the moment he agreed to show his marks because this was torture. Her soft caresses were affecting him more than anything in his whole, long life. They sent shivers down his spine, made his skin burn with fire and crave for more. He had to fight a purring sound that was about to come from his chest; it would be so humiliating if his family and that woman had any idea of how much her touch was affecting him! Instead, he took one step away from her and narrowed his eyes “Enough, woman.” Was all he could manage to bark out before he turned around and left the room.

Kagome twisted around, a little more than confused. “What have I done wrong?”

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He stormed to the dojo; he needed training and meditation. She was not going to get past the wall he had built around him through the past centuries like Rin had.

He entered the room Kagome had been in a few hours ago and grasped a sword. He needed to be in control of his emotions again; his beast had to be locked away, and in the morning, he would contact the marriage arranger, perhaps he had been alone for far too long. Not that he needed anyone, but it was time for him to have a family.

He entered the dojo; it hadn’t changed much in centuries. He used to spar in there with either his father or his grandfather, and occasionally Inuyasha, when he had lived with them. He unsheathed his favourite sword and began to do some basic exercises. Soon, he was immersed in the exercises and drops of sweat ran down his face and splattered onto the dojo’s pristine floor. Some hours later, he was feeling much better; most of his anger and disgust gone, and he was ready to develop his plan.

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The next morning Kagome awoke with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was sure she hadn’t eaten anything that would make her sick. She wasn’t just feeling sick, she was feeling strange, like when you have slept only a few hours. Fortunately, today was Saturday and she didn’t have to work, so she could have a long bath and relax her muscles.

She wasn’t meeting Sango today because Shoja had asked her the previous night to spend the day with them at home. She never asked him why he wanted her to spend the whole day in the manor because he never gave her the chance to do so. Instead, he winked at her. That’s how she knew she had to let it go; the man wasn’t going to give a hint of tomorrow’s events. She just shrugged her shoulders and went to bed.

After the long bath, she took some time to wander through the gardens; she hadn’t had the chance to do so before because she had been too busy with work.

The day was so nice and the weather was so warm she was wearing a pair of jean shorts, a blue, flower-printed tank top and her favourite flip flops. The sun was warming to her skin, and the smell of blooming flowers cheered her up. Spring always had that effect on her. As winter made her feel like hibernating, spring made her bloom, just like the flowers. She felt her heart warm and energy flow through her veins, making her feel bold, capable of anything.

Should she try and get a boyfriend this year? She had been told that when you don’t look for something you find it right around the corner, but how many corners would she have to turn before the right man came along? Someone nice and good looking, tall; someone who made you feel safe in his embrace, just like Sesshoumaru. Did he have an intended?

She stopped and frowned. Why was she thinking of him? She had just met the man… or rather demon, and he never showed any kind of attraction for her.

Well, going back in time, Inuyasha had told her about him… hadn’t he described Sesshoumaru as a human despiser? However, she never felt any hateful intentions in him towards her, but than again, she had been told many times she was so naïve and carefree, she would never see hatred in even the devil.

She noticed some movement from the corner of her eye and turned around in time to feel a white-haired, speeding ball launch itself on her. She only had time to screech and bring her arms over her head for protection.

She was on the floor with someone, laughing, on top of her. When she finally gathered her wits, and she dropped her arms, she realized who had jumped on her.

“Sorry, Kags! I didn’t mean to scare you”

“Oh, Inuyasha! You’ll end up being the death of me one day! My heart is about to leave my chest and fly off to Antarctica to cool off!”

Inuyasha was laughing again; his friend was always exaggerating! She came up with some the funniest comparisons. Suddenly, they were interrupted.

“So, you rather greet someone that is not from your family than your own blood, half-breed?”


T.B.C. ...