InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mating Season ❯ Because Days Come And Go, But My Feelings For You Are Forever ( Chapter 94 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.


========================




A/N: < ----------- understatement of the year…


First of all, allow me to apologize in advance for the sheer length of this author’s note, however if you read through it, which I certainly hope you do, you will see that I go through a good deal of historical facts for this story. Also, please don’t be worried that the chapter itself has suffered as a result of the note size preceding it, if the extra long scroll bar to the side of your screen is any indication. I promised myself in advance that you’d still receive a standard size chapter this time around, no matter how wordy I got before getting down to business. If you truly have no interest in reading through these notes first, though, then please, by all means simply skip through them. But I’m hoping that most of you will at least take the time to read the “historical facts” that I created for this story…if for no other reason than for how much time I spent putting everything together.

I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not a history buff, and in favor of avoiding getting any major details horribly wrong, I’ll be more or less skimming over the most important events in Japanese history. I realize that in the past, everyone appreciated the time and effort I put forth into my research prior to writing any given chapter, and I agree that more accurately described details make for better reading when the topic at hand is, say, a medical emergency. However, part of me is concerned that if I made certain parts of the story seem too “history lessony” that they would inherently lose some of their flare. This is a romance novel, after all, not a documentary. Besides, most youkai wouldn’t bother themselves with human affairs anyway, right? *grins*

That’s why I’m going to put the things for the “history lesson” before the next chapter of the story officially begins, so that once we learn all the junk we should learn, we can sit back and relax, enjoying the lives of our favorite characters, and not have to worry about it any more.

But so you don’t think that I’m just being lazy, I want you to know that I did try to look a few things up here and there in wikipedia, and I already started giving myself a headache when I found reference to “Edo Castle” which housed the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period, but was originally built in 1457.

Doesn’t the Inuyasha canon take place somewhere in the 1490s or so? I’d always figured it was somewhere around there, as the story was originally established in 1997, and she was traveling to “500 years ago.” In the canon Kagome is clearly from Tokyo, but I’m not sure where in Tokyo her shrine is supposed to be located. Back in the past, there’s only a quaint little village around the same shrine grounds, and that’s it. Since I don’t know where her shrine is supposed to be in modern times with relationship to the rest of the city, nor do I know where in the major city the still standing Edo Castle currently resides, I really have no way of making proper reference as to where that castle is in the past in relation to Inuyasha’s Village. However, at least according to what I’m finding reference to, though the town obviously wasn’t called ‘Tokyo’ back then, Edo was already a fairly booming community even during Inuyasha’s day. Early Tokyo, in a way, was very much like early London. It was one of the first major cities. What we see as humble little Kaede’s village is not, in reality, part of Edo, but merely an independent village a few miles away that will eventually become absorbed as Edo continues to expand and become the province known as Tokyo.

Actually, several villages/towns probably merged to create the Tokyo we know of today, as even the Tokyo we know of today is in fact still separated into sections, in a way. It’s also huge. The modern Tokyo Metropolitan prefecture possesses a surface area of approx. 2,168 square kilometers, or 837 square miles. Gotta love Google. So anyway, in an attempt to save history, let’s just say that Edo, as well as “Edo Castle”, resides some few miles north, and while they know “of” that town, they don’t really go there or interfere in anything, because most people don’t really know all that much about youkai, and they would undoubtedly freak out if either Inuyasha or Kazuki decided to just up and pay them a visit. These days, Inuyasha pretty much throws on his “human appearance” whenever he goes anywhere, since he can do so without deadening his youkai senses, so the town is under his protection, they just don’t know it. How’s that for a quick-fix on the whole “Tokyo history” thing?

Besides, it seems rather obvious to me that the Inuyasha canon is historically inaccurate in and of itself, regardless, at least in the sense that in real life humans never feared for their lives from hordes of rampaging youkai. I’ve also never really heard mention of any human daimyo or shogun having anything to do with the overall Inuyasha storyline, have you? It’s as if the ruling powers of the most to-do humans are completely overlooked in the canon, and if Takahashi can do it, then so can I.

You can’t argue against the stature of accuracy in a “historical fantasy” setting, anyway. That’d be like watching Dragon Heart, and then complaining it was inaccurate in the fact that there was never an English King named Einon. Never mind the bloody dragon, oh no. But rulers’ names are always made up in fictional situations like that, since in a technical way, they’re all basically “alternate universe” stories, since it never really happened in real history.

I know I’m going out on a limb here, but this is the best I can do with what I have. It’d be nearly impossible to maintain true historical accuracy while integrating multiple fictional characters, some of whom possess enough power to supposedly place themselves higher in status than those who truly ruled the country back then. No, I’m not going to have it turn out that the Tokugawa themselves are somehow related to anyone else, but there would undoubtedly need to be some sort of a treaty in place. Under the circumstances, rather than bother with constructing an entire web of painstaking and bogus historical details, let’s just do this instead…


1497: A mysterious miko emerges via the Bone-Eater’s Well, and subsequent chaos commences in the form of a shattered sacred jewel.

1500: A terrible enemy, known as Naraku, is fallen at the hands of said miko. A truce is reached between inu-brothers, and what would become a much more powerful Western Lands is born.

1557: The legendary monk and taijiya from the tale of the sacred jewel both succumb to old age.

1561: The grand majority of next-generation taijiya relocate to the previously deserted village of their ancestors, and promptly proceed to repopulate the once again thriving community. Several recruits are also procured from other neighboring villages where the local young men felt the need to make lives for themselves.

The nature of the “new taijiya” is different, however, if their resident family of butterfly youkai is any indication, not to mention Kirara, who went back to her home village along with Sango and Kohaku’s children and grandchildren, and it isn’t long before this village also becomes yet another strong hold for hanyou families. More and more crossbreeding occurs gradually, yet steadily, as everyone finally realizes it’s much less dangerous this day and age to openly show your love for someone who happens to be of a different species than yourself. The slayers take to hunting down the agreeably threatening, lower youkai, but any person who is a person happening to bear demonic blood is given the opportunity to express their desire for a peaceful existence.

1565: Kagome and Inuyasha make the final move into the Western Lands after each feels that their successors back in what will still, for the time being, be known as Inuyasha’s village, are fully prepared for the job ahead of them.

Thanks to the Youkai-Alliance, any demonic warmongers of serious concern have been eradicated, and the vast majority of remaining higher youkai either truly agree with the Alliance’s desire for peace, or at the very least are smart enough to admit defeat in that they are not strong enough to oppose the Alliance and live.

Lord Sesshoumaru has begun to keep tabs on the major events of human importance, and is aware of the assassination of shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, but does nothing to interfere with daimyo Oda Nobunaga’s installation of Yoshiteru’s brother Yoshiaki in his place, nor the fact that Yoshiaki is merely a puppet shogun, secretly ruled by Nobunaga. (Actual historical fact.) It is not their place to interfere with the affairs of mankind, after all. Sesshoumaru merely knows that knowledge equals power, and therefore, has committed himself to the goal that nothing shall go on in Japan that he doesn’t know about.

1570: With the gradual “disappearance” of youkai, as the majority of civilized youkai still living choose to merely keep their lives separated from humans, the squabbling daimyos continue on with their human bloodshed unaffected by the demonic peace treaties being signed around them.

1571: Lord Osamu brings about his own destruction by continuing to oppose the wishes of the Youkai-Alliance, with which the Southern Lands have remained unaffiliated. By failing to “hide” from mankind, as he put it, many factions of spiritual groups from realms beyond Sesshoumaru’s boarders gather to annihilate the remaining demonic threat. The Kuma no Taisho finds himself unprepared to face the advancements in spiritual weaponry that has taken place in even such a short period time, as their powers are launched via gunpowder rather than bowstring. In a very literal sense, the holy equivalent to a silver bullet has been created. Upon Lord Osamu’s death, his successor immediately pleads with the Alliance for assistance, which (thanks to some convincing on Kagome’s part) is eventually granted.

1573: In human affairs, the Ashikaga shogunate is overthrown by daimyo Oda Nobunaga, who drives the 15th Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiaki, out of Kyoto. Yoshiaki seeks and receives protection from the Mori clan in western Japan. (Actual historical fact.) Kagome fortunately remembers enough from her history lessons to ensure that the last Ashikaga shogun receives protection for his family, knowing that a branch from his family tree would later become the daimyo family of the Kitsuregawa domain.

1573-1603: Oda Nobunaga, and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, continue to work toward imposing order upon the chaos that pervaded after the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate, during what would come to be called the Azuchi-Momoyama period. (Actual historical fact.) This marks the official end of the warring states period for mortals, as humanity gradually becomes more united.

1603: The Tokugawa shogunate is officially established by founder, and first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, and thus the Edo period (Also known as the Tokugawa period) is born. (Actual historical fact.)

1605: Tokugawa Ieyasu installs his son Hidetada as shogun, making himself retired shogun. (Actual historical fact.) Hidetada’s first order of business is to seek council with the ruling leaders of the well known Youkai-Alliance, (well known to shoguns and daimyos, but not to the lower class populous), something the previous rulers of mortal Japan had deliberately avoided out of fear. Hidetada knows that no human army, no matter how strong, can pose a threat to the Youkai-Alliance, but he has also heard that these youkai wish to pose no threat to mankind, either. Inuyasha, in his human appearance, acts as the liaison between the humans and the youkai for most negotiations.

1606: A noninterference treaty is signed, basically stating that both humans and youkai still have the right to go about their personal business, interacting with, or battling each other as they see fit, so long as neither side imposes their version of order on the other species. In a way, humans are exempt from youkai law and youkai are exempt from human law. Exceptions to this policy include strict moral violation, which both parties signed and agreed upon, including, but not limited to: rape, murder, torture, kidnapping and grand-theft. If a member of one species is caught committing such crimes upon a member of the opposite species, the species of the victim claims the right for jurisdiction over the aggressor.

In an attempt to prevent any sort of future segregation developing between the two dominant species of the country, which is a valid concern Kagome quickly points out to her mate, it is also clearly stated in the treaty that peaceful interaction between the races is not only not forbidden, but is absolutely, perfectly acceptable. Because the vast majority of mankind already believes that most youkai are disappearing (which is true for the lesser, beastly youkai), the human shogun offers no resistance to the notion of the occasional, rare, human/youkai coupling. Though it is true that crossbreeding has become more popular than it once was, it is also true that it’s still extremely rare, in that most members of either species simply feel no desire to intermix with one another. But because the occasional pairing does take place, a subparagraph for dealing with hanyou and their offspring is included in the specifications for species interaction. Strength of youkai blood in a hanyou varies from species to species, and though Inuyasha is extremely powerful, a lesser hanyou may possess fewer, if any, demonic strengths and/or “magical attacks.” It would be unfair to judge each hanyou individually, however, as this would leave room for argument, where each side may desire to claim, or not claim, a certain individual. Fair or not, it is quickly decided that an “across the board” ruling needs to be applied to those of 50/50 blood, and so it is decided that whomsoever bore the child shall lay claim to them. Meaning, the species of the mother determines the “species under law” of the child. If a hanyou marries and has children, those children will possess a 3 to 1 blood ratio, and so then, if the child possesses ¾ human blood, they are deemed human; if they possess ¾ youkai blood, they are deemed youkai. If two hanyou marry and have children with each other, though this would be a very rare occurrence indeed, the ruling falls back onto whatever species the mother hanyou possessed claim to.

Certain aspects of youkai mating are kept secret from the human shogun, however, such as the existence of blood-bonds that can extend the human’s life to that of their youkai mate. Nobody is stupid enough to believe that the shogunate (or mankind as a whole) would not become corrupted with this information, and desire to seek out and somehow find a way to use this ability for their own benefit. A “fountain of youth” if you will, which simply wouldn’t do. That wouldn’t do at all. They are trying to prevent a human/youkai war, not start one. An additional subparagraph regarding youkai/human mating is written and recorded in the youkai laws alone, not for the eyes of man, that states that any human who chooses to undergo the blood-bonding ritual, which is in their rights to either accept or decline, must keep their state of virtual immortality secret from the rest of general human society. They must interact with mortals only for shorter periods of time, so as not to arouse suspicion, forever spending the majority of their existence among the demonic family they chose to marry into.

It is also written under Alliance Law that, generally speaking, all youkai will attempt to keep their presence a secret from mankind as a whole, so as not to start mass panic and unnecessary blood shed, which can occur if the general population of mortals become spooked by the “monsters” they believe to be extinct. Humans may be informed of a youkai’s true identity on a one-on-one basis, if an individual’s youkai senses have assured them that that person can be trusted with said information, but blatant public displays of youki, such as appearing in one’s “true” form or using one’s youkai powers, where humans can see, is now “against the law.”

1606-1635: A whole lot of human stuff happens over the next 30 some odd years, including dealing with Christianity, and European trading and settlers, but for the most part, youkai are not involved in any of these issues. The shogunate knows they have nothing to fear from youkai when it comes to Christianity, as they do not follow any of the faiths of mankind, and the very, very few youkai (probably under a dozen countrywide) who are mated to humans who are not Japanese, gladly comply and leave the country when their human mates are required to leave under the new Japanese seclusion policies.

1635: The closed-country edict is brought into affect, which prohibits anyone Japanese from leaving the country, or, if they somehow leave, from ever returning. Though youkai are technically exempt from this ruling, no Japanese-born youkai possesses the desire to leave their homeland, unless it is to follow their mate, and so therefore, it does not become an issue.

A whole lot of other stuff happens in the next few years, for humans, including the Dutch being restricted to the artificial island Dejima, the persecution of Catholicism, the Shimabara Rebellion, the expulsion of the Portuguese, and a whole lot of other stuff you can all look up for yourselves on wikipedia if you’re truly interested, LOL. But it was necessary to bring you all up to speed over the last century, as I’m starting this next chapter off in the 1660s.

Nani? I hear you cry. Doth mine eyes deceive me? Does she intend to start the actual chapter of her story?

Fear not! For the actual chapter of this story shall begin……………………NOW!


~~~~~~~~~~~



Chapter 94 - Because Days Come And Go, But My Feelings For You Are Forever




Standing on the balcony adjacent to their master quarters, a woman in a flowing robe of sakura pink spider silk stood in silence, her long raven locks blowing freely in the cool morning breeze. A single floorboard squeaked behind her, alerting her to the presence of someone else in the room.

“Happy birthday Mrs. Taisho.” rumbled a low, teasing voice, as a pair of clawed hands delicately draped a silk strung, hand carved jade pendant over her neck.

Kagome gasped, instantly raising the jewelry to eye level for inspection.

“This is Chinese!” she blurted; it wasn’t a question. Though most of her books were so fragile that she didn’t dare touch them these days, lest they fall apart, she still quite clearly recalled the images she’d once studied with regard to Ming Dynasty jewelry. Although she knew that the Ming Dynasty had technically fallen about twenty years ago, that didn’t mean that the jewelry styles would suddenly change all that much.

“Indeed it is.” her mated nodded, as he proceeded to present her with a pair of matching earrings. The jade beads were simple, yet elegant, and in a way resembled the earrings Kagura still wore to that day. In fact, they really resembled the earrings Kagura still wore…

“You didn’t ‘borrow’ these from the other Mrs. Taisho, did you?” Kagome teased.

Sesshoumaru had long ago conceded that, as their dealings with humans grew more frequent, they needed to acquire a “family” name for themselves. Taisho was chosen as a matter of simplicity, since he was the “Inu no Taisho”, and planned on remaining so throughout Kagome’s time, and beyond. Since Shippo adopted the same family name, as well, there were actually a total of three “Mrs. Taisho’s” living in the castle, though it was obvious to whom Kagome was referring.

“Nah…” Inuyasha shrugged, confessing behind a smile “…but she did help pick them out.”

Ahh, now it made more sense. It wasn’t exactly Inuyasha’s style to suddenly surprise her with jewelry, after all. Birthday or no. Speaking of which…

“So how old are ya now, you old hag?” the hanyou teased good-naturedly, earning a mirthful chuckle from his mate, who replied with a shrug “Beats me. I stopped counting at a hundred.”

Laughing at her overall positive outlook regarding her exceptionally long life, Inuyasha held up the earrings with a toothy grin as one at a time, his nearly two hundred year old mate fastened the jewels to her ear lobes. Kagome had decided to pierce her ears quite some time ago, and while it had hurt somewhat, considering the rather archaic method in which she’d been forced to perform the piercing, she at least hadn’t needed to worry about developing an infection as a result.

“However did you acquire these?” She gestured to all the jewelry pieces. “I know you don’t speak Chinese, and I know about enough Mandarin to ask where the bathroom is.” she chuckled again.

“Well, Wenying actually accompanied Kagura and I to Nagasaki to translate.” he confessed offhandedly, earning a startled gasp from the woman standing before him.

“But she can’t disguise her youkai!” Kagome whisper/bellowed, surprised her mate would take such a chance with one of the West’s oldest, most loyal servants.

While Inuyasha could turn on his human appearance at the proverbial flip of a switch, and Kagura, for the most part, already looked human, save for her eyes and ears, Wenying’s humanoid face bore the standard colorings of a panda bear. Her pale, yet flesh tone complexion, was blemished with large black patches around her eyes. Kagome had always supposed that in the future, professional movie-grade concealer could be used to disguise the black patches of skin, but such a thing wasn’t around quite yet. Her short hair was also stark white, and unlike Inuyasha, she couldn’t change it to black on a whim.

“Actually,” he started after a moment, understanding the nature of his wife’s concerns all too well, “Hikaru was able to make a concealing charm for her.” he explained.

“Really?” she asked, somewhat surprised, though not disbelievingly so. Hikaru may only be a hanyou, but he never failed to amaze any of them with the sheer strength of his kitsune powers. Sometimes, he seemed even more powerful than his father.

Kagome recalled the time when Shippo had still been a child, and he’d created a charm to turn both himself, as well as Sango, invisible. The effects had turned out to be temporary. Hikaru, on the other hand, mastered the same illusion fairly early in life, giving everyone a run for their money, and forcing the canines of the place to sniff him out. Thank the gods the invisibility charm didn’t also mask his scent, or they may have never found him, the little punk.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha continued to explain. “He’s been toying around with charms for pure youkai for some time now.” he told his wife. “Apparently, it wasn’t that hard for him to create something for Wenying, when all he had to do was basically turn her hair black and hide the patches around her eyes.”

“This discovery of his could become extremely useful.” Kagome commented offhandedly.

It was only a few of decades ago, she recalled, that the young adult hanyou had been caught hoopin’ and hollerin’ outside in the gardens, startling the living daylights out of his mother, when Rin discovered her “baby boy” seemingly sporting his human appearance, though it was broad daylight, and nowhere near his monthly time of weakness. She had ‘bout near fainted when she realized that an equally human Noboru was standing rather proudly off to the side, a fairly smug look adorning his usually more subdued visage. As the boys were not identical twins, they in fact did not even share the same time of weakness. Their human nights were close to one another, but Noboru’s occurred two nights before his “older” brother.

Once Rin got over the initial shock, she logically realized that what she was seeing was merely an illusion, and when she calmed herself, she discovered that she could, in fact, still sense their youkai blood. Hikaru had stated smugly that it was easy to create a charm to bring forth their human forms, as being hanyou, they already naturally possessed such appearances, to begin with. He didn’t have to concentrate on how to make them look at all, merely concentrating on allowing their human-selves to shine through; visually, anyway. They were in fact still hanyou, still possessing all of their demonically enhanced senses and abilities.

While Kagome had known that he’d learned to create such illusions for fellow hanyou, having actually assisted him by fusing the spell into rosaries a few times, she hadn’t been aware that he’d been toying with the idea of creating something similar for full-blooded youkai. What he’d created for Wenying took a great deal more concentration, and understandably so. He attributed his patience and “eye” for the gift to his father, because like a painter, he had to fine tune the appearance he wished to create for her in his mind, though Inuyasha was correct when he’d stated that it hadn’t been too difficult, since the panda-youkai possessed a mostly human appearance to begin with. What was hard was getting the illusion to stay attached to the leaf, permanently, only reversing itself when the leaf was removed. It had taken him several years to master such a feat with even the simpler illusion of bringing forth his and his siblings’ own natural human appearances, so it was no wonder why he had been leaping for joy the day he’d finally mastered the ability to do so without error.

Kagome just shook her head while smiling at the thought of it all. Perhaps it wasn’t going to be such a mystery, after all, what had happened to all the youkai in her time.

``````````````````````````

It was funny how quickly mortals could forget.

Glancing around at what had become of his once small and quite village, Kazuki shook his head of raven locks, turning to head inside and be in the presence of the fourth Mrs. Taisho, who was currently resting inside their simple home. He and Emi had taken to traveling again when it was decreed that humans possessing youkai blood via mating blood-bond could not permit other mortals who were not “in the know” to become aware of their slowed aging. At first their lives had been more difficult, trying to keep Kazuki’s hanyou status a secret from the unaware mortals they encountered as well, but these days, thanks to the charm his “nephew” had provided for him, that was no longer a concern.

Now, they traveled yes, but only stayed within the general radius of what he had been made to understand would one day be known as the city of Tokyo. Kazuki had long ago been informed of his mother’s true origins, and while he hadn’t wanted to completely believe the tale at first, he still knew his parents had no reason to lie about something like that.

He and Emi had recently spent a great deal of time in the town of Edo, as the resident shogun and his most loyalist of subjects were among the few mortals who remained aware of what he truly was, though even there he had to keep Emi’s slowed aging under wraps. When they finally decided to move back to what was once known as “Inuyasha’s Village”, Kazuki could not help but to shake his head at all that had changed.

It was funny how quickly mortals could forget.

Kazuki never forgot. He never forgot a single day he had spent growing up in said village. He never forgot the years he and his mate had spent happily aiding the villagers in place of his parents, once they had made their move to the West. Now, aside from the resident priest who kept watch over the shrine those days - a descendant of the miko Emi had personally selected to watch over the shrine in her place - as well as his own son and their assistants, no one else in the village was aware of what or who they were.

While it was true that they mustn’t let the secret of their true identities slip to the general public, priests, monks and miko all had their own code by which they lived. They had not forgotten that those of demonic blood still walked among them, nor had they lost their ability to instantly distinguish between mortal and demonic auras. Kazuki and Emi wouldn’t have been able to keep themselves a secret from them anyway, but as luck would have it, the tale of their parents’ epic journey regarding the shards of the sacred jewel had not been forgotten, and was in fact still very much alive and well among those currently working and living at the shrine. So not only did everyone at the shrine instantly know what they were, but they also knew who they were.

Kazuki had instantly relaxed once he’d realized that not only were they recognized, but also, they were welcomed. It was good to know that they could live there for a while in peace, and that they would be safe. It had utterly floored both he and his mate when they’d first found out that the miko they had left in charge, leaving her with the understanding that it was perfectly acceptable for a miko to fall in love and marry, had eventually taken them up on their suggestion, marrying a spiritually powerful man by the name of Nobuyuki Higurashi. While they had been expecting that surname to pop up eventually, they hadn’t really expected it so early. Kazuki supposed his mother hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d explained how her grandfather had always insisted that the shrine had been in their family for countless generations, though he scoffed at the “countless” part, intending to keep very accurate records of their family tree. Call it a present for his great-grand papa, for when he’d eventually get to meet the man.

In the mean time, taking it easy for a while in one location was something they could certainly get used to. It didn’t take him long at all to build a new, simple home for themselves behind the shrine’s main building, staying away from most of the villagers under the pretense of being shrine-folk, whom most of the villagers then had no desire to disturb. His old childhood hut, which was still standing, though showing its age, he decided to downsize, and use as a storage facility. They had started to collect a few possessions during their travels, mostly trinkets offered in gratitude over their continual assistance in whatever matter someone may have required assistance with, and those items needed to be stored in a safe location. Another thing he was quick to do was build a small enclosure around the old Bone Eater’s Well, so that hopefully people would stop dumping remains into it. The well was eerily empty for as many times he was told the remains of beasts had been deposited within its depths, and the last thing he wanted was to have to assist his parents with fighting off anything demonic after several centuries of retirement, if it eventually ever came down to that sometime down the road. Hopefully, the enclosure would help, as he got the current shrine keepers to insist among the villagers that dumping remains into the well was no longer permitted.

Sliding the door shut behind him, Kazuki scoffed at his reflection in the small mirror that hung on the wall near the door. Emi’s doing, as the slayer/miko was also a woman, and often liked to check her appearance “one last time” before they headed out anywhere. Though she hadn’t left the house in recent weeks, he noted, as she recently decided her “appearance” was less than attractive for the time being. Sighing, he slipped his concealment charm from around his neck, Hikaru’s illusion instantly disappearing so that he was once again greeted with the shimmering locks of silver-white that he’d quickly decided felt much more natural hanging in his peripheral vision than the raven curtain of his human night. Staring back at his much more familiar reflection, then, he examined himself for a few minutes, still somewhat amazed by what the kitsune-hanyou’s magic could do.

The necklace itself had actually been his idea, not wishing to walk around with a leaf on his head, even if nobody could supposedly see it. He had his mother construct a rosary similar in overall appearance to the one his father still wore, though no spell of subjugation was imbedded within the magical beads. Instead, Kagome merely concentrated on merging the magic she felt within the charm Hikaru had created into the beads of the rosary, until the leaf itself seemed to move into the beads, disappearing with a purple flash. After that, the rosary, which Kazuki could remove and replace at will, created the visual illusion of his human appearance. It was only a glamour, but it was a permanent one, and the strength of the illusion itself had come entirely from Hikaru. All Kagome did was merge it into the beads. It wasn’t long before additional necklaces were created for Inuyasha and Kagome’s other children, and Shippo had never been more proud of his son.

Slipping off his geta next, something he chuckled took his father even longer to accept as part of a standard wardrobe than he did, Kazuki made his way into the bedroom, where both his nose and ears were telling him his mate currently resided. Upon seeing her sobbing form lying upon the futon, he was by her side in an instant.

“What’s wrong?!” he asked her frantically, searching her for injury with his eyes.

“I’m so fat!” Emi cried harder, and he smiled then, scooping his breeding mate into a loving embrace.

````````````````````````````````````

Tickling her smooth stomach with his claws, Inuyasha rejoiced in the mere presence of the goddess lying beside him on the bed. They’d since had four more children, spanned out over the years, but because their first born was soon to be expecting his first child, they had decided to once again postpone having any more babies of their own, knowing that they may have their hands full with assisting with their newest grand-pup before too long.

Thinking about Kazuki reminded Inuyasha of the letter they’d received from the pup not too long ago, which contained the surprising, yet joyous news, that the Higurashi name had already made its debut appearance at the shrine. They had been given a brief rundown of the family’s genealogy, which explained how the current Higurashis were descendent from a local girl whom Emi had trained to take over as the village miko in her absence, when they were forced to start traveling again to avoid suspicion. Because Kazuki had also been keeping such close tabs on all of Sango and Miroku’s descendants, it was quickly proven that said miko had in no way been related to the long departed couple. While at first it may have seemed cool should it have turned out that Kagome was actually a descendent of theirs, it was really a good thing that it had turned out that that wasn’t the case, if you consider Emi’s mating to Kazuki.

Continuing his delicate torture to his slumbering mate’s unsuspecting flesh, it wasn’t long before Kagome was squirming beneath his touch, having been pulled from whatever dream she had been experiencing to be greeted by a pair of smiling eyes in golden amber.

“Good morning…” Inuyasha growled huskily, his nose instantly detecting the spike in her scent, as she quickly became just as aroused as he was.

“MmmHmmm…” she mumbled in the affirmative, reaching up to pull his face down to hers by the side-locks of hair that draped over his shoulders.

Later that afternoon, Kagome went for a walk in the gardens with Rin, admiring the award worthy roses that were Hinata’s second pride and joy, the first being her small field of sunflowers. The women discussed many things during their lazy spring stroll, one of which being how neither formally mortal girl regretted their decision to join a demonic family. Just like Kagome, Rin was in complete agreement that there was no way she could ever have permitted herself to grow old and die, leaving poor Shippo to suffer through his immortality alone. Miyako was gradually coming out of her state of mourning, but while her children helped, it was still clear that her overall depressed disposition wasn’t going anywhere soon, and it secretly broke everyone’s heart.

Because Shippo was a pure youkai, and Inuyasha was hanyou, Rin was actually aging even slower than Kagome was, and the miko was gradually beginning to see the differences as time went by. Coming up just a few decades shy of two centuries, give or take, since they had each performed the bonding with their respective mates, Rin still looked exactly the same as she did when she’d stopped aging, appearing at around age twenty. Kagome, on the other hand, could notice the finest of age lines starting to appear here and there, and while she certainly still looked very young, she would guess her current appearance rested more at around late twenties. It was apparent that while it would certainly take quite some time, Kagome would eventually grow old. But she wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t as though she truly wished to live forever, anyway. She just wished to live for however long her mate did.

````````````

The next few years went by in a peaceful blur. Well, peaceful for most people, though Hikaru’s life had been rather hectic as of late, with attempting to fulfill the orders he kept receiving for concealment charms. Word had spread quickly, and while it was still rather trying to create charms for pure youkai, those also weren’t in as high of a demand, as most pure youkai possessed enough youki of their own to disguise their youkai features by themselves. It was the hanyou who were powerless to conceal what they were, and it was the hanyou who flocked to him in droves. Still, a few charms for pure youkai had been requested as well, and one to hide his grandmother’s red eyes and pointed ears had been among the first he’d commissioned.

Though the charms he was able to create for other hanyou and youkai were truly remarkable, they were not, however, without their own variety of flaws. For one thing, for beings who possessed no natural illusionary powers of their own, his illusions were, in the literal sense, exactly that. If you tried to reach for Kazuki’s human ears, for example, you’d just get flush skin, and if you waved your hand above his head, you’d encounter invisible dog-ears. Being kitsune, Hikaru and his siblings were able to actually change their physical shape, but creating a spell that would do such a thing for a non-shape shifting species was simply beyond even a full kitsune’s powers.

Still, it wasn’t as though anyone was about to complain. Most people called him a god’s send, and Hikaru quickly found that he liked helping people…or at least, he liked the attention he received for helping people. He was quickly becoming rather famous in the youkai world.

It had surprised him when two of his hanyou clients had actually been older than himself, as the hanyou birthrate had only increased after the West had established safe havens within their borders, but he was even more surprised when Kagome had ran up to the giant horse hanyou, throwing her arms around him as best she could, earning a delicate hug in return, which - even more surprisingly - Inuyasha had not protested. That charm had been the hardest one to forge to date, as there was truly no way to make the gentle giant actually shrink. The eye could be fooled into believing nearly anything, but when one’s other senses, like touch, for example, began to argue with you over what your eyes were truly seeing, it was possible that the illusion could be shattered. Unfortunately for Jinenji, he would always have to live in seclusion, avoiding close contact with humans whenever possible. But…at least he was still alive.

Hikaru’s second surprise had come when not a few months later, a beautiful woman with tanned skin, and long silver hair with two dainty horns protruding through her bangs, ran straight to Inuyasha, giving him a hug, which that time, Kagome had not protested. It appeared as though both of his adoptive grandparents from his father’s side were equally overjoyed to discover that that particular woman was also still alive and well, whoever she was. She’d smelled of hyakki bats, which he’d thought were extinct.

``````````````````

“I think they’re good.”

“They’re disgusting is what they are.”

“Inuyasha…” Kagome scolded, tapping her foot, “Shippo’s paintings are not disgusting.”

“The makura-e ones are.” he grumped, referring to Shippo’s recent line of ‘pillow pictures’. “Why the hell would he want to paint two men?”

Shrugging, Kagome answered back in a sarcastically questioning manner “Because the public buys them?”

“Feh.”

“Sesshoumaru doesn’t care.” she pointed out, “He uses an alias so he doesn’t risk tainting the Taisho name, so what’s the harm?”

“It’s gross.” Inuyasha defended, secretly smirking to himself. “This is all your fault, you know. You corrupted him with your open acceptance of ‘everything’.” he insinuated vaguely while waving his hand about.

He knew that Shippo’s homosexual paintings weren’t the only ones out there, and he also knew that the kit did plenty of heterosexual illustrations as well, but maybe if he could get Kagome angry with him for blaming something like that on her, then later they could have make-up sex. It’d been a while since they’d had decent make-up sex.

Unfortunately, Kagome saw right through it. Or rather, smelled right through it.

“Are you sure they’re ‘gross’?” she teased, “Seems to me that they’re turning you on.” she joked while tapping her nose.

Blushing just a little bit, only because she had caught on to his trick, he folded his arms, muttering “Only thing that turns me on is you.”

“Well, maybe I could have him paint you a portrait of me.” she kidded, not really taking her own suggestion seriously, knowing she’d get the reaction that she did.

“Now that’d be gross!” he snapped, “You’re his mother!”

Laughing, Kagome sobered up for a moment when she mumbled “I just hope he doesn’t get into trouble. Shunga paintings aren’t exactly sanctioned by the shogunate.”

“Keh, that brat can get himself out of anything. No need to worry about that.” Inuyasha stated with fatherly pride.

And Shippo had indeed given a great deal of consideration to the possibility that his outward excursion into the mortal artist’s world was a risky endeavor. He had gone through several possible human disguises before deciding upon an outward appearance that looked nothing like his actual face, and he had also spent countless weeks coming up with a bogus history about himself, including parents that did not exist, and schooling he did not receive. He wanted there to be absolutely no way that his paintings could ever be traced back to the Taisho family, whom though most people had no idea were youkai, everyone had heard of nonetheless. After all, their castle did reside within Japan’s capital city. That had certainly sprung up around them when no one was looking, or so it seemed. Things in the mortal world always change so quickly.

The current “human friendly” version of the Western castle was no longer framed by its massive stone wall, but secret wards Kagome had placed around the perimeter kept those with sensitive auras from sensing the strong concentration of youki residing within. It had startled Kagome when she’d first realized that she had been living in Osaka Castle, but when Inuyasha had asked her what was so funny, she merely shook her head. She also hadn’t recognized, at first, the name that Shippo had chosen for himself and his paintings, but once that little light bulb went off, she ‘bout nearly fainted.

Coming up with his alias had taken Shippo a lot of time, and he actually had his daughter Hinata to thank for his human “family” name. He had eventually decided on the given name “Moronobu” by combining moro “many” with nobu “truth.” He felt that a name such as “many truths” was appropriate in that he showed every aspect of truth that one could think of in his various paintings. While they were not all of a sexual nature, those were certainly his specialty as of late, and he held nothing back. Rin teased him relentlessly about what a hentai he had become, but he usually just shrugged, or sometimes, waggled his eyebrows at her.

It was the family name that was stumping him, because rather than accidentally encroaching upon somebody else’s family rights, he wanted to make sure that he picked a name not otherwise in current existence. That more or less meant that he’d just be making something up, just as all youkai families had done when originally choosing surnames for themselves.

He was sitting outside in the gardens with his daughter when she suddenly shouted out the answer to his dilemma. In their massive gardens, besides merely decorative plants, Rin also grew a small amount of vegetables, one of which being native Chinese water chestnut, which grew in a dainty paddy field that was fed by a small stream. Originally, the plant had been in honor of Wenying, who was touched by the gesture, and these days, the chefs loved to incorporate the plant into many of their dishes. It was when one of their mortal pet chow-chows, a gift of Wenying’s to Rin in return, started splashing in the stream that fed the paddy field, that Hinata shouted out a word Shippo had been unfamiliar with. She had ordered the disobedient dog to get out of the hishikawa.

Hishi is the word for ‘water chestnut’, while kawa means ‘river’, and the term “water chestnut river” was a nickname Hinata had dubbed for the small stream that watered the aquatic vegetables. It also struck Shippo as the perfect family name, as it was generic, original, and while the meaning might seem a little silly, it was certainly not unheard of for names to have such types of meanings. Thus the famous ukiyo-e artist Hishikawa Moronobu was born.

```````````

Hinata ran through the night as quickly as she dared, ducking under some obstructions while leaping over others. A few people gaped at the red fox as she went zipping by, but otherwise, nobody paid her any attention. Coming upon the barren outskirts of town to an abandoned, run down, albeit fairly large shrine, she quickly found a secluded corner around the back and transformed back into her hanyou-self.

Her moment of dangerous exposure was short-lived, though, as she rapidly reapplied her concealment spell, appearing once more as a native Japanese human woman. Unlike most of the country’s hanyou, she stuck with the conventional ‘leaf’ method of performing her own kitsune magic, possessing her own powers of illusion and having no need for one of Kagome’s concealment rosaries.

Making her way around the building, appearing as though she had merely arrived from up the back trail through the trees, the guards waved her through when she flashed a small skull pendant that she kept hidden within her sagemono.

(A/N: A sagemono is a small container, be it a pouch, woven basket, or carved box, that is hung from the obi in which to carry personal objects, as traditional kimono have no pockets.)

The closed-in scent of so many humans was almost overwhelming to her sensitive nose, but she managed, and was soon able to find what she was looking for. Making her way through the crowd, she was amazed by how many people they seemed to be able to fit into the ex-Shinto shrine.

Of course, the general populous of the nearby town had no idea that people still gathered at the “closed” Shinto shrine.

It was a meeting place for the Kakure Kirishitans now. The “Hidden Christians.”

If they were ever discovered, they could all be put to death.

But she didn’t care about that. All she cared about was finding the man whose scent was tickling her nose, sort of like barely hearing a familiar voice over all the other voices in a crowded room.

“Ryou!” she shouted happily, as she spotted him.

“Hinata!” he called back, opening his arms to eagerly return her embrace as she virtually flung herself against him. “You made it.” he commented in a somewhat softer voice, pulling back only just enough to cup her cheek with one hand, while brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear with the other.

Because she was kitsune, she had actually changed shape, rather than merely her appearance, and so the human ear he reached for was very real…for the time being.

“Sorry I’m late.” she whispered softly, while turning her face into his touch.

“Nonsense.” he scolded gently, adding “I’m just pleased that you agreed to join us.”

Ryou knew that Hinata did not share his faith, but the simple fact that she hadn’t judged him for it, when she’d discovered the truth about his beliefs, meant more to him than he figured she’d ever know.

He had met the young woman in town one day, when the flowers she was selling caught his eye. He had decided to buy his mother a yellow rose for her birthday, as yellow was her favorite color, and before long, he and the flower seller had got to talking. He found out that her name was Hinata, and that yellow was also her favorite color. He also learned that part of her actually preferred sunflowers to roses, and he’d managed to get a cute blush from the girl when he’d asked why she didn’t sell sunflowers instead, only for her to answer how it was because roses held more beauty, and he had then taken her hand, and commented how sunflowers held a beauty of their own, too. The definition of her name had not been lost on him, and he had meant what he’d said, she was beautiful.

He continued to speak with her everyday after that, wondering aloud once why he had never seen her flower booth before, only for her to say something about how she had only recently moved to that town, in an attempt to get out on her own for a while and experience new things. He had developed the distinct impression from her dress, and the condition of her hands, that Hinata was from a wealthy family, but chose not to speak of it. He didn’t know if what she’d said about merely wanting to “get out” was completely honest, or if something had actually happened that had forced her to leave her family, but he could tell that the girl’s days were brightened by their conversations just as much as his were, and so for that reason alone, he would continue to see her.

He came to enjoy Hinata’s company, quickly realizing that he couldn’t fathom a day going by in which he didn’t take a moment to stop by her flower booth, often wasting the better portion of the day’s working light during their talks. Fortunately, because he worked nights in a local tavern, he could afford to be frivolous with his daylight hours.

He came to admire Hinata’s spirit, the day some burly yakuza had decided to rough up the market sellers, and she hadn’t offered the deadly men so much as a blink in trepidation as she’d appeared almost bored with their antics, until they’d finally grinned at her attitude and decided to let her be.

And finally, he came to love Hinata the day he and a stranger had accidentally bumped into one another, causing his aged sagemono to fall from his obi, breaking open and revealing a small, carved skull; a Christian pendant. How the seemingly innocent girl possessed such lightning fast reflexes he hadn’t a clue, but suddenly there she was, scooping up the pieces of what was once a fairly nice wooden box, his skull charm tucked safely within her closed fist. The stranger had apparently missed seeing the taboo artifact, apologizing for his clumsiness before heading on his way. Once the coast was clear, Hinata had reached for his hand, clasping one of his with both of her own. The gesture confused him only momentarily, until he felt something being placed against his palm, his fingers folded securely around it. Understanding dawning in his eyes, she had merely apologized for his smashed sagemono, and believing herself ultimately to blame for having distracted him in the first place, she had promised to replace it. Nothing had been said about the pendant, though there was not a person in all of Japan who didn’t understand what such an object symbolized. The icing on the cake had been when she’d promised to have his new sagemono for him by his visit on the following day, revealing that she did, in fact, wish for their daily visits to continue.

It had taken him a long time to build up the courage to offer her dinner, and he had been utterly delighted when she had accepted. While it may be considered somewhat inappropriate for a single young woman to share company with a man unescorted, he had no misconceptions regarding her morals when she had agreed to dine with him alone. It was clear Hinata felt comfortable in her own ability to handle herself in any given situation, if the finely crafted tanto she always carried on her person was any indication at all. That was certainly not an accessory your average flower seller should be in possession of.

Many things had been learned about each other that night.

Ryou learned that Hinata did in fact come from a wealthy family. One of the wealthiest families, as a matter of fact. She also stood by her declaration that she had left home by choice, and merely for a quest of life experiences. Ryou had broken the ice regarding his skull pendant, confessing his Christian faith, in which she had surprised him yet again by waving off any concerns he may have had regarding her opinion of him and his religion. She had made it rather clear that she felt a person should be judged by who they were, not what they were, and that she had most certainly gotten to know him well enough to know that he was a kind and decent man.

He had confessed that he loved her.

She had confessed that she loved him back.

She had also confessed that there were a few things about herself that he didn’t yet know, and he had in turn waved off her concerns, repeating back what she’d said about judging a person based upon who they were, and that he most certainly knew who she was inside, and that anything about her past that she hadn’t told him didn’t matter. She had bitten her lip, but remained silent and nodded nonetheless.

Now, several months later, here they were, embracing in the middle of a secret Christian gathering. The meeting had been called somewhat last minute, everyone being notified merely two days prior to their requested presence on that night. Ryou had been forced to feign illness to escape his job, as had many others, while others still had crept from their houses, leaving family members unaware of their absence. The urgency in the atmosphere had prompted Ryou to ask Hinata to join the meeting as well, fearing the possibility that he may never see her again should anything bad be getting ready to happen. At first she had seemed hesitant, but the pleading look in his eyes quickly caused her to cave, accepting the pendant he secretly offered her, as her means of entering the shrine.

For a long time the preacher spoke of a rising threat against them, and how they may not be safe there for much longer. Hinata’s heart truly went out to everybody, feeling a sense of kinship with the way they were forced to live in hiding, keeping their identities secret. All they wanted was to live in peace…why couldn’t they just be left alone? The preacher had gone on to say that that night would be their final gathering in that location, and that for everyone’s safety, they needed to break up, going their separate ways. Smaller meeting groups could be formed in various supporters’ homes, for the time being, but a gathering as large as the one they had come to accomplish on a regular basis was like a giant glowing beacon to their enemy. Ryou had been quick to offer the services of his own dwelling, as he lived alone, and while Hinata was proud of him for standing up for what he believed in, doing his best to help as many others as he could, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that his decision would ultimately lead to his undoing.

It was two months later, during a surprise raid that everyone fled into the night, followed by the sounds of gunfire. Hinata was at home, doing mild repair work to one of her mortal cotton yukata, when a sudden pounding on her door nearly caused her to prick her finger with the needle. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts of Ryou, that she hadn’t even heard anyone approach. Coming to her senses, then, she instantly recognized who was at her door. She had told Ryou long ago where she lived, but he had never before visited her home, believing that to do so would be going against propriety. But it wasn’t the fact that he was suddenly at her home now that worried her, nor the fact that he had knocked with such urgency, or that it was so late at night. It was the fact that she could smell his blood…and lots of it.

Flinging her door open, she had frantically asked him where he was injured before he could even utter her name, then collapsing against her embrace in relief, the exhausted man had permitted his love to lure him into her sleeping chamber, to rest upon her futon. He never lost consciousness, as his injuries were not life threatening, and he stared with utter amazement as she expertly cleaned the graze wounds on his thigh. Part of him felt nervous, as he’d never before been touched in such a manner, least of all by a beautiful woman, as sexual acts before marriage were a sin. But she was professional in her work, and he somehow managed to think of her merely as a healer for that moment, while silently praying for forgiveness for the rapid pounding of his heart.

He would also later ask for forgiveness for the way his eyes lingered on her retreating form when she’d left momentarily to fetch a clean basin of water. Two things had dawned on him in that moment. One, he was hopelessly in love with her, and two, he could not, in his right mind, drag her into the hell that had become of his life.

The following morning brought a sense of panic when he first realized that he had fallen asleep in her own bed, until he also quickly realized that he was alone in the room. She had apparently stayed the night in her living chamber, and for that gesture, he was grateful. Not that the man in him wouldn’t have enjoyed her company by his side, but he respected her too much to even entertain thoughts of such a thing.

Staggering to his feet, he was just approaching the doorway to the main living chamber, when the sound of voices stopped him in his tracks. His love and respect for her instantly doubled in that moment.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen him.” he heard her say.

“Are you sure you are not affiliated with those people?” he heard the man at her door accuse. “Many witnesses claim that you two often spend countless hours together at that little floral stand of yours.”

Puffing her chest, she spat “What of it? I can share companionship with whomever I choose. That is not any business of yours.”

“If you are innocent, like you claim, then prove so by stepping upon this plate.” he said, placing a carved image of the Holy Savior upon the ground by her feet.

That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. she thought. Surely anyone would merely step upon the image if it would ‘prove’ their ‘innocence’, what a baka. What she really wanted to do was pick up the stupid plaque and break it over his head, but instead, she bunched up the train of her yukata, thoroughly exposing her feet, as she stepped quite squarely upon the stone image.

“Satisfied?” she asked sarcastically, to which the archaic man nodded sincerely, as if she would have burst into flames for her action had she been Christian. Honestly, it made about as much sense as placing your hand over your heart to indicate you were undoubtedly telling the truth.

After the coast was clear, Ryou hugged her tightly, expressing his gratitude beyond words for her act of risking herself for his petty existence. He had quickly made a decision. Like many others, he would leave. He would flee to the Netherlands where he would be safe, and Hinata would also be safe, without his presence adding danger to her own life.

At first she had wanted to protest, stating that they could relocate to another part of Japan, together. But she knew that he would forever be in hiding, forever unable to fully express himself without fear of persecution. He needed to be among his own kind, just as to be completely safe, she too needed to be among her own kind. Maybe it was time to return to Osaka.

And return she did, the following day, though it wasn’t her return home trip just yet. Ryou was already making preparations to leave the country, which needed to be done in secrecy as well, as the closed-country edict was still in effect. That meant she had time to procure a “going away present” for him, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Approaching her father with the idea, she had to first fill him in on all the recent details of her life, and the man she had fallen in love with, whom she was now preparing to let go of forever. Shippo’s heart went out to his daughter, and he readily agreed to assist her.

After all, just because most of his paintings were on the more perverted side, didn’t mean that he was incapable of doing a more classical portrait.

When Ryou was preparing to say goodbye to Hinata for the final time, she surprised him by unrolling the scroll painting she had brought with her, which he’d first believed to be a generic ukiyo-e that she had acquired, only to discover instead that it was actually a painting of her. It was unsigned, leaving the determination of the artist to those with a trained eye for recognizing variations in style. But he didn’t care who painted it, or how she had managed to accomplish such a thing so quickly. He knew she came from money, and she had just proven it by pulling off the mini-miracle.

She was utterly breathtaking. Her still-life image was dressed in a black with white trim yukata. White crane and sprig blossoms danced about her back, as she was standing partially turned with most of her back to the viewer, with her head bent to the side, revealing most of her face, as her eyes were cast downward in subtle submission. Her hair was pinned with elaborate shell combs and ivory chopsticks, a few stray wisps breaking free from the bun to tickle the back of her neck. Her complexion was left as white as the scroll she was painted on, save for her lips which had been painted a deep, lovely red. Her yukata draped off the shoulder only ever so slightly, offering the tiniest hint of seduction, while still remaining tasteful. One thing Ryou could not overlook was that one of the combs in her hair was a traditional wedding comb, which Hinata explained offered him the excuse for any who may see the painting that she was his lost wife, thus making it acceptable for him to possess such a thing. He had smiled at her consideration of his beliefs even in her gift to him. The best part of the portrait was the fact that her image was utterly surrounded by colorful sunflowers. Whoever the painter was, he had captured not only Hinata’s amazing beauty, but the beauty of the flower, as well.

``````````````````````

She should have done this long ago, but better late than never, she supposed. Most of those books were useless now anyway, they were so old. It certainly wouldn’t do to possess a book that appeared to be centuries old, yet was dated as though it was from some time in the future. She could only imagine the panic such a discovery would cause, especially as they approached more “modern” times.

Tossing the next book into the fire, Kagome listened in relative silence as Shippo explained all that had recently happened to his emotionally exhausted daughter. Hinata had returned home much sooner than anyone had expected, worrying her brothers with her declaration of never loving again. In the end, the selfish part of Shippo had been relieved that he hadn’t lost his baby girl, though he would have supported her decision if she had truly desired to flee the country with that man. However, it was ultimately the reality of canine youkai and their mating customs that had prevented Hinata from even considering the possibility that they could have had a future together. Ryou would have had to be made aware of what she was, and she honestly didn’t know if he would have been able to handle such a revelation. Things were certainly more complicated these days than they had been back when her parents were young. Her mother had been aware of the existence of youkai from the very beginning, her father’s race never having been kept a secret from her even for a little while.

Things were different with her and Ryou, and she just couldn’t bring herself to tell her Christian love that the woman he had been seeing for nearly a year was actually half demon. Somehow, she doubted that would have gone over very well. What she never revealed to her father was that she had honestly considered marrying the man without honoring kitsune mating customs, meaning, she wouldn’t have marked him. She could have continued to play human, using her powers of illusion to make herself age as time went by, but two things were wrong with that picture. One, she was partially worried that she may, one day, slip up with her illusion, especially in her sleep, and her true form would become revealed to him. Two, even if that never happened, she just couldn’t bring herself to forever trick the man that she claimed to love, allowing herself to live a lie, while keeping him in the dark about what he had married. Children would have also been out of the question, and while she most certainly could avoid her times of fertility, as she was able to tell when said times were within herself, it wouldn’t have been right to deny Ryou’s chance at ever becoming a father. He had believed that he was letting her go because he loved her, and in the end, she had let him go for the same reason. She just couldn’t stand the thought of what would have happened if he had found out what she was, and ended up hating her for it. This way, he would forever remember her as the woman - the human woman - who was kind to him, helped him, and loved him, when he needed it most. She could also go on with her own life forever possessing the knowledge that somewhere out there, there was a man who loved her.

Kagome had found it curious when Shippo revealed the nature of the painting he had made of his daughter, and the fact that the painting, along with the man it had been given to, was fleeing to the Netherlands. She was sure she recalled something about a Dutch painter of the 1800s coming upon a Japanese painting of sunflowers, which ultimately inspired his own line of paintings that featured the bright yellow plant. She couldn’t quite remember his entire name off the top of her head, but she was pretty sure it was Vincent something or other.

Oh well, Kagome snickered to herself, as she tossed another book into the fire. She was trying her best not to interfere with the course of history, but considering that she no longer believed in accidents, perhaps some things in history had actually required her interference on some level. Just so long as everything appeared as she remembered it when they finally reached her own time, she wouldn’t worry about it too much.

`````````````````````````````````````````


Tran slations:

Hishikawa Moronobu (Or, if Americanized, Moronobu Hishikawa)

I have no idea if the given name Moronobu means something else entirely, as a whole, since all I could find when I did searches under that name were references to the actual artist, and nothing regarding the name itself. However, as you can see, I did take the time to look up its separate components, and it is true that moro means “many” while nobu means “truth”, so I thought that was beyond appropriate to use as Shippo’s reasoning for having chosen that name. I was actually rather giddy when I first discovered that little tidbit of information, ‘cause it was just so darn perfect. The name could have meant anything, so I’m glad it worked out.

The same goes for the surname Hishikawa, in that I have no idea if the entire name as a whole possesses a different meaning, since I could find no information on the subject. But hishi does mean “water chestnut” and kawa does mean “river”, so even though that particular definition doesn’t mean anything profound, I think I came up with a fairly plausible scenario for how it was chosen.

Incidentally, I will admit that I was initially inspired to do something along these lines based on an episode of Samurai Champloo that featured Hishikawa Moronobu. However, I am in no way stealing their entire idea as I in no way mimicked the plotline used in that episode, and the “character” Hishikawa Moronobu was in fact a real person who lived in the late 1600’s. I just decided that it’d be cool if, in my warped, twisted little version of history, Shippo actually turned out to be the famous ukiyo-e artist. We can simply assume that he used his powers to make himself appear to age, until one day, he was finally forced to fake his own death. It was a good run while it lasted, right Shippo? The only part of the plot in Samurai Champloo which I really “borrowed” was how it was apparently the portrait of a woman surrounded by sunflowers that eventually inspired Vincent Van Gogh’s various sunflower paintings. It is true that the Dutch painter was inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e paintings, which is where the writers for Samurai Champloo originally got the idea to do it, but I couldn’t find any specific historical notes regarding a woman with sunflowers, especially with a bared shoulder, so I don’t know if that part’s actually true, or if that’s something the writers made up for their story.

As for Hinata’s love, Ryou, I pretty much chose that name at random because I was trying to mix up the name pool a little bit, and I hadn’t used too many R’s yet. According to behindthename, there’s three different possible versions of the name Ryou, as the word either means “cool, refreshing”, “distant” or “reality”.

The same goes for our unnamed Emi-apprentice miko’s husband, Nobuyuki. I just chose something at random that I thought sounded good enough. Nobu, as we’ve already established, means truth, while yuki, in this context, means happiness.

List of Inuyasha and Kagome’s children - so far.

I’m forgoing bothering with any ages, but here’s a brief recap, as well as an update, of the pups in general.

First born - Kazuki: male
Second borns (twins) - Minako and Miyako: both female
Third born - Kenta: male

And now the new ones…
Fourth born - Katsuo: male. From katsu “victory” and o “hero, manly”
Fifth born - Tarou: male. From ta “thick, big” and rou “son”
Sixth born - Michiko: female. From mi “beautiful”, chi “wisdom, intelligent” and ko “child”
Seventh born - Manami: female. From mana “love, affection” and mi “beautiful”

Yes, I realize that all the girls have names that start with M, and all the boys, save for Tarou, have names that start with K. I hadn’t originally meant to do that on purpose, and tossed in Tarou to mix it up a little. While I realize that I myself mentioned in the past, and as far as I know it’s been fairly common knowledge among most fans, that Tarou is thought to mean “first born son”, what I’ve recently found states otherwise, as explained breifly above. Ta actually means “thick, big”, and could be interpreted to mean “strong”, but in no way directly symbolizes being the first born.