InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moon and Destiny: Tsuki to Shukuen ❯ Act 6 ( Chapter 6 )

“Inu-Yasha, no!” Kagome said as she grabbed his arm, “It's good that Tsuki has a boyfriend!”

“What are you talking about?” Inu-Yasha said, “I don't want some boy feeling up Tsuki as he pleases!”

“Oh, relax,” Kagome answered, “Tsuki is a big girl that can take care of herself,” She could see the anger in Inu-Yasha's face. “I'll make you a deal - I'll talk to Tsuki and you talk to Shukuen,”

“What's wrong with Shukuen?”

Kagome made a small smile, “I'm afraid he has a lot to tell you,”

Inu-Yasha nodded, “I suppose we could do that,”

As Inu-Yasha headed out of the room, Kagome spoke, “Inu-Yasha, remember, you love your son no matter who is,”

Inu-Yasha looked at Kagome quizzically, “Of course of love Shukuen. Why wouldn't I?”

“Just to help you remember,”

 

Reichou was staring up at the ceiling. Downstairs, he could hear Shippou arguing with Miroku. Reichou had learned as a child that it was better just to keep quiet than yell. Yelling made everything worse. Of course, Shippou never believed such a thing. He was a true wild child -a smoking, drinking, flirting, delinquent with a spirit as untamable as the fox in him. A few minuets later, Reichou could hear Shippou stomping up the stairs, growling and grumbling.

“Damn it all!” Shippou yelled as he entered the room, slamming the door behind him, “That damn monk thinks he can just rule me like some sort of human child! I'm a Kitsune, damn it! I deserve better than this!”

Reichou sat up and turned on the light as he looked at Shippou. Shippou was rustling through a pile of dirty clothes on trash on his side of the room. Reichou and Shippou each had their side of the room. Reichou's side was nice and neat, Shippou's side looked like a disaster area.

Shippou pulled out a pack of cigarettes and started to smoke, “I just should run away and go back to the other world! I'd get some respect there! I'd get a lot of things…like chicks and cash! I wouldn't have to depend on some freakin' allowance or some damn approval from some damn monk who think he's father. No, my father was a Kitsune and he was-” Shippou glared at Reichou, who had begun to cough from the cigarette smoke, “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Reichou answered, “Didn't Dad tell you not to smoke?”

“He doesn't know I'm doing it,” Shippou answered, “…yet,”

“Does he also not know about the fact you have detention?” Reichou asked.

Shippou took the cigarette out of his mouth, “I don't know…does he know that you're gay?”

“I'm not gay!” Reichou said. He then paused, “…I just…I'm not sure if I like girls yet…”

“So you're gay,” Shippou said, “I don't give a damn,”

“But Dad will,” Reichou answered, “Do you know how religious Dad is? He'll throw me out of the house!”

“A big softie like Miroku? Yeah right. I bet if you come out of the closet to him, he won't do anything. I mean, what's he going to do…hit you?”

Reichou sighed as he curled up into a tiny ball, “So you don't hate me even if I'm…undecided?”

Shippou shrugged, “Whatever,”

“Then why do you hate Shukuen?”

Shippou made a face, “Because he's a whiny little bitch-face. I mean, the son of someone like Inu-Yasha shouldn't be like him. They should be more like,”

“Tsuki?”

Shippou glared at Reichou, “Yeah, Tsuki,”

“You love her…don't you?”

“What?”

“You love Tsuki…don't you, Shippou?”

Shippou paused. He took a few puffs of the cigarette and then sighed, “Tsuki and me have been friends for the longest. I was always her little playmate when we were kids. If she wanted to go play hide and seek, I was the first one to be with her. Red Rover? Of course. Ms. Mary Mack? Very un-macho, but willing. Double Dutch? Hell yeah. I got pretty good too…”

Shippou paused again.

“'Anything for you, Tsuki.' That's what I used to say,” Shippou continued after a few minuets,” `Anything for you, Tsuki'. A walk to the playground? `Anything for you, Tsuki'. A candy bar that she can't afford? `Anything for you, Tsuki'. A trip to the moon? `Anything for you, Tsuki'. Stand up to the school bully? `Anything for you, Tsuki'.”

Shippou paused again.

“Anything for you, Tsuki…anything for you…” Shippou muttered the words over and over again like a CD cassette player, “But we got older. I liked Tsuki, but to her…I'll always be that little Kitsune friend. Nothing else. I'll never be anything else to her,”

“Shippou, I'm sorry,” Reichou said as he patted Shippou on the back. He forced a smile, “You're an attractive Kitsune and there's a thousand more girls in Tokyo and a million more in Japan,”

“But none of them are Tsuki,” Shippou sighed.

 

Tsuki and been taken by Kagome into the living room and Inu-Yasha was upstairs in Shukuen and Tsuki's bedroom with Shukuen. Shukuen was curled in a little defensive ball, as if he was preparing for someone to hit him.

“Your mother told me you had something to say to me,” Inu-Yasha said.

Shukuen looked up at him, “…Mom said that?”

Inu-Yasha nodded, “Yes,”

Shukuen looked at his feet and was silent.

Inu-Yasha put his arm around his son, “I think I know what this is all about. You're having girl trouble, aren't you?”

“Not exactly…” Shukuen muttered.

Inu-Yasha continued, “When I was your age, I went through the same thing. I was always after some sort of girl. I remember one time-”

“…Dad,” Shukuen began.

“-I met this girl that-”

“…Dad,”

“-didn't like demons, so I-”

“…Dad,”

“-tried to hide my ears with a piece of-”

“DAD!”

Inu-Yasha stopped and looked at Shukuen. Shukuen bit his upper lip. `Alright. Here we go. Just go ahead and say it. Just get it out there. You can do this, Shukuen,'

“What is it, Shukuen?” Inu-Yasha asked.

“Dad,” Shukuen said, “I'm gay,”

Inu-Yasha froze. Time seemed to freeze in that few minuets before he could reply, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Dad,” Shukuen confessed, “I like other boys. I don't like girls, I like guys. I have a boyfriend. His name is Yuki. He goes to my school. He's a senior,” Shukuen paused. “I was scared to tell you, Dad, because I thought you wouldn't understand. Do you understand, Dad? Do you still love me?”

Inu-Yasha paused. An awkward silence filled the room. Shukuen knew he would cry himself to sleep if his father hated him for what he was.

Finally, Inu-Yasha smiled frailly, “You are what you are, son,” He patted Shukuen on the head and left the room.

Tears poured out of Shukuen's eyes - he saw the hurt and disappointment in his father's eyes, not the frail little smile. Shukuen curled up into a ball even more to muffle his sobs.

 

Downstairs, Kagome was talking to Tsuki with a rarely seen excitement.

“So, what's this name?” Kagome asked.

Tsuki made a face, “Whose name?”

“Your boyfriend of course!” Kagome asked. Tsuki didn't respond and Kagome just smiled, “Oh, Tsuki, don't be embarrassed! When I was your age, I had a few boyfriends before I met your father. I dated this boy in my class named Hojo, who really health food, and then this bad boy who called himself Aku, and then the wolf demon Koga and then your father!”

Tsuki looked at her mother with suspicious eyes, “His name is Akumashugi,”

“Where does he live?”

Tsuki was quiet again.

“Oh, that's okay, honey! All in good time! But just remember honey,” Kagome leaned in. “sometime boys can get a little frisky and you have to teach them a lesson. When I was with your father, I sometimes had to `osuwari' him on every date,”

“…eww...” Tsuki muttered.

“So, remember, if you don't like what he's doing, just kick him in the balls!”

“Won't that hurt him?”

“A little, but he'll recover,” Kagome got up the couch. “One of these days, Tsuki, I want to see this boyfriend of yours and see what he's like,”

Tsuki said nothing. Kagome didn't mind and went merrily up the stairs. Tsuki still remained quiet and went up the stairs to her room.

 

Kikyo looked over the remains of the village and it's people - both in bad shape. She tended to the wounds of the people on the outside and the inside. They thought they were cursed to a doomed existence in this time of turmoil and it was her job as the priestess to make them forget this idea. It had to be about midnight now; the villagers all asleep, crammed into the huts that remained standing. Tomorrow they would start building again, chopping down more trees to make more huts.

She looked through the window of her hut as she sat nearby the fireplace. Full moon tonight. Shippou's words from some days ago ran in her head, “What do you think it means?! It means that they just have sex and nothing else!”

Will he come tonight?

Kikyo shook her head and she tended the fire - it was foolish to think that Sesshoumaru and her were in a true relationship. They never would be. No, not in this time, not in this village. Sesshoumaru hated humans, that was true. So why would he want to have relations with her? Why would he want to be with a woman like her - a woman who had died 50 years ago and was brought back by the magic of a twisted demon?

`But…'

Kikyo stared in the fires. She put a pot of tea over the flames and let it boil.

`…but why did he…?'

Kikyo remembered that day. She remembered the night after that day and she remembered the passion they shared for one single night. For just one night…

`…why did he…?'

…but when that night of passion was over, he was gone and Kikyo was alone again to be the priestess of the village.

`…but why…?'

But then he came back again for another night, but when that night was over he was gone. No good-byes, just the feeling of abandonment and the feeling that she had been used. He was using her.

`…then why do I…?'

But she hadn't done anything to stop those nights. She hadn't lifted up a hand in protest or shot the arrow. She accepted it. She accepted the passion and accepted the love of that night. She accepted the loss and the abandonment the morning after. She accepted it all.

The tea was starting to boil as Kikyo remembered the day that started it all: the day that Kaede died.

It was only a day after Naraku had died. Kagome had returned to the other world. Inu-Yasha remained in his world. Sango and Miroku were to leave and return to Sango's old village. Shippou had gone with them. Kirara had been set free to roam the mountains with her new family. Kikyo had returned to her old village to see Kaede. Her younger sister, no longer young, but older, far older than Kikyo, who had not been ravaged by time.

It was raining.

But when Kikyo arrived there in the village - she had heard of how the priestess Kaede had fallen ill. Kikyo ran to Kaede's hut, only to find that her sister was on her deathbed. Kaede was dying. Her body was too frail to survive in this harsh time. Kikyo tried to help: she healed, she fed, she nurtured…but it was not enough. `My time has come,' Kaede had said to Kikyo as she refused food, `my sister. I am content. I am ready to pass on into the next life,'

Those were Kaede's last words. She died right there and then. Kikyo could say nothing as she looked at her dead younger sister. That should have been her to die. Kikyo should have died - not Kaede. Kaede was the younger sister, she shouldn't have died. She shouldn't…it was wrong. It was all wrong.

Everyone gathered at the funeral pyre, where Kaede was to be burned. Everyone was there - Inu-Yasha, Kagome, Shippou, Miroku, Sango, and Kikyo. Kikyo said nothing to anyone during the funeral; she was as silent as the death that had taken her sister. She took Kaede's ashes in silence and scattered them over the river nearby the village in silence.

That day, everyone left their world and went to the next. `There is nothing here for us in this world,' Inu-Yasha had stated after the funeral, `and this is no place to raise children or to have a family that will not be torn apart by war or bloodshed. And I realize this now after this adventure with Naraku; this is period of death is not for us, for any of us,'

It was that day Miroku and Sango took in Shippou. It was that day Inu-Yasha and Kagome promised they would remain together forever. It was that day they all left Kikyo in this world and went to the next.

Kikyo remained, alone.

But at night, Kikyo had gone out to visit the river where she had spread her sister's ashes to pay respects. She couldn't sleep. There at the river was Rin. She had seen the little girl before, around Sesshoumaru all the time, but this Rin was no longer a girl, but was a little older now. She was taking a drink out of the river when she saw Kikyo. `You're the ghost priestess!' Rin said as she jumped at seeing Kikyo. Kikyo had tried to tell Rin to calm down and not to be scared, but Rin screamed when Kikyo came near.

Sesshoumaru came, as swift as lightning. He had sword in hand, but when he saw Kikyo he put it away. Then, Sesshoumaru ushered Rin away (who quickly ran). `What business do you have here, demon?' Kikyo had said. `Nothing that concerns you,' Sesshoumaru had answered, `but I do wonder what the undead priestess Kikyo is doing here at her old home,' Kikyo led Sesshoumaru to her hut and had told him of her sister's death.

`I know of how you feel,' Sesshoumaru had answered.

`You know nothing of how I feel!' Kikyo had snapped angrily.

`But I do,' Sesshoumaru had explained, `a companion of mine, Jaken, died some days ago. He was far older than I and I expected it to happen. He didn't want me to resurrect him either. “My time of death has come, Sesshoumaru-sama,” Jaken had said to me that day, “and I wish to be reborn as something else. To be given a second chance.” So, I let him die,'

It is amazing how pain can bring people together. Kikyo and Sesshoumaru shared a night of passion, for several unknown reasons. Perhaps it was a way to keep the pain of loss away or perhaps it was because they were both lonely and had never truly had a love in a long time. Kikyo didn't care for the reason, all she cared for was those moments.

Kikyo got up the morning to find Sesshoumaru gone. She was all alone, again. Kikyo could only stay silent as she dressed herself and went on to do the duties of a priestess alone…

The tea had boiled over. Kikyo took the pot off the fire, but suddenly she didn't want the tea. She pushed it away bitterly, as bitter as the tea leaves in it and went towards her bedroom. A night's sleep would make her feel better.

 

Inu-Yasha was sitting up in bed when Kagome entered, overjoyed. She changed into her nightgown and laid down in bed next to Inu-Yasha.

“Did you know about Shukuen?” Inu-Yasha asked her.

Kagome sighed as she looked at her husband, “I sort of figured it out, but he never told me. I thought it would be best if he told you himself,”

Inu-Yasha nodded, “How did it go with Tsuki?”

Kagome clapped her hands and smiled, “Oh wonderful! She has a little boyfriend! She might even bring him by. We had a nice little mother-daughter chat and we talked about boyfriends and everything!”

“What's his name?” Inu-Yasha asked.

Kagome looked at him, “I'm not telling you,”

“Why?”

“I know you, Inu-Yasha. As soon as you hear that a boy has an interest in Tsuki, you're read to hurt him!”

“What's wrong with that?”

“A lot of things!” Kagome then sighed. “I want you to be open minded about Tsuki having a boyfriend. It might make her a little more…feminine if she has one. So, if she brings her boyfriend to the house, just smile, say hello, and nothing else,”

“I don't like it,”

“You're being overprotective of her. Tsuki is growing up and boys will start to look at her,”

Inu-Yasha grumbled in reply, “Okay, I won't hurt him if I see him, but I still don't like it,”

“That's all I ask,”

“Good,”

Kagome turned off the light.