InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Twins Travel Together ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

 Chapter 6 

 

With the table’s attention finally focused on her, Kinuki starts to recount her first adventure in the past. 

 

“Ok, so you know that Kagome jumped into the well. Well, when she did, I felt this weird sort of tug inside of me and ended flying over half the shrine grounds and into the well after her. But, before you ask, we don’t really know why, so we’ve just chalked it up to some sort of twin bond for now. Anyway, I landed funny when I hit the bottom of the well and ended up twisting my ankle. I still managed to get out of the well though, and then I tried to analyse my situation, until a few things crystalised and I figured out I’d somehow travelled to the past.”

 

Kinuki pauses for a breath here, steeling her nerves as she remembers her first encounter with a youkai in the past. 

 

“After I figured out that I was in the past, I decided to head towards the Goshinboku, because I could hear voices from that direction, and I figured looking for some help might not be a bad idea… Before I could prop myself up from the rim of the well though, I felt this presence, like something was watching me, no, more like, stalking me. It unnerved me and I instinctively pulled out my Swiss army knife and took up a defensive stance, like I learned in my self-defence classes from last year. I scanned my surroundings until I picked up a slight disturbance on the ground, just a few faintly rustling leaves, but it was enough to tell me where the threat was coming from. It was moving so low to the ground I was quick to realise that my assailant wasn’t human… I just didn’t expect it to be a giant snake youkai! And I most certainly wasn’t expecting the youkai to be able to talk!” 

 

The whole family gasps at that fact, though some more so because of Kinuki’s tone, rather than in true shock at the realisation that demons are capable of speech. 

 

Kinuki nods sagely at her family’s reaction, before continuing her tale. 

 

“So, when it spoke to me, I was actually glad that I was already supporting myself against the rim of the well. We had a short conversation, where he pretty much just asked my name to honour my bravery before threatening to eat me, and I recalled that mamushi snakes, yes, the snake demon was a mamushi, have a really soft underbelly, so I ducked under him and tried to cut into his belly with my knife… But the knife didn’t cut! Instead, it gave away my position and the damn giant snake twisted around to lunge right at me!”

 

Kinuki shudders as she recalls the glint of those giant fangs coming right for her. 

 

“But he didn’t get you, did he?”

 

Souta suddenly pips up, nervousness and excitement shining in his eyes as he leans across the table to get closer to his sister. 

 

Kinuki chuckles at his unnecessary question. 

 

“Of course not, that’s why I’m still sitting here. Having that youkai attack me directly, shocked me into awakening my own miko powers and I purified the threat that was that snake youkai on instinct.”

 

Kinuki shrugs, a bit of embarrassment colouring her cheeks, while the rest of her family heave a relieved sigh. 

 

Kinuki cocks a confused head at their reactions. 

 

“…You know I’m not done yet, right?”

 

Her comment has her family stiffen and look back to her again in an instant. 

 

“There’s MORE!?”

 

Kagome exclaims, equally worried and exasperated. 

 

“Well duh, that was just my first five minutes in the past.” 

 

Kinuki giggles, before addressing everyone again. 

 

“I haven’t told you all about how I: 

first found Inuyasha pinned to the Goshinboku; 

got a new scar by removing and disintegrating the holy arrow that was pinning him to the tree; 

met up with Kagome by colliding with her when I tried and failed to use the well to get back home; 

healed her wound when the centipede youkai extracted the jewel from her lower right abdomen; 

threw up a giant barrier over the entire clearing to keep the centipede youkai contained while I healed Kagome’s wound; 

pocketed the Jewel; 

freed Inuyasha from the miko, Kaede’s, sutra cage after speaking to her and looking at his vortex through a lens of my powers; 

was saved by Inuyasha when he killed the centipede youkai before she could kill me; 

flew across the clearing with our new twin magnetism, because Kagome thought she was saving my from Inuyasha; 

accidentally bound Inuyasha’s soul to the ground by repeating the word Kagome first used to subjugate him, when he attacked us to try and get the Jewel for himself; 

spent the night in a tree; climbed the side of a small waterfall and gathered some herbs for breakfast; 

had breakfast with Kagome and Kaede-miko-sama; 

walked around town with Kagome, before leading her to Inuyasha, so that the two of them could try to get along better;

practised my new miko powers a little bit, until I was able to summon a small marble of power; 

got pulled into a village washing place when Kagome stopped using our magnetism before I actually reached her; 

helped out with some old-fashioned washing;

saved a little girl from drowning; 

pulled Kagome and a little boy out of a river with our twin magnetism; 

convinced the villagers to return to their village when a crow youkai got it’s beak on the Jewel; 

helped Kagome purify the crow youkai; 

saw the Jewel start to shatter and created a net of power around the Jewel to catch some of the shards; 

took a shard to my arm because I was so focused on keeping up my powers; 

hid the fact that I was injured, so that Kagome could calm down after finding out that the jewel really did shatter; 

made it back to the village and managed to stay conscious long enough to ask that we speak to Kaede later; 

collapsed from overusing my powers, or using too much power at once; 

trusted Inuyasha with my heterochromia; 

learned a little bit about the power hierarchy that demons and miko have based on the colour of their aura and their power; 

spoke to Kaede and Kagome about our future plans; 

decided to help Kagome find the jewel shards now scattered all over feudal Japan; 

asked Inuyasha to help us with the search as well, to which he agreed; 

went back to the well and jumped in with Kagome and Inuyasha; 

came back to the future with my sister and new friend; 

asked Inuyasha to hide while we dealt with the police; 

let him into the house through the window once the coast was clear, and then we had dinner and I told you all what my side of the story was.”

 

Kinuki finishes with a grin, while the rest of her family merely stare at her, slack jawed and flabbergasted. 

 

“If you’re wondering how she seemingly said all of that without pausing for breath, none of us can tell you… It’s a Kinuki secret.”

 

Souta whispers up to the half demon sitting next to him. 

 

Though Inuyasha was indeed a little impressed by Kinuki’s lung capacity, what surprised him much more, was the fact that she had been able to override the seal on Kikyo’s arrow. 

 

She herself had mentioned the power hierarchy of demon and miko powers. Kikyo’s powers had been pink, while Kinuki’s were yellow. It was clear that Kinuki was the weaker priestess.

So, how the hell had she managed to break Kikyo’s seal? 

 

Though that was one thing that was on his mind, another, far more pressing thought, was trying to come to terms with Kinuki calling him a friend. 

 

He thought Kikyo was his first and only friend, but, when he thought about it a little more, he had no idea what a friend really was. 

 

His claws twitch when he feels the kid by his side tug at his haori sleeve, but he gives in to the silent plea and turns to look at the squirt, putting his current thoughts aside to be dealt with later. 

 

“Say… can I touch your ears?”

 

Souta blurts out, averting his eyes as soon as he speaks his request. 

 

Inuyasha blinks. 

 

Kagome’s eyes widen and she waits to see Inuyasha’s reaction with bated breath. 

 

Kinuki claps a hand over her mouth to silence the beginnings of a laugh that are bubbling up in her throat, though not fast enough for Inuyasha to overhear her cut off chuckle. 

 

“Hell no!”

 

He exclaims, surprisingly keeping his voice level, though his ears instinctively flatten, a way to camouflage them and make it harder for small hands to find them. 

 

Seeing her brother’s deflating expression, Kinuki quickly grabs a napping buyo and plops the cat into her brother’s lap. 

 

“Why don’t you pet Buyo, Souta? You know he LOVES getting his ears scratched.”

 

Kinuki suggests, smiling when she sees Buyo perk up at the mention of getting his ears scratched. An action that doesn’t go unnoticed by the youngest Higurashi, causing him to smile as he concentrates on his new task. 

 

“True.”

 

Souta admits, paying close attention to Buyo’s favourite places to be pet and scratched. 

 

“Well, with that disaster averted, why don’t you two prepare the guest room for Inuyasha while your Jii-chan and I take care of the dishes?”

 

Hikari suggests, already rising to collect the dishes from the table. 

 

“Sound’s good mama.”

“Sound’s good mama.”

 

The twins chirrup, quickly getting up and making their way back upstairs. 

 

Kagome pausing at the stairs to cast a look back to the table. 

 

“You coming, or what?”

 

She asks when she makes eye contact with Inuyasha. 

 

He blinks, eyes widening slightly, before nodding and following Kagome up the stairs. 

 

Kinuki is already getting out a futon in the guest room, which is down the hall from their room and next to Souta’s. 

 

“Hi. Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable in a bed, so I figured I’d set up a futon as well and then you could decide where you want to sleep.”

 

Kinuki says without looking up from her present task. 

 

Inuyasha swallows past the lump in his throat when he realises that the girls are not only welcoming him into their home, but also giving him a place to sleep for the night. 

 

“You guys don’t want me to sleep outside or something?”

 

He asks, only just managing to keep him voice from shaking. 

 

Kinuki turns around at his question, a look of disbelief and horror clear in her expression… It’s mirrored on Kagome’s face too. 

 

“Hell no!”

“Hell no!”

 

They say simultaneously. 

 

“You’re my friend Inuyasha.” 

 

Kinuki continues. 

 

“and our guest.”

 

Kagome tacks on, in a tone of voice that suggests that that is all the reason they need to give him a place to sleep and a roof over his head. 

 

Nodding mutely, in an attempt to placate their flaring aura’s, which are reacting to their emotional anger and distress, Inuyasha moves to sit by the foot of the bed, watching as Kinuki returns to laying out the futon, and Kagome moves to take some sort of fabric out of a closet. 

 

“Say…”

 

He asks quietly, when Kinuki finishes setting out his futon. 

 

Kinuki turns her head toward him, while Kagome pricks up her ears to listen in while pulling fresh covers over the bed.

 

“What’s a friend?”

 

He asks, his voice quiet but sure. 

 

His question has both girls freezing a moment, needing some time to process his question. 

 

“…Are you asking because I called you my new friend?”

 

Kinuki asks, chuckling softly when Inuyasha turns a half-hearted glare on her. 

 

“Sorry, sorry.”

 

She apologises, before considering her answer. 

 

“I think everyone defines friendship a little differently. To me, you’re my friend because I like you. I can’t really justify it. It’s a natural process that happens when you get to know a person, learn about them, identify with them, even fight with them.”

 

Kinuki shrugs, a small smile playing on her lips. 

 

“Some people say you can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends, but I don’t think we get to choose our friends either. We can choose to spend more or less time with a person, but the resulting relationship is pretty much out of our control.”

 

She elaborates, standing as she finishes her little explanation. 

 

“Kagome and I are going to head back down and figure out what we should do about our future lives while we try to find all the jewel shards in the past, you can come if you want, or get some rest, we’ll leave for the past sometime tomorrow.”

 

Kinuki says, following Kagome as the two leave the guest room. 

 

She pauses in the doorway though. 

 

“Oh, and just because you’re my friend, doesn’t mean you have to feel obligated to have me as your friend. These things either happen naturally, or not at all.”

 

Kinuki says with a smile, before disappearing downstairs and taking a seat next to her sister, opposite her mother and grandfather. 

 

“So, shall we skip the formalities and get straight down to business?”

 

Kinuki asks. 

 

Though her voice is playful, her body language is poised and serious. 

 

Hikari finds her eyes crinkling as she smiles at her daughters, though her expression is tinged with sadness and worry. 

 

“The most important point will be your futoku.”

 

Jii-chan says. 

 

“What!?”

 

Kagome exclaims, turning a curious expression on her twin when Kinuki doesn’t react in the same surprised manner as her. 

 

Kinuki merely lowers her head a little, a sad sigh escaping her. 

 

“…You figured we’d have to do this too as soon as I agreed to search for and complete the jewel again, didn’t you?”

 

Kagome asks, heaving a heavy sigh when Kinuki nods. 

 

“An official school refusal is the best way for us to slip under the radar for our first year of school, which should give us enough time to get most, if not all, of the shards back… and before you argue against me, hear me out.”

 

Kinuki starts, thinking over the plan she’d been coming up with ever since the Jewel first shattered. 

 

“Since we applied, it’s obligatory for us to get an education up to our third high school year either way or. BUT, with the backing of a high-ranking police officer, and a doctor’s referral, as well as Jii-chan’s university degrees, we should be able to appeal for a year of home schooling based on trauma and recovery from an act of harassment.”

 

As surprise, pride and understanding dawn in her family’s faces, Kinuki gifts them with a somewhat tired smile. 

 

“If at all possible, I was thinking that we could take care of everything tomorrow, so that we don’t miss any more schooltime than we really have to.”

 

Kinuki suggests, her smile widening with her grandfather’s warm chuckle. 

 

“You’ve always been full of good ideas, Kinuki.”

 

He praises, while Hikari lets out a defeated sigh. 

 

“I suppose there’s no use in us trying to convince you to stay here, where it’s safe?”

 

She tries, though her daughters both give her a small smile and head shake. 

 

“They’ll be safe enough with me around.”

 

The whole family gives a little jolt when Inuyasha suddenly speaks up from the bottom of the stairs. 

 

He’s leaning against the wall opposite the railing in a fairly relaxed pose, but his ears are pricked up and his eyes almost seem to glow in the shadows where he stands. 

 

“Would you keep them safe?” 

 

Hikari asks, an unimaginably heavy weightlifting from her shoulders as Inuyasha moves into the dining room and gives her a sure nod. 

 

“Do you realise what you’re offering them?”

 

Jii-chan speaks up, his voice is far more serious than the twins have ever heard it. 

 

“My protection.”

 

Inuyasha states simply, his words causing a strange pulse to vibrate in Kagome’s and Kinuki’s souls.

 

He doesn’t back down from the old man’s suddenly serious expression and severe countenance, causing Jii-chan to run a hand over his face as he lets out a tired sigh. 

 

“If they truly are miko, and I believe them when they say that they are, and YOU are part demon, a vow to them is the same as a contract. You won’t ever be able to go back on your word unless they release you from your vow... or one of you dies.”

 

Jii-chan explains, making the twins each draw a sharp intake of breath when the seriousness of Inuyasha’s promise really sinks in. 

 

“I don’t make a habit of going back on my word anyway.”

 

Inuyasha states, the vibrations in the twin’s souls suddenly getting stronger. 

 

“Um… Inuyasha?”

 

Kinuki begins hesitantly. 

 

“Do you know why our souls are suddenly shuddering?”

 

Kagome finishes. 

 

Both their voices are a little shaky, and Inuyasha finds himself cursing when he notes the state of their auras. 

 

Moving with a speed that could only be demonic, Inuyasha quickly carries the twins outside and sets them down under the Goshinboku. 

 

“Looks like I started the pact the instant I offered you my protection.”

 

He says, speaking to himself as he paces in front of them. 

 

“Which means what, exactly?”

 

Kagome asks, a slight bit of fear creeping into her voice. 

 

“Vows are exactly what your grandfather just explained, but, since I’m a fuckin half-demon, I can’t make a vow without it turning into a pact. It’s pretty much the same thing, but a pact needs some sort of physical exchange to complete it.”

 

Inuyasha tries to explain, though he’s growling at his own short-sightedness. 

 

“Great. Now, what do you need from us?”

 

Kinuki asks through gritted teeth, the vibrations were getting more intense with every passing second. 

 

“…I don’t know.”

 

Inuyasha admits after a brief pause. 

 

‘…I misheard him, right?’

 

Kagome asks her twin. 

 

‘Nope, unless you heard something other than “I don’t know.”’

 

Kinuki pips up sarcastically. 

 

‘Kinuki! This is serious!’

 

Kagome exclaims. 

 

‘I KNOW, but, again, I’m not one to lose my sense of humour in a dire situation.’

 

Kinuki points out with a little chuckle, an intensifying shudder cuts off her laughter though. 

 

‘Then again, perhaps we should try to think of some things we could possibly exchange…’

 

She tacks on, while Kagome gives a mental groan. 

 

‘You don’t think I haven’t been trying to think of such things?’

 

Kagome points out dryly. 

 

‘Well, have you come up with anything?’

 

Kinuki asks curiously. 

 

Kagome groans aloud this time. 

 

‘If I had, I would’ve mentioned it by now!’

 

She snaps, immediately feeling bad for taking out her frustration on her younger twin. 

 

‘Fair enough…’

 

Kinuki says softly, before her eyes suddenly light up. 

 

“What about a blood bond?”

 

She says aloud, causing two pairs of confused eyes to look her way. 

 

“You know, where you prick your finger on a needle, press the bleeding fingers together and each person makes a vow of protection or something.”

 

Kinuki elaborates, already flipping through her swiss army knife to find a thin blade. 

 

Kagome blanches a few shades when she realises what Kinuki means. 

 

It not that she can’t handle blood or needles or anything like that, it’s just… not the most hygienic exchange out there… Ok, she also doesn’t really like the sight of too much blood either. 

 

While Kagome is dealing with her wayward thoughts, Kinuki is trying to find the sharpest knife in her swiss army set. 

 

“We actually have something much sharper than a knife here.”

 

Kinuki murmurs to herself, her eyes moving to lock onto Inuyasha, or, more specifically, his claws. 

 

Shaking her head, her lips quirk in a small smile when she finally finds the specific knife she’d been looking for. 

 

Trying to act as natural as possible, Kinuki shuffles her way over to her sister’s side, coming to a stop right next to her before opening their mental channel. 

 

‘Hey Kags, what’s 3045 divided by 15?’

 

Kinuki asks, moving as soon as her surprised expression registers. 

 

‘Uh…’

 

Kagome flounders, caught totally off guard by the sudden, and specific, math question. 

It was exactly the effect Kinuki was aiming for. 

 

With practised speed and precision, Kinuki quickly takes a hold of Kagome’s upturned hand and pricks her index finger with the very tip of her blade. 

 

The action only takes a few seconds, and it takes a couple more for Kagome to flinch from the pain and for the blood to well up in a little drop on her fingertip. 

 

“Kinuki!” 

 

Kagome whines, causing her younger twin to chuckle good naturedly. 

 

“Sorry, but you know it’s always easiest when I catch you off guard with stuff like this.”

 

Kinuki apologises, though Kagome sighs at her explanation, knowing that she’s right. 

 

‘…It’s 23.’

 

Kagome answers mentally, causing Kinuki’s smile to widen as she gives her older sister a proud nod. 

 

“It’s not an especially deep wound, so we should probably hurry and get the two of you blood bonded.”

 

Kinuki probes, nudging Kagome towards the suspiciously quiet hanyou. 

 

Inuyasha was only being so quiet though, because it was taking him a moment to come to grips with what he’d just seen. 

 

Kinuki had just hurt her older sister, and she had the bleeding wound to prove it, yet the auras of the twins remained pleasant and even amicable. 

 

Kinuki didn’t feel guilty for injuring her sister, and Kagome wasn’t mad at Kinuki for inflicting the wound on her hand in the first place. 

 

These twins were REALLY confusing! 

 

Sighing as Inuyasha reacts to Kinuki’s statement by taking a step towards the two miko, he finds his eyes widening when a shout of warning and sudden yelp reaches his ears. 

 

When Kinuki had nudged Kagome forward, her foot had gotten caught on one of the raised roots of the Goshinboku, sending her careening towards the ground. 

 

Acting on instinct, Inuyasha immediately moved forward to catch the falling miko, the speed of his movement and his outstretched arm causing the sleeve of his haori to slid up his arm, revealing the bare flesh of his forearm… which Kagome made a desperate grab for… with the hand that was attached to her bleeding index finger. 

 

The instant her bleeding finger made contact with Inuyasha’s bare skin, all three of them felt their auras pulse. 

 

‘Say something, Kags!’

 

Kinuki thinks, as the pulse suddenly repeats itself. 

 

‘Any suggestions?’ 

 

Kagome asks her twin, presently drawing a blank herself. 

 

‘Like what?’

 

Kinuki asks exasperatedly, grimacing when her soul gives another, stronger, pulse. 

 

‘That’s what I’m asking myself too.’

 

Kagome answers humourlessly. 

 

‘…He called it an exchange, that’s almost like a vow, right?’

 

Kinuki clarifies. 

 

Kagome gives a physical nod in answer this time. 

 

‘Ok, so, promise him something! Vow to trust him.’

 

Kinuki brainstorms, her thoughts starting to fray as the pulses within her soul are getting stronger AND more frequent. 

 

Kagome’s eyes light up at her sister’s suggestion though. 

 

“I vow to trust Inuyasha.”

 

She says, her words earning the three of them a final strong pulse, before a much milder beat takes its place. 

 

Gasping for air, and the sisters realise they’d started to hold their breath as soon as Inuyasha had caught Kagome. 

 

After a few deep breaths, the girls turn to give each other a happy smile. 

 

“…Would you look at that.” 

 

Inuyasha murmurs, causing the twins to look up at him with mirrored expressions of confused curiosity. 

 

Their eyes widen however, when Inuyasha holds up his arm, for them to see the new tattoo the hanyou is now sporting. 

 

Dark red, but with an undertone of shimmering blue, the place where Kagome’s finger had found Inuyasha’s arm now sports the Kanji for trust. 

 

“I guess it’s your turn now.”

 

Kagome points out, moving to take a step closer to Inuyasha and surprising a proud grin out of her little sister. 

 

Inuyasha cocks his head at her though, not quite sure what she means. 

 

Seeing that Inuyasha’s silence is starting to annoy her sister, and knowing that Kagome will more than likely blow a fuse before asking him why he’s being quiet, Kinuki quickly steps in. 

 

“You need to mark Kagome with your blood and make a vow to her as well, Inuyasha. That’s how an exchange usually works.”

 

Kinuki informs the confused hanyou with a kind smile. 

 

“Oh… any preference for where you want it?”

 

His eyes light up with understanding before he turns back to look down at Kagome. 

 

Said party was currently trying very hard to make her wide-eyed blushing expression go away, as she dragged her traitorous thoughts out of the gutter. 

 

‘Jeez Kagome, he tried to KILL you less than three days ago!’ 

 

She scolds herself mentally. 

 

Kinuki snickers at her sister’s predicament, easily able to see where her sister’s mind has, briefly, wandered off to. 

 

‘He means the tattoo.’

 

Kinuki thinks, doing her best to play down the humour she feels at her sister’s current situation. 

 

‘I KNOW that.’

 

Kagome grumbles in reply. 

 

‘Ok then… So, what’s a good place you can hide a tattoo?’ 

 

Kinuki asks, taking mercy on her sister and changing the topic to something else. 

 

‘I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about it.’

 

Kagome answers honestly. 

 

‘I mean, there’s always the cliché of getting it wherever and then covering it with makeup for school and work and stuff.’

 

She continues. 

 

‘Hm… I think a physical hiding place would be better though. Like, behind your ear, or on the inside of your ankle, or something.’

 

Kinuki argues. 

 

Kagome pulls a face at her suggestions though. 

 

‘Apart from the fact that you KNOW I don’t like anyone near my feet, behind my ear means I’ll have to wash his blood out of my hair, so, no thank you.’

 

Kagome rebuffs her sister politely. 

 

‘…But I agree with you that it should probably be somewhere not directly in someone’s line of sight.’

 

The elder sister concedes. 

 

‘What about the base of your neck?’

 

Kinuki suddenly thinks excitedly. 

 

‘You usually have your hair open anyway, and, if you wear any high collar tops, that’ll be an extra layer of insurance… Of course, it’ll be difficult for you to apply makeup to that location, but, if two mirrors and a compact of foundation fail you, I can always help.’

 

She explains and Kagome finds herself liking Kinuki’s idea. 

 

‘Sounds good.’

 

She replies with a kind smile. 

 

“The base of my neck would be good, please.”

 

She says upon turning her attention back to the patiently waiting hanyou. 

 

Inuyasha nods, resolving to ask the twins how they were able to communicate without words sometime soon. 

 

It was freaky how they stayed quiet for such long intervals without feeling the least bit uncomfortable, and the way they sometimes looked at one another, Inuyasha was sure that there was more to the twins than they were letting on. 

 

But there was also more to him than he let on, so, even-steven, right? 

 

Waiting for a brief moment, Kagome turns her back to Inuyasha and pulls her hair over her shoulder, holding it out of the way with her hands. 

 

Using his claws, Inuyasha quickly pricks his finger, immediately applying the bleeding digit to the base of Kagome’s neck, just shy of the line of her shoulders. 

 

“I vow to protect Kagome.”

 

Inuyasha says in a tone of voice so certain, both twins find themselves blinking at the fact that he’s being so serious. 

 

‘That’s a genuine side of him I didn’t think I’d get to see for some time yet…’

 

Kinuki muses. Though surprised, she’s also happy to see that Inuyasha is treating this pact with a seriousness that befits their situation. 

 

‘Really? I didn’t even know he COULD be serious until that conversation with Jii-chan.’

 

Kagome answers. 

 

‘Oh no, he’s given me a few glimpses of his serious side a couple of times already… But I meant it specifically in regard to us.’

 

Kinuki shoots back. 

 

‘How so?’

 

Kagome questions. 

 

‘Well, we’re still JUST getting to know him, and I’m not one for fooling myself. I’m pretty sure the only reason he initially agreed to help us with the search for the jewel shards was so that he could use it to make his wish when we have the complete jewel again, which makes us little more than shard detecting tools. But, by promising to protect us, he’s treating us like people and not just things.’ 

 

Kinuki explains. 

 

It hurts to think that someone who you see as a friend might think of you as little more than a tool, but up until that point Inuyasha hadn’t really given her any reason to doubt her thoughts on the matter.

 

It felt so relieving to know that Inuyasha thought of her and Kagome as more than just useful tools, at least to the point where he was willing to protect them.  

 

‘He’s much kinder than he lets on, isn’t he?’

 

Kagome murmurs, a small smile playing at her lips. 

 

‘Once you get past his temper, he’s more than just kind.’

 

Kinuki hints, her own smile growing to show a happy sparkle in her eyes as her thought gets a little chuckle out of her twin. 

 

“…What are you two doing?”

 

Inuyasha asks, causing both girls to give a start at his sudden intrusion upon their thoughts.

 

It takes them a short moment to collect themselves.  

 

“Thinking about you.”

 

Kinuki then answers matter-of-factly, causing Kagome to shake her head as she drops it into her hands with a quiet groan. 

 

“How?”

 

Inuyasha presses, wondering if the twins will actually trust him with this secret way of communication and deciding to skip over their topic of thought for now. 

 

“…By thinking.”

 

Kinuki answers as if stating the obvious, which makes Kagome raise her head to roll her eyes in plain view of Inuyasha and her little sister even as Inuyasha’s jaw clenches while he fights to keep his cool. 

 

“I think he was asking about our telepathy Ki.”

 

Kagome points out helpfully. 

 

“Tele-what?”

 

Inuyasha whispers under his breath, the earlier rise of his anger dissipating to be replaced with new confusion and curiosity. 

 

“Oh! I guess we were quiet longer than usual.”

 

Kinuki ponders, before turning back to Inuyasha. 

 

“Ok, so, I already told you that Kagome and I are twins. And, apparently, as twins, the two of us can choose to communicate with each other through a mental channel, which is pretty much what telepathy is.”

 

Kinuki sums up with a smile, Kagome nodding her agreement with her explanation, before turning around to look at Inuyasha herself. 

 

“It does require some concentration on our part, but we’ve been doing it so long that we almost automatically communicate telepathically when we’re both quiet.”

 

She gives a helpless shrug before continuing. 

 

“That doesn’t mean we can’t do it when one or both of us are talking, but it requires more concentration than when we’re both quiet.”

 

She explains. 

 

“And we can only do it when we’re in each other’s line of sight. No see, no think.”

 

Kinuki tacks on, covering her eyes and tapping one finger to her temple in time with her last words. 

 

Inuyasha hums a short response, needing a moment to fully digest what the twins were telling him. 

 

The way they explained it, telepathy wasn’t all that different to pack mentality. The only difference being that pack mentality was only ever used to coordinate an attack through a mental channel that could only be accessed by pack members.  

 

“Don’t worry, we’re not mind readers or anything, so your thoughts are all yours… unless you feel like sharing them the normal, verbal way.”

 

Kinuki suddenly pips up. 

 

Her words wring a wry chuckle from Inuyasha. 

 

For such a smart miko, she sure loved jumping to the wrong conclusions. 

 

“I’m not worried about you snooping through my thoughts, if you had that ability you probably would have done it when I was still trapped in that old hag’s sutra cage… I’m just, trying to figure some stuff out.”

 

He says vaguely, though his words serve to release some of the tension Kinuki had been building up in her shoulders at the thought of losing Inuyasha’s trust over a simple misunderstanding. 

 

“Like?”

 

Kinuki probes gently, coming to stand next to Kagome and thus closer to Inuyasha. 

 

“Like why your auras stopped pulsing as soon as I completed the exchange with Kagome, even though my initial offer was to protect both of you.”

 

He points out, making the girls freeze for a moment. 

 

‘Huh, it really has stopped.’

 

Kinuki thinks with a surprised blink. 

 

‘You don’t say.’

 

Kagome thinks dryly. 

 

‘LOVE your quirk of pointing out the obvious big sis.’

 

Kinuki replies sarcastically. 

 

‘Ye-no, that would be you.’

 

Kagome points out.

 

‘Alright, true… Next move?’

 

Kinuki asks. 

 

‘Well, you could always ask if he’d be willing to enter a pact with you too.’

 

Kagome suggests. 

 

‘He’d probably say yes though…’

 

Kinuki murmurs. 

 

‘…Isn’t that the point?’

 

Kagome asks, a bit of confusion creeping into her tone. 

 

‘Rather than the point, I’d say it’s more the problem.’

 

Kinuki specifies. 

 

‘…sorry, you’ve lost me.’

 

Kagome declares after a short pause. 

 

Kinuki sighs aloud before returning to her telepathic conversation. 

 

‘If I ask him to enter a pact with me, he’ll feel like he HAS to, because he’s already made a pact with you, and I don’t want to force him to make a pact with me.’

 

‘Ok, then don’t ask him.’

 

Kagome says. 

 

‘But what if he takes that to mean that I EXPECT him to protect me even without a pact?’

 

Kinuki shoots back, causing Kagome to let out a long-suffering sigh. 

 

‘Ki. Instead of discussing this with me, why don’t you just ask HIM? He won’t bite your head off for asking a question.’

 

Kagome replies, a small smile on her lips as she cuts off the connection to her younger sister. 

 

‘True enough.’

 

Kinuki thinks with a sheepish little exhale.

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

His ear flicks at the questioning call of his name, even as he forces himself to be patient with the younger miko. 

 

It wasn’t like he could ask to be included in their little twin thought thing, but it did make him feel just the slightest bit left out when they used it. 

 

“What?”

 

He asks, keeping his voice kind, despite not being in the best of moods. 

 

“I was just wondering… if you WANT to enter a pact with me too?”

 

Kinuki braves asking, the question causing Inuyasha’s irritation to fade almost completely. 

 

“You’re asking ME?”

 

He questions. 

 

“Uh, yeah, since, you know, it’s YOUR choice if you want to enter a pact with me or not.”

 

Kinuki points out slowly. 

 

That one sentence was all it took for Inuyasha to realise that he really had a true friend in Kinuki. The honesty of her words still astounded him, but he was actually glad to know that he would always be able to believe Kinuki’s word. 

 

“Then no.”

 

He answers without a second thought. 

 

Kinuki presses her lips together but nods, respecting his decision. 

 

Inuyasha smirks, slowly growing accustomed to reading Kinuki’s expressions. 

 

“Why would I force myself to protect you when I can just do it because I want to?”

 

He asks rhetorically, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight when Kinuki whips her head up to look at him again, worry and hope shining in her eyes. 

 

‘Told you.’

 

Kagome whispers smugly. 

 

Kinuki just waves her thought away as if swatting a personal little devil off her shoulder. 

 

“Besides, if you keep training, you won’t even need to be protected.”

 

Inuyasha points out, referring to their morning sparring session and her steadily stabilising powers. 

 

“…Wait a minute! Why’d you make the pact with me then?”

 

Kagome suddenly bursts out. 

 

“’Cause trouble seems to like your scent more than any other person I’ve ever met.”

 

Inuyasha points out bluntly. 

 

Kinuki cutting herself off mid-laugh by biting her bottom lip until the quaking of her stomach subsides some. 

 

‘Of all the…’

 

Kagome cuts off her own thought, clenching her hands into tense fists. 

 

‘You know he’s only telling the truth.’ 

 

Kinuki supplies, and Kagome knows that they’re both being honest, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult to accept. 

 

“It’s not like I ASK trouble to follow me around.”

 

She grumbles. 

 

Kinuki chuckles. 

 

“We know, but it certainly seems to have a knack for finding you.”

 

She pips up, ducking a half-hearted swipe of one of her sister’s fists with a grin. 

 

“Come on, it’s getting late, and I bet Mama and Jii-chan are wondering why we suddenly dashed out of the house like that.”

 

Kinuki says, changing the topic, even as she deftly takes Inuyasha’s hand in one of hers and Kagome’s hand in the other, before headed toward the front door, which is still open from when Inuyasha dashed through it before.  

 

“So… is it ok with you if we leave sometime tomorrow evening?”

 

Kagome asks once the three of them are back inside and have snuck into Inuyasha’s room to talk over the plan for tomorrow. 

 

“The sooner we start hunting, the sooner we’ll finish.”

 

Inuyasha points out as he takes a seat on his futon, claws clicking as he taps his fingers on the floor beside him. 

 

“Well, yeah, but, if we don’t settle this now, it’ll drag on and on for a REALLY long time.”

 

Kinuki points out, flopping down on a different part of Inuyasha’s futon. 

 

“I don’t understand why you even need to go to this skool thing… or the police, or the doctor.”

 

He lists irately. 

 

“…Think of it as a matter of honour.”

 

Kagome tries. She’s currently sitting on the bed opposite her sister and new acquaintance. 

 

“honour?”

“honour?”

 

Inuyasha and Kinuki echo in the same disbelieving and confused tone. 

 

“Yes. We have to go to school to get an education so that we can get well-paid jobs later and take care of our family when Mama retires.”

 

Kagome explains, letting out a small sigh of relief when those words seem to placate Inuyasha some. 

 

“And what do you expect me to do tomorrow?”

 

He asks sceptically.

 

The girls blink. 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Kinuki asks. Her head cocked to the side in its usual questioning manner. 

 

“This is your time. You guys almost died in mine, and you said it yourself, I’m not weak, but I’m also not exactly aware of the rules you have here and shit. All I know so far is that you wear strange clothes, the air smells weird and it’s much louder here than it is in my time.”  

 

Inuyasha points out. 

 

‘He has a point.’

 

Kinuki notes. 

 

‘Yeah, but giving a modern era crash course isn’t exactly something you do on a Saturday, when you have a ton of errands to run.’

 

Kagome says. 

 

‘Still, it’s not like we can take him with us to all the places we’re going.’

 

Kinuki points out. 

 

‘Definitely not!’

 

Kagome agrees. 

 

‘Souta?’

 

Kinuki suggests. 

 

‘Jii-chan is taking him to soccer in the morning and he’s staying over at a teammates place after.’

 

Kagome shoots her down. 

 

‘…and we need Mama and Jii-chan with us for most of the official stuff too.’

 

Kinuki adds. 

 

‘He could just hang out around the shrine grounds till we get back…’

 

Kagome offers. 

 

‘and what if a shrine-goer sees him jumping around or lounging in a tree? The news would spread like wildfire! And the shrine would suffer as a result… That won’t work.’

 

Kinuki counters. 

 

‘Well what WOULD work?’

 

Kagome snaps. 

 

Kinuki ponders her question for a moment, before her head suddenly snaps up to look at Inuyasha. 

 

“Want to test something with me?”

 

She asks. 

 

The question is so out of the blue that Inuyasha actually starts a little. 

 

“Keh.”

 

He shrugs indifference, but there’s a spark of curiosity in his eyes. 

 

“Great, let’s head back to the well then.”

 

Kinuki says with a grin, easily rising, walking over to the room’s window, opening it and jumping out in one smooth motion. 

 

Inuyasha and Kagome both whip their heads around to look at each other in total shock and befuddlement, before blinking once and rushing to the windowsill, leaning out and seeing Kinuki standing on the grass and looking up at them expectantly. 

 

“Come on you guys, what’s the hold up?”

 

Kinuki whispers, smiling when she sees Inuyasha’s ear flick and a wicked smirk appear on his face. 

 

Since he’s semi-behind Kagome already anyway, all he has to do, is encircle her waist with his arm and follow Kinuki’s lead. 

 

‘You have GOT to stop it with those jump scares of yours.’ 

 

Kagome chastens half-heartedly. 

 

‘Nah, they’re too much fun… and besides, my self-defence course almost covered more escape tactics than actual defensive movements, so I could jump out of a third story window and STILL be fine. Jumping onto our lawn from that window? That was a warm-up exercise.’

 

Kinuki points out smugly. Doing her best to hide the fact that she both forgot about and aggravated her sprained ankle by jumping out of that window and commando rolling into a soft landing on the grass. 

 

It seems to work well enough. 

 

Kagome barely gets out a relieved breath when she feels Inuyasha’s arm around her waist. Her eyes widen when his grip tightens, and she realises a second too late what he’s planning. 

 

‘Have fun.’ 

 

Kinuki singsongs cheekily, her eyes sparkling with mirth. 

 

‘Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Don’t scream!’

Kagome chants as she screws her eyes shut and feels the sudden whoosh of air as Inuyasha launches out of the window with her firmly bound to his side.

 

- - - - - 

 

Author's Note 

 

Hello to all my lovely readers following TTT! 

 

I managed to stick to my schedule and finish Chapter 6 before Christmas! 

 

However, I wasn't able to include the fight against Yura JUST yet. 

It will DEFINITELY be in Chapter 7 though! So, keep your eyes peeled! 

 

Otherwise, I wish you a HAPPY HOLIDAY and I hope you continue to read and enjoy TTT! 

 

Until the next chapter! 

 

Tora 

 

P.S. I should have Chapter 7 done and uploaded sometime in January! 

P.P.S. As always, comments are very welcome and much appreciated!