FicWad

Okaeri Chapter 3
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and associated characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
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Chapter 3
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Inuyasha paused in his soundless flight at the foot of the stairs, heart pounding, and strained to catch the sound of pursuit, but there was none. No 'sit' either. I kissed Kagome. He couldn't believe he had done that. Had she been too surprised to 'sit' him? Would it have been too loud? Maybe she was saving retribution for the morning. But she kissed me earlier today-I was just paying her back. Yeah. All he could hear was the faint sound of a sigh, and then silence. Ears flicking, he slowly made his way to the living room where the futon awaited. He stretched out on it, his thoughts drowning out the sound of Jijii's snores. I kissed Kagome, and she let me. A sudden grin lit his face. Things were looking up.

The futon, slightly musty from having been in storage, was not uncomfortable; he tried to relax enough to get some sleep. The looming black void of the 'television' was faintly disturbing, and he turned on his side to face away from it. If only it wasn't so noisy down here, and it still smelled of some kind of spicy food in this room too...well, he had put up with a lot worse than this. The nicest thing about this house was the way Kagome's scent wove through everything...

At some point during the night, he did manage to drift off; he woke after dawn at the sound of people stirring. He sat up abruptly, and then relaxed, remembering where he was. He got up and stretched; shortly Mama emerged from her room, padding down the hallway and peering into the living room. She seemed a bit dismayed that he was awake and up already.

"Inuyasha, did you sleep well?"

"Ah...the old man snores a lot."

"Oh! Well, you should have woken me. We could have moved you to Souta's room..."

Inuyasha winced; yeah, he should have settled this yesterday. /I'd never get any damn rest with that kid pestering me all the time. /He folded his hands into his sleeves as he stepped into the hallway. "Uh, no, that's alright. It was fine. I can always sleep outside, anyway."

"Sleep outside! Dear, I'm sure it's much more comfortable inside, it's still chilly out. We'll think of something else if you don't want to share a room with Souta..."

Dammit//-- "No, it's alright! I like it outside!"

"I'll ask Jii-chan. I think he had some ideas." With that she proceeded thoughtfully to the kitchen; pans and bowls clattered as she began breakfast preparations. Not sure if I want to know what kind of ideas the old crackpot might have. /Maybe Kagome could say something to her mother that would induce her to /not worry /about /him. He stared after her for a moment, and followed her, for lack of any other diversions; he didn't know how to turn on the 'television' thing. Might as well sit in the kitchen to wait for Kagome.

The other members of the family appeared gradually. Souta came down first, with a grin for his hero, followed by Kagome in her navy blue high school uniform, yawning. He hunched his shoulders defensively, but she only gave him a sweet smile. She wasn't mad? Bemused, he continued eating the breakfast that Mama set in front of him, occasionally sneaking sideways peeks at Kagome, and pondered her behavior; his spirits lifted further. /Did I do something right? /Kagome definitely seemed to be in a good mood. The old man finally showed up, carrying his 'newspaper'; Inuyasha and Kagome both missed the searching look he gave his granddaughter, who was still smiling faintly as she served herself rice and miso.

She occasionally peeked back at him as she ate, oblivious to her grandfather's scrutiny; Inuyasha managed to avoid actually meeting her eyes. She was making him nervous now. Gradually, though, her pretty brows crinkled in evident thought, and she stared off into space, absently picking at her food. Or was she still half asleep? When she had nearly finished eating, she faced the old man suddenly, and asked, "Jii-chan, how far back do the records of the shrine go?" Inuyasha looked at her out of the corner of his eye. So she /was /awake; she looked determined, but not upset as she had been last night.

Her grandfather lifted bushy eyebrows at her. "You should know this already, Kagome, but in the shrine office we have records going back as far as the Meiji Era," he pronounced proudly.

Her disappointment was patently obvious as her face fell. "That's only a little more than a hundred years or so. There's nothing earlier?"

"Hmm." Slightly taken aback, he stroked his beard as he regarded her. "Many shrines don't even have that much, granddaughter. I'll tell you, we did have an archive of some very ancient records at one time...I remember my father going through them once, before the war ended. They've been lost for some time now, though. Let me think about it a bit, and see if I can guess where they might be."

Kagome had brightened at his words. "Thanks, Jii-chan. I can help you look when I get home from school." She got to her feet, picking up her breakfast dishes and carrying them to the sink. Inuyasha's eyes followed her, trying to discern her mood now; she appeared contemplative, a shadow of disquiet hinting at the thoughts behind that calm façade. She obviously hadn't forgotten about his question last night. Maybe the old man would be able to find those papers today. Inuyasha thought back, trying to remember if he'd ever seen Kaede keeping anything like that; he remembered the noxious smell of ink in the old hag's hut, but couldn't recall what she had been using it for. Maybe writing letters. She was probably the only native of that village who could read and write.

Shortly both Souta and Kagome had gathered their things and were out the door; Kagome gave him another of those smiles that he wished he could interpret as she left. Inuyasha listened to her fading steps outside, and gave thought to what he would do here, since he could no longer go back and lounge in his own world. It was pointless to follow her to school; it was harder to stay inconspicuous in daylight, and she would ignore him anyway, or even worse, try to force him to go away. Exploring would also have to wait for the cover of darkness. Well, what he had usually done when here any length of time, waiting for Kagome, had been to help the old man with chores around the shrine. He turned to face Jijii, to surprise that speculative look on his face again; the old man narrowed his eyes slightly.

Inuyasha was starting to get annoyed. "What?" he barked. The old man raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing, boy, nothing. So, what were you going to do today?"

"Hmph. You got something you need help with?"

Jijii smiled slightly. "Oh yes, a couple of things."
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Kagome found herself veering to the well house as she crossed the courtyard; Souta didn't notice she wasn't following him until he had reached the steps, and she caught his exasperated yell. "I'm coming! I'm just going to check something!" she yelled back. She didn't bother to look back to see him shake his head and continue down the steps.

Sliding the door back, she paused, leaning against the wall. The dim interior looked unchanged from all the other times she had seen it; dust motes danced in the morning light beaming through the open door. Was it real? The well, which had so transformed her life, was it really just an old curiosity now? Impossible. She closed her eyes briefly, stretching her senses. She thought back to the events of the day before, when she had done...something...in her desperate attempt to reconnect with Inuyasha. She had been able to sense his youki, and had also been aware of the fading magic of the well. Kikyou's memory had supplied a formula for opening gateways, and she had done it; that Inuyasha was here was proof that something had worked. Could she do it again? Stepping down until she stood before the shaft, she placed her hands on the rim and concentrated, but after several minutes had to concede that nothing was happening this time. The well was completely unresponsive and inert. An old dry well, just as she had always thought of it before her fifteenth birthday. She clenched her hands on the wood; tears pricked at her eyes, and she blinked them away angrily. She wasn't going to give up that easily. It was unbearable to think that they would never be able to see their friends again without at least trying some more. She turned around and hurried up the steps, closing the well house doors behind her, and rushed to catch up with Souta.

She checked in at the main office when she arrived at the high school, as she usually did whenever she got back from trips to the feudal era. She had managed to convince her grandfather to come up with a better story to explain her absences when she started at the new school, one that was more believable than chronic health problems, since Kagome was obviously quite healthy and vigorous. Jii-chan and Mama had met with the administrator and explained that Kagome was undergoing intense spiritual training in remote mountain retreats, and would be away frequently. The administrator had very politely accepted the story at face value, coming from a priest of Jii-chan's stature, although Kagome wasn't sure what he privately thought of it. Regardless, it had been arranged that whenever she came back from her sojourns she would check in at the office and pick up assignments and study materials. On top of the stack of papers that was handed to her this morning was a note from the guidance counselor, indicating that she was to see him as soon as possible. She took herself off to his office accordingly.

Mr. Hirano smiled and waved her in when she tapped on the doorframe. She had always felt comfortable with the counselor, a man in late middle age who she knew to have several children of his own; he was unfailingly courteous and friendly, and sympathetic to her efforts to keep up in school in addition to her "religious studies". He gestured to the chair beside his desk. "Ah, Higurashi-kun. How has your training been going? Are you back in school for the duration, I hope?"

She sat down, carefully controlling her expression. "It looks like I may be finished with training for the time being, Hirano-sensei. I don't foresee going back to the retreat anytime soon."

"Well, that's good! You'll be able to concentrate on your finals, then. Now, you took some entrance exams before you left this last time, correct?" He leaned over a file drawer, extracted a file marked with her name, and spread it out on his desk. "You indicated interest in several universities the last time I talked to you, and I understand you passed the nationals."

"Yes, sir. I took the exams for Waseda and Kokugakuin. I'm waiting for the results to be published."

He ran a finger down a list in her file. "I see. Hmm. Kokugakuin University, with its Shinto studies program, would seem to be a natural fit for you, given the religious instruction you've been undergoing and your shrine background." He paused to look up at her.

"I'm sure my grandfather would like that, as he attended there." She smiled. "But I'm also interested in Waseda University. They have a good history department."

"Aiming high, are you? Good, good. I don't think I need to warn you that competition will be intense." Mr. Hirano leaned back in his chair and regarded her. "Well, you'll have to decide which university will do more for you, assuming you've passed the exams. Kokugakuin has a well-known history department as well, and if you decide later that you wish to pursue Shinto studies, you won't be able to do that at Waseda." He frowned for a moment. "Perhaps I'm assuming too much. I had thought, given all the time that you've been spending on religious training, that you were planning on a shrine career; has all this been your family's idea, or yours?"

"Oh no, sensei, my studies were my own idea. I'm just not sure if I want to take the next step." And that's if I even get in to either one...

"Well, Higurashi-kun, consider your interests and the time you've invested so far, and choose well. My feeling is that if you get into Kokugakuin, you have more choices; you can pursue shrine studies or history, and change your mind at any point without worrying about changing schools. Or you can pursue both. Think about it."

Kagome thanked him for his time, and walked thoughtfully to class. There was a lot to be said for his advice; and he was right, Shinto studies seemed perfect, though history would be natural as well. Both would draw upon her experience in the past. If she became a history major, she could easily specialize in the feudal era, and if she pursued Shinto studies she could earn the accreditation required for running a shrine-though she was still hesitant about that. Was that her desire, or an echo of Kikyou's?

She just wasn't certain she wanted to stake her future on the shrine and on a degree from a school renowned nowadays mostly for religious training and a nationalistic past. Something in her rebelled at the idea; before her experiences in the feudal age, she had not even considered following in Jii-chan's footsteps as head priest at the shrine, but a lot had changed since then. She had changed. She knew her talents and experience, as unusual as they were, shouldn't be wasted. Somehow she couldn't see getting a degree in something innocuous and going off to work in an office for a while, then getting married to some salaryman and having 2.5 children. She smiled to herself in amusement, her steps slowing, and someone bumped into her from behind; she immediately sped up again after exchanging apologies with the harried-looking boy who bumped her. When had she stopped thinking about that? Probably sometime after I met a certain cranky hanyou...

She seldom saw her old girlfriends from junior high, but when she did these days they talked about nearly nothing else but finding good marriage prospects. It seemed to her that the only reason they wanted to get into college was to meet men. She had usually listened with only half an ear, as her concentration was given almost entirely to her mission, as she regarded it, in the feudal age. After meeting Inuyasha, they had been a bit more reconciled to their friend 'dating' him, but she still got the feeling they had reservations about him as someone to get serious about. But what did they know about his character, or the things they had gone through together? Yes, now she was back in the real world for good, and had to think about real-world things. But still, she doubted she could find any modern guy who could measure up to him. She felt warm as she thought of Inuyasha; his concern for her, the way he had hugged her last night, and then the brief kiss. The real world is bearable because Inuyasha will share it with me. Somehow we'll find a way. The bell rang, and she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, concentrating instead on getting to class.

The day passed fairly quickly. She was dismayed to learn that she had several make-up exams that she would have to take on Saturday; she would have to study like a fiend to prepare. The few friends she had managed to make in the small amount of time she had actually spent at the high school were happy to see her, and glad to hear that she would be able to finish out the school year without further interruptions. Several offered to copy their notes for her. The results of entrance exams were the topic of discussion on everyone's minds at this time of year. She wistfully wondered which schools her junior high friends were trying for. They had all managed better scores than her on high school entrance exams, even Ayumi, and had gone to higher-ranked schools; as a consequence she saw them infrequently now because of their completely incompatible schedules. Of course, they'd had time for cram school and studying. She'd spent her time hunting shards and fighting Naraku. She wished that Naraku had not chosen to reveal himself right at the time she should have been studying for exams; just as inconveniently, he had gone to ground and hidden for some time after the damage had been done to her scores. Jerk.

Well, I shouldn't feel too bad about that, she thought as she walked home that afternoon. He had to be hunted down and destroyed. It was way more important than getting into a better high school. /Who knows what might have happened if Naraku had lived./ Examining her feelings, she realized that she didn't harbor any bitterness (though she certainly still thought he was a jerk for his timing), especially when she thought what a relief it was to know that he would never threaten anyone again. She looked about her as she passed through her home neighborhood, thinking about how this same area had been within the bounds of the village in the feudal era; she smiled and waved at neighbors as she passed, and wondered if they were descended from people she had known then. The village-safe/. /And Kaede could breathe easy, finally. And Miroku was saved from his curse, and Sango got revenge for her family...and Kikyou was able to rest. Maybe that was enough to satisfy Inuyasha...

When she arrived home, she found herself drawn to where Inuyasha was; without bothering to put her bookbag in the house, she crossed the white stones of the courtyard, moving unerringly towards the feel of his youki. She turned the corner of the shrine storage shed with happy anticipation, and was brought up short to find him sitting outside the shed's door, arms crossed and looking peeved. A cap disguised his ears, and his haori lay next to him on the ground. It looked like nearly every box that had been in the storage shed was stacked outside, some open. Souta was poking curiously in one of them nearby. Kagome could hear her grandfather muttering to himself inside the building, and the occasional sound of paper shuffling.

"Inuyasha, what's all this?" A sweep of her hand encompassed the spread of boxes, a puzzled frown on her face.

"Keh! That senile old fart had me drag every box out here so he could look for the old papers! I told him I could tell which ones smelled of paper and ink without getting them all down, but he wouldn't listen to me. He's looked in every fucking box. We did the same thing earlier with that other little building." He waved in the direction of the shrine office. "I can't believe the amount of junk that's hoarded away here. That shit over there is ancient, but he doesn't want to throw it out." He pointed to a box marked 'pickles'.

She walked over to the box in question, looked in, and blanched. There were jars of pickled radish in there that she remembered old Mrs. Matsuda giving them more than a few years ago. She silently determined to get rid of them later. For now, she wanted to see if he had found anything that might tell her what had happened after the well closed. She entered the shed, to find Jii-chan hunched over a box, looking at what appeared to be old and yellowed letters. He looked up when she came in.

"Ah, Kagome. I haven't found the archives, but I think I've gotten a hint. These are letters that my father received from my older brother during the war." Kagome remembered that her great-uncle had been a soldier, and had not made it back to Japan at war's end. "He is telling my father that the war was not going well, and to be sure to secure the treasures of the shrine in case the worst happened." Jii-chan looked down at the letter, his face still. "And it did, of course. I was too young for my father to talk to me of such matters, but I think he may have concealed the oldest records somewhere, with the other heirlooms, when it was clear the Americans were coming."

"What war was this? There were foreigners here?" Inuyasha had padded in behind Kagome; his expression indicated skepticism. He was shrugging on his haori as he spoke.

"Not just Musashi, Inuyasha. All of Japan was defeated and occupied, more than fifty years ago. Remember I showed you my modern history book?"

"Yeah, I remember now. They used some huge weapon in Kyushu country, didn't they?" Inuyasha's face had cleared, and he was looking down into the box of letters with some curiosity. "Hmph. Wonder what my asshole brother thought of /that/. Kyushu is part of his lands."

Sesshoumaru//-could he still be alive? The idea gave her pause-how could a taiyoukai exist in the modern world without a hint of his presence known to anyone? Kagome shook her head, putting the thought aside. "So you think Great-Grandfather hid the documents somewhere? And what sort of treasures? Why didn't he retrieve them after the war, Jii-chan?"

Her grandfather had a faraway look on his face; he blinked at her question and looked up at her from his position on the floor next to the box. "You don't know what it was like, granddaughter. The war itself was terrible, but what came after was almost as bad. It wasn't just that much of Tokyo was firebombed to ashes. The countryside and crops were destroyed as well, there was nothing to eat, and you had to fear your own countrymen stealing from you more than the foreigners. I'm sure Father kept the relics hid as much to protect them from theft as to keep from being tempted to sell them himself. I know he did sell some things, it was that desperate. It was hard to find any food, and Father gave most of what he got to Mother and me." Jii-chan sighed and closed his eyes. "That's probably why he got sick and died soon after the war. He wouldn't eat if we were hungry."

"Jii-chan..." Kagome breathed, in pity and sadness. "That's...that's awful. Couldn't he have saved some of it for himself...?"

"No. That's what a man should do. His wife and kids come first." Inuyasha was staring with peculiar concentration at the old man. "So this realm hasn't always been so peaceful and prosperous, eh?" the hanyou continued.

Jii-chan looked up at Inuyasha, and their eyes met and held for a moment. "No, it hasn't." He closed the box carefully, and creakily got to his feet. "Kagome, I feel certain that the archives are somewhere on the shrine grounds, but well hidden, and my father may even have set spiritual protections on them." He paused and regarded her intently. "His powers were great, much more so than mine. They could be concealed in one of the buildings or they may have been buried somewhere." He glanced at the hanyou, standing beside Kagome with his arms folded in his sleeves. "Maybe the dog-demon here can sniff them out."

Inuyasha withdrew his clenched fists from his sleeves, bristling. "I'm not a fucking hound!"

Jii-chan continued blithely, "We were lucky that the shrine survived the war without much damage, so I am sure they still exist." With that he started past them out of the shed, pausing to pat Inuyasha on the shoulder. "I'm going in for some tea. Put the boxes away, will you boy? They're definitely not in these. We didn't need to take all of them down after all." The old man appeared blissfully unaware of the outraged look the hanyou was shooting daggerlike at his back as he slowly made his way to the house.

"DAMMIT-"

"Inuyasha." Kagome cut him off before he exploded. He glared at her angrily.

"What? That fucking geezer! I told him before that he didn't need to look through all of them!" He scowled. "You're helping me with this, wench. And we're going to throw some of this crap out, so I don't have to put it back."

"All right. As it happens, I agree with you that some of this has to go." She shuddered, thinking about the pickles. Jii-chan couldn't think they were still edible, could he? "But we can also check and see if there's anything concealed in here. You didn't notice anything magical in all this, did you?"

"I didn't notice anything, but that doesn't mean much." Inuyasha hefted the box of letters back onto the shelf. "If there had been a barrier or protection on something, I probably would have noticed in a hurry, but anything else would have seemed like more old crap to me."

They spent the better part of the next hour putting crates and boxes back in the shed, and stealthily disposing of several boxes of junk, including rotting old clothes, broken pottery, and the deadly pickles. Souta had disappeared even before she had thought to draft him to help, the sneaky brat. Kagome winced at the thought of the time spent on this that she could have used for studying, but this was important too. While they worked she had also examined the shed, trying to sense if there was anything concealed magically here, but aside from a few talismans and other items in scattered boxes, there was nothing of note. They tried the walls, looking for secret compartments, but it quickly became apparent that the shed was exactly what it seemed. She gave up, trudging dispiritedly to the house at her mother's dinner call from the kitchen door. Inuyasha, walking with her, frowned at her demeanor.

"Hey." Inuyasha nudged her. "Don't be like that, Kagome. We'll find that stuff, and then we'll know what happened to the others after we left." She looked up at him, and felt reassured by the concern and determination in his regard of her. She nodded, giving him a tremulous smile, which he returned before turning his face away abruptly. Her spirits lifted, and she was able to greet her mother and brother cheerfully before they sat down to eat. She didn't notice the looks exchanged between her mother and grandfather as they observed the warm glances she gave Inuyasha throughout the meal, whenever she thought he wasn't looking. Only Souta noticed the slight smile on his mother's face, and wondered what it might be about, but kept his thoughts to himself.
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TBC