Unspoiled by forthright
Leave Them Alone, and They Will Come Home
Disclaimer: I do hereby disclaim all rights and responsibilities for the characters in this meanwhile, especially for the one who doesn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. A nod of recognition is bent towards Rumiko Takahashi for her creative prowess.
Leave Them Alone, and They Will Come Home
Hisoka’s sharp ears caught snatches of burgeoning excitement in the village, so he excused himself from Miroku and the children to investigate. Reining in his curiosity long enough to make a courteous inquiry of the elderly miko, he streaked up the hill towards the well with enough haste to send Kaede’s voluminous hakama flapping. This is the wrong hour! What could have gone awry?
Beside the well, the neko-youkai took several moments to calm down and take stock of the scents that sent his emotions spinning. She was here! Circling outward and spiraling back, he sifted through the three trails. Inuyasha’s ended, which implied that he’d jumped through time and hadn’t returned. Higurashi’s began, which implied that she’d returned through the portal, and she and his lordship’s scents led away together, headed in the opposite direction of the village. They have reunited. What was lost has been found.
Relief washed over him, even as the time difference nagged at his inquisitive mind. I am quite sure she should have arrived several hours ago, well before dawn. Hisoka gazed down into the empty shaft, and something that had not been there before caught his eye. Dropping into the shadowy depths, he crouched to pick up a cast-off pair of sandals. Higurashi’s scent and the setting vividly brought back that night. She was so very distraught... brave, yet fragile. I would have liked to be here to reassure her, but I cannot begrudge his lordship’s greater claim. Gazing thoughtfully at the square of blue sky overhead, he silently begged his former pupil not to be hasty.
Suddenly, the neko-youkai’s hair stood on end as a swell of power burst around him, and with a rush of ancient power, Inuyasha appeared in front of him. “At least the sun’s in the right place this time,” the hanyou muttered. Glancing down at the gawking cat demon, he said, “Oi... what are you doing down here?” Hisoka raised the sandals in wordless response, and Inuyasha crouched down beside him. “Lemme guess. Kagome’s back, but she ain’t here.”
“Yes... and no,” he confirmed.
With a soft growl of frustration, Inuyasha said, “Come on, then. It’s been a day, but we should still be able to track them.”
The hanyou sprang upwards, and after a startled moment, Hisoka followed, calling, “Inuyasha, if what Kaede-sama and the villagers are saying is true, you have only been gone for an hour.”
His eyebrows lifted then furrowed, and he quickly glanced at the position of the sun. “Well, damn... that’s messed up.”
“In what sense?”
“I jumped in the middle of the afternoon,” he replied, pointing towards the sun, then backing up the angle, indicating an hour ago. “When I showed up in Kagome’s time, it was the middle of the night. With one thing and another, they kept me way too busy, so by the time I got away and jumped back through, it was late afternoon. Same as now.” Inuyasha waved between the sun and the well, saying, “I was gone all day, and it was a damned confusing one.”
“Confusing?” prompted Hisoka.
“Hell, yeah,” Inuyasha replied gruffly. And with that, he stalked off, following the fresh trail left by his half-brother.
After a moment’s hesitation, the neko-youkai hurried to catch up. “I am quite certain his lordship will not harm Higurashi.”
“That bastard shouldn’t have run off with her, though,” he retorted indignantly. “He keeps spouting ‘she is mine, she is mine’ like saying it makes it true.”
“I was not aware that his lordship was capable of spouting,” Hisoka countered dryly.
“Yeah, well... there’s a hell of a lot of stuff that I wasn’t aware of,” Inuyasha groused.
Hisoka noted that though he doggedly followed his brother’s scent, the hanyou wasn’t rushing ahead. “Such as?”
Inuyasha’s jaw tightened, and he kept walking until the trail ended. Squinting into the sky, he huffed in annoyance, saying, “Just like he said... the bastard.”
“Who said?” Hisoka pried, feeling as if he’d missed something important.
Rounding on the neko-youkai, Inuyasha said, “Y’know, Sensei, you’re as bad as Miroku... not giving a straight answer unless someone asks the right question.”
“Is that so?” he replied cautiously.
Inuyasha folded his arms over his chest and fixed him with a scowl that did his sire proud. “How come you never told us that Sesshoumaru and Kagome are betrothed?”
Orange eyes widened, and Hisoka’s mind raced as he asked, “How did you learn of it?”
“You told me, Sensei.”
He shook his head. “I am most certain I did not.”
“Yeah, well you will,” Inuyasha snapped. “This whole time travel thing is giving me a headache.”
The neko-youkai ran his hand back and forth over the top of his head. “You spoke to me in the future?”
“More like you spoke to me... but yeah. You’re there.”
Growing very still, Hisoka admitted, “Higurashi did imply that she knew me, but she was cautious about giving details.”
With a snort, Inuyasha said, “Yeah, I got the whole don’t-screw-up-the-future lecture.”
With mounting curiosity, he begged, “Did I offer any explanations?”
“Nope.”
“How about advice?” Hisoka tried.
Inuyasha’s ears laid back, and he admitted, “Yeah... sorta.”
“Well?”
“You guys told me to do whatever the hell I want... since that’s all I ever do anyhow.”
Hisoka chuckled. “I seem to recall giving similar counsel to your father.”
The hanyou’s ears pricked, but he didn’t ask the questions that must have been lurking behind his gruff guard. Instead, he asked, “Do you know where Sesshoumaru took her?”
“Not specifically,” he replied honestly. “I could venture guesses, nothing more.”
For several minutes, the hanyou seemed torn, but he finally sighed and revealed, “Sesshoumaru promised that Kagome’s okay. He’ll bring her back in the morning.”
“He was there, too?”
“Keh... isn’t that what I just said?”
“And you believe him?”
“Guess so.” With a shifty-eyed shrug, he admitted, “He told me some stuff, and so far... everything’s like he said it would be.”
“May I ask a personal question, Inuyasha?”
“Guess so,” he repeated warily.
Hisoka inclined his head and began, “You were advised to do whatever you want?”
“Yeah.”
“Then may I inquire... do you know what you want?”
“That’s easy, Sensei,” he confidently replied. “I want to talk to Kagome.”
End Note: Posted on January 28, 2011. 1,036 words.