FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination 
mobile edition|
Author of 126 Stories |
Umarekawari Hijinks
By TwinEnigma
A teenaged boy with brown hair walked towards his home, looking troubled. His name is Hojou and he is a descendant of a noble and ancient family, though one wouldn't have guessed it at first glance. For his hair color is like that of a foreigner and he has the eyes of one as well. And it is sometimes whispered over sake that there may have been a youkai or two in the bloodline, that these coloring oddities are remnants of their magical heritage. He believes it is more likely foreign blood, as he is well aware that foreigners often came to this land well before it closed off its borders to trade. His world is not one of the magical, but of simple compassion and generosity, and it is just as well, for he doesn't believe in youkai or magical things.
He is a kind boy with a caring heart and, currently, the bulk of his concern is heaped upon a puzzling girl from school.
Her name is Higurashi Kagome and she has been ill for quite some time now. She was a nice girl, always sweet and polite, and he really liked her. Sadly, her frequent illnesses kept her at home more often than not and had caused her to forfeit dates with him on several occasions. He tried to give her gifts that would soothe her ailments, yet it seemed that for every illness that passed a new one took its place.
The familiar red torii of a small shrine of Inari alerted him to the fact that he was not far from home and, with a sigh, he started to pass it by. A white fox watched him from the top of the steps –
Hojou stopped mid-step, his eyes widening in shock.
...A white fox?
Normally, Hojou was not one to be superstitious, but this was Tokyo and foxes simply didn't live in such densely populated urban areas. Not to mention that the shrine in question was that of Inari, the Shinto Fortune of Foxes and Rice, and that the favored messengers of Inari were white foxes. Suffice to say, this was more than enough to prompt closer investigation.
The white fox was still there when he turned to look, its green eyes boring deep into his own. Then, with a flick of its tail, the fox turned and entered the shrine. He could not shake the feeling that it wanted him to follow and, curiously, he started up the steps.
Inside, the shrine was dark and devoid of any signs of the white fox. The boy shivered as he drew further inside; something was definitely here, he just knew it. It was a strange feeling, as though something was watching him from the darkness, and it deeply unsettled him.
Suddenly, blue flames burst from the floor with a roar. Hojou jumped back in fear, starting for the door. Moving with eerie fluidity, the blue fire rushed around him and blocked the door. The boy backed away again, hastily scanning the room for something to put out the flame.
"Fear not, boy," a voice commanded from behind him. "No harm shall come to thee."
"Who's there?" he asked, turning to look.
A great white fox stood before him, its five tails gently twitching around it like a halo. "I know thee, boy. Thy ancestor did me a great honor long, long ago by saving a miko who meant very greatly to me."
Hojou blinked, his fear rapidly being replaced by confusion. "I... I don't understand."
The fox continued to stare at him with its deep green eyes. "A debt stands from that ancient time. Long have I watched and waited for the proper opportunity to repay it. That time has finally come, for I can see that thy heart is burdened with worry. Yet it is not for thy self, but for another..." It paused, closing its great eyes languidly and opening them again. "... It is for a girl, pure in heart and soul – a miko."
Realization dawned on the boy. "You mean Higurashi-san, don't you?"
"That is correct, boy." The tails twitched, moving in a rhythmic fashion. "The miko whom thy ancestor saved was much like this girl, in both heart and power."
This was too much for Hojou, who was growing more confused by the moment. "What do you want?"
The fox cocked its head to the side. "It is not what I desire, boy. It is thy desire that concerns me, for I must repay thy ancestor's debt with an action of equal weight and only thou can decide if that debt is to be discharged."
He watched the tails sway as his mind grew foggy. "Higurashi-san has been sick... with one thing after another," he murmured. It was getting hard to think straight.
"Shall I cure these ills? It does not seem fair that one as kind as Kagome-sama should suffer," the fox's voice had a hypnotic quality to it that seemed to match the rhythm of its flicking tails.
A small part of his brain reasoned that this couldn't be happening, but it was so hard to focus on that thought. "It's not fair..."
"Thou desire to help her, dost thou not?" the fox asked.
"Yes," he replied, truthfully.
"Then let me heal her."
"Okay." His brain didn't feel right and he felt miles away.
The fox seemed to smile. "One more thing, boy... Wouldst thou let me borrow that body for a while?"
Hojou was silent a moment, watching the tails sway back and forth.
"Sure," he said, finally, and didn't even blink when the fox transformed into a giant ball of blue flame and leapt at him. He merely slipped into blissful unawareness as the flames washed over him and seeped into his skin.
The fox, now wearing human form, stood and examined the boy's hands, flexing them experimentally. A smile slipped across his borrowed lips. "It's really a miracle your family ever survived the Sengoku Jidai, Hojou."
Shiroi-ken no Jinja was special to her. There was always a pervasive sense of calm about the shrine, soothing even the tempestuous wind into peaceful breeze. It was here that she first danced for the gods, to the beat of the wind singing in the trees on the grounds, and it had been the old priest Yashakawa who had given Ichiko her first Kagura fan, in hopes that she would study the dances. His grandson was only two years younger than her and, though he could be a real brat at times, she treated him like a little brother of sorts. The very idea that something might have happened to either them or the shrine filled her heart with fear.
Relief flooded her being as she turned the corner and the red torii were still there, the komainu standing firm in their stone vigil just beyond the torii. But the wind still whispered to her, anxious and uneasy about something. Ichiko took a steadying breath and hurried on past the guardians. The courtyard was eerily vacant, with not a sign of the old priest or his annoying grandson anywhere. She shivered unconsciously and started towards the haiden – if anywhere, that was where she'd find them.
However, before she could take another step closer, the shoji slid open to reveal the old priest. His face was unusually somber and haggard, causing even the wind to take pause. "Ohayo, 'jou-san," the old man said; his voice sounded almost pained.
Something was wrong, Ichiko knew it. "Ohayo, Yashakawa-san," she paused, looking for the right words to continue, "The wind... it called me here. Is everything all right? Where's that brat grandson of yours?"
The old priest closed his eyes and gave a heavy sigh. "You are wise to listen to the wind, 'jou-san. Things are not well here."
"What's wrong? Did something happen to the brat?" she asked, her chest tightening painfully with anxiety.
He raised his eyes, looking away as the wind touched his white hair. "He's in the hospital," the old man said, finally. "It was all so strange..."
"Is he all right?"
"The doctors don't know what happened, but I was told that he very nearly died in the ambulance. Poor Moriko... He scared the wits out of her." The old priest brought his amber gaze back to her. "I've been praying for his recovery. Please, humor an old man and offer prayers for his grandson."
Ichiko bit back her tears and tried to smile. "I'll do better than that, old man. I'll dance until that stupid kami of yours listens to me!"
"Stubborn girl," he sighed, smiling absently. "When will you realize that Inu no kami-sama only listens to you?"
She blinked in confusion, involuntarily taking a step back as the wind went deathly still. "Sumimasen," the teenager managed, "I've got to go."
The old priest gave her a curious look. "Are you all right?"
Leave, the wind whispered in growing agitation. Run...
"I'm OK," Ichiko replied, giving him a false smile, "Later!"
His amber eyes appeared to glow and she could have sworn something in his hair twitched. "Take care of yourself, 'jou-san," he said, finally.
She nodded and started to jog back towards the torii with the wind pressing at her back, urging her to pick up the pace. A part of her insisted that the wind was acting irrationally and that there was absolutely no reason for her to leave so rudely, but another side of her argued that the wind never lied – at least, it had never lied to her before. Still, something about what old Yashakawa said unsettled her.
Ichiko paused at the torii and cast a look back at the haiden. The old man was gone, having disappeared back inside. It was eerie, seeing the empty courtyard, and the komainu seemed to watch her warily.
It's here, the wind cried, tugging her towards the street. Youki... YOUKI!
A sharp pain tore through her chest and, instantly, her left arm went numb. The wind wailed, repeating its cry as she fell to her knees. It felt as though her breastbone had been snapped in two and she could hardly breathe through the pain. Blackness crept along the edges of her vision, sending her mind soaring with a bizarre euphoria even as she slumped forward. Her fingers twitched as she reached toward the haiden, but her lungs could not draw the air to fuel her cry for help.
She was dying.
It was a rather abrupt realization, one that spun dizzily on the growing darkness in her vision, and – quite oddly – the idea made her smile. It was already hurting less. A blurry white figure appeared before her, holding a glowing white sword in its hand; she wondered if it was an angel, come to take her away. Smiling again, she let herself fall into blackness as the sword descended.
The return to awareness was explosive, violently launching her back into the realm of the living. Ichiko coughed, greedily sucking air back into her oxygen-starved lungs. Her heart throbbed with dull pain and, dimly, she wondered how she was still alive. She was certain that she had died, yet... something had called her back.
It was then that she noticed she was staring at someone's shoes. Alarmed, Ichiko practically sprang off the ground in an attempt to see the owner of those shoes. But as she looked into his face, the world seemed to stop and she was swallowed by his burning golden eyes.
He was handsome, ethereally so, with his long silvery hair, pointed ears, and elegant features. Twin reddish-purple markings adorned his cheeks and a blue crescent moon adorned his forehead. He was dressed in ancient armor and clothing, a white pelt draped over his right shoulder and two swords bound at his left side. It made him look so regal and, strangely, familiar. Yet, it was the way he looked at her that transfixed her – that sad, silent expression he wore, as though he'd known she had brushed close to death mere moments ago.
Ichiko, blushing brightly, bowed her head a moment and then curiously looked again.
He was gone.
She was numb from spending the night crying on her mother's shoulder and her abused hands throbbed painfully. Inside, her heart had crumbled and in its place there was only a looming, draining ache. She had lost her closest friends and the boy she loved to the inevitable progression of time. It was strange, realizing that all those she had come to hold so dear had been dust for centuries. All this time, she had been traveling with ghosts in an era long gone. She wondered if any of them realized they were all going to die in the end. Or had they forgotten in the aftermath of defeating Naraku? Had they even realized their mortality when she spoke of her time?
"Kagome," her mother said softly, opening the door to her room. "There's someone here to see you."
The young miko shook her head and drew her body further into a ball. "I don't want to see anyone, mama."
"I know, dear, but you might want to talk to him," her mother sighed, entering the room. She was holding something in her hands. "Here... He wanted me to give you this."
Kagome raised her head, too exhausted to do much else, and watched as her mother opened her hands. A shrill wail split the air, coming from the newly revealed weeping mushroom.
Its effect was nothing short of miraculous.
Quick as lightning, Kagome was on her feet, eyes wide with surprise. It was as though she had been shocked back to life. "Mama, where is he!"
"He's waiting by the Goshinboku, dear," her mother supplied. "But..."
The young miko was already running out of her room and launching down the stairs like a woman possessed, the caveat having gone completely unheard. There was only one thought in her mind, a single thought that uplifted her heart and soul: Shippou is alive! He wasn't a ghost! He was a living and breathing being of flesh and blood and, most importantly, he shared her memories of their friends. He would understand!
Her feet had hardly touched the ground floor and she was running for the door. Throwing it open, Kagome's greeting died on her lips as she saw the figure standing at the base of the tree.
"HOJOU-KUN!"
The boy crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, "Kagome no baka! You can't tell the difference between me and that human? Are you a miko or not?"
"Eeto..." she managed to squeak out. Hojou-kun didn't talk like that, nor was he aware that she was a true miko. Yet, now that he'd mentioned it, she could feel the faint presence of youki. "Shippou-chan?"
He glared at her and snorted. "Took you long enough, temee."
Kagome's eye twitched. Obviously, Inuyasha had rubbed off on him – and, to think, they had joked that Miroku would be a bad influence! Kagome blinked, shook her head, and marched out to him, once again armed with her famous temper. "Chotto matte! What the hell are you doing going around like that! And where do you get off swearing like that?"
"I'm not a little kid anymore," Shippou said, coolly. "As for the body, the stupid sap willingly agreed to part with it for a little while."
"You possessed Hojou-kun!" she shrieked.
He shrugged and smirked wickedly. "Would you have preferred me to come waltzing in here in my true form? I'd probably have given the old man a coronary!"
She didn't have an answer for that.
"Besides, I've changed a lot in five hundred years," Shippou continued, closing his borrowed eyes. "I doubt you'd even recognize me as I am now."
Kagome grabbed his shoulders and drew him into a hug. "Baka! If you hadn't been hiding your youki in this body, I'd have recognized you right away!"
"No," the kitsune countered, pushing her away. "You wouldn't. You don't even know what I am anymore!"
Bewildered by his behavior, she stubbornly glared at him. "Of course I know what you are, Shippou! I haven't forgotten!"
"You remember a nogitsune child," Shippou stated bluntly. "I'm a myobu now."
Myobu were the pure white foxes who served as the messengers of Inari, benevolent guardians who aided those who desired help and taught the wicked humility. Shippou, when she had seen him last, was a wild red fox. She had doted on the orphaned kitsune child, despite Inuyasha's insistence that she was spoiling him. But to imagine him growing up under the hanyou's gruff influence to become something of the heavenly realms was simply mind-boggling to the young miko.
"I've been serving Inari for centuries now," he continued. "After everyone was gone, I was so lonely and it hurt being around their descendants... You have no idea what it was like, Kagome, no idea. I wandered from place to place, trying to be an honorable and just youkai. I even posed as a houshi a few times – you see, there were these samurai who..." he started to explain and then shook his head.
"Oh, forget about it. It's a long story," Shippou grumbled. "Anyway, when Inari offered me a chance to become one of the myobu, I was glad. It was nice to be needed again and it's honorable enough work. Sometimes, I like to think that Inuyasha, Sango and everyone are proud of what I do."
Kagome stared at her shoes for a moment and then smiled beatifically. "I know they're proud, Shippou. I'm proud of you – even if you did possess one of my classmates."
The kitsune gave a soft snort and rolled his eyes, but she could tell he had probably needed to hear that. After a moment's silence, he piped up, "It was Inuyasha's idea, you know. He figured that if the Hojou had living descendants in your era, they'd be able to lead me right to you. And whaddya know – he was right."
There was a pregnant pause, reflecting the barest flicker of the centuries between the girl and the child she used to know.
"Shippou," Kagome said quietly. "Tell me what happened after the well closed."
He looked away, turning to stare pointedly at the Goshinboku. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Please, Shippou. I have to know."
The kitsune closed his eyes in resignation and sighed, "Miroku and Sango got married a few months after you left – in front of the Goshinboku, if I remember correctly. They had quite a few kids, though I could never keep their names straight and it only got worse when the grandkids were born. I didn't stick around for very long after they died, though."
In her mind, Kagome could see both Miroku and Sango standing before the tree, with their fingers intertwined. The image was a comforting one and made her smile.
"Kohaku left town after a while and settled in a village on the other side of the forest," Shippou continued. He pointed off into the distance at the Tokyo skyline. "Over there, I think... It's hard to tell now. The river that used to be there dried out long before Tokyo was built, but I'm pretty sure the village shrine is still there. Anyway, I heard he fell in love with the beautiful daughter of a youkai and spent three years convincing her father that he was worthy of her."
The young miko absently wondered if she knew the youkai or his daughter.
"I haven't seen Kouga or his pack in years," the kitsune said, shrugging. "And Kaede passed away several years after you left. Sesshoumaru stopped by a couple of times with Rin, but I don't really know what happened to either of them."
"Tell me about Inuyasha," Kagome piped up. "What did he wish for?"
Shippou's borrowed face faltered a bit. "I don't know. No one wanted to tell me."
"You had to have heard something," she insisted, knowing very well that he had a tendency to overhear things he wasn't supposed to.
The kitsune shook his head. "You're better off asking Sesshoumaru. He's the only one left who would know."
"I thought you said that you didn't know what happened to Sesshoumaru?" Kagome pointed out. Shippou was probably hiding something.
He sighed, flinging up his arms in exasperation. "Temee! All I know is that he isn't dead! That's it!"
"And what about Inuyasha?" she pressed, growing rapidly annoyed.
"He's dead," the kitsune ground out.
"How?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes!"
Shippou raised his eyes to the sky. "It was peaceful, if that's what you wanted to know."
"No, damn it! How did he die?" Kagome shouted, tears gathering in her eyes.
The kitsune closed his eyes. "He died of old age, Kagome. Whatever he wished for, it botched things up real good."
"I... I don't believe you!" She shook her head, finding it impossible to imagine Inuyasha as an old man. He was a hanyou and, as such, he was blessed with a youkai's long lifespan.
"Believe what you want," Shippou said, shrugging as he started to walk away. "I told you the truth."
For your edification:
komainu: mythical lionlike dogs, often seen in a pair in shrines.
Shiroi-ken: written as 'White dog' in kanji
haiden: main building of a Shinto shrine
eeto: Umm...
temee: extremely rude form of 'you', often translated as bitch or wench; Inuyasha uses 'temee' a lot. (As an aside, the words for female dog are 'mesuinu' and 'meinu' and Inuyasha uses neither of them.)
nogitsune: wild fox or field fox
