Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Sweet Surrender	By : inumom Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > InuYasha/Kagome Views: 7748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Disclaimer: I only own Great-Aunt Suki and the twins. Everything else belongs to the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. *sigh*

AN: Mild Houjou bashing! If that bothers you, go no further.

11. Crashing the Party

By the time we arrived back at the shrine, the tables had been set up, and the meal was being set out. Although I had insisted on not including instant ramen at the dinner, the disappointed look on my new husband�s face had made me reconsider, and a large bowl of the stuff stood on the table set aside for the participants in the ceremony and their immediate families. I knew that although we would be subsisting on little more than ramen for the next week or so he still wouldn�t be tired of it before we returned to Tokyo. Besides, it was the least I could do to make him happy.
The party was going well, all things considered. Even Great-aunt Suki seemed in an unusually good mood, complimenting me on finding a husband who was truly suitable. Since most of those present had no idea about the �special circumstances,� he kept his ears hidden in the fluffy mass of his silver hair, flattened against his skull. When we had practiced this before, I had learned that holding them still in such an unnatural position would eventually cause the muscles that made them so wonderfully mobile to cramp painfully. To that end, I had promised to give them a good rubbing at the very first opportunity.
When the remains of the food had been cleared away--no leftover ramen, naturally--and the long serving table taken down, the band began to play. In keeping with the apparently multi-cultural flavor of the ceremony, we had decided to adopt the Western tradition of the first official dance together. Because of his history, it was obvious that he had never learned to dance, so Mama stepped in and taught him the basics in what had to be record time. That was when I learned of the only weakness in my hanyou lover: he simply couldn�t dance with shoes on. As soon as the footwear went on, his normally silky, graceful motions became stiff and unsure.
Fortunately, this was easily corrected. Since I had already promised that he could lose the shoes as soon as possible, they had already been left behind by the time the music began. Although we had danced together in practice, this was entirely different. As we swayed gently to the music, I gradually lost touch with everything outside of his arms. Though it wasn�t exactly proper form, he had demonstrated a definite preference for keeping his hands on my hips as we moved, pulling me tight against his body. My arms went around his neck and I leaned into him, resting my head against his chest, feeling his warm breath ruffling my hair.
My eyes flew open when my right arm was grabbed and I was torn from my husband�s arms. I was held immobilized by hands gripping my upper arms from behind, so I didn�t have the chance to see the face of my attacker--there wasn�t much doubt who could be behind this particularly cowardly kind of attack anyway. This time, though, my attacker had brought reinforcements: my husband was facing a Buddhist monk--a fairly high-ranking one from the design of his robes.
His attention distracted by the intrusion, he completely forgot that he was supposed to be in disguise. His ears emerged from his hair, and they immediately swiveled around to locate any other possible enemies. A low growl that rapidly grew in volume filled the shrine�s courtyard. Before things could escalate out of control, both Uncle Nori and Jiichan stepped up to stand on either side of Inuyasha. Surprisingly, Souta joined them, standing directly in front of my husband in an obviously protective position. Although Jiichan�s seals had always been remarkably ineffective against the hanyou, I had always suspected that this might simply have been because of my attachment to him rather than because of any lack of spiritual power in my grandfather.
I could feel the power gathering, and realized that this monk would have no influence here, against my family. Still, I didn�t want a bloodbath: to prevent it I would have to get myself out of this situation with help from my constant protector. I concentrated, feeling the energy building in me, and pushed. With a hoarse yelp, my attacker released me, thrown from my person by the barrier I had suddenly managed to create. I turned, my anger coloring the normally pink aura of my usually gentle miko powers a deep red, and I snarled in what I thought of as a pretty good imitation of my new husband, �Get the hell out of here, Houjou. This is trespassing, and assault, and I bet we can think of at least two or three other charges. Get out now,� I said, letting my voice reflect pity rather than anger, �While you still can.�
Houjou, apparently determined to rescue me from either my own delusions or the malevolent influence of the monster that was controlling me--I couldn�t tell which--staggered to his feet, screaming at the people assembled that it was up to them to put a stop to the �unholy union� of his girl and a monster from hell.
That was when I learned of the true power of the Higurashi family. At a gesture from Great-aunt Suki, two tall men I�d never seen before emerged from the rear of the crowd and moved to stand on either side of the now-hysterical Houjou. The two men were obviously closely related--if not twins, they were definitely brothers. Their shining ebony hair was perfectly straight and fell to well below their shoulders. It was their eyes, though, that got my instant attention--while nowhere near the golden amber of my husband�s, they were unusually pale, a light, almost golden brown. It was the expression in those eyes that gave me a strong sense of déjà vu--the cold, disdainful glare would have been at home on Sesshoumaru�s aristocratic features.
I stood in silence as the two men grabbed Houjou by the upper arms and held him motionless. Great-aunt Suki silenced the boy with a glare. �You know nothing, boy! This is a shrine family: who would be a better match for the strongest miko in a thousand years--a boy who can sense only part of the physical world and nothing at all of the spiritual, or a man who bridges the gap between the two planes?� At the stubborn set to Houjou�s face, she continued, �You�ll be safe enough right here until the police arrive. In the meantime, you will stand there quietly and learn something.�
She rose form her seat with a fluid grace somehow at odds with her apparent age. �Do you know why the priests and mikos from this family are so powerful?� At a subtle nod from the matriarch, there was an odd shimmer in the air, as a great many of the guests revealed their true appearance. My eyes widened at the fact that more than half of the people present were at least part youkai. Great-aunt Suki herself now possessed brilliant green eyes with slitted pupils, petite triangular ears set wide at the top of her head, long, flowing hair in a creamy shade lightly striped with golden-orange, and a long, feline tail. She approached Houjou with sparkling eyes, extending a razor-sharp claw and lightly drawing it down his cheek without cutting his skin. �This family has had blood ties to the youkai community for centuries. This is the source of much of our power and influence. Now,� she said, fixing him with an icy stare, �If you persist in troubling this family you will disappear, never to be heard from again.�
The family�s camouflage was firmly back in place by the time the police arrived. After a brief word with Jiichan, they led Houjou away gently, ignoring his mutterings about monsters hiding behind the human faces in the crowd. While he was being placed in the car that would take him to the hospital for examination, I briefly explained that he had been relentlessly pursuing me since middle school, refusing to take �no� for an answer, and had tried to disrupt my wedding.
They would, the officer said, make sure that he never bothered us again.

*

Jiichan paced across the courtyard. Obviously, he had to say something. Finally, he turned to me with something like regret. �I�m sorry, Kagome. It was never our intention to deceive you. It�s been a long-standing policy in all the shrines within a few hundred kilometers of here to not reveal the source of their power to any except those who have dedicated their lives to the shrines. Even members of the shrine families themselves are not told until their twentieth year.�
Great-aunt Suki came to stand next to Jiichan. �What nobody outside of the shrines knows is that the heads of nearly every shrine in Japan are closely related. Practically all of them possess some combination of miko and youkai abilities. Once every couple of generations or so a girl is born in whom the miko power runs pure and exceptionally strong. We watch them very carefully, especially if they happen to live anywhere near the Tokyo area.�
Obviously, I was missing some crucial part of the story, so Mama tried to fill me in. �We thought that you might be one of these girls when you were born with no youkai features at all. Before your first birthday we had you examined by the most powerful miko we could find. She told us that you were unusually strong, even for one of these rare girls. From that point on, we took special care with your education--we had to make sure that you learned everything you would need, but we also had to be certain that we didn�t crush your self-confidence. If you were the miko in the legends, you would have need of all the strength, courage, and resourcefulness we could give you.�
I shook my head in disbelief. �This miko--she was part eagle youkai, wasn�t she?�
Mama exchanged a look with Jiichan and Great-aunt Suki, then shook her head slowly. �How did you know? She was using a concealing spell the entire time you were there.�
I fumbled for words, searching the vague memory. �I didn�t really see her, not in the usual way, at least. I just kept getting an image of a shadowy form with wings around her, and I thought that I could see hints of yellow in her eyes and feathers in her hair when she moved.�
Mama looked suddenly pale, as though I was something so far outside her experience that she didn�t know how to deal with what I was saying. �I didn�t think you�d remember any of that--it was such a long time ago.� She looked at me sharply. �You never mentioned anything about this before.�
I shrugged, the memories starting to come flooding back. �I didn�t think to mention it because it wasn�t anything unusual. I used to have experiences like that all the time, at least until I started school and found out that I wasn�t supposed to see things like that. After a while, I just put it all down to what my teachers called an �overactive imagination� and ignored it--until that day in the well house.�
Mama�s voice sank to a choked whisper. �Dear gods�.� She shook her head slowly. �What did we almost do to you?�
My new husband had been standing behind me, listening carefully. He pulled me fractionally tighter against his firm chest as he realized that the schools I had attended had nearly made me unable to relate to the world in which I had chosen to live. I reached out a hand to her. �It�s okay, Mama. Everything turned out all right, didn�t it? Besides,� I said, grinning broadly, �We�re all fami--Oh, no!�
To their credit, they understood exactly what I was suddenly concerned about. One of the twins that had restrained Houjou--an especially large bull-hanyou named Seki who happened to be my second cousin--shook his head. �Don�t worry. We�ve been through this kind of thing before. We�ll just alter their memories of the day so that they�ll remember everything all right, just without the youkai and the little story they told you.�
Yuka and Ayumi looked somewhat relieved, as they simply hadn�t understood any of what had been said. Eri, however, was disappointed. �Do you have to?�
Great-aunt Suki shook her head. �This kind of knowledge would be dangerous for you to have.�
I couldn�t bear standing idly by any longer. �Why would it be dangerous? They already know about the well, and my life in the Sengoku Jidai.�
Jiichan shook his head. �We dare not take the chance that their knowledge could change our history.�
Now I was getting confused. �How could it? I mean, I�ve already gone back through the well and found my mate. It�s a done deal. Why can�t you just let them choose whether or not they want to remember?�
After a brief silent conference, Great-aunt Suki nodded slowly. She fixed each of my friends with her trademark steely glare and asked what they would prefer. As I had half expected, both Yuka and Ayumi took her up on the offer to have their memories of the day �adjusted,� but Eri refused, saying that she wanted to remember everything exactly the way it happened. She was, she said, glad to know that parts of the old world lived on in the present.
It took a while for the party to start up again, as the musicians and photographer had also seen the whole thing and needed to be dealt with. Once that had been managed, everyone could once again relax and have a good time.
Now that the brief moment of unpleasantness had been resolved, I could almost feel the good will wrapped around us like a warm blanket as we swayed to the music. After some undefined time the first of the guests interrupted us, saying that they had to be going to catch their train home. I blushed a little, realizing that we had been ignoring our obligations as the hosts, but nobody seemed to mind.
Once the group was thinned out to only about a quarter of the guests, I grabbed my new husband by the hand and dragged him into the house.
- 10
- 11
- 12
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Sweet Surrender