An Unexpected Love Story

Part Seven: Chapter Twenty Five

Part Seven: Tokyo

Chapter Twenty Five:

It's still dark when we take off. I didn't sleep last night. I don't sleep now. Sesshoumaru holds my hand and I lean my head on his shoulder.

It's weird speaking Japanese. We leave and take our things. The entire time I'm looking for something familiar, but everything seems to have changed.

Small things, as well as big things. Certain shops are no longer where they used to be. The small store run by Mrs. Yamamota is now a chain restaurant. Nothing seems to have stayed the same.

It has become what I was so afraid of. We no longer belong anywhere.

The cab drops us off in front of the shrine steps, he takes the minimum bags we managed to pack and brings them to the top.

"I'm scared" I whisper. Sesshoumaru squeezes my hand as I knock on the doors of my childhood. Souta opens them and the house is quiet.

He's taller then me now. He was taller then me when I left. So I don't understand why I'm so shocked.

"Come on in sis, Ayumi's inside." I pull Sesshoumaru into the silence of the house. Souta looks at him, mouth agape.

"Souta, this is Sesshoumaru." I see the recognition in his eyes and nod. "Yes, Inuyasha's brother."

xxx

I explain. I explain everything, and everyone listens. We're the only ones in the house. Ayumi is in the kitchen as I explain.

I wanted to come home. But not like this, not with this impending doom looming above me.

"You were a Las Vegas stripper?" I think Souta's question caught him off guard. Sesshoumaru looks at him and raises an eyebrow before nodding.

"Yes. I had many jobs to keep me occupied." He says it like being immortal is some sort of awful chore.

I roll my eyes.

"We're staying in my old room right?" Souta nods and I leave to get my things. The tension diffuses immediately.

It's as if I'm back in middle school. I'm going to turn around, I'm going to shout at Inuyasha for something dumb. He's going to break something and I'm going to childishly tell him to sit.

But nothing happens. Nothing breaks. No one yells. I don't turn around, because I know for a fact that different eyes will be staring at me. And I won't be completely used to it.

Not the covered marks. Not the wrong clothes. Even this Sesshoumaru is different then my Sesshoumaru. My Sesshoumaru has his marks uncovered and his hair white with the smallest hints of silver throughout.

My room hasn't changed, it's like it was sealed off from the outside world when I left. My previous life enshrined.

He sits on the bed and I can see hints of my Sesshoumaru shine through.

"I don't want to be here like this."

I curl up in front of him. He strokes my hair absently.

"When everyone's so sad and gloomy. I wish we could have come back to a happy house, filled with people celebrating." That's what the house was like before. At least that's how I remember it. Before I was thrown down the well. I miss those days.

"Kagome! Dinner is ready!" At least that hasn't changed.

xxx

Ayumi's cooking is better than mine. Souta gloats about it the entire time, Mom's chair remains empty.

"How's Gramps doing?"

"Good. He's doing good." Souta replies softly. "They're treating him well?" Souta nods. "Have you visited him recently?"

"Mhm." I want to ask if he remembers anything at all. But I leave that question unspoken.

Ayumi chimes in, whisking the conversation away effortlessly and brings it up to a lighter note.

She continues this for the rest of dinner.

We all excuse ourselves and leave to our separate rooms, closing each other off from the outside world.

I shuffle into the room and fall onto the bed. All of these old belongings that meant so much. I have this awkward feeling eating at me and it's telling me we don't fit. That we won't fit. It's telling me that I'm trying to make a square peg fit into a circle hole.

One of my greatest fears has come alive. We don't fit anywhere anymore. Not even in Japan. Not even at home.

Sesshoumaru sits idle, watching me from his careful position on the floor. Like he's afraid to disturb my bubble of thought, like he's going to break me if he comes too close.

I close my eyes and try to remember the last time I belonged anywhere. It takes a few moments for me to pinpoint the last time I felt comfortable with anyone other then Sesshoumaru. That's when it hits me, the last time I belonged was with Maks, Aleks and Demitri. They made me into an honorary family member, but even then, we had a language barrier stopping us and making things difficult.

"What are you thinking about?" Sesshoumaru whispers, crawling over and lying next to me.

"How we don't belong anywhere, not even here." Even speaking Japanese feels foreign and exotic and it's my native tongue.

"Is that all?" No of course that isn't all. I'm suppressing what I'm really thinking about because I'm still in shock. I just got back I don't want to have to say goodbye.

"Yes." He breathes in deeply, burying his nose into my neck.

"You're so human..." Comes from the demon with makeup on.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." In a way, it is a bad thing, humans die.

"Why are you so worried about something so... futile."

"Haven't you ever just wanted to be? Not stand out or blend in. Just be. Just live instead of being the foreign one, or the one in the funny clothes, who's sick or the time traveller." He shrugs softly.

"No." Yes, he has, I know he has because I can feel the insecurity in his voice. I take his unspoken answer but let it be.

xxx

I wake up crying, but I don't remember the dream.

Sesshoumaru's strong hands shook me to consciousness. Wiping the tears away with the back of my hand I hold my breath to stop the sobs.

"I-I d-don't kn-know why I'm c-c-crying!" I wail, becoming angry with the violent shaking that racks my body. He smooths my hair and steadies me.

I want nothing more then to calm down and stop this embarrassment. I continue to hiccup and hold my breath until I calm down, swallowing the lump in my throat.

I tear myself away from him, storming into my bathroom, splashing cold water onto my face.

"This is so embarrassing. You shouldn't see me like this!" But he comes in anyways. Heading straight for me, he picks me up into his safe arms, carrying me back to bed.

"You can be so stubborn. Why don't you understand that I'm the only one here."

"That's why it's embarrassing. Because in all seriousness, you're the only one that matters."

xxx

End of Chapter Twenty Five