Healing Soul Chapter 33: Inuyasha Interrupts

A silence spread throughout Sesshomaru's pack. Some of their eyes fell upon the auburn haired kitsune. Laughing Shippou held up his hands palm up, aqua eyes dancing. "Hey! I told him. Before finding Hogosha and Chún-hóng too, and they made it on time. Not my fault he's slow."

"Keh. Who're you callin' slow, Runt?"

Kagome gasped at the sound of the rough voice, eyes wide and fingers covering her lips as she slowly turned to face the door behind her. "Inuyasha…" His name came as a muffled murmur, the tone tinged with joy, sadness, and hope.

"Keh." Said inu-hanyou huffed gruffly. "Hey, wench."

Kurama could not help but bristle instinctively at the slur, despite logic pointing out that it was not said in any hurtful way as it might once have been. It was hard to reign in the response though, and he was mollified slightly catching Kazuma's equally protective reaction restrained by a perplexed koorime if her head-tilt and reaction were to go by. Even the former spirit detective looked irritated and confused.

But the miko's aura was calm and happy, showing only a flicker of remembered pain before fading out, so the former spirit detective team stood down.

The male moved into the room, the silhouette of him brought into color as he did so leaving the backlighting which had thrown his features into darkness. For those with no knowledge of him they did a double take between the new arrival and Sesshomaru-sama's youngest for their builds were nearly identical. This male however seemed older, bearing a smattering of age lines around his forehead and face. His silver-white hair was down and loose in a similar fashion to the Western Lord's, but was clearly thicker with more volume and cut with full bangs and shoulder-length forelocks. He had no face markings but there were a pair of triangular white ears that twitched where they were partially hidden in his thick hair. The male wore a crimson red kariginu over a white juban tucked into equally red hakama that like many in the Western pack were tied at the ankles. Around his neck hung a string of beads and claws while at his side rested an aged and rusted katana in a slightly better sheath. What seemed out of place and yet somehow strangely appropriate were his bare, clawed feet.

Reluctantly, but accepting this was inevitable and necessary, Kurama squeezed the dainty fingers in his hand before letting them slide free.

He felt her aura wrap around him in gratitude even as Kagome fair flung herself at the new arrival.

"Inu-YA-sha!"

With an "umph!" and wide eyes Inuyasha caught the little miko in a manner only those who have done so many times could. The redhead carefully schooled his features but swallowed a lump in his throat even as he was unable to look away. Despite ration, despite logic, it was… difficult looking upon the male again. Especially now that he was personally invested so intrinsically in Kagome. That Inuyasha had been her first love… Kurama felt a tick pulse along his neck. He would not deny his miko her friends but should the inu-hanyou hurt Kagome as he had in the past…

He felt a solid hand press on his shoulder and nearly jolted but for the familiarity of it. From the tight rein on the human's aura Kazuma was barely suppressing his protective urges as well and had apparently moved to the fox avatar's side for joint moral support. Kurama had no need to turn his head to see the serious expression on the large former punk's face, nor the baffled curiosity on that of the koorime nestled into Kazuma's side. The others had likewise stepped closer, turned to the late arrival. They were a unified front.

Inuyasha set the petite miko to her feet sheepishly. "Hey, Kagome. Long time no see."

The little miko growled. "Oh you…"

"Um…" the inu-hanyou hedged, intentionally interrupting Kagome's potential rant. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

A female stepped from behind Inuyasha to his right, shorter only by a few fingers and slender enough to have been fully hidden by the male. One might be tempted to label her "dainty" but delicate she was not. Any of those accustomed to viewing fighters present would quickly ascertain that her body was that of a predator's, a fighter's, and even immersed in formality with family and friends she was ever ready as a panther prepared to strike. Her eyes, the left one sky blue and the right one deep gold like amber, spoke this tale too but also hinted at a playfulness simmering just beneath the surface. Her hair shone whiter than Inuyasha's and bore an undercurrent of blue his did not where it caught the light as the tresses fell straight to her knees behind her. Bangs were cut horizontally just over her eyebrows with sides longer to curve and frame her rounded face in a way that highlighted her elvish ears as they signified the demarcation between lengths. She wore a play on a modernized kimono with leg slits like Chún-hóng had though more prominent as her red hakama flashed vibrantly through. Her kimono faded from white at her shoulders to a deep royal blue towards the floor and end of sleeves patterned with frolicking fluffy white puppies and was bound with a deep golden obi with red silk tie accents.

Also like Chún-hóng, she bore a small, stylized blue butterfly of primary hue on her kimono that fluttered away from her left towards her right shoulder.

Inuyasha's face was flushed red but also showed both pride and loving affection as he looked at the female. "My mate, Nikarado."

Storm blue eyes snapping wide the little miko hopped away from her long-lost companion as if burned. "Oh! I am so sorry."

Bi-colored eyes sparkled. "Yeah… me too."

"Hey!" Inuyasha interjected defensively, inciting his mate to laughter and Kagome to rapidly shift her attention back and forth between the pair in bewilderment.

"I tease." The inu-female explained. "But seriously though, it's an honor to meet you, Kagome-sama. I hope in time you will be a sister to my heart, as you are to my mate."

Kagome beamed, blue eyes sparkling once more.

The Western Lord scoffed in the wake of the miko being stunned silent, golden eyes raking his younger half-brother with unconcealed displeasure as if taking in the trademark firerat for the first time. ""Fashionably late" implies some hint of fashion, otouto, and is not quite this late." The golden gaze flicked to his brother's mate where they were appeased slightly. "While not the standards of HaHa-ue's court, Nikarado, as usual you are at least suitably attired."

The female inu grinned slyly at the alpha dog, bobbing her head at the intended compliment.

"Keh. Would've been fine but had to dodge wide around that Jaganshi."

Kurama's figurative ears perked even as he noticed some of the reactions around him. Kagome looked perplexed, Sesshomaru bore a hint of concern, and his former teammates were a mix of curious and defensive of their sometimes friend. "Ah yes. Hiei was most perturbed over the gap in his sight here as well as his lack of success in being able to find Kouga-sama's recent sparring partner." The redhead gave Inuyasha a perusing look. "May I correctly conclude that was you?"

"Keh. I nearly had that wimpy wolf."

"Yeah right, Mutt-face," the Northern Lord rejoined jauntily earning a snicker paired with a playful slap to the chest from his mate to which he equally playfully overreacted.

Storm blue eyes rolled. "You two are seriously not still on about that, are you?"

"Of course." "Always, wench." The males in question replied simultaneously bringing another round of soft laughter, especially at the little miko's exasperated huff.

Golden eyes in a rough tanned face brazenly studied his former companion as she pouted her complaint and instinctually turned to the redhead once more at her back for emotional support. His eyes narrowed and he frowned slightly at what he found.

"So you are. You're doing it." At the miko's baffled look Inuyasha roughly indicated her person with a toss of his arm. "I thought the bastard was out of his gourd when he stipulated you'd be aura melding with Youko Kurama and yet here you are, all bonding and everything."

Blue-gray eyes blinked in innocent confusion. "Bonding?" Kagome's face turned and tilted so that she could look into the redhead's green eyes. "Kurama-kun…?"

Would he ever become accustomed to the feelings she invoked within him? Kurama could feel the heat indicating red was seeping into his cheeks and warming his human ears. Nervously he swallowed, uncertain how Kagome would take the news. "Our auras… our souls are bonding, Kagome-chan." Those beautiful storm eyes of hers widened to immense proportions inciting the fox avatar to run his tongue surreptitiously to line his quickly drying lips. "I may have inadvertently started the process when I requested your aura join mine in creating Shippou's seed. I believe we have been subconsciously slowly attuning our energies together since I joined your study sessions. It is something of which I have only recently taken notice."

The miko took this in quietly, eyes still wide until the very end when they turned puzzled in thought. "Shippou's seed?"

"Hai, Okaa-san." Speaking softly her kit meandered forward, wanting to help his heart's mother understand… and longing to return the favor Youko Kurama had granted him through this very seed so many years ago. Shippou had not realized until after the silver kitsune had left them the nature of the seed he then found. Reverently he reached in his auburn waves and withdrew the seed in question. Even after all these centuries he could still feel their joined energies pulse from within.

Storm eyes perused the nondescript seed before widening with a jolt. "Oh!" Kagome's gaze snapped up to face steady green. "Oh! Why would you do that?"

Kurama could see the question was for understanding. That his miko held nothing accusing in her tone allowed him to relax. Sheepishly he disengaged a lock of her hair from his shoulder that was blocking his view of her face and smoothed it down Kagome's back. "At that moment I wanted to raise Shippou as my own but knew I could not. Between your being human and the monk's insinuations I had concluded that despite your mothering of the kit, you would not be able to raise him either. Kitsune with plant affinity, especially spirit kitsune, often employ the making of such a seed: to guide and train and nurture when the parents feel they may not be there for their kits."

Kagome's gasp was muffled by her hands but her aura spiraled around her unrestrained in sorrow-tinged joy like a kaleidoscope of light. Shippou elbowed the human looking Kurama discretely to get him to draw the miko into his embrace. She conceded easily but kept her head turned upwards incredulously. "You mean…" Happy tears choked her words.

Aqua-green eyes danced. "Youko Kurama officially made you guys my adoptive parents. Though I missed you, at least I had a bit of each of you with me always."

"Keh. Runt's immune to purification with that thing." Inuyasha snorted as if in disdain and a sharp jerk of his hand, but the truth of his feelings lay in the smile of his golden eyes. 'Clearly he had been present for a time it saved our kit and the memory amuses him. I confess I could see where there could be humor… after concerning the safely of our kit.'

"Come." Came the Western Lord's commanding baritone, drawing everyone's eyes and attentions to the expectant daiyoukai. "There is much to relate, and much more comfortable settings in which to do so."

Author's Note: I do solemnly apologize for taking so long. While life has been quite hectic the greatest hindrance to finishing this chapter was the chapter itself. It did not help that I have a hard time writing Inuyasha's character and could not think of a name for his mate, although her character and personality have been in mind since before I started work on Healing Soul for use in a couple other "Inuyasha" fanfics with which I dabble. So like Takariidaa she had [name] wherever her name should be until the last minute. I have also been working (per request) on an artistic rendering of the greeting lineup described last chapter… which has not been going well either.

Honestly, I'm just glad to get this up. Hope you liked.

Originally posted 2 October 2015