Not a Normal Human

Disclaimer: I hold no claim to or own anything of or related to Inuyasha or Petshop of Horrors.

Several curious eyes watched the skittish creature carefully slinking into the room. What an… interesting creature… most certainly a unique human…

"Welcome to Count D's Pet Shop." The smooth tenor voice echoed through the vast room as the owner bowed politely to his customer, a pleasant smile set on his face. Mismatched eyes, one a bright gold, the other deep violet, watched the woman-child intently. "We have everything from the ordinary dog or cat to the manic creatures that barely scrape past the Washington Treaty. I'm sure we'll find something you desire."

The dark blue eyes of the customer scrutinized 'Count D' carefully, and she clenched her fist slightly. "I hope so; my request is a bit… far-fetched." Brushing her raven hair over her shoulder, she held out a hand for him to shake. "Count D, I assume?"

His smile didn't shift in the least as he carefully extended his own hand to take hers. His long nails scraped her hand lightly, and she shuddered at the cool contact. "Count D is my grandfather, but I'm afraid that he is off on a trip to procure more animals for our shop." His eyes sparked with interest as she glanced at a creature behind him. "May I inquire as to your name?"

She blinked before blushing in embarrassment - she usually remembered her manners. "Ah, gomen. Higurashi Kagome, pleasure to meet you."

"Indeed." Kagome shuddered at his hypnotizing voice, not as hypnotizing as some she had heard in the past, but it was still very… entrancing. He released her hand slowly, turning to give her a better view of the room behind him. "Tell me, what exactly is your 'far-fetched request'?"

Kagome opened her mouth to respond, but she paused when the creature behind him, the rough-looking male with ram horns sprouting from his hair and claws sharpening his fingers, snorted rudely. "It's probably something stupid like those two brats that last time. Honestly, who wants a kappa?"

Deep sapphire eyes narrowed minutely, but she chose to ignore him – who and what was he anyway? Judging her so quickly, he would drive away customers. But… she forced her eyes away from him. Even if she didn't like him, he was still like something from the past… "I'm looking for a companion I had several years ago. Due to certain circumstances, we were separated."

Count D continued to smile, but he gestured to a chair for her to sit in as he prepared tea. "You wish to find this exact companion." It wasn't a question, but she felt that she had answer to it, anyway - perhaps that was a reaction his voice was able to cause?

"Yes." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "I had heard rumors that your shop can accomplish anything, so I'm trusting you to help me locate my son."

Finally, Count D portrayed more emotion than just his smile. About time, Kagome thought derisively. No small measure of disappointment filled his eyes, and he sighed, giving Kagome a bad feeling. Behind him, that creature was laughing at the 'stupidity of humans.'

"Kagome-san, this is a pet shop. We deal only with animals." False sympathy colored his voice, and Kagome frowned faintly. "Perhaps if you went to the police—"

"They wouldn't believe me." Her abrupt interruption must have shocked him, and she didn't blame him – she was told that usually she was a sweet girl who wouldn't do anything rude, though they quickly changed their minds when a threat or insult to someone close to her came about – but she didn't truly care. Looking down at her hands, Kagome pushed back helpless tears she felt she had been holding back since that day... "How am I supposed to make the police believe that my son is a five hundred year old fox?" The day the well closed her off from her second home.

The creature's laughter immediately stopped, and Kagome looked up at the Count to see true shock altering his expression completely. Along with it, immense curiosity radiated from him. Working slightly faster, D set a cup of tea in front of her and sat across from her, his full attention focused on her. "A fox? Surely he would have died – few things live for five hundred years – and as far as I know, a normal fox is not one of them."

Kagome sipped the too-sweet tea to calm herself and put it back down, sure she wasn't going to touch it again. "Is he one of those few things?" She tipped her head to the ram-horned male, not raising her teary eyes. "Given his… appearance I'm assuming that not everyone who walks into your shop can see him as I can?"

"What exactly do you see?"

Kagome blinked slowly at the thing's rough voice. His voice and attitude were so much like his, that she was tempted to look up just to make sure the inu-hanyou wasn't standing just behind the Count. "I see a demon in his humanoid form. Is that odd?"

The Count listened to the interaction, studying her more closely. "If I may ask, Kagome-san, what are you? I had thought a human, however…"

Kagome shrugged, leaning back into the chair. "I had thought the same of you, but… that's not right, is it? And as for me…" Sorrow pierced her stomach, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "Who knows, and does it truly matter?"

She could feel the Count's eyes focused on her, but she wasn't willing to give up any more information about herself unless absolutely necessary. She didn't even know what she had become after everything was over, so how could she possibly tell someone else? Once a normal girl, then a miko, after that… who knows?

"Very well, Kagome-san." She didn't dare look up at him yet – her pain wasn't under control yet. "I will listen to your entire request. But first, may I introduce you to the Totetsu resident in my shop?" He gestured behind him, and, through her peripheral vision, she saw the rude creature scowl darkly to cover his uncertain shuffling. "T-chan, be nice and say hello. I'm sure you owe Kagome-san an apology for your words earlier."

The scowl on his face deepened as he grumbled a half-hearted apology, and the Count smiled happily. "There, now that wasn't so hard was it?"

Kagome laughed quietly as she heard 'T-chan' say something not so nice back to the shopkeeper. Behind his smiling mask, the Count seemed like a happy person… with an unhealthy love of sweets. That tea had too much sugar, and all the snacks spread out were loaded with sugar as well. "Pleasure to meet you, T-chan."

The totetsu blinked before turning away with a huff, eliciting a small smile from the girl. Even if she didn't find Shippo… maybe this visit wouldn't be entirely worthless – she knew that there were some elements of the supernatural still existing in this time. "Kagome-san," the Count's smooth voice brought her attention back to him, and he smiled kindly, though she thought she may have seen a more excited glint to his eyes. With a mental shake of her head, she pushed it off as her imagination. "I'm afraid I will need to know a bit more about your… son if I am to have a chance of finding him. Also, how you became his mother."

"Yeah, because she can't give birth to a full-blooded fox…"

Kagome ignored T-chan again and sighed. "It… started when I was fifteen. I accidently fell into a time portal that sent me back in time five hundred years…" Barely skimming over her adventures, the miko only elaborated on how she saved Shippo, travelled with him, and over time came to see him as a son. T-chan left them somewhere in the middle of nutshell version of her story, but she wasn't upset – the less a youkai saw of her emotions, the better. Too many times she was taken advantage of by a youkai, or a certain hanyou, because she left her emotions bare to the world... She didn't want that to happen again. "However, after my task in the past was finished, I was sent back here… I didn't get to say goodbye…"

Count D watched the silently grieving woman in front of him. At first, he thought she was a normal human, if a diamond among the rough, like that Senator's wife back in L.A., someone no human would be able to fully understand or appreciate. Then, watching as she took in the incense burning in his shop and the ancient feeling to the room, he thought she was possibly something more, something perhaps that could be a permanent addition to his shop. And… seeing her now, grieving over so much more than herself, he admitted that she was more like him than he would ever say out loud, making him all the more determined to keep her. "And so, now you are not human or miko, and you wish to find Shippo-chan?"

Kagome didn't feel the need to respond as she closed her eyes, struggling to get her emotions under control. Was it necessary to reiterate everything she already said? Vaguely, she sensed more animals crowded around the Count – how long had they been listening to her? "He's the only one connection I could possibly have to a past that I love so much more than this…"

D petted the head of a raccoon on his lap, looking at his customer thoughtfully. She most definitely wouldn't survive in a completely modern world, she loved nature far too much… much like himself, so even if he did nothing to take her... He suppressed the urge to shiver in delight. She would come to him. Back to the matter at hand, if she truly had been a miko like she claimed, not even Ten-chan's illusions would fool her, but perhaps the kitsune would be able to allay some of her fears. "Kagome-san, there is but one kitsune in my shop. Perhaps you would like to look at him?"

Kagome lifted her eyes to the Count's taking only a small note of all the creatures surrounding them. This kitsune wasn't Shippo, she would have felt him if it was, but… maybe he knew of something? "If you would believe that to be best, Count."

"I believe it would be, yes." D stood up, carefully setting the raccoon on the seat. "Come, T-chan should have told him that we would be coming. Just follow me into the back." His charming smile was back in place, and Kagome frowned slightly in irritation but walked behind him.

The back door of the shop opened up into wide hallway with several doors on either side, and Kagome furrowed her brows as she wondered how the shop was so large – it didn't look nearly this big from the outside. Behind all the doors, she sensed various creatures, both 'natural' and 'supernatural.' "You have quite the inventory, Count. Do you sell them all?"

"Many require a contract, but for the most part, yes, I do sell them. Some, however, find their way back to me." There was a mysterious tone to his voice that she wasn't sure she wanted to explore, but he continued. "The kitsune we are going to see, for example, was sold to a lovely family in L.A., but there was too much arguing amongst themselves, and he returned here."

Kagome paused for a moment in front of an enormous door embellished with a golden dragon. "I see…" The being on the other side of the door seemed to be arguing with itself, and Kagome smiled. A dragon with a split personality… Intriguing.

"Here we are, Kagome-san." The miko turned back to see an ancient rice paper door decorated with ornate drawings: a nine-tailed fox. How fitting. "Behind these doors is a kitsune of illusions, who we call Ten-chan. He may hold some answers for you, and if you wish, I will sell him to you."

Kagome ignored the lilting quality of the Count's voice, preferring to step forward and press lightly against the door. It opened easily, and the miko walked in. The room inside was well-lit, and several silk curtains draped from the walls. Elegant without being overbearing… typical kitsune, I suppose.

"Yo!" She jumped at the loud voice, and her eyes zeroed in immediately on the teenage male lounging on a comfortable chair. Pale blonde hair, almost white, spiked out before falling down his back in a long braid. Bright blue eyes sparkled at her curiously from over a wide grin. With those characteristics and the more punk-type clothes he wore, Kagome could tell that he was, again, a typical kitsune: playful and very attractive. "T-man told me that you were a miko?"

"That's right." Kagome moved to sit on the floor in front of him a respectful distance away. "I was hoping you could answer some questions for me."

Ten-chan nodded, settling himself more comfortably in the chair. "So I heard. Ask away!"

The miko smiled faintly at his behavior. Perhaps that was simply a trait all kitsune had – the undeniable chirpiness. "First of all, do you have any knowledge of a fire and illusion kitsune by the name of Shippo? He should be around five hundred ten years old." The miko resisted crossing her fingers for luck – it wouldn't work on a kitsune, she had learned, but she did it anyway.

Ten-chan's grin slowly faded, and he looked at her more closely. "Your surname… is Higurashi?"

Kagome blinked at the seemingly random question and hesitantly nodded. "Yes… I live on the Higurashi Shrine."

The kitsune deflated a little bit, falling back into his chair again. "Yeah… I knew Shippo."

Kagome felt both a thrill of anticipation and a weight of anxiety. 'Knew.' That single word brought so many of her hopes crashing down. Taking a careful steady breath, she closed her eyes. "Knew him?"

Ten-chan looked over at the Count and the small hoard of animals behind him at the door. "Yep. He was here at the shop with me when D-man's grandfather was around here." The Count's eyebrows rose in surprise, and Ten-chan looked back to her with a faint smile. "He spoke of you highly and often."

A shuddering breath escaped the miko, and she tried to hold back the impending sadness roaring above her. He… was gone. "Was he… happy?"

Ten-chan's smile widened and he hopped off his chair to take her hands, forcing her to look up at him. "Yes, he was happy. He missed you greatly, but he knew that you would want him to be happy, so he lived the happiest way he could, helping out and pulling pranks with me around here."

Kagome laughed quietly, the tears she was trying to hold back breaking free and running down her cheeks. Her little boy… Her Shippo grew up and was happy, but still retained his playful nature, just like always - what more could she ask for? "Thank Kami… If you can, can you tell me how he passed?"

Count D tilted his head curiously when he saw Ten-chan flinch and glance his way again. A sinking dread settled in his stomach, and he sighed. "It was my father, wasn't it?" If his father caused him to lose her...

The woman looked up to him with furrowed brows. "Your father?" And why did he say it like it was such a bad thing to be related to his father?

Ten-chan frowned. "Yeah… D-man and his grandpa are really cool, but… his dad made a bunch of mistakes, and D-man had to clean up the messes left behind. This could be counted as one." He lightly rubbed her knuckles with his thumbs as he continued. "Shippo was the last of a very rare kind of kitsune, the kind that could be seen in his humanoid form by everyone, not just the select few like everyone else in this shop. D-man's old man wanted him to help in the… but he wouldn't do it, so D-man's dad decided to cut his losses so to speak..."

Kagome narrowed her eyes in confusion. "He wanted Shippo to help him with what?"

The Count sighed from his place at the door, bringing one hand up to massage his forehead. "In the destruction of mankind." Kagome looked up sharply, causing him to wave his hands frantically, trying to dissuade her from thinking he used the same methods. "It's a long story – a whole vengeance thing and all."

His quick speech and nervous laughter made Kagome burst into giggles, Ten-chan following shortly after. Behind his monotonous smile and hypnotic voice, the Count was such a funny person. "Thank you, Count," Kagome managed to say, wiping a tear from her face. She smiled at his confused expression. "For making me laugh – I needed it."

D blinked and watched carefully as Kagome began playing with Ten-chan. This woman was very interesting. She just learned that the one she viewed as a son was dead because of his father, yet she didn't blame him, and she was happy for the fact that Shippo had been happy. "Kagome-san, may I ask a question?"

The miko looked up at him from her position on the floor, fending off Ten-chan from trying to tickle her – how that happened he would never know. "Ask away."

"Why are you this happy all of a sudden? Most humans would be in the throws of despair at this point." He vividly remembered the couple who bought the rabbit back in L.A. – that was a huge mess.

Kagome's smile became a little sad, but she wasn't crying. "Because he wouldn't want me to be sad. He lived happily for me, so I will live happily for him." The reminiscent look in her eyes reminded D of the look his grandfather always had whenever he thought about the animals that no longer roamed the earth.

Very interesting… This miko was most certainly not a normal human. Perhaps… she would be allowed on our boat… "Kagome-san." He waited until he had her attention before smiling kindly, a different smile than the one he showed most of his customers. This was the one he used to give to Leon and Chris, to a friend. "Even if you don't want to buy one of the pets, please feel free to come by anytime you like."

The miko smiled. "I would like that… being here with all of them… reminds me of the past and everything that has been lost since then."

Ten-chan and the other animals glanced between the two, almost predatory grins crossing their faces. Count D's own smile changed only minutely, but the animals who knew him best could see the triumph hidden in his smile and his eyes. "Excellent."

Yes, she was not a normal human and would fit in perfectly here.

AN: One of my favorite authors and good friends, Devil-Babe911 wrote a Petshop of Horrors/Inuyasha crossover, and it inspired me to write this one! I hope no one is waiting too eagerly for me to update anything else - I'm still working on everything. Thank you so much for reading, please review, and most importantly, read Devil-Babe's crossover and support her too!