ONCE AND AGAIN
By Jodie-chan
Chapter 18 A Brother's Confession
Continuation…
Sesshoumaru pulled the contents of the envelope. A two pages result of a DNA test was inside including the signature of the examiner for validity purposes. He read the result quietly, he didn't understand most of the medical terms but the important thing was the fact it was stated there that Inuyasha and Kagome's son's DNA matched. There was no more doubt about his brother's paternity towards the son of Kagome Higurashi, the girl he hired five years ago.
Sesshoumaru placed the result back to the envelope. "Can you explain further how did they match Inuyasha's DNA and the kid's DNA?" He stretched from the chair to a comfortable position.
"Since your brother had been the blood donor to Higurashi's son, they tested both their hemoglobin, chromosome and H2C4O2(No2)3 count types. After conducting those experiments they matched its chromosomal identities between the two, which resulted to their DNA matching, thus making Inuyasha as the biological father of Higurashi's son."
"Excellent Detective Totousai." He was nodding in satisfaction as of the success of the investigation. "I know I could always count on you."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"I'll give him another surprise gift but this time he will thank me for sure."
Totousai stood and started to leave. He shook Sesshoumaru's hand. "So Mr. Takagi, if you need me, just give me a call. Good luck and I hope Inuyasha would be grateful enough for what you did for him." He put back his hat and left the room.
'Should I call my stupid brother? Or should I make him wait? Hmmm…lets see.' He marveled with his thoughts while making a decision to tell Inuyasha about his findings or let him find it out by himself.
Inuyasha knocked Kagome's office's door and entered quietly but she wasn't around. Sango was the only person inside carrying a bunch of folders from Kagome's table.
"Sango where's Kagome?"
Sango spun around and faced her boss when she noticed the curious look on his face. "Maybe Miroku forgot to tell you. Inuyasha, Kagome's absent today, she passed out yesterday during the location shooting of one our commercials. She's been there the whole day, and it was really hot. She had a heat stroke and some of our crew brought her home. She needs to rest."
"But yesterday was Sunday, why was she still working on a weekend?" He felt a deep concern for her.
"We had a little technical problem last week and there were parts in the commercial that needed to be re-shoot but unfortunately the model was only available on Sunday, so the shooting was rescheduled yesterday. Don't worry everything was already fixed."
"Those were the times when I was too busy with the court hearings, right?" He glanced at Sango with guilty look. "I've been too careless with my employees, now Kagome is sick." He sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"It's not your fault besides, I think you already got through with the case. Congratulations about the decision but I've read the papers, those issues were really nasty. I'm sorry…" Sango sympathized with him.
"Yeah, thanks. Those press people are really getting into my nerves. Sango is it ok if I visit Kagome today?"
"Yes of course! That would certainly make her feel better."
"But, isn't she mad at me because of what happened when Kikyou was here?" He had a doubtful feeling.
"I don't think so, she never looked like she's been mad at you because of that. It's your ex-wife's fault and not yours." Sango gave a reassuring smile.
"Then I have to go now. Bye Sango, thanks!" He left a grinning Sango.
'I hope they can get along just fine, they look good together anyway.'
Inuyasha was driving his car to visit Kagome in their shrine home when his cell phone rang. He pulled over the side of a road and answered the call.
Phone Conversation:
"Hello Sess! Why did you call?
"I want to talk to you about a very important matter Inuyasha." His voice had the usual cold, unfeeling tone.
"Like what?" Inuyasha was growing impatient.
"You have to come here in my office, so we can talk about it."
"Why can't you tell it right now? I don't have much time, I'm busy and…" Sesshoumaru cut him off.
"This matter is more important than anything Inuyasha, you'll know why when you get here."
"Keh! It's probably just one of your tricky surprises. Thank you but I don't have time to waste today."
"Damn it Inuyasha! It's about you and Kagome!" His brother was trying his patience.
"What? About Kagome, but why?" He sounded skeptical.
"Meet me and I'll tell you."
"But I really don't have time today. I'll call you tomorrow then we can discuss that thing, whatever that is. I have to hang up now. Bye." He clicked his phone off.
End phone conversation.
'What is he trying to pull now?' Inuyasha drove fast to the Sunset Shrine's direction. He was glad that the press people were no longer outside their building when he went to the parking lot. He reached the shrine and was about to climb the stairs when he spotted Souta going down the stairs. He called out his name and the kid ran and smiled at his direction.
"Inuyasha-san! I've watched in the news that you won your case. Congratulations!" He said in between breaths.
"Thanks. Are you ok now?" Inuyasha remembered the last time he saw Souta and the way he reacted when he asked him a very personal question about his sister.
"Me? I'm not sick, it's onee-chan." He didn't get what he meant.
"I know, but what I mean is… about the last time we talked here… on these steps." Inuyasha trailed his gaze through the stairs.
"Yeah, I remember, it's ok… don't worry about it." He waived his hand in the air.
"You sure?"
"Hmn." Souta nodded. "By the way, what are you doing here? Are you going to visit my sister? Right timing because she's really sick today."
"Yeah, Sango told me."
"The only problem is, Mom couldn't leave her and I have to pick up Inari-chan in school today."
"What's the problem with that?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.
A light bulb popped in Souta's brain. 'Ahah! I can ask Inuyasha-san a favor this time.' "You know Inuyasha-san, I met a cute girl last week and she agreed to see a movie with me today but since my sister is sick and Mom can't pick up my nephew, I'm the only one who can do it. And I have a date with this cute girl today, I'll meet her in 30 minutes, and I really like this girl" He glanced at his wristwatch.
"Why don't you just go straight to the point?" He eyed him suspiciously.
"Can you pick up Inari for me? Please Inuyasha-san?"
Inuyasha sighed. "OK."
Souta ran away from him like a wind. "Thanks Inuyasha-san! He's at Shikon Day Care Center, 1B, just explain it to my sister OK! Bye!"
"Where did he learn to run that fast?" He shook his head and get back to his car to pick up Kagome's son.
He was relieved that the school wasn't hard to find. He pulled over the parking lot of the school.
Inari was waiting for his Uncle Souta to pick him up when two older kids tried to bully him.
"Hey Soren! Look what I found here, the kid with the weird name!" The chubby boy laughed at Inari's name.
"Yeah!" The other kid joined in laughing at him. Inari kept quiet because his mother told him not to pick a fight with other kids.
He ignored the two bullies. "Hey you! Why are you ignoring us?" The skinny one pushed Inari a little harder and he landed on his knees. He bruised his knees but he didn't cry. He was clenching his fists.
"Oh look! He's not going to cry this time! Maybe his Mama said, "Don't cry baby!" The chubby kid teased him in a singsong voice.
Inari stood and pushed the chubby kid. "Don't make fun of my Mama!"
"You want to fight us now huh?" The skinny one poked him continuously.
"I don't want to fight you because my Mama said not to fight…" The chubby one shouted and teased him again.
"My Mama said, my Mama said! You always say that! Don't you have a Daddy?"
"I think he doesn't have one because if he has a Daddy, he wouldn't be a Mama's boy!" They both laughed at his face.
"I have a Daddy! I'll show you!" He shouted while crossing his arms over his chest when he spotted Inuyasha coming. His eyes twinkled with happiness when Inuyasha walked behind the two kids.
"Who said I don't have a Daddy?"
"If you have, then why isn't he coming here in school huh weird boy?"
"Really? Look behind you." He smirked proudly.
The two mean kids looked behind their shoulders and saw a tall man with long silver hair smirking arrogantly with folded arms across his chest.
The mean kids scampered to get away from them. They're afraid of the man with the long hair.
Inari squealed happily upon seeing Inuyasha; he jumped and hugged him in the middle. "Daddy! You came, it's like magic! I wished that you'll come and save me from those bad kids and it came true!"
"Daddy?" Inuyasha forgot the promise they made to each other.
Inari had a saddened look. "It's just the two of us right? I can call you Daddy?"
He remembered eventually and felt guilty for forgetting when he saw the sad look in his eyes.
"Yeah! I remember, I'm sorry, your Daddy's getting old." He laughed a little and the kid giggled.
"Daddy where's my Uncle Souta?" He meekly asked while Inuyasha held his hand when they walked over the parking.
"Your Uncle Souta has a date so he asked me to pick you up and your Mama is sick so your grandma has to take care of her."
"I'm sad because Mama is sick today." He pouted and sniffed. Inuyasha ruffled his hair.
"Don't worry we'll get something for Mama so she'll get well soon."
"Really Daddy?" The kid had a hopeful look in his eyes.
"Of course! So where do you wanna go?"
"I want ice cream and ramen too!" He shouted happily while hopping on his car.
Inuyasha enjoyed the time he spent with Inari that he forgot the passing of time. They strolled down the mall and he bought him few toys that he liked. He also both a basket of fruits and a bunch of flowers for Kagome, hoping that she's not mad at him. They haven't got the chance to talk for almost two weeks and he felt like he missed the sound of her voice.
He was carrying the sleeping kid on his back while his other hand was holding the basket of fruits, the bunch of flowers and a bag of toys.
He knocked on the door and Kagome's mother opened it while smiling widely taking the basket, the flowers and the toys in his other hand. "Come in Inuyasha. You must be really tired. That kid is so heavy."
"Yes Ma'am he's growing really fast. By the way where's Kagome?"
Kagome emerged from the kitchen, she was wearing a big shirt and a trousers; a blanket draped over her shoulders. She had little circles under her blue-gray eyes.
"Inuyasha. Is he sleeping?" Inuyasha nodded. "Did he eat already?"
"Yeah, I think he ate more today, than usual." Kagome smiled softly; Inuyasha saw it and was relieved to find that she's not mad at him.
"Can you take him up stairs. I think he wouldn't wake up anymore tonight."
Inuyasha followed Kagome upstairs still carrying her son. He set him down on the bed while Kagome tucked the blankets around him.
He sat on the chair against the wall while Kagome sat beside her son in the bed. "How do you feel?" Inuyasha stared at her pale but still pretty face.
"I'm feeling better now, it's just a heat stroke, maybe I can go to work tomorrow." She smiled softly while running her fingers on her son's hair.
"Kagome, I … I want to apologize for what happened before… between you and Kikyou…" Kagome glanced back at his face.
"You don't have to besides I should be the one apologizing… I said not so nice words to her… maybe that's what made her mad.
"No you didn't… it was me, before she confronted you, we already fought in my office." He laughed a little. "She even slapped me, unlike you, I wasn't fast enough to stop her. It landed directly on my face."
"Oh, I'm sorry…"
"What you did was right, she's overdoing everything, and treating people like dirt, I'm glad the case was over."
"Hmm, Miroku told us but I read in the newspaper that…" She didn't finish her sentence when Inuyasha's face shadowed.
"She's not going to stop unless she gets even with me. She's always like that, even before. I'm glad that part of my life was already over, I just hope she would stop messing with my life so I can… move on." He said the last part while looking directly at Kagome's eyes.
She felt her heart beat faster than usual. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach like it was tickling her tummy. 'Why did he look at me like that? What did he mean?' She snapped out of her reverie when he asked her.
"Kagome, where's Souta?" Her face saddened when she remembered her brother. They had a fight just a while ago because she thought something bad happened to her son and it was Souta's fault.
"We had a fight… I was furious when he came home without my son and I thought it was his fault, not even listening to his explanation first. I hurt him Inuyasha… Can you talk to him? He doesn't want to talk to me and I don't want the night to be over without settling things with him." She pleaded hopefully.
"Yeah sure but where is he?"
"He must be in the well house, when we were kids he would always hide there whenever his mad or hurt or if we had a fight. He will listen to you; sometimes I know he needs another guy to talk to. Please?"
"I'll go talk to him now." Inuyasha stood and started to leave when Kagome spoke gently.
"Inuyasha thank you…" He nodded. "I'll just call you when it's dinner time. You'll stay at dinner, right?" She hoped.
"I couldn't say no to a hearty dinner and before I forgot we bought something for you, the fruits and the… flowers." She laughed a little and nodded. Inuyasha went outside.
Souta was sitting on the lip of the old well when he heard someone calling his name. He opened the door of the well house and saw Inuyasha standing outside.
"Inuyasha-san? Is Inari-chan ok?" He noticed the sad expression on his face.
"He's fine and already sleeping." He tried to sound cheerful to lift the boy's mood.
"Onee-chan was worried about him…" He sat back to the lip of the old well. Inuyasha followed him and closed the door behind him.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha sat beside him and scanned the old well house. It was dark inside and the only things that lighted the place were the two small old lamps against the wall. It felt creepy inside that well house; it gave Inuyasha some goose bumps.
"I just think things out." He looked at the ground beneath him.
"Kagome told me what happened, she wants to say sorry to you but you don't want to talk to her."
"It's not like that… I understand her… I wasn't mad at her… I just feel like I'm not helping her at all…" He kept his head down.
"Why do you say that? I think your sister is very proud of you. She can always count on you." Inuyasha set his hands in his lap. "You know what, you're both lucky because you're very close to each other. The truth is, sometimes I envy you. Me and my half-brother has never been that close."
Souta looked up to his face. "Why?"
"We have so many differences and we don't get along with each other very well." He shrugged his shoulders and glanced back to Souta.
"My sister is very important to me, I want to help and be with her whenever she have problems but sometimes I feel so useless… like what happened today…"
"She just misunderstood it… she didn't mean what she said… you knew your sister better than anyone else."
"I know but that's not what I mean… no matter what we do, I could sense her sadness…" Souta nudged his arm and he looked him straight in the eye. "Inuyasha-san, what do you think about my sister?"
"What do you mean?"
"How would you describe her?"
"I think she's a nice person, a good mother, daughter, friend, sister… almost everything… she has a great heart…"
"I'm glad you think of her that way because she really is… I owe her my life and I could never repay her no matter what I do. What she did for me is one thing I can never forget even if I die…"
Inuyasha was confused. He felt the deep emotion behind his words. "Souta what do you mean?"
He sighed deeply and looked directly into his eyes. "Inuyasha-san, I want to tell you something about a great secret. But you have to promise me with your life that no matter what happened this would only be between the two of us. I never tell this to anybody, you're the only person I will trust with this secret. Please promise me Inuyasha-san."
Inuyasha nodded quietly and shook his hand. "I promise with my life."
"Thank you, I just want to let this out of my chest because it's been here for a long time, I feel like I really need to tell it to somebody else… it's about my sister, I want to help her… make her happy… but I don't know how."
'About Kagome… Why am I so nervous? What about her? I knew it, something is really not right ever since I met her but what is it' He snapped out of his thoughts when Souta spoke again.
"We didn't really know who was Inari's father."
"What? But how…?" Inuyasha was shocked.
"When I was a kid, I was hospitalized for two years because of a chronic renal failure, I've been on dialysis but after two years the doctor warned that if I don't undergo a kidney transplant I'm going to die, they found a matched donor for me but the problem was financial. We didn't have that amount before but onee-chan found a way to gather that money so I had the operation. That time I didn't know where she got it I just found out when I was already home. I heard my Mom and my sister talking but I never asked even once, I pretended that I believed everything they said." He sniffed and a tear made way from the corner of his eye.
"Souta?"
"My sister… she… she sold herself so she could save my life…she got pregnant after a month but the saddest part… she didn't know who the father was…" He cried and put his hands on his face.
Inuyasha gasped, his mouth ajar when he heard Souta's confession.
"She suffered a great deal because she was still going to school then… people from her school scrutinized her and humiliated her… they called her names, they accused her… every time she went home from school crying, my heart was breaking… but she didn't give up, she continued her studies, she worked in the morning and studied at night, she helped Mom in everything, she takes care of Inari, she loves him despite of what happened… I know she's trying to move on but I can still see the pain in her eyes every time she put my nephew to sleep, I'll sneak into her room to watch and hear her sing but every time she finished the song… she always cry. She is strong I know… but she can be weak too sometimes… I just want to lessen the burden in her heart." His tears stopped but his eyes were still red and puffy.
Inuyasha was speechless; he couldn't believe that Kagome had gone through so much pain and misery. His heart was aching and he still didn't understand why. 'She did that? Sacrificed herself for her brother?' "Souta, how did that happen? I mean how come she didn't know her son's real father?" He was still confused.
"I really didn't know the entire story but what I can remember was she never saw his face and it was a long time ago, Inari's five years old, so it was five years ago, onee-chan was just seventeen then when it happened."
"Never saw his face? Is that possible? Do you know what I mean?"
"I know what you mean, I'm already fifteen and I know those things. I remembered, I think I heard my sister told Mom about a party, and the place was dark too." Souta shrugged his shoulders.
Inuyasha snapped when he heard the word party. Something triggered in his memory. 'Party? Five years ago? Dark place? Am I really thinking what I'm thinking? Hell no! But why does it sound so coincidental?'
FLASBACKInuyasha remembered asking the mysterious girl why did she do such thing.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have been so rough, I have a personal reason… I just can't tell… I'm sorry I hope you understand."
END FLASHBACK'That voice, her voice… its Kagome! It's her, the girl Sesshoumaru hired… Damn! Sesshoumaru knew! He knew that's why he's acting really weird around Kagome! He's going to tell me something today and it's about Kagome! Shit! Why that bastard didn't tell me?'
"Inuyasha-san?" He snapped out again off his thoughts.
"Huh?" Inuyasha wasn't blinking at all.
"Inuyasha-san, promise me again that my secret is safe with you, my Mom and sister, they didn't know that I already knew about it, I've been pretending for a long time because I love my sister so much and I don't want to hurt her."
"Don't worry Souta, your secret is safe with me…" Inuyasha felt the guilt that was always been there inside his heart. 'I'm sorry Souta it was all because of me… forgive me…' He mentally and emotionally felt the pain, guilt and shame, like a lion that devoured an innocent deer and he was the lion…
Inuyasha touched his shoulder; he was shaking slightly. All the revelations he heard were too much to bear. They were both silent for a moment when a loud sliding sound of wood was heard.
The door of the old well house was slammed wide open.
"Onee-chan!"
"Kagome!"
They both had a horrified look on their faces…
to be continued...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello mina-san, first I want to apologise for the great delay, I had really tough times and never get to update, but I'm not giving up on this story, I am taking responsibility and even if takes me 10 years to finish this I'll still finish this story, however it'll be on hiatus for 4 months from this day because right now I'm busy training for a new job and its not easy. I have to focus my attention to my new career or I won't be able to write again. Sad but true but at least it'll make you more eager neh? Again I do apologise for the delay and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. God bless us all.
Love,
Jodie