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Curiosity – Chapter 38 – “Oddities”


Kei was certainly a lot to take in. In a way he could be considered intimidating due to his stature and looks, but he definitely wasn’t as fearsome as Sesshomaru. Anyone could tell that he was the kind of person who worked out a lot due to the visibly rippling muscles beneath his shirt, which only made Kei look all the more formidable due to his broad chest and wide shoulders.

All watched as the shaggy black haired boy before him bowed politely, not once uttering a single word, and persistently pulled Kagome into the kitchen.

“What is it Kei – why…?” But Kei stopped Kagome; signing to her not to speak, only to sign; he didn’t want the others to know the gist of their conversation.

Inuyasha watched them silently from his place against the wall, letting Arisu’s explanation of Kei’s lack of speech fade into the background. Apparently the kid was mute, one thing or another being wrong with his vocal cords causing him to be completely silent since childhood, but he didn’t care about that. The only thing that interested him right now was the conversation going on between the two siblings in the kitchen.

That’s right, he knew exactly what Kagome and Kei were talking about. Did they honestly think that he just sat around all day while Kagome was at school? He needed to do something and what better way to pass the time than rummaging through all those books the wench had lying about her room? These people had no idea what sort of information was stashed away in the confines of his mind.

It was unbelievable what he discovered via the two sibling’s conversation. Most of it was anger being thrown back at each other regarding one thing or another but when Kagome finally told Kei what had happened, starting from when she had initially left Inuyasha five days ago, Inuyasha was thoroughly surprised.

“Kikyo kept her locked up in a hut for two days…” “She accused her of being a witch because she didn’t understand a different language…” “It was HER fault Kagome’s arm was broken?!?!” He was softly growling by this point; growing ever louder in volume as the seconds passed and more facts were revealed.

“It is impolite to stare.” Blazing gold turned to gaze into ice cold amber.

“You should learn to practice what you preach ya bastard! What the hell do you think you’ve been doing for the past five minutes?!”

A short sigh left the demon Lord. “Obviously you have no concept of manners being the half-breed mutt that you are.”

“That is enough; you two are brothers and should act like it.” Touga said in an attempt to keep his boys in line – what he didn’t expect were two sets of anger filled eyes boring into his skull.

“HALF BROTHERS!” The both of them yelled.

“Ignore them and their anger; they don’t like it when they’re referred to as full brothers.” Miroku spoke as he continued to sip his tea.

“Indeed. Why would I want to be related to someone so vulgar?” The demon Lord agreed with an air about him – one that Inuyasha instantly picked up on.

“Ya wanna finish our little fight asshole?!” Inuyasha began to stand up with the help of Tessaiga much to the disagreement of his mother.

“Be careful dear you’ll open your wounds again.”

“I don’t give a flying f***! The bastard just thinks cause I’m a half-breed that I’ve got the brain of a simpleton – which I don’t!”

“You certainly do show it.”

Growling erupted from Inuyasha then as he forcefully shoved his mother’s hand from his shoulder and unsheathed his sword; preparing to do battle within the Higurashi living room if need be. Unfortunately he didn’t even get one swing in…

“Both of you will stop this right now.” Touga’s voice announced filled with authority. “Inuyasha, you will put that sword away immediately and apologize to Izayoi for your behavior. Sesshomaru you will go back through the well at once and I expect to never find you in this era again without our permission do you understand?”

Sesshomaru instantly stood and left the residence – he’d been surrounding by human stench for far too long anyways.

“Why the hell should I listen to you old man?” When would Inuyasha ever stop butting heads?

Suddenly the hanyou was forced back into his seat by a firm hand he didn’t recognize. Looking to the left, he saw the towering figure of Kei – a figure which, if the hanyou were human, would definitely intimidate him.

Inuyasha watched as Kei released his shoulder and pulled another black object out of his pocket, brought the small black device to his throat, and set his eyes on those occupying the room.

“I ask forgiveness for my behavior a few minutes ago; I was concerned for the welfare of my sister. Though Kagome has already introduced me I would like to redo it formally.” He took a small bow. “My name is Kei Higurashi and it is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintance. If you will excuse me I will go prepare dinner for you all as pardon for my actions.”

He turned to leave but was stopped by the curious kitsune.

“But I thought Kagome’s mother said you were mute. How is it you can speak – and why does your voice sound so funny?”

It was Arisu who explained the boy’s medical troubles while she sent Kei off to fix dinner.

According to her, Kei had been mute ever since he was found and welcomed into the Higurashi family. When they’d had a specialist look at him it was discovered that his larynx (vocal cords) appeared to be damaged to what they guessed had been since birth. The boy had spent his entire childhood in silence, but when he was older he discovered an object called an “electronic larynx” which he believed might give him the voice he’d so longed to have. Though usually used for people who undergo a “laryngectomy”*, the Higurashi’s had taken the chance and ordered the piece of equipment – which to their delight enabled their adopted son to speak.

“You mean your people can actually restore a person’s lost voice?” Questioned a surprised Sango.

“In most cases, but in some they can’t which is why they learn sign language. That way at least they’ll have some sort of communication besides writing everything down.” Kagome answered.

There was one thing that Kaede noticed at the beginning of Arisu’s explanation that she’d found herself quite curious about.

“Ye said that the child had been mute when ye found him. What exactly did you mean by that?”

A tiny sad smile appeared on Arisu’s face – “I don’t believe it is my place to tell you his story.”

Before anyone could ask otherwise the announcement was made that dinner was ready.

~~~~

Dinner was a crazy affair.

An extra table was set up to make sure everyone had enough elbow room while eating their meal. The Feudal Era guests were surprised at the types of delicacies that were setting on the table before them for not only did they look scrumptious but they were also recognizable unlike the food that Arisu had fixed them the day before. The cuisine before them was food from their own era and it was their favorite foods as well. Kagome had apparently told him a lot about them.

It was funny to watch Inuyasha as he ate. He ate even more ravenously than he usually did since the hanyou hadn’t eaten in almost two days. His friends and even his father found it comical; unfortunately his mother did not.

“Inuyasha don’t eat so fast – you’ll choke.”

Said hanyou ate the rest of the food on his plate before responding.

“Feh, I’m made of a lot tougher stuff than you humans. I ain’t gonna choke.”

“Don’t speak to your mother like that.” Touga’s dark tone reached his ears.

Inuyasha took his signature annoyed look and turned his attention to Kagome.

“We’re leaving tonight wench.”

That definitely made her head pop up, but Kikyo beat her to speaking first.

“No Inuyasha, we will be staying here for eight days as per my copy and mine’s agreement – to which I take full responsibility.”

“Wow, she actually kept her half of the deal.” Kagome thought in amazement.

He slammed his fist angrily on the table. “Hell no – we’ve been gone for five days already! Who knows what kind of crap Naraku’s done while we’ve been off chasing after wench and the old hag!”

“Inuyasha, I think it would be wise to wait at least another day before setting out. After all you’ve only been up and around for a day and I believe I can already see a bit of blood leaking through your bandages.”

“Shut up monk…” The hanyou ground through his teeth. “I don’t care if I ain’t healed yet; we ain’t spending another eight days lollygagging!”

“He’s more of a brute then you described him.” Kei signed to his sister. What happened next really did shock the entire group within the room.

Inuyasha looked Kei right in the eye and raised his hands – “I can understand you dumbass.”

~~~~

The rest of that night was filled with bickering between the two “leaders” of the group along with the occasional outburst from Kei regarding the treatment of his sister. It amazed him that not once did any of members of the odd ball group try to stop their fighting – each one stating that it was just easier out to let them fight it out rather than try to intervene. Izayoi actually had to drag Touga out of the house before he too went off on his youngest son but Izayoi could tell that it was just a lovers spat, though an extremely intense one, so she removed her mate from the situation before his beast took over to discipline his son.

It took a couple hours but the Inuyasha and Kagome finally agreed upon leaving in two days’ time since there was a makeup test that Kagome had had the next day. Though this still didn’t please the hanyou, the fall was cushioned a little with promise of extra ramen and not having to return to the future for at least a month.

This of course pleased the hanyou greatly, but there was a member of Higurashi family who didn’t feel so happy. After all, wouldn’t you be upset as well if you were going to be separated from your long missed wife? He supposed he was going to have to move up his little gift for her. So silently, the eldest Higurashi excused himself from the house and made his way to one of the many storage buildings and prepared to set his plan in motion.

~~~~

“Hiro what in the world are you doing – it’s the middle of the night?”

Yasuhiro once again shushed his wife, trying to keep her quiet so they wouldn’t wake the rest household as the two deftly snuck out the back door and to one of the older storage buildings in the back. Once both were inside, Kaede noticed two chairs setting in the room beside some sort of older electronic that was placed on a table and an odd looking screen that seemed to float on the near wall. (Though she knew it didn’t float, the room was just too dark to see what was holding it up.)

“What is all this for?” She questioned as he directed her to sit in one of the chairs before he himself sat in the chair closest to the odd device.

“I believe it is easier to you to just watch dear.” A switch was flipped and images began to appear on the screen, becoming brighter as the old movie projector heated up. Finally the miscellaneous images disappeared and all that was left was one man adjusting what Kaede supposed was a camera before setting himself in a chair and began to speak.

“Wow… um… I guess I should start with I hope you’re seeing this mother.” The man on the screen paused for a minute. “God this feels weird, I had a whole speech planned and now it’s just slipped my mind. Well anyway, mother, if you haven’t guessed already I’m your son Satoru, right now I’m about fifteen years old, and I know it must seem odd that I’m making this video but I’ve just got this feeling that I’ll won’t be able to tell you some things if you ever do come back to us from the Feudal Era. Yes mother, I do remember a bit about our home in the forest and the village, but your face haunts my dreams the most.”

Satoru went on to tell her what he’d been doing since they’d had to leave her and before long the image changed to that of an older looking Satoru.

“It’s me again mother. I am proud to tell you that I’ve been accepted into college.” The movie continued on, her son telling her what he’d planned on doing with his life – planning on becoming a doctor specializing in homeopathic and herbal remedies. It made her proud inside.

The movie kept on progressing and with each new entry in her son’s video diary more tears came to old Kaede’s eye as she gripped her husband’s hand tighter in silent support. She watched as he celebrated his graduation, showed her photos of the woman he was going to ask to be his wife, even part of the wedding had been added to the tape. Satoru hadn’t wanted his mother to miss out on anything in his life. There were even small parts where he just wanted to talk about a personal problem even though she wasn’t there to give him advice. But the one thing that truly made her heart break was when Satoru appeared on screen with a tiny pink bundle in his arms.

“Hi mother. Today I’d like to introduce someone to you who is truly special to my heart.” He slowly uncovered the swaddled child to reveal a chubby little face topped with striking bluish hair and turned her so she was in view of the camera. “This is your granddaughter – her name is Kagome. Can you tell Grandma ‘hi’?” Satoru waved Kagome’s tiny arm in the air and the dam holding in Kaede’s tears just broke. With each passing moment that went by Yasuhiro’s grip became tighter and tighter on his wife as she continued to sob into his shoulder. They watched as Kagome grew and Sota was introduced but it was the last entry that made Yasuhiro weep along with his wife.

“I suppose you could say this is for both of you mom and dad.” Satoru began with a somber look. “I’ve been having this feeling for the past few days that something is going to happen, something grave. I fear that which I have always felt – that perhaps I’ll never see you two together again. If such a thing does happen know that I will always be watching over you both and that I love you with all of my heart - may you both be blissfully happy together until the end of time.”

The image flickered again but neither one of the elders noticed. They just simply held each other and grieved; one for the son whose life she’d missed out on and the other for the caring message left behind.

~~~~

Touga found his mind fastened to Kei most of that day. There was just something about the boy that reminded him of someone – his mannerisms, the shape of his face, the way he practiced his judo on the back of the property. It took him a while and a lot of thinking but he’d finally made the connection; the boy looked a bit like Izayoi. Of course she couldn’t be his mother but perhaps he was a descendant from her clan? Or was he perhaps a descendant of Inuyasha? He couldn’t smell any demon blood beneath the surface but his blood did smell peculiar though; as if there were two different people in one body fighting for dominance. It was the same with his dog who carried the same unusual scent as Tinkerbell – feeling more like a familial tie instead of pack.

Touga would need to ponder over such things later.

~~~~

It was finally time to head back to the Feudal Era. Each guest had profusely thanked the Higurashi’s for their wonderful hospitality and for everything they’d done. Inuyasha had noticed how the two elder human’s kept hovering around each other but kept his mouth shut. The hanyou could sense the reluctance to leave from Kaede and knew something was up. The question was what?

Just as almost everyone had gone through the well, only Kagome and Kaede to go, the lumbering Kei decided to make his appearance at the door with a pack riding on his back and Mytonic at his side.

“What do you think you’re doing boy?” Gramps questioned.

“Going with my sister.” He signed.

“What? No! Kei you don’t know how dangerous it is and besides, it’s bad enough having to make sure I stay safe we don’t need Inuyasha complaining about protecting someone else.”

“You forgot that I am well trained in many forms of martial arts and that summer I took fencing lessons.”

*Sigh* “It takes a lot more than kicks, chops, and stabbing others with a sword shaped like a toothpick to defeat a demon. You’ve got no idea what it’s like.”

“I don’t care, I’m coming with you – if not for anything else than to teach that hanyou of yours some respect.” He’d known he’d won this sibling battle of wits.

“Fine, but who’s going to take care of Arnold hmm?” Of course Mytonic would go, he was needed to alert others if Kei’s condition acted up.*

Without another word Arnold was handed over into Souta’s care and the four made their way down the well.

What Kagome didn’t know was there was a whole other reason for her older brother to come along, one that hopefully wouldn’t be revealed during the upcoming journey.

~~~~

Across the lands of Musashi and through the mountains of the north, a luminous castle stood; a castle that housed the most vile villain in history.

The ominous being watched the scene unfolding through the mirror and was pleased with two specific beings that he saw within its depths. Finally the man of prophecy had returned…

Now he would have enough power to rule the entire universe.

Chapter End Notes:
A/N – Total words – 3,114

*”laryngectomy” ~ a surgery involving a partial or total removal of the larynx (vocal cord)
*”Kei’s condition” ~ This will be revealed in a later chapter.

Hope this is all to your liking. Tried (and succeeded) in making it extra-long for you. Once again I am sorry for the delays but I am trying. Got a lot of things going on right now, most of which frustrate me which gives me writers block. I’ll try to start getting into a timely fashion again.

Will someone PLEASE review OTHER THAN BEGGING ME TO UPDATE???? I really want to know your thoughts on this.

Thanks to Sunlancer for being my awesome beta-buddy!

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