Hey guys! New story for you! Hope you enjoy!
BP
Chapter 1: Fortitude
Kagome desperately wanted to cry as she hauled herself out of the well, trying the ignore the pain that spread through her body. She ignored the looks she was getting from her group, not to mention Sesshoumaru and his own group, while she turned and pressed her hands into the well, memorising the feel of the ancient magic flowing through the wooden structure. Then, taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip upon the aged wood and began to pull her own power from deep within her body.
She gasped then grit her teeth in pain as the well seemed to know exactly what she was about to do and resisted.
"No." She whispered as the amount of power she called upon increased, making her body glow with it. "No more. Stop it." She hissed, viciously beating down the well's power, encompassing it into a small ball which floated out of the well, shooting up towards the sky. It exploded, spreading through the atmosphere harmlessly, though it drew clouds that proceeded to pour water in tiny droplets. Kagome tilted her head towards the heavens, letting the rain stream down her face, as she finally allowed herself to cry, knowing the youkai or hanyou in the small crowd gathered couldn't smell the salt and couldn't see the tears.
Energy spent, the glow subsided and Kagome collapsed to her knees, hands still resting on the well's edge, the magic no longer there to comfort her. She felt the auras of her friends move forward to see if she was okay, and she truly wanted to reassure them she was too, but she had no idea.
"Kagome! What's wrong with you? Why are ya back so early? C'mon, let's go!" Inuyasha was truly a baka, one that asked too many questions. Kagome bowed her head and didn't answer for several moments. During this time three things happened: one, everyone noticed that Kagome wasn't acting normally; two, the rain had stopped; three, all with a superior sense of smell noticed that her scent had changed.
Inuyasha's face went red with anger and jealousy. "Wench! Why has your scent changed?" His tone was rougher than it should have been, mind too clouded with anger to notice how Kagome had stiffened.
"Can't you tell, Inuyasha?" Her voice, weak and quivering, did nothing to bring Inuyasha back from the brink of anger. Sango stepped forward, reaching towards Inuyasha, trying to get him to stop. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru took a discreet sniff and narrowed his eyes - Inuyasha had only smelled one difference in the miko's scent with his weaker nose and so did he, but he couldn't be certain unless he was close.
Inuyasha growled as he spoke. "What happened to your innocence, Kagome! How dare you…!" He grabbed her by the shoulders, irritated by the fact that Kagome's back was still to him, intending to turn her round to face him. What he did not expect was for Kagome to stiffen completely in his arms before screaming brokenly, terror clouding her scent, along with salt. The others watched in horror as Kagome thrashed wildly in his arms, frantically trying to get away. He held onto her for a few more seconds, too shocked to do anything else, but hurriedly released her, watching as she crawled away from him and turned so her back was to the well and she was facing him, along with everyone else.
"Kagome…?" Kagome's broken, terrified gaze turned unseeingly towards the voice. Sango gasped, utterly stunned at how vulnerable Kagome seemed at that moment. She slowly walked towards her, trying not to scare her anymore than she was. Sesshoumaru had sent Rin with Jaken and Ah-Un back the Palace of the Moon as soon as he had detected the disturbance in her scent, and he was now faintly thankful that he had. Rin did not need to see her mother-figure break in such a way.
He himself had seen this before, knew what caused it, and wondered what the miko would do now. It was evident by her display earlier that her miko powers where still resting in her soul, despite her loss of innocence. He knew that, when faced with such a fate as the miko now was, most women of this era would prefer to take their own lives than live and deal with the pain of healing and accepting what happened.
"Are you with me, Kagome?" Sango made sure to speak slowly and softly. Kagome's eyes, though still broken, lost the terrified look and focused on her.
"Hai, Sango-Chan, I'm here. And this is where I'll stay." There was strength in Kagome's words and tone that no one had expected. "Besides," Kagome sent a small smile in Sango's direction, "I would be letting him win if lost myself, would I not? I don't like losing." That drew a loud laugh from everyone.
"Ah, you're quite right, Kagome-Sama. It's good to see the competitiveness in you hasn't been lost." Miroku also walked towards Kagome, slowing down a bit with the frantic look she sent him. Inuyasha was still at a loss as to what they were talking about.
"Well? I'm still waiting for an answer, wench." Kagome looked at him and stood up shakily. She looked him straight in the eye, making sure he saw exactly what she was feeling.
"An answer to what, Inuyasha?" He growled.
"What is up with the change in your scent? The innocence is gone!" A though occurred to Kagome, then, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Why does it matter to you?"
"Because it does, Kagome! Just answer the question, bitch!" Kagome felt the rage building in her and partially revelled in it. It made her feel something else other than the pain of between her legs and the scars in her heart and mind.
"Don't call me a bitch, dog boy!" The yell seemed to take everyone aback. They were surprised that Kagome could have the strength to still do the old routine with Inuyasha.
"Then tell me what's going on, then!" Kagome was angry enough now to not care what she said.
"I was raped, moron! My innocence taken from me in the most brutal way the bastard could think of! How can your oh-so-superior nose not figure that out? The humans, the weak humans, knew what was going on before you did, idiot!" Inuyasha stared, his mouth open ready to say something caring, he knew it was. But what came out was anything but. Hopefully the long-term effects of what he would say would be positive. He noticed that her weird hakama she called jeans were ripped and torn, and her tee shirt had blood on it.
"How could you be so weak? Surely you must have learned something while in this era, right?!" Kagome's eyes narrowed in anger, while Sesshoumaru wondered if Inuyasha knew exactly what he was doing. It might seem uncaring, but Sesshoumaru figured that what he was saying would help the miko the most, more than what any caring words, or comforting hugs could offer. His words were, essentially, forcing her to face the facts about what happened and accept them.
"Yes, I was weak! But I can't help that - you have no idea what happened on the other side of that well! The bastard killed my family in front of me before deciding to mercifully spare my pathetic life(!) And please donote the sarcasm!" Inuyasha scowled, but he was inwardly pleased. He wasn't as stupid as he looked - he knew exactly how to help people, no matter how cruel it seemed, but he could only do it with Kagome, for some reason. Now if only he could get her angrier.
"Alright, but how's wallowing gonna help you any? Since when were you so weak, you actually gave up Kagome?! Kikyou would never have given up!" Kagome wanted to smack him.
"I'm not giving up! And I hate to break it to you, Inuyasha, but Kikyou hasn't gone through what I have! I am stronger than her! She didn't have to live two lives only to have one of them destroyedand her virginity taken from her! So what if she died? No disrespect intended, but why is she always put on such a high pedestal with you, Inuyasha?" He interrupted her, trying to hide the smirk on his face.
"She's not." She didn't hear him for a moment.
"And another thing, she - wait a minute, what did you say?" She almost couldn't believe her ears.
"I said she's not. What, are you deaf?" Ignoring her incredulous look at the insult, he continued, "I don't put her on a pedestal, I put you on one." He was shocked when Kagome just threw her hands in the air and walked off toward the village, muttering something about confusing dogs. Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippou stayed behind to reprimand Inuyasha on his actions toward Kagome. No one noticed when Sesshoumaru suddenly wasn't where he used to be.
Okay, I know the effects of what has happened have not really been shown in this chapter, but this is exprimental, so I'm just going with the flow at the moment. Just, please, bear with me on this. Review to let me knw what you think!
Next time: Kagome discovers something that devasates her, and Sesshoumaru tells her something of his past.
BP