Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, don't you suppose I wouldn't be wasting my time plotting on how to take over the world of fanfiction? Each and every character you recognize is merely borrowed from Takahashi-sama; anything else is a figment of your (or possibly my) imagination.
Manga chapter 480 spoiler warning!
A/N: A first attempt at IY fanfiction is always a trial.
Well, this is mine. Hopefully, it will turn out to be something good. Thus far, I have the story planned out about halfway and I'm working on the rest of it. As a note: this is a continuation of the manga, the last few chapters are being ignored to some degree, but nevertheless, some information is being used. So, naturally, we're getting to the grand finale of the whole IY storyline here.
If you consider the second part of this chapter OOC, please tell me, but I don't appreciate flames, so none of those, if you can manage that, thank you. I want to make this as realistic as possible, so feedback is appreciated. And as for shippers and all of you romance-hungry people, if there will be romance in this, then the pairings are have not yet been decided, though they will certainly be at least ninety percent canon.
With that said, thank you for taking your time to read this.
X X XPrologue
X X X
Death was coming.
Kikyo had known it every day of her stay in this world; she was living on borrowed time, if her existence could even be defined as that. That her soul had reclaimed its consciousness and had broken free from the body that served only as its keeper was not supposed to have happened, though it presented her with the one-of-a-kind opportunity to settle the score between herself and the world. She had not intended to wake again, to walk the world for vengeance… but she didn't look a gift horse into the mouth. The months spent among the living had granted her more insight, as she carried within her the knowledge of the next world as well as her memories of the past, thus saw more than others, was more capable, more powerful.
She had one more chance to avenge the crimes committed against her, the pain, the sorrow, the hatred.
And now, as manipulation was no longer an option, she was no longer a player in the shadows, she became directly involved with the plotting of her enemies and those that could loosely be considered her allies. Her plan to add the final shard to the near-complete Shikon no tama and then purify the jewel along with the vile creature that possessed it, the being born out of the desire a wretched, evil man had held for her in what truly was like a previous life, was failing. Her strength was wavering, though her resolve remained, and she herself understood that her final hour was ticking.
Around her, the battle continued, but soon after injecting the final, lethal dose of miasma into her unnatural body, Naraku fled with a taunt directed at her, which she found herself ignoring thoroughly. She hadn't lost. No. she had done more than she would have been able to otherwise, and she had been able to tweak the circumstances in her favor. Her only regret was that she wouldn't be able to witness his melting countenance the moment he would be destroyed and feel the vicious glee of victory. But the final task was taken out of her hands, put into the care of the only other person who was able to perform the deed.
Her eyes returned to the girl sitting next to her, who was, in her usual frantic, panicky way, attempting to save her and comprehend her parting words at the same time. It didn't feel strange now, to be looking at a mirror image of herself, as the girl had truly matured, if only somewhat, during the time they had spent silently hating each other, then tolerating, then accepting… one soul born of another, reincarnation, with the appearance of a twin sister, save for her wide-eyed innocence at first, and their conflicting personalities. One could never compare the two of them and consider them similar. There was no similarity between them,
And, as Kikyo understood and accepted, no hatred either.
You… are me… and there can only be one of me living in this world.
The miko clung to the hope that the girl would understand the last advice she would ever be able to give her, despite her dire lack of training and, perhaps, discipline. Yes, Naraku was now more powerful than either of them. And the last shard resided in the back of a child that had survived terrors unspeakable, unimaginable. It had sustained his life to allow him to fight another day – and, in gaining such a useful tool, her enemy had made a fatal mistake, as she could use it to her advantage.
But like her, Kohaku was as good as dead now. There was no way of extracting the shard without killing him and even she found herself admiring the resolve with which the young taijiya faced certain death and said that it was his wish to die, if his death would mean the death of Naraku as well. And as long as he remained close to her, that was the likeliest course events would take.
She didn't fear death. Her only wish was that it should have waited a few more days. What was time to the dead, after all? Only a clock that had stopped ticking. And she would gladly face hell and damnation after her vengeance was complete and justice was done.
Fate was unkind.
And so she entrusted her vengeance into the hands of one she knew she must trust in. Naraku would strike again, and he would strike harder this time. Last time, the barrier of her shikigami managed to last long enough for help to arrive in the unlikeliest of forms, but she doubted it had been the hanyou himself who had come to reclaim his human doll of a servant. It had probably been some incarnation or another, but smarter than to engage in foolhardy combat and fled in order to bear news of Kokaku´s whereabouts to its even fouler master. And now, though Kohaku was, for the moment, safe, she, who was Naraku´s most feared enemy, was dying, though admittedly, this time, knowing who had killed her a second time.
But she held no bitterness against any of those who stood by her side as life began fleeing from the clay shell that was her body now. There was no way to save her, but there was yet a way to win. And now, at the hour of her second death, she let go of whatever remains of hatred she might have held. The grudges she had held were gone and she hoped that the girl who owned the bow from Mount Azusa now, her second self, Kagome, would understand that she would have to take her place as the protector of the Shikon no tama fully and take responsibility for the jewel's fate.
When one knew one was dying, it didn't seem so terrible. There was always the "could have" and "would have" that a dying person thought of, but, as she recalled her life, Kikyo understood that she had perhaps been meant to be the protector of the jewel for all her days and, in order to obliterate the makings of a great evil, she and many others had to suffer torments unspeakable. And now, she would rest again, as if she had never woken, but the sleep would be sweet – never restless again. She would move on to the next world now, because now, she could.
A smile. She would die with a smile, not in pain and filled with wretched pain, the last sight she would ever witness the object that had caused her so much pain and the man she believed to have used her and her naivety for his own ends. She would die looking upon that man, giving up her unlife, so that he could carry on the journey to their mutual vengeance with the aid of his newfound friends. She would die, knowing that she loved him and he loved her.
And Kikyo died, her body dissolving into light, not as Naraku had taunted, in the arms of one she hated, but in the arms of the man she had loved and hated and then only loved in life and in death as well. Yet part of her soul lived on, lending her strength the one that carried it within her.
And in the end, Kikyo remained living in the minds of those who knew they had to continue without her aid, wishing them well, her light proving guidance in the darkness.
For the light could defeat the darkness, if their hearts remained pure.
The light could guide them on their path.
X X X
The night would soon be over.
A shooting star soared through the night, cutting the sky into two spectacular halves for a moment before hurrying on its way into the depths of space. Far beneath it, a teenaged girl was staring into the depths of a long-dead fireplace, as if searching for sparks. Her black hair was slightly unruly in its would-be curls, her eyes were unusually blue and her clothes were too short, too green and too modern to have been made in the century she was currently in. However, these things didn't bother Kagome one bit. After all, her companions were used to her eccentric – at least to them – appearance.
Kagome… it is something only you can do…
Despite the lateness of the hour, she pondered the last words Kikyo had said to her. She thought about the death of Kanna, the first and most faithful incarnation of Naraku, who turned out to be dreaming of her own freedom, though, having no heart, no emotions, unable to express it as her younger sister Kagura did. And though Kagura also perished, both died free, the former understanding her freedom at last, the latter vanishing in a swirl of wind, roaming the lands freely, as she had always wished. Kagome wished that Kagura had found her peace, Kanna as well, and, most importantly, she hoped that Kikyo was now truly content.
But the words of the two women began to click together, like two pieces of the same puzzle, lost, scattered, now recovered. They had both realized the same thing – that while Naraku was nearly indestructible, as their many attempts to destroy him both at a distance and at a close range had proven, hope remained as long as there was a spark of light within the Shikon no tama. Even then, only two people had the power to purify it completely and obliterate Naraku forever… one of them was already dead.
The light… will kill… Naraku…
Kagome wasn't a stupid girl, no matter how often Inuyasha might have insisted that she was. She received good marks at school – at least, as good as a girl that spent the better part of her time roaming medieval Japan and searching for the fragments of a mystical and seemingly cursed omnipotent jewel could receive - and, despite her rather rash attitude and quick temper, she was able of forming a plan, or, at least, of understanding the obvious. Now, obviously, there were two possible courses of action Naraku could pursue. One was killing her and thus preventing the purification of the jewel.
The other made her shudder.
Kagome hated seeing people suffer and get killed. In those moments of her so-called foolishness, she put the safety of others before her own and had a bad habit of charging straight into battle, uncaring about what she could do, but aware that she must do something.
Kohaku-kun was only a child, certainly no older than thirteen now. But, like Sango-chan, he was also deadly with his weapon, as they had all witnessed. Her shoulder twitched a bit as she remembered how it had pierced her arm once, though luckily, only slightly.
Yes, Kohaku would be the more likely target. Naraku had experienced the sting of her arrows himself more than once and, despite the fact that she was the less capable out of the two possible targets, a chance-hit of her own would be more deadly to Naraku than a full attack from Kohaku, who knew the futility of such things. Besides, she had more than capable fighters with her, each of them carrying a vengeance vow against the demon – Miroku-sama with his cursed kazaana, Sango-chan, who longed for her brother and for vengeance and Inuyasha, who would stop at nothing to avenge Kikyo and himself.
And Shippo-chan, Kagome remembered, glancing fondly at the small kitsune cuddled nearby in her sleeping bag, which she had temporarily abandoned, despite the coldness. Though he had no personal grudge against Naraku, he had nowhere else to go – and she already considered the kitsune something closest to her own child. Her charge, more likely, but certainly her responsibility.
Shippo was actually the greatest reason for her current hesitation.
Well, second greatest, perhaps, she thought when a familiar pair of puppy-like ears came into her field of vision. Inuyasha was sleeping as well, his hand still on his sword, slumped against the nearest tree, almost as if ready to leap into battle right away. Miroku was nearby, sleeping in a similar fashion, and Sango was resting near Kirara, but currently, only Inuyasha occupied her thoughts. He would be so angry when he would find out…
About her plan, that is.
Kagome felt really brave for making such a plan, but had a sneaking suspicion that it probably was at least the tenth stupidest plan ever to be conceived of in the history of mankind. It was foolhardy and illogical and stupid, stupid, stupid, Inuyasha screamed in her head as she imagined getting caught. Especially now, when he was mourning Kikyo, angering him so was the last thing she wanted to do. But he had to understand that their main priority was destroying Naraku, as quickly as possible, and that no cost was too high for that.
Perhaps she had been risking her life entirely too long, but she felt only slightly frightened. Her plan was to continue what Kikyo had begun – and that meant finding and accompanying Kohaku. Sooner or later, Naraku was bound to make a move and if the two of them were together, he would either strike faster or hesitate for a moment, giving them a chance to do something that would help.
Kohaku´s death was unthinkable. Sango-chan would be completely broken. She wouldn't allow that!
Kagome made up her mind. She jumped up to her feet, but stopped and shivered slightly when Inuyasha stirred a bit in his sleep. The point of this sneaking away was that he wouldn't notice her absence. Part of her was regretting leaving him now, but something in her was also feeling a twinge of doubt whether he simply wouldn't want to let her go now because of Kikyo.
Kikyo defined their world even after death.
But Kagome could now understand Kikyo. She felt little resentment for the dead miko now – it was impossible. In a way, it was Inuyasha who was the one who couldn't let go. And now she would have to be the one to let go… for now. For all of their sakes.
Her bag had gotten considerably lighter after her long stay, but she knew she had to get some more food. And she needed some fast means of transportation, otherwise Inuyasha would catch her easily after waking by following her scent. Thus traveling by air was the wisest option, as her scent would disappear in the morning air. With a silent sigh, she gathered her bow and the few arrows to stuff into her quiver. She left the sleeping bag to Shippo and quietly stepped over the fire, almost tripping but managing to regain her balance.
Gently, she rubbed Kirara´s ears. The nekomata purred quietly for a minute or two before one red eye opened slowly, glancing at Kagome slightly tiredly. The modern miko rubbed the youkai´s ears gently for a while longer until Kirara was finally up, jumping into her lap with a soft meow. Appearances were deceiving, as Kagome had learned many times. What appeared to be a harmless, frail old man could be a deadly spider youkai; what appeared to be an innocent kitten was a fierce feline, when situation required it.
Kagome gently placed Kirara on her shoulder and quietly began moving away from the camp. Then, she stepped on a branch – it didn't crack, miraculously. However, she knew better than to risk more.
Keh! You're too damned clumsy, wench. A voice echoed in her mind.
With a meow, Kirara, as if knowing her thoughts, transformed, and Kagome hopped on her back, whispering her destination in her ear.
They took off into the night, with determined faces.
At dawn, Kagome dismantled at Kaede´s village. An hour after dawn, she had fully recovered from her drowsiness and she managed to muster the will to wake the elderly miko from her sleep. Time was against her. Inuyasha could catch up with her at any minute.
The two miko, ancient and modern, sat down in Kaede´s hut as the sun began rising.
"Kagome, as I understand it, ye intend to follow the lead of Kikyo-onee-sama and travel the wilderness on yer own." Kaede frowned slightly. "I must attempt to dissuade ye of the idea. The wilderness is dangerous, even if you know what you are searching for. With Inuyasha and yer friends, ye can handle yerselves, but all alone, ye can be easy prey to youkai or bandits."
Kagome scowled slightly, lamely opposing with: "Kikyo did it. I can, too. Besides, I know Inuyasha and the others will catch up with me sooner or later. And I won't be going alone, after all. I borrowed Kirara." She stared at her lap, feeling the blush of shame warm up her face. Borrowing without asking wasn't like her, but she couldn't exactly ask for something like that, could she now?
"Yer devotion to yer cause is to be admired, but think of yer own well-being. If Naraku should find ye alone, unaware, ye would be easy prey to him or these detachments of his ye have told me about some time ago. And Kohaku could be hundreds of miles away now."
"Kaede-bachan, I have to try!" Kagome insisted, flaring up for a moment, "I only ask for a supply of arrows in case I run into trouble. Besides, if things go on like this, I probably won't be out alone for longer than a day."
"A day is too long!" the voice of a child opposed. Both women turned to see a little figure enter with Kirara following him. It was Shippo. Kagome was stupefied.
Shippo, if he weren't so angry, would have sighed in frustration. The absence of Kagome was easy to feel when he was sleeping, as they always slept together, so his youkai senses noted something unusual. And Kagome hadn't been herself for some time. She hadn't even sat Inuyasha for quite some time. Whenever he asked her, she just smiled and dismissed this concern politely.
Thus it was only natural for the kitsune to spy, transform and follow her. Wasn't that how he had ended up with them in the first place? He folded his little arms, standing next to Kagome. His large green eyes appeared both reproachful and saddened. And then, without warning, the kitsune launched himself upon Kagome, landing in her lap and hugging her tightly.
"Don't do that again, Kagome, don't leave like that! Is it because of Inuyasha? He'll get better, you know how he is! But don't leave us, Kagome!" Shippo released her briefly to look at her. "I heard you and Kaede-obaa-san." He glanced at the elderly miko, who said nothing. "It's too dangerous to go out alone!"
"But it's a chance that this might work, Shippo! You know how Inuyasha is – he'd never agree to this if I proposed it."
"I know that! That's why I'm here! To protect you!" Shippo said proudly and Kagome could almost swear his chest puffed up slightly. "If Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango are nearby, Naraku won't risk it, but I can help! I can distract whoever attacks us and you can shoot them with your arrows then. And Kirara wants to come too!" The aforementioned meowed an affirmative response. "Besides, Inuyasha´d be mad if you went alone. This way, he won't be so furious once he finds out."
And an hour later, due to the puppy eyes the kitsune was all too skilled in employing and Kagome´s weak heart that came into play when Shippo insisted that Inuyasha would get too violent without her around to yell a good osuwari at him, a rather uncertain Kaede was watching them stroll away, then Kirara rose from the ground, carrying the two small passengers, so that their scent wouldn't be as easy to detect.
Somehow, it seemed like too great a provocation.
To further the effect, Shippo came up with an idea that made Kagome think and, ultimately, agree to it, though it wasn't entirely without doubts. Kaede almost viewed it as a memento, something in honor of her dead onee-sama. When Kagome left, her green uniform – as the girl called the garment – was packed not-so-neatly into her back and the girl herself wore the same clothes Kikyo-onee-sama – the same clothes Kaede – wore every day. The attire of a miko, which made Kagome look not like Kikyo´s twin, but like Kikyo herself, but alive and full of power, at the pinnacle of life and ability.
It was a challenge to Naraku. It was a taunt.
More likely, it was useless provocation that would leave to trouble.
However, if they were to encounter bandits, it would be of far less harm than the clothes Kagome wore every day, which were too attention-catching as it were. Somehow, it had been a little too much even for Kaede when Kagome had explained to her that this was what girls were required to wear in her time, if they wished to receive education of some kind.
A silly thought crossed her mind – perhaps they would succeed in slaying Naraku. After all, it seemed the doomed houshi would live on and insert his attitude towards women into many following generations of men.
But the choice of Kagome to temporarily become a mirror of her dead onee-sama was strange. As a miko, Kaede had heard of reincarnation, but had never witnessed its true effects before first encountering Kagome. Perhaps some of the subconscious feelings of Kikyo remained in Kagome? But no. They were two different people and it was Kagome´s choice to honor the memory of Kikyo, despite the hurt between them.
The idea of leaving her group in general would lead to distress for them all, Kaede thought bitterly, deciding that she might as well get some rest while she had the time and opportunity. No doubt she would soon be receiving a less-than-pleasant visit.
If Shippo was right about anything, it was the fact that she knew most of the people in the village, having lived the longest. Thus she was the only one unsurprised by the red blur and the two panting humans that followed it.
About three hours later, certainly no more, a very livid Inuyasha appeared at her door. Attempting to catch up with him were the houshi-sama and Sango-taijiya-san, who both appeared more concerned than angered. Kami only knew for how long they had been struggling to keep up with their restless companion on foot. After the threats came the shouting and Sango found herself dearly wishing that there was some other way of subduing Inuyasha other than the rosary around his neck, or at least that it would work for all of them – at least one present.
For all of his quieter recent days, Inuyasha seemed more than ready to tear the village apart in his search for Kagome, even though Kaede told him she had gone and what she had told her – that she would be back.
"And you let her go with nothing but that useless baka of a kitsune, baba?!" It almost seemed that sparks would shoot from his eyes as he was preparing to bite the miko´s head off for allowing such a thing to transpire.
In a way, it showed that he cared very much about Kagome, Sango contemplated in her mind, watching the situation passively, at least for the moment. After Kaede-sama had explained why and where Kagome had left, she felt a pang of guilt. True, Kohaku was always on her mind, but that her friend would risk her life to protect him… part of her was very grateful and thanked Kagome from the bottom of her heart for her kindness. But something in her, the rational part, the experienced youkai taijiya, said that this was nonsense. True, the average demon was no longer a threat to Kagome, who she had to say had improved tremendously, but she still wasn't prepared for this kind of task. Where would she get food, drink, refuge? From what she had heard of Kagome´s world, it didn't seem that people lived in the wild often other than for pleasure and in their own cottages.
Though it seemed the whole village had been listening at first, the people grew scared, or tired, and left the scene silently. Miroku found himself envious of them, as it would clearly be up to him and Sango to calm Inuyasha down before he would do something very rash.
"Inuyasha," the old miko withstood his raging and storming with a frown, apparently not so easily intimidated even by a hanyou running rampant. "Kagome has done this because she believes it is best. Shippo tried to stop her, but she insisted. My opinion is that ye should let her attempt to do this, at least once. Understand that Kagome comes from a different land and has always depended on ye and yer friends for protection in case of trouble. If she encounters a youkai on her way, she will most probably succeed in purifying it, but she will also realize that no one can fight Naraku on their own."
"Kaede-sama is correct." Sango added, withstanding the glare Inuyasha fixed her with one of her own. "I wanted to do it on my own as well, once, but you guys stopped me. I tried and failed. Kagome might be in danger, but she isn't as helpless as she was before. Besides, Kirara is with them. They aren't completely a target now."
"My assumption is that Kagome-sama will eventually send Kirara back to us." Miroku added seriously, his natural talent to keep a straight face while Inuyasha was raging surfacing. After all, he was still recovering from the hit the Hiraikotsu had landed on his head when he innocently suggested to Sango that he would carry her during Kirara´s absence. What was so wrong about that? "Then you need only be brought to the spot where they left off, Inuyasha. They won't move very far from there if they move on foot."
"By that time, something might happen to them! Why are you three taking this so easily?!" The monk and the exterminator sighed inwardly at the same time, though they had no idea of it.
Sango wondered if she could somehow sneakily land a hit with the Hiraikotsu and subdue Inuyasha that way. If he wouldn't notice the shadow of it, she would be able to hit hard enough.
Miroku was weighing the possibility of doing the same with his staff, as the kazaana was too dangerous for such a simple thing. He had managed to do it before, after all, though Inuyasha had been crazed with bloodlust then.
Oh, well, they thought. Worth a try.
Raising their weapons together, they stood staring at each other a few seconds later, Hiraikotsu and staff still raised, though they were only surprised that they had thought of the same thing. Well, it seemed it was true that married – and even soon-to-be-married – couples finished each other's sentences. That Inuyasha would loose all hell upon them when he would recover from the hit was no real trouble.
Only Kaede sighed and shook her head. That was one way to do things.
This was going to be one long day.