It had begun right after the incident finally ended. I had been having nightmares about what happened, waking fearfully and staring at my surroundings to calm myself. I can't help but shudder at the thought of it. I try closing my eyes to forget about it, but every time I do, it just wouldn't go away. It will never go away. I feel as though I should have to make it stop and fight back, but I just can't hurt them. I am a failure as a man, as a person. I look to the sky and a sad smile spreads across my face as I try to gather myself for the rest of the day.
The rain seems to be trying to reveal my inner feelings, the real tears that I shed inside. I had lost track of how long it has been since I had a bed to sleep on, or a roof over my head. I trail my eyes over the city buildings and skyscrapers. They look like fingers reaching up to the sky, begging for forgiveness from an unknown god or goddess, like how I was begging for them to stop and let me go. I had lived in this city ever since I can remember. I remember walking up and down these streets, the buildings that had been abandoned, and the sidewalks that were all broken and jagged like me. This city and I are more alike than I cared to admit. I start walking, hoping to find someplace warm and dry, but knowing my luck, I wouldn't one any time soon.
As I walk down the street, I can hear the comments people are making about the street urchin who can't be touched by women. I can hear them laugh and snicker as they made fun of me. People purposely bump and push me to try and make me fall, but, even with being so thin, I am still very quick and light on my feet, not showing them my hunger.
I look around. I can't imagine how far I ended up from the city, my internal map now useless against the current surroundings. I somehow end up in front of an old, worn out mansion. I am miles from the city I grew up in, and yet, despite the fear in my constricting heart, I am calmed by the feeling of something calling out to me. Something is telling me it is okay to enter the mansion. I try to shake the thoughts away, but they just keep coming back to me stronger than before. Finally, I decide to just keep walking. And so I did. I walk until my feet hurt and I am soaked to the bone, my teeth chattering. When I finally stop and look up, I find myself in front of the old mansion again.
I sigh and I lower my head, deciding to go inside after all. As I walk up to the gate that surrounded the manor, I can't help but feel like the gate is somehow alive, had a mind of its own. It just seems to have this aura. I slip past the gate and I slowly make my way up to the mansion. The yard looks like it hadn't been touched in a million years. The mansion itself gives off a vibe of enter and die, yet I feel as if someone was physically pulling on my hand, trying to take me inside. Not only that, but it looks like it is ready to fall to pieces. All it needs is someone to blow on it a little. Shingles are missing. Windows are broken. Paint is chipping and falling to the overly tall grass. Rust is eating away at any metal surface, making it crumble to red dust. And yet it feels oddly safe.
I try the doorknob, but it is locked. Desperate for somewhere to rest, I start looking around and I spot a broken window. I immediately crawl through it with slight difficulty and took in the room fr a bit, but there is nothing to see. No pictures, no furniture, no nothing. I sigh once again and I make my way up to the highest part of the house where I find a bed and a huge mirror. I sit down on the single piece of furniture and face the mirror.
I can faintly hear a pair of voices calling out to someone, but I can't figure out whom. I am too tired to care, too weak to even notice the sword sticking out of the glass. Tired, I slowly close my eyes and I pass out on the mattress. And as I did, unbeknownst to me, decaying arms reach out from the bottom of the mirror, reaching out for me.
…
I slowly open my eyes and groan. The last thing I remember is sitting on a bed and facing a mirror. I slowly sit up and look around. I am surrounded by trees and a few rocks, like something out of a storybook. As I look around, I notice that a sword by my side. I shrug and stand up, dusting my pants off. Narrowing my eyes, I pick up the odd sword feel the metal against my fingers.
"Damn, this better be one hell of a dream, or I want my money back." As my eyes trail downward, I notice another piece of dirt and brush it off harshly.
Just as I finish dusting myself, I hear a small scream, one that you would hear from a child who just had a nightmare. At first my body freezes and thoughts of what happened to me run through my mind, yet just as quickly as they come, I can feel my body darting in the direction of the scream. It does not take long for me to find the child and scoop him up into my arms and keep running. If I had been just a second slower, whatever it is that was causing trouble would have crushed the poor child. I run and I run as hard as I can with whatever it is that thing is chasing us. The forest is so densely packed that very little sunlight seeps through the leaves that I can barely see where I am going. At one point, I saw a fallen tree and know I will need to jump over it. I thought the action would be simple, but it does not go as planned. The moment my feet are above the tree, something hits me in the leg and chest. I look down to my leg, but I keep running. I can't see anything, yet I knew something was wrong. Very wrong.
My chest hurts and my legs feel as if they are on fire. I look down at the little ball of fur and groan. I can't even believe that I am doing this, yet something in me calls out to the little kit. This inner voice is what I could not fight against, and the pull it brought upon my soul left no room for thought. Before I could stop myself, I had the kit in my arms, running from the monster that is trying to attack him. I quickly look behind us and, at that moment, I know I should not have done that. The sight I chill in my blood almost stops my heart. It is a monster that can only come from a storybook or a psychopath's imagination.
"I don't know if you can understand me or not, but I need you to keep your damn head down and keep as still as possible. We may make it out of this alive!" I start to pant and my breath comes out shaky as my vision begins to blur. The kit burrows his face into my chest and I can feel tears soak my shirt, yet I do not care. If all else fails, this child can get away and survive while the monster feasts of my flesh. I took one last look at the monster behind me.
It had the body of a huge centipede, but it also had the upper body of a woman. Her mouth is filled with razor sharp teeth and tentacles. It was otherworldly in the worst light possible. The sight makes me want to vomit. Yet something about this thing seems off. I don't know how I know, but I do. She is covered in a deep black metal or stone, yet it could not slow her down, or restrict her movements in the slightest. I turn back around as I stumble and something swoops over our heads. When I look up to see what it is, all I can see was the trees around us falling down. She is attacking us! She is trying to kill us! Shit, this isn't good.
I leap and bolt over the fallen trees. But if I had thought it was bad before, then it just got a thousand times worse. Just a few feet ahead of us is a cliff, but I am in such a rush that none of it matters anymore. I feel a searing pain in my side as we are thrown into the air. As we soar into the air, I look down and see a building coming up at us. That is when it clicked in my mind. It isn't coming at us. We are coming to it. We are falling. I narrow my eyes at the roof of the building and dare it to kill us. That is when I hear the words in my mind. I feel something in my hand. I tighten my grip on it and scream out the words rolling on my tongue.
…
There is a meeting being held for all of the taishos in order to discuss the reason for Kagome's family living in the Edo period and why they should be allowed to stay in the Inu estate, and it is not looking good. Most of them are yelling, screaming, threatening war, or kill all who stands in their way. Akahana and Asako are doing what they can to convince the others who are against it to just let it be, but stubbornness is their opponent.
"How can you even consider letting her family stay here! They have no right, no place among our people and land. They should be sent back to where they came from!" the snake demon yelled out. A few other demons nodded in agreement, yet none speak out like the snake did. "Not only that, but that would make your clan stronger than others! How do we know you won't start a war to claim lands for your own?" He sneered at Kagome as he spoke about her and her family as if they were just playthings for Inuyasha and his clan to use and then discard. Sesshomaru placed a hand on his brother's shoulder before the younger had the chance to draw his blade and strike the demon down.
"And why would we want your small piece of land when we have enough land to rule over as it is? If anything we would go after a different clan like the monkey or wolf before we went after you." The words were spoken with such venom and bite that the snake demon slimmed back a bit. He and all the others know his words rang true and it is embarrasing. The monkey they were speaking of slowly stood and chuckles as he makes his way over Kagome and her daughter's side.
"And as for us and the uni clan, we are on good terms with one another, making each of us stronger and a lot more stable than your clan is at the moment." He made light noises as he used his monkey magic, just like Shippo would do, to play with the little girl in Kagome's arms. The baby cooed out at the shapes he was making, turning her attention away from squeezing that fur.
"And you forget, snake, that most of the clans side with keeping them here. So I dare you to try something, and once you do, you will have all the wolf tribes after you, along with many others. You wouldn't last a day against us all." Koga of the wolf clan said. He smirked at the demon as he glared at him. "Now if we're done with the pissing contest let's get to the next matter at hand."
The doors burst open and in walked the other clans. The monkey demon walked back over to his seat and watched as the demons walked into the room, ready to start the next part of the meeting. As they came in, Kagome walked over to the two feline demons and say behind them to be out of their sights. The looks the clan members were giving her daughter don't sit well with her. Kagome sits behind the two as she holds her daughter Izayoi closer. Worry makes her mind wonder about her adopted son, Shippo. He is supposed to be here. Akahana frowns at the mother's obvious worry and keeps Kagome and Izayoi warm with her tails. Asako uses her one tail to dangle it above Izayoi, who is trying and catch it. All seemed to be going well, some becoming more reasonable, until everyone turns to look to search the room, sensing that something is coming. But what really startled them is the sound of someone screaming out.
"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"
As the words are heard, a giant black blade of energy slammed through the roof and into the floor. A few moments later, a person came falling through the hole, who is the cause of the attack. He hits the ground and bounces once before rolling to a stop. A small head pops out from under the person's chest and looks around until its eyes land on Kagome. A small cry of 'mama' escapes its lips. Kagome looks on in horror as a demon also comes in through the hole. The little kit scrambles out of the person's hold and tries to get to its mother when the demon sets its sights on the kit, darting for the attack. It throws out one of its pointed legs to stab the kit, but the attack never connects.
When Kagome, Akahana and Asako look up to see what stopped the attack, all they could see is the body of the strange person laying on the floor with a leg impaled through his gut. In that moment, Miroku and Sango are at her side checking her over along with Shippo. Inuyasha is outraged and, without thinking, he draws his sword, giving a mighty swing and crying out, "Wind Scar!" The massive wave of demonic energy completely obliterates the demon.
"Damn, how many more times do we need to kill this bitch before she stays dead?"
A small orb flies up from the ground where the body of the demoness lay and slowly makes its way to the downed human, floating before him, before finally descending and entering his body. As if on their own accord, the wounds on his body heal more rapidly and the blood slowly slinks back into him. Everyone's mouths are either hanging open or their eyes are on the verge of falling out of their sockets.