Atonement
By Miss Kagura
Chapter Three — Inuyasha's Plan
Sesshoumaru's eyes carefully traced the forest, taking an inventory of all the living things in their vicinity. A squirrel youkai, a pair of larks, numerous insects, and…the taiyoukai froze as he found a scent that most definitely should not have been where it was. They were not yet a day back on the path to Naraku and had already encountered someone he would rather not come into contact with at all.
Sesshoumaru turned and stared in one distinct direction. "You have been noticed. Reveal yourself."
Kagome clung to Ah-Un in frightened anticipation as leaves crunched in the forest and a figure emerged. "Kikyou? What are you doing here?" One glance into the dead miko's eyes said so much. The resentment and hate was clear, as was Kikyou's determination. What Kagome didn't know was that Inuyasha had desperately begged for Kikyou's help, but it wasn't to find the jewel shards, or to defeat Naraku, or to do anything else that would allow her to rest in peace. No, all Inuyasha wanted from Kikyou was help in retrieving Kagome.
Kikyou had realized that she had become second, and that Inuyasha would do anything to have Kagome. His plan was brilliant; it would keep Kagome away from Sesshoumaru while still allowing him to see her. One thing Inuyasha wasn't counting on? Betrayal.
Kikyou's jealous stare fixed on Kagome and Sesshoumaru found that he didn't like the idea of the dead miko intimidating Kagome. In the younger miko's defense, Kagome had yet to do anything terrible. She had been gentle and soft in a situation that might make most females vindictive and hateful. He stepped in between Kikyou and Kagome and allowed his aura to grate against both of the miko auras, providing a buffer between them. "Speak."
"Inuyasha plans to lure you to the Bone-Eater's Well by planting Shikon shards there and wait for Naraku, who you will obviously be following. That well is a gateway between this world and the one my little copy came from. If she manages to get to the other side of the well, you will never see her again. Inuyasha, however, will have free access to her," Kikyou said.
Sesshoumaru felt Kagome's aura flare out in complete anger, and then collapse around her. She sniffled, and pursed her lips as a tear rolled down one cheek. It was the rise that left him curious; it was as if her aura expanded and hit an invisible wall. Were her powers somehow sealed? He furrowed his brows at the sight of her tears and turned his attention back to Kikyou. "Leave. Even concealed, your scent disgusts me."
Kagome sunk down to the ground and hugged her legs, and waited for Sesshoumaru to bark at her to get up. She listened to Kikyou's slow steps away from them, and knew each one put Kagome farther away from home, farther away from freedom, and farther away from the man she loved. Still, as she thought about it, Kagome realized that Kikyou had gone to such lengths because she felt threatened. Kikyou didn't want Inuyasha to rescue her, because she didn't want Inuyasha to be with her. The dead miko was nothing more than a jealous woman who was willing to do anything to keep Inuyasha to herself.
"Jaken, find Inuyasha's group and inform them of what just happened," Sesshoumaru said.
The imp clearly intended to protest, but a rock was preemptively thrown at his head. He scrambled down the path and disappeared from sight, grumbling the whole way. This, of course, left the taiyoukai alone to discuss this 'gateway' Kikyou had so readily told him of. He sat under a tree a few feet away from Kagome and waited for her silently ride down the grief that was painted onto her face.
"What, exactly, is on the other side of that well?" Sesshoumaru curtly asked.
Kagome swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I came from five hundred years in the future."
"Why did you come here?" Sesshoumaru asked in a tone that threatened violence as much as curiosity. He wouldn't have believed Kagome under normal circumstances, but the short skirt and uncorrupted love of his brother was proof she was not the product of the Sengoku Jidai. Humans were superstitious, hateful, and did not take to demons well, or baths. Kagome, however, ordinarily smelled of flowers, anxiety, the fox kit, and his hanyou brother.
"One day, I was looking for my cat in the old well house and a demon came out of it and dragged me through the well. It ripped the Shikon Jewel out of me, and then I accidentally broke it, and now I'm trying to put it all back together again," Kagome explained in one breath.
Silence settled on the tiny forest clearing, and Kagome waited for any sign from Sesshoumaru that he didn't intend to kill her. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru studied the miko. She didn't seem even remotely malevolent or even as if she had any real plan. From what he understood, gathering jewel shards was hardly her motivation for being in the wrong era. It was that particular fact that concerned him most, although to someone who wasn't privy to the information he had, it might have just seemed like young, stupid, reckless love.
"Do you know how the Bone-Eater's Well was made?" he asked Kagome. "Midoriko and my father fought as allies at that place against the dragon god Ryujin. They were unable to defeat him before he cursed them and crawled into Hell, creating the well."
The young miko thought for a moment about this new piece of knowledge. "Why would it carry me back to this time? Knowing it was created in such an evil way, it suddenly seems like…maybe I really shouldn't be here."
"Or that your presence in this world serves a purpose unknown to us at this time," Sesshoumaru added.
The taiyoukai concentrated on her aura again, and sized it up against what he had felt with Kikyou. He knew that every five hundred years, a special miko is born. Kikyou had come along five hundred years after Midoriko, and Kagome five hundred years after that. Could she be the one? He inwardly cringed at the idea that the inexperienced, weak girl crumpled up on the ground in tears might be the most powerful human the world would see for centuries.
"What is your connection to Kikyou? She called you her 'copy,'" Sesshoumaru asked.
Kagome rehashed the painful ordeal of losing a part of her soul to Kikyou, and the taiyoukai found in it the proof that Kagome was a Great Miko, as he suspected. "…because I'm her reincarnation…" she sobbed, revealing far more about her frustration with Kikyou than she ever would have in a normal conversation.
Of course, this changed everything. Kagome was no longer his brother's skittish female; she was extremely powerful and if other youkai ever learned her identity as a Great Miko, she would be hunted and killed. As she was, Kagome was practically a sitting duck, incapable of thwarting off an attack by multiple or strong youkai on her own. Taiyoukai, he knew, were born with their powers under a natural seal that would break when pushed too much. It was possible that all Kagome needed to unleash her true power was a situation that demanded she do so.
Nothing else was said, and Kagome soon fell asleep under the taiyoukai's watch, only to awaken halfway through the night. Her eyes fluttered open as the grief that had stirred her from sleep crawled deeper into her consciousness. She couldn't remember what she had dreamt about, but for some reason, she just felt like crying. Kagome rolled over and looked up to the moon, which shone brightly in the night sky. When she looked over to Sesshoumaru, the source of her sadness became clear.
Sesshoumaru sat on the ground with his back against a tree, staring up at the stars. Thinking that no one else could see it, Sesshoumaru allowed the suffering that haunted him during the day to wreak havoc on his soul during the night, when he should have been watching Rin sleep. A thousand memories played over in his head, and they were never enough. In his mind, Rin still picked flowers, scampering after him with a smile and a light heart. Ironically, the thing he missed most was the thing that had always annoyed him the most.
For the millionth time, Sesshoumaru remembered the way she'd run full speed into his legs and hug them.
Kagome held her breath, so sure that what she was witnessing was just a dream, and if not, something so forbidden she felt wrong for watching it. The taiyoukai was clearly in such intense pain that it had affected her, and as she watched him take another trip down memory lane, Kagome saw something no one else ever had. She forced her eyes closed and held them shut again as tears lined his eyes, making them glisten in the moonlight. If he shed tears in that moment, Kagome didn't want to see them. Neither did she want to deprive Sesshoumaru of the right to grieve for the one he lost, so she remained silent, willing herself not to react to the intense, tangible sorrow in the air.
For hours Kagome lay there, lost in the pain of someone she found cold and terrible only a day before. Right then, however, she felt his pain as it rose and fell with each memory of the little girl. Finally, all of the emotion culminated to a point that was almost like a climax of misery, and the miko choked.
Instantly, it all ended and Sesshoumaru abruptly stood up and drew Tokijin. "Stay here, Kagome. Do not leave."
"Where are you going?" she asked.
Sesshoumaru didn't answer her, but the sword in his hand said enough to her. When the light sound of his steps faded, Kagome crawled over to Ah-Un and found herself feeling more alone than she ever had. The night as dark and cold, and she was afraid to attract attention to herself by starting a fire, so Kagome just climbed into her sleeping bag and waited for Sesshoumaru to return.
Meanwhile, Jaken had arrived at the village where Inuyasha often stayed after a rather uncomfortable trip with an eagle youkai who happened to owe him a favor. Dropped from high above, he hit the ground with a thud and grumbled as he stood up and followed Inuyasha's scent to Kaede's hut.
Jaken was just about to step through the door when a very large sword came swinging through the screen at him. "Jaken, what the hell are you doing here?" Inuyasha barked.
Jaken swung his Staff of Two heads at Inuyasha. "Sesshoumaru-sama has asked that I inform you that he has learned of your plans to rescue the miko."
The imp saw an immediate transformation in Inuyasha from fiery hanyou to sad puppy. His ears flattened on his head, which bowed down in defeat. All at once, the hope Inuyasha had built up vanished and he seemed lost and downtrodden. Jaken looked around the room, first at the kit, who choked back tears, and then to the slayer who let them fall. The monk seemed disappointed as well as the old priestess.
Even if Kagome was a human and a miko on top of that, Jaken realized he had no real ill will toward her. She cooked for them both and often engaged in conversation with him, something he hadn't been able to do with anyone other than Rin in ages. In fact, Jaken might have even considered her an ally, although he'd never admit to such a thing. The only proof of his loyalty to the miko was the anger he found when he saw the victory in Kikyou's eyes.
Before Jaken even knew what he was doing, one green finger wiped that victory off Kikyou's face as he pointed at her. "The dead miko came to our camp and told Sesshoumaru-sama everything about the well and your plot because she doesn't want Kagome to be rescued!" Once his sense of pride caught up with him, he tried to cover up his show of loyalty. "Her pointless crying slows Sesshoumaru-sama down!"
Jaken fisted his hands and walked back out of the hut, stopping only when he realized the fox kit standing at the top of the steps that lead into Kaede's hut. Shippou scrambled after him and ran in front of him. He reached into his hakama and pulled out a piece of folded up paper. "Will you give this to Kagome? It's not from Inuyasha."
"I am the servant of the great Sesshoumaru-sama, not some messenger," Jaken squawked as he took the message and stomped away in his indignant fury.
Shippou's fur was all standing up when he re-entered the hut, which was totally silent. He pointed at Kikyou and growled in a deeper octave than anyone would have expected from him. "Why did you bring her here, Inuyasha? We all told you we didn't trust her! She hurt Kagome-chan before!"
Miroku carefully watched the hanyou's sad eyes begin to burn with anger. "You do not belong in this world, Kikyou. You have no right to act to penalize Kagome or Inuyasha for their desire to be together." He nervously fiddled with his prayer beads as he assessed the situation. He knew he was supposed to be the wise one, the one slowest to anger and quickest to wisdom. "However, I understand that you are bitter and sad, as anyone would be in your station. This is why I think that you should leave us, and make efforts not to cross paths with Kagome unless you desire to be removed from the world of the living again."
Sango reinforced Miroku in a voice more gentle than the monk expected. "When you betrayed Kagome, you betrayed us all."
"If you're Kagome's enemy, you're our enemy too!" Shippou interjected.
Inuyasha sniffed the air, hoping the traitor in his midst was Naraku in disguise, since it would seem so much less heinous that way. He wasn't stupid; he knew Kikyou had given conflicting opinion on her feelings for him to other people. She loved him one day, she no longer did so the next day, and when it was convenient, the cycle would start all over again. This night though, Inuyasha knew for sure; Kikyou loved him. He had hurt Kagome to be with Kikyou, and realized that Kikyou had hurt Kagome to be with him. Sometimes he wondered why Kagome even bothered with him, considering how much pain he brought her, but the answer always came down to her love for him.
"Leave," Inuyasha finally said, unwilling to make eye contact. He was neither able to deny his love for her nor give it to her completely. In the end, Kikyou was dead. Her mouth tasted of hell and dirt, and the few times he had held her, it was like Death had crawled under his skin and burrowed into his belly.
The hanyou's broken heart retold the story of a miko that he fell for over and over. It begged him to avoid Kikyou, reminding him of a time when the demon blood he had grown so proud of was a mark of shame in her eyes. Then, all the doubt was washed away by days that had been spent dreaming of living a happy, normal human life. Visions of love, peace, and children swirled through his soul and then disappeared like the rare foreign wind that teased his nose with things he did not truly understand.
Then, as it always did, his heart resonated with the same love that had driven them to such a tragic end in the first place. He raced through the door and across the village to the woods where he sensed Kikyou's Shinidamachu. "Kikyou, wait!"
Dull, impassive eyes met with his. "You truly desire her more than me?"
"It doesn't matter, does it?" Inuyasha asked. "There's no happy ending for us, Kikyou. When Naraku is dead, and the jewel is gone, it won't change anything."
"I made a wish on the jewel," Kikyou abruptly interrupted. "That is why it disappeared from our world with my death."
Inuyasha faltered. Kikyou had made a wish and the jewel disappeared? How had to come to Kagome then, and, more importantly, why? "What did you wish, Kikyou?"
"The wounds Naraku had dealt to me were fatal, which I knew as I aimed that arrow at your heart. Even believing you had betrayed me…it didn't change my feelings," Kikyou softly said. "I wished that in the next lifetime, I would find you and love you as I did at that moment."
"Kikyou," Inuyasha said as he pulled her into his arms against the advisement of all of his wisdom and most of his senses, which recoiled in disgust at the scent of death. "I'm sorry."
Kikyou let her clay body lean against the hanyou, enjoying his warmth against the chill of death. "My mind is so corrupted by my own existence. I do selfish things that I never would have done in life. My heart does not understand that you and I have no future."
The miko let go of Inuyasha and took several slow steps back, thinking about the love they would never make, the children she would never give birth to, and the life that had slipped through their fingers at Goshinboku. She disappeared into the night without another word.
Special thanks to sufistikatd, shinsei arikoto, arizonabay, amadoni, TAJE, demoninsideofme, brucasfanatic, superstar, sl.smith, Cheeseball, Calimestelitava, Golden-Eyed-Girl, ManHandlers, alanna-Sama, 43InuAsha, Silver Moon Vampire, lindajrjt, Lola161ut, Kur7Kagnluv, WackyWisher, Kibi.S2, BlazingMidnightRain, gen'eihonsho, supersillee06, LoveANIME4, llebreknit, GoOutBlazin, chibi moon, baby, Kags21, Breesasha, ElvinBlueEyes, JayFicLover, UnseelieSidhe, metalcherry, DrKat, Kagome357, Emo Kitty, Lizzie24, AyaUchiha, LadySafire, too lazy to log in, and RuunoKaze!
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