Sorry that this chapter is short. I've been super busy with school stuff, I have a 12 page paper I still need to put the finishing touches on and 2 finals next week so I might not be able to update for a week after this. But please review and let me know what you think.
Thank you Kayelyn for all the help.
Chapter 10: A Dark Place
It was two days after the first day they had been attacked, and the attackers were only growing stronger.
This time the attacker actually made Sesshomaru draw bakusaiga – something that had yet to happen before now. Of course, as soon as he did so, the bat youkai was dead.
They had fallen into a fairly comfortable routine. Kagome would wake and drink her tea – which she had figured out contained some sort of medicine yesterday – and near her tea would be some sort of food, usually meat. Shortly after she woke she would ask the time of day then the pair would fall into silence.
Occasionally their silence would be interrupted by an attacking youkai, but the intrusions never lasted long. This time, like always, Sesshomaru cleared the body from their camp then returned to sitting in silence by his tree.
Kagome was getting really really sick of sitting around in silence. No matter how hard she tried, Sesshomaru wouldn't answer any questions that he didn't feel were absolutely necessary.
Today, she'd been picturing the Tokyo skyline, her parent's home and the area that surrounded them. She prayed that she would be able to defeat Naraku and return home soon, but even so, these would be pictures she would never see again, which is where she was when her thoughts were rudely cut off by the attacking demon.
Returning to trying to burn the images of her home into her memory, she tried hard not to think about people she would never see again. But she failed, and her thoughts fell into sadness.
She would never see Souta, Mama, and Jii-chan age and change. The pictures she had of them now were the ones she would hang onto forever. As Souta matured, went to high school, even when he had his first girlfriend, the only picture her mind would know would be of a little boy.
Sure, people could describe him to her, or she could feel her features to try to paint herself a picture, but nothing would be the same as watching her younger brother grow.
At that really was the point wasn't it? Nothing would be the same. Kagome's life had changed forever. She could learn to adapt, learn to live her life as it is now, but it wouldn't be the life that she lived for the first 18 years.
What would she do when she recovered? What would she be doing in a year? Five? Ten?
Would she be able to defeat Naraku, or would Kikyo have to be the shard detector, Kagome permanently sidelined? Would she get married, have children? Not likely. Who would want a scarred blind girl?
At one point she had planned to stay here – her chance at a decent education, and job in her time was ruined – marry Inuyasha and live her life with her friends that she travelled with for so many years. But Inuyasha had Kikyo now, he made that clear, nor would Kagome want to burden her friends with her disability. They had a long happy life ahead of them but she wasn't destined to be part of it.
Anyways, if she returned to her times she could learn to read braille, and use other services available to the blind. She could study on her own, obtain an education, and find a job. But how much longer would she be stuck here, where doing such things were unheard of?
If she could ever return home that was. She had made a promise to herself, to the universe even, that she would defeat Naraku once and for all before she went home again. The battle had already dragged on long enough, too many people had died because of her 15-year-old moment of stupidity that broke the jewel. She made the promise 6 months ago, just after her 18th birthday, and so far was no closer than before.
Sure, she missed her family, but she couldn't disappoint them any longer. At the time she thought that defeating Naraku would be easier if they didn't constantly have to return to the well so she could stock up. Now, it would be difficult either way.
She told herself that she could learn how to fight or maybe Inuyasha and the gang would be able to defeat Naraku without her. But she knew she was lying to herself.
Kagome fought back the tears that threatened to surface. She refused to cry over an unknown future and stolen dreams. She was blind. She would deal with it.
Sesshomaru could smell the tears and sadness emanating from Kagome, but said nothing. As long as they didn't affect him or drive her to stupidity, her emotions didn't concern him. After all, human emotions were entirely too complicated.