Who's That Girl
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from, the stories of Inuyasha.
All Inuyasha characters are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise and Viz.
Chapter Thirteen
Questions
Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Rin and Sorano stood looking at the young girl,
"Who is she?", asked Sorano.
"She has to be a priestess ... she shot a sacred arrow.", said Shippou.
"But, she's not dressed like a priestess.", mused Inuyasha, "Still ... the power in that arrow ..."
"Is equal to Kikyou's.", Kagome finished his sentence.
The young girl walked over to where the small group stood,
"Hello there.", she spoke.
Inuyasha's eyes opened wide in surprise,
'That voice ...', he thought.
Kagome bowed to the woman,
"Thank you so much for saving my husband.", she said softly.
"Your husband? I see.", the girl said, "I'm glad I could assist."
Inuyasha's mind was reeling at the voice. If he closed his eyes he would swear it was Kikyou ... but the body and the scent said otherwise,
"My name is Kagome. I am the priestess at this village. I see, you too, are a priestess.", Kagome said.
The girl smiled, "My name is Keiko.", she said with a bow, "And, no, I am not a priestess."
The group looked shocked,
"But, your arrow ...", Shippou started.
"What about my arrow?", the girl sounded unfazed.
"It ... was a sacred arrow ... a very powerful sacred arrow.", Kagome said.
"A sacred arrow? You must be mistaken.", the girl replied.
Kagome looked at the girl, thinking,
'How can she not know her arrow was a sacred arrow? And her voice ... she sounds very similar to Kikyou.'
The girl spoke again,
"You say you are a priestess ... but the shrine indicates otherwise. I have never met a living deity before. I am in awe."
"PFFT! Don't be. Kagome is just a priestess with stronger powers. She ain't a deity.", said Inuyasha.
The girl's eyebrows raised as she looked at Inuyasha,
"You do not think very highly of your wife's stature?"
"Actually,", Kagome interjected, "I feel the same way. I do not consider myself anything more than a simple priestess.", she said with a small smile.
This time the girl stared at Kagome, thinking,
'When I allowed my heart to fall for Inuyasha, my powers waned. How is it that Kagome's powers have increased?'
Shippou changed the subject,
"Why do you think those demons attacked us?"
"Oh, that ...", replied Keiko, "It appears they attacked and murdered a small pack of demons over there.", she pointed to the small ridge.
Inuyasha sniffed the air. Sure enough, he caught the scent of blood and demons ... and he didn't like it,
"Kagome, come with me.", he urged, pulling her by the hand.
Heading to the ridge with the others trailing behind, the came across a slaughter. Kagome's breath caught in her throat,
"Inu-demons.", she whispered.
Inuyasha nodded, "I don't recognize the pack. Sesshoumaru might, though. They might have been coming to visit the shrine."
Inuyasha stopped talking and sniffed deeply,
"What the ...", he questioned as he started walking around the corpses,
"Inuyasha?", queried Kagome.
Inuyasha leaned down to one female inu-demoness. Sniffing again, he whispered,
"I'm sure of it ..."
"Sure of what, Inuyasha?", asked Kagome, trying to get an answer.
She watched Inuyasha roll the female over and pick up something. He walked over to Kagome and extended his arms,
"Huh?", she started and then looked in his arms. He held a small bundle. Upon closer inspection, she realized what the bundle was,
"A baby!", she exclaimed, taking the bundle from Inuyasha. She looked down at the tiny bundle and saw two, bright, golden eyes shining up at her, "It's so quiet ... why isn't it crying? It must be scared .." she started rambling,
"The way of the pack.", Inuyasha exclaimed, "To cry is certain death. Silence keeps him hidden."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha, surprised at his knowledge of such a fact since he hadn't been accepted by demons. She watched as Inuyasha gently pushed the swaddled blanket off the baby's head. She gasped at the sight,
"It's a ... hanyou baby."
"He.", Inuyasha corrected her, "It's a boy."
"He looks like a mini Lord Inuyasha." commented Rin.
"He does, doesn't he?", agreed Kagome.
The baby started to fuss softly. Kagome held him close and cooed gently to him. Inuyasha knelt down and unwrapped a small cloth from the dead demoness. He stood up and handed it to Kagome,
"Here. Give this to him.", he told her.
"Huh? Why?", she answered.
"It has his mother's scent on it. It should comfort him until he recognizes your scent as mother.", he advised her.
"Me? As his mother? But, how ... I'm not producing milk ... how can I ...", stumbled Kagome.
Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked at Kagome sternly, "Do you think any of the other villagers would take an orphaned hanyou baby in?"
"There is a formula that can be made to feed an orphaned baby.", offered Keiko.
The others looked at the new girl. Kagome had nearly forgotten about her in the fuss over the baby,
"You know what to do, then?", Kagome asked.
Inuyasha answered back, "This isn't a human baby. Kagome, we need to get him back to the village. He is probably hungry."
"Yes, of course.", Kagome answered.
"Where are you gonna go, Lady Keiko?", Sorano asked the girl.
Keiko bowed her head slightly, "I have travelled a great distance. My village was destroyed in the war ..."
Kagome stopped her, "You're welcome in our village. Please, come with us. I am sure Lady Kaede will find a place for you to stay. I'd invite you to stay in our hut but, I'm afraid it's kind of small."
"You are most kind, Lady Kagome. I accept your offer of generosity."
Inuyasha stared again at the woman. He felt a shiver go down his spine and he was glad that their hut was too small to have guests. Something didn't feel right about this woman ... none the least of which was her voice, which echoed in his head. He turned again to Kagome,
"Let's go."
--
The village become a rush of activity when the group showed up with a guest and an orphaned hanyou pup. Shippou, Rin and Sorano relayed the story as Miroku, Kaede, Sango and a few village women assisted Inuyasha and Kagome with the baby.
Some of the village women gathered unused baby items from their homes as Kaede and Sango devised a feeding nipple for the youngster. Inuyasha, insisting that Kaede (or any other human) didn't know what an inu pup needed for nourishment, worked on a rice gruel mixture ... to Kagome's interest and surprise. The baby, meanwhile, seemed to be focused very intently on the going ons around him, his eyes working back and forth at all the activity.
Once they had the baby settled, attention turned to the woman. Keiko continued to deny she was a priestess even when the incident of the sacred arrow was revealed. Keiko turned down an offer from Kaede to stay in her hut, instead choosing to stay in an older, abandoned hut. Villagers showered her with various items she would need to keep her comfortable.
--
As the day wound down, Kagome and Inuyasha were finally alone in their hut with the infant. Inuyasha sat close to Kagome and marveled at how the baby and his wife had taken to each other so quickly. Kagome, meanwhile, had questions,
"Inuyasha?"
"Yea?"
"I wanna know ... how do you know so much about babies?"
Inuyasha looked at her with surprise on his face. Then he quickly pouted and blushed bright red,
"I ... uh ... well ... I ...", he stumbled over his words, "I learned from observing a rogue inu demoness ... I had followed her when I was hungry and I watched her care for the pups.", he explained.
"Ok ... but, what about the gruel ... you didn't learn THAT from observing the demoness ... how did you know what to make for the baby?", she pushed.
"My ... mother ... she ... well ... she had found an orphaned inu baby ... full blooded ... and that's what she fed him ...", he answered, glumly.
Kagome's eyes lit up, "You never told me that before ... what happened to the baby?"
"He ... died ...", Inuyasha's eyes closed, "We ... were being chased once by a horde of demons ... they were after me ... my mother couldn't run fast enough with both me and him ... so ... she ... she left him behind ... I ... figured he didn't make it ..."
"Oh.", Kagome replied, sadness in her voice, "I'm sorry."
"Pfft ... no big deal. It was a long time ago."
"How old were you, Inuyasha? When that happened?"
"Huh? Dunno ... guess 7 or 8 summers ... why ... what does that matter?"
She smiled, "It doesn't. I was just curious.", she looked down at the baby, "He seems content. He's sleeping soundly.", she kissed his head.
"He ate alot for a little guy."
"I'm going to go put him to bed.", she leaned over and kissed her husband, "Will you be coming to bed soon?"
"Yea. I'll be there in a minute.", he said, a bit absentmindedly.
"Ok.", she said, getting up and walking to the rear of the hut.
Inuyasha stood up and opened the reed door, looking in the direction of the hut the young girl had decided to reside in,
'Her voice is haunting me. Why does she seem so familiar? She has alot of the same mannerisms as Kikyou ... she sounds like Kikyou ... but she's not Kikyou ... Kikyou is dead ... gone forever ... so, why does she bother me?'
--
Keiko stoked the fire under the small kettle of soup,
'I had forgotten what it's like to be hungry.', she thought.
Her mind drifted back to a few weeks ago,
Flashback ...
Kame finished the spell as Keiko's body sat up,
"Kikyou, you are back in this world!"
"Why have you brought me back? What purpose do you have for me, woman?"
"Kikyou, it is not my purpose ... but yours. I have brought you back to live again so you can get rid of your regret ... you were always disappointed that your reincarnation was with Inuyasha ... were you not?"
"Inuyasha? What do you know of him?"
"I know that you had fallen in love with him and were believed to be betrayed by him. You were brought back before as the living dead and were unable to take Inuyasha to hell with you. Now, you are a living, breathing, human being ... you can live with Inuyasha ... love him as a normal woman ...", said Kame.
"How do you know all this, woman?"
"The spell I used to extract your spirit ... it finds the one regret that the spirit has ... the main regret ... yours is that you never got to live your life with Inuyasha ... now you can ..."
Keiko/Kikyou stood up and looked out at the snow,
"Kikyou ... your spirit is you ... but your body belonged to a girl named Keiko. That is the name you should go by. And, you will have to work on reclaiming Inuyasha ... your reincarnation is now married to him ..."
Kikyou's eyes widened,
'He's ... wed ... to Kagome?'
Kikyou could feel her heart beating. The spirit in this body was filled with that regret ... and the only way to satisfy that regret ... was to ...
"How far is it to Inuyasha?"
"He resides in the village of your sister, Kaede."
Keiko/Kikyou turned around and looked at the old woman,
"Who are you? And how do you know me and Kaede?"
The old woman bowed,
"My name is Kame. I trained with Kaede ... and I am a long time admirer of you, Kikyou."
"Kame? I remember you ... I remember you from a couple of temples Kaede and I visited ... "
"I am pleased you remember me."
Keiko/Kikyou spied a long bow in the hut. She went over and picked it up. She could feel her power through the bow,
"My powers ...?"
"Are as they were. The only thing different is your body, Kikyou."
Kikyou went back to the window,
'Inuyasha ... I have returned ... I will claim you back from my replacement ...'
End flashback
Keiko/Kikyou gazed into the fire,
"Inuyasha's eyes ... they are even more different than the last time I saw him ... at that time, he cried ... I had never seen him cry before ... and now, the way he was around Kagome ... that is what I want ... that is the way he should be with me ...", her eyes flashed with jealousy, as her mind drifted back again to just before she left Kame's village,
Flashback ...
"Be careful of Kagome, Kikyou. Her powers are formidable.", warned Kame.
"Hmph! She is me ... and my powers are formidable. It should be an even match up."
"Not any longer, Kikyou. Her powers are from the divine and demonic as well as spiritual ... she wields the Triforce of Energy ... a god-given item that gives her power beyond your imagination ... if you defeat her, Kikyou ... those powers will become yours ... as they rightly should be ..."
End flashback
"They should be mine ... How ... how is it ... when I fell in love with Inuyasha my powers waned ... why did hers increase? I will discover the answer and I will defeat Kagome ... and Inuyasha and her powers will belong to me."