A New Beginning

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Releasing a deflated sigh of frustration, Kagome rolled over in her bed to glare angrily at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 4:00 am. She groaned miserably. This was ridiculous! She had been trying to get to sleep for almost two hours, and was getting nowhere. She was exhausted, her body ached, and her energy had been almost completely drained by her struggles in the crypt; but still sleep would not come to her, still she was lying there, awake and frustrated and completely unable to get her mind to slow down from its chaotic spin so that she could fall into her much needed rest.

Groaning again, Kagome flopped onto her back and hefted the covers up over her head. "This is not happening," she whispered dejectedly into the darkness.

She clenched her eyes shut tightly, retreating away from the world to the seclusion of her mind. But it was in her mind that the problem lay, there where her thoughts were spinning, whispering to her of possibilities, asking over and over the same questions, not caring that every time her response was the same.

No other way. There was no other way.

Unrelenting, her thoughts continued to plague her. She grew agitated, her jaw setting firmly in displeasure; and she tried to force herself to think of something, anything but what had happened on this night. But nothing she did could silence her thoughts. Always the same questions were repeated in her mind. What ifs and maybes, things uncertain, untried, and untested, theories of past and present, and voices, so many voices.

Finally, not being able to contain it anymore, she released a muffled scream of frustration and threw back her covers violently. She got out of her bed quickly, her motions deliberate and purposeful. A few short strides and she was standing in front of her closet. She threw open the door, not caring that it slammed hard into the wall behind it or that the sound of the impact was carried through the entire house in the still, silent hours of the not yet morning. Her eyes were fierce, the soft blues hardened and darkened by her anger and glinting sharply with moisture settled in them by her overtaxed body.

"You are the spawn of the devil!" she hissed out between clenched teeth at the seemingly innocent looking blade propped up against a pile of laundry stuffed in her closet. She was so completely frustrated that she was almost expecting the damned thing to answer her and agree that, yes, it was in fact the spawn of the devil, sent there with no more purpose than to deny her any sort of peace. Of course, it didn't. Tenseiga remained motionless, voiceless, and powerless as it lay in her closet space. But its silence only served to aggravate Kagome further, and at that moment in time, she was seriously contemplating if it was possible to kill something that wasn't even alive.

It was just sitting there, all innocent like, like it didn't have a care in the world, like it hadn't done anything to completely throw her life into disarray, like it was just a normal, non-life-giving, non-sanity-stealing, stupid piece of metal, or fang, or whatever.

"Gah!" Kagome cried in frustration. "I hate you!"

Her emotional expression had, obviously, stunned the sentient blade into silence. She glared murderously at it, her stance morphing into one of supreme annoyance; her arms crossed stiffly over her chest, her right hip sticking out slightly, and her foot tapping angrily on her carpeted floor.

"You think you can just walk in here, make these ridiculous demands, which," her rant paused for a moment as she shifted to bring an accusatory finger out and shake it reprovingly at the sword, "I will have you know I don't even think are possible. And you expect me to just do it? Ha! Like even! This plan of yours is so stupid I probably won't even make it back with my head on my shoulders, let alone with anything to show for the effort! What do you have to say to that, huh? Well…?"

She actually waited for a minute or two for a response; but, after realizing that it really wasn't coming, she hung her head and sighed heavily. "I am going to die," was the last thing she said before reaching into her closet and pulling the fang out from its resting place.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The sky was a stealy grey, faint streamers of light beginning to break over the horizon and wash away the midnight blues. The stars were winking out one by one, only the brightest still shining in the near-morning hours. The air was crisp, burning in her lungs as she breathed it in and flowing out again in plumes of white mist ahead of her; and despite being wrapped in several thick layers, Kagome shivered.

'This is a terrible idea.' The thought kept repeating in her head. 'A terrible, horrible, awful, stupid idea.' She shivered again, but this time not from the cold.

A low rumbling from beneath her pulled Kagome from her disgruntled thoughts. She looked down and found Kirara looking at her curiously. Laughing nervously, she forced a tight smile. "No worries, Ki," she told her with false cheeriness. "I know what I'm doing."

It was a blatant lie, and Kirara huffed her disproval at the young miko before turning her sights forward again. Kagome sighed heavily. It wasn't like she wanted to drag Kirara into this mess, but she really didn't have any other options. She had a lot of ground to cover, and she needed to do it before Inuyasha realized that she had skipped out of her house in the middle of the night and set out for Kami knows where in search of someone she was pretty sure would sooner kill her on sight than listen to her speak.

It was a ridiculously dangerous and terribly stupid plan, she knew this; and if she had been thinking clearly, not aching, sore, and sleep-deprived, she was pretty sure she could have come up with a valid excuse to not set out on this mission that was likely doomed to failure. Of course, since she hadn't been thinking clearly, and the only clear thought she could manage to process was the one that had worked out this terribly stupid and dangerous plan, she found herself riding the firecat in the early hours of the not-quite-morning, heading in a Westerly direction, and keeping her senses on high alert for the presence of any powerful youkai.

She had been lucky, she supposed, in some twisted sort of bad karma way, that Inuyasha hadn't been in the village when she had crept through the cover of darkness to old Kaede's hut to retrieve Kirara. It didn't take a genius to figure out where the hanyou had gone, or, more specifically, to whom he had gone. It just seemed fated that wherever and whenever she went, Kikyo was going to be there as a constant reminder of all the darkest parts of her.

Of course, had Inuyasha been in village and not off with his dead lover, he probably would have managed to be, for what would have likely been the very first time in his life, the voice of reason against her stupidly dangerous and completely outrageous plan. But, since he hadn't been, and Kagome had been given a clear path to what she sought; she was here, riding the winds in the early not-quite morning with Kirara, and searching the lands for the very distinctive presence of Sesshomaru.

- - - - - - - - - - -

The sun had just crested over the horizon, filling the sky with a brilliant array of orange and yellow light, and bathing the land below in a warm glow that chased away the chill of the night. Kagome had been struggling to keep her eyes open, to keep her senses focused on what lay ahead; but she was drifting, the light of the morning putting to rest the nagging doubts and turbulent thoughts that had run rampant through her mind in the dark of night. Exhaustion was stealing over her, lulling her tired body to drift further and further from wakefulness, dulling and muddling her overused senses.

One minute and she had been struggling to keep herself from swaying precariously atop Kirara, and the next she was being startled awake by a pulsing surge coming from the sword strapped across her back. Blinking furiously to try and dispel the sleep from her vision, it took Kagome a minute to realize that the vast stretch of blue surrounding her on all sides was the soaring stretch of sky she was riding, and several moments longer for her to remember why she was there. But a second pulse from Tenseiga, stronger this time, managed to shake away the last traces of her confusion.

Honing her senses completely now, Kagome forced her vision to shift so that she could read the distinctive energy patterns given off by all living things. The land below began to glow with radiance in her mind's eye; each tree and shrub, each rock and plot of soil, each animal down to the smallest of insects, given new life in the light of her vision. But what burned brightest of all, a raging fire of the deepest crimson, was that of the youkai spirit.

She had found him; and by the searing heat she could feel tearing across her senses, she knew that he was aware of her presence and not pleased in the slightest.

Making a willful effort to stifle the nearly overwhelming urge to turn and flee in the opposite direction, Kagome focused her attention at coaxing Kirara from the skies. The cat hissed at her in warning, but Kagome soothed her gently with soft strokes against her flank, asking her in hushed tones to comply with her request. Though displeased with the course chosen by the young miko, eventually Kirara relented and began her descent.

Kagome was trembling with anxiety when Kirara finally touched down on the ground, her blood pounding so hard through her veins her head was throbbing with its near-deafening roar. Breathing was a willful act, each breath more difficult than the last as panic began to seize her lungs. Her thoughts were scattered, her reasoning distant and her purpose lost somewhere in the chaos. But if she knew one thing, it was that this was, by far, the stupidest idea she had ever thought up.

He was there, standing not twenty feet away from her, easily close enough to strike her down before she would even have time to react. All around him she could see the shifting fires of his spirit, separate from the form he had chosen, but a part of him none the less. Here, in this time and place, he made no effort to conceal himself, knowing full well she could see all of what others could not, intimidating her with simply the full knowledge of what he was and what he was capable of. It was terrifying. He was terrifying. Though a part of her knew that he was not her enemy, the greater part of her knew that she was most assuredly his.

Still, she knew she had come here for a reason, and she knew that to let him intimidate her in such a way would only make her position weaker than it already was. So, after promising herself she would never even so much as attempt doing something so outrageously stupid again, Kagome reached behind her to draw the blade she had strapped to her back. She watched him carefully the entire time, her eyes locked onto the piercing gold of his, trying desperately to convey without words that her reasons for being here were justified and that he must listen to what she had to say.

When she was holding Tenseiga out before her, and still he seemed to take no notice in the fang, she asked, "Can you see it?" If she understood her temporal theologies correctly, one object can not occupy the same space and time. The temporal distortions that would be created around such an encounter could potentially have devastating results. But she was uncertain if that meant that an object displaced by temporal rifts couldn't still be present in parallel with their counterparts.

The simplest answer for Sesshomaru, of course, would have been no. He had watched as the girl drew something from her possessions, but whatever it had been, it was obviously lost to his eyes. That simple fact had almost been enough to convince him to remove her presence before whatever concealed weapon she was holding could be put to use, but her question had given him pause. Why would she care to know if he could or could not see whatever item she apparently possessed? If it was meant to be a weapon, she was certainly destroying any potential advantage by revealing it to him in such a way.

Even more disturbing was the fact that this girl, this mortal priestess, had apparently sought him out specifically. And not only that, she had come alone, without the protection of her half-breed. It was curious; but then, this girl had always been something of a peculiarity. Her presence and motive had intrigued him, and though not willing to admit to such, his interest was clearly conveyed in his willingness to listen to her speak.

Kagome's lips twisted in annoyance at his lacking answer. Here she was, putting herself on the line for his sake, and the walking glacier couldn't even share a single word with her. She got it, she really did: he just didn't want to admit to not being capable of anything. But it was still damn annoying. She wondered absently if Sesshomaru knew how very much like his brother he was; and then caught herself from grinning wickedly when she realized how much such a comparison would piss him off.

Silence, Kagome decided, was worse for her nerves than any kind of sound, no matter how terrible. In silence, all she could hear were her own thoughts; and when caught in a stare-down with Sesshomaru, one's own thoughts are never anything good. She shifted nervously, trying to decide on her next course of action. Finally, after realizing that if she didn't do something soon she would likely be gutted where she stood, Kagome forced herself to speak.

"I know this is going to sound crazy. I actually have a hard time believing it most of the time. But please, just listen. I'm not from this time. I come from the future. And just last night, in that future, I saw you. Something terrible is going to happen in this past, and will affect your future. I came here because I want to try to stop that from happening. I don't know if I can. I don't know what kind of effect it will have on my future. But I do know that I can't live with the knowledge of what will happen and do nothing to stop it."

She took a slow step forward, shifting her grip on the sword in her hands so that its tip was pointed down towards the ground. Taking in a deep breath, she thrust it downwards, embedding the tip deeply into the earth. Lifting her hands away slowly, she brought them up before herself in a careful warding gesture, showing him she no longer held the blade. She stepped back, leaving the way to Tenseiga clear for him to approach.

"Let Tenseiga be your eyes," she told him. "Let it be its voice, not mine, which tells you the truth of my words."

The girl was correct, her explanation was rather far-fetched. Then again, her oddity in so many ways was difficult to define. He didn't believe her, of course; but that did not mean he was ready to dismiss the predictions of a miko so easily. Human or not, her spiritual powers could be quite formidable if applied properly, and Sesshomaru was well aware of this particular miko's connection to the augmenting power of the Shikon. Still, the future? Preposterous.

However, at her mentioning of Tenseiga, the fang at his side seemed to take more than a passing interest in the miko's words and pulsed strongly with the desire for its voice to be heeded. Almost absently, his eyes never leaving the anxiously shifting miko before him, Sesshomaru lifted his hand to rest across the hilt of the sword. The moment he touched it, Tenseiga pulsed again, its voice coming to him in a chaotic jumble, almost as though he were hearing two separate voices, two separate wills, both trying to speak to him at the same time.

Sesshomaru couldn't decipher the words or the meaning behind them, only a warning from the fang that something was amiss. His hand released the blade, clearing his mind of the chaotic voices, and focused once again on the miko. "What have you done to this Sesshomaru's Tenseiga?"

His words were conveyed with such cold fury that no mater what she did, Kagome couldn't keep herself from shivering as they cut through her. "Nothing!" she squeaked in protest. She was really, REALLY starting to regret her decision to come here. Sesshomaru was simply not the kind of guy…err…demon that someone like her should try to take on alone.

Think! She needed to come up with a new plan, and she needed to come up with it quick. The fact that she could basically hear him growling at her in the angry vibrations of his aura was not helping matters at all.

Wait a minute…Growling?

Kagome gasped when she realized she had heard that sound before. Of course, then it had been given substance and form, allowed to be received freely by her ears instead of her mystical senses. But now…

"You can make yourself appear completely human by separating some of your Jaki from your physical body," she blurted out hastily. "It takes on the form of an Akita that follows by your side."

Impossible. She couldn't know that. He absolutely despised taking on that particular transformation. It was just repulsive to carry himself as one of those lowly creatures. Not to mention the fact that in doing so he released his control over the instincts of the beast, and the Akita form was free to act as it would. It was disorienting to try and be one mind in two bodies, and he was strongly against putting himself at any sort of disadvantage.

Kagome released a heavy breath of relief when she saw Sesshomaru's eyes widen in astonishment. She had just hit the jackpot. Of course, she wasn't about ready to ask if she could pet the pooch, but she was feeling much more comfortable talking with him now that he didn't look like he was about to kill her for even daring to be breathing in his vicinity.

With her confidence returning to her, Kagome risked stepping forward again to collect Tenseiga from where she had planted it in the ground. Sesshomaru watched her closely as she reset herself in a terribly awkward defensive stance, but Kagome had decided she would have to take this to the next level.

Taking in a deep breath, she spoke again. "I am holding Tenseiga, but the Tenseiga that belongs in my time. The temporal barrier created by the rift I created in bringing it here is keeping you from seeing it…I think." She shook her head. "I have no idea what will happen if Tenseiga crosses blades with itself, but somehow you must hear its message, you must know the time and place where this event is to occur. I don't have all the answers, but I know that it does. Please, I can't bare the thought of Rin going through that all again."

Rin…? All of this…she was doing for the child? Of all she had told him in this exchange, that was the only thing he could easily accept. He had seen the miko go to great lengths, even put herself in harm's way, to protect those she cared about. And while he was convinced she would not be compelled to do such for himself, the Hume child was another matter entirely.

Determined to find the truth of the miko's words one way or another, Sesshomaru stepped closer to her, unsheathing Tenseiga as he did so. The chaotic voices of the fang returned, but he pushed them aside, refusing to listen to anything but his own thoughts. "If you attempt to deceive this Sesshomaru…"

Kagome's sharp laugh cut off his frigid warning. "You've got to be kidding me! I don't even feel safe talking to you, what makes you think I'm stupid enough to try and deceive you in any way?"

Sesshomaru was almost tempted to answer the wench. Sadly, it simply would have taken too long to reiterate the list of reasons why he would think this mortal would be stupid enough to do anything that he would find reason enough to kill her for. And, since he could see the miko was tensing in ready for an attack, he focused on supplying one.

Widening her stance, Kagome placed the blade of Tenseiga in the most obvious position she could think of for Sesshomaru to cross with his own sword. She had already been cut through by the fang once, and it was seriously not an experience she was looking to repeat. Whether or not it can cut you; there is just something so wrong with the sensation of having a sword pass through your body.

So she set herself hard against whatever was coming. She didn't know what to expect, didn't know what Sesshomaru was really planning or how Tenseiga would react when brought in contact with itself; but she knew that something had to be done, that she couldn't allow that future she had seen come to pass.

She was afraid, he could smell it on her; but still she held her ground, willful and determined. So many times he had seen this miko stand as such, with every part of her screaming out in anxiety, fear, and desperation; but still she would hold herself strongly, her will overcoming even the most paralyzing of her mortal emotions. Even against him. She had faced down his attacks, was willing to do so again, all because she believed she was in the right, because she believed she must.

Such a strange creature she was. It was almost a pity that he would have to dispatch of her once he gained the information he sought.

Not wasting any more time, Sesshomaru lifted the blade of Tenseiga and struck down at the little miko.

A terrible explosion followed, its devastation tearing into more than simply the land. Time and space was torn asunder, chaos erupting in its midst. Energies were fused and separated in the trembling, things of matter twisting and contorting, their forms blending in asynchronous vibrations.

Sesshomaru was thrown away from the fallout with such force he didn't even have time to correct before he was slamming into the ground. Everything was hazy in his mind. Thoughts and memories that were not his were somehow implanted there, spinning in the lasting chaos that had erupted from the rift they had created. They…Finding some semblance of independent thought, he recalled the miko. He pushed away from the ground, furious that she had succeeded in her attack against him.

But when he gained his feet and his eyes took focus beyond the contortions still rippling through the landscape, she was not there. No trace at all remained of the young miko, not even a trailing of her scent or that of her feline. It was more than that they had taken their leave, and more than something so surreal as they had vanished: it was as though they had never even been there.

As he searched, using all of his senses to try and understand what had transpired and where the miko had vanished to, the confusion in his mind began to clear away. Sesshomaru stopped searching then, his eyes still seeing but not as he realized that there was nothing to find. Because she hadn't been there, because she hadn't come to him on this day. She hadn't, because now he knew why she had come; and now he knew how to stop it.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"We saw the show, Kagome! It was incredible!"

The voice was like a clouded memory, but Kagome could hear it as clearly as though the words were being spoken again.

"Yes, you and your family really outdid yourselves this year."

Blinking hard to try and dispel the haziness corrupting her vision, Kagome strained to take focus. She could just barely make out the outlines of people around her, but somehow she knew these people, knew she had heard these voices. Her mind was in chaos, her thoughts scattered and impossible to process. But those voices, they kept coming, so familiar, the words like a memory from a dream.

"What I want to know is how you got your arrow to glow like that. I mean, I got the explosions and I could basically see you mother's stitch work on that 'Demon', but the arrow…"

Slowly the grogginess and hazy layer of confusion began to clear away, and Kagome found herself looking at her friends.

"Kagome?" Yuka asked, her voice carrying a hint of concern. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Kagome parted her lips to answer, but the only thing that came out was a strangled chocking sound before her body crumpled and she fell heavily to the ground.

"Kagome!" Yuka was at her side instantly, her arms reaching out to pull her friend away from the unyielding cement walkway at the front of the Shrine.

"What happened to her?" Eri asked anxiously from over Yuka's shoulder.

But Yuka only shook her head. "I don't know."

"I'm going to get her mother," Ayumi stated breathlessly.

"Unnecessary."

The deep voice caused the three girls to look up in shock. The man was standing above them, his tall frame forcing them to crane their necks from their crouched position. He was dressed, as they were, in an elaborate costume for the Shrine's performance; a long silver wig, cosmetic paint accenting his unnaturally pale features, golden contacts, and even a pair of elven ears. His clothing was of fine silk, flowing white interrupted by bright splashes of vibrant red.

"Who are you?" Yuka asked bluntly. She was not about to let some stranger tell her what kind of help her friend needed.

He, however, didn't even so much as blink in response to her tone, and replied unwaveringly. "I am Ms. Higurashi's doctor. She is prone to such collapses." He lifted an eyebrow curiously, somehow making Yuka feel very uncomfortable and incredibly foolish with only the simple gesture. "Should not her 'friends' be aware of her medical condition?"

"I…we…"

A sharp hand gesture from the man silenced Yuka's stuttering. "I will attend to Kagome from here." He kneeled down close to the fallen girl, pushing the others back with only a look before he collected her smaller frame to himself and stood with fluid grace. Once standing with Kagome held securely in his arms, he dismissed the other girls with a short nod. "Be on your way, girls. You may speak with her in the morning."

He turned from them and began carrying Kagome back to the shrine, but as he went, he called back to them. "Do try to avoid the graveyards tonight. You never know when you might find a restless spirit."

After the man had disappeared into the shrine, the three girls huddled together on the front walkway staring after him.

"That guy was creepy," Yuka finally managed to say.

"Do you really think he's Kagome's doctor?" Ayumi asked.

"And what did he mean about staying away from graveyards?" Eri added.

At that, Yuka shivered. It was creepy, beyond creepy that a stranger knew of her plans for the night. She shook her head sharply, because she really didn't want to think about it. "Whatever, you guys," she finally said. "Maybe we should just go home. We'll come and check on Kagome in the morning."

All nodding in agreement, the girls turned away from the Higurashi shrine.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

A startled breath was pulled into her lungs, and Kagome bolted upright in her bed. She looked around the shadowy room in a daze, not understanding what had happened or how she had gotten there. Her head was pounding, the dizziness she had experienced earlier still not completely removed. But the confusion was more distant now, making it more bearable to be in her own mind.

Realizing that she was safe and sound in her own bed, Kagome began to calm. Her breathing evened out and her thoughts were slowly being organized from amidst the chaos. Her memory was still foggy, still missing bits and pieces that she knew should have been there; and with every moment that passed, they seemed to be slipping further and further away.

With careful motions, she pulled herself out of her bed, walking gingerly towards the window. She could still feel the heavy layers of her miko's garb against her skin, and there was a part of her that recognized the importance the garment had served on this night. But there was another part of her that couldn't remember, that hadn't been a part of this night, that hadn't seen the things that were held in her memory.

Reaching the windowsill, she leaned against it heavily to stare out into the darkness beyond. She remembered the darkness, remembered the terrible silence of the crypt; but at the same time she didn't, like she was both in that present and this at the same moment. The disorientation was terrible, but at the same time…

"It was worth it," she whispered into the night, hoping, praying that she had been right.

Turning away from the window, Kagome found her way back to her bead, and to her sorely needed rest.

- - - - - - - - - - -

On the street below the shrine, a man passed under the light of a streetlamp. At his side, his Akita walked faithfully with its master, though no leash was needed to tame this beast. The man was smiling to himself as he walked, and he nodded absently in agreement.

"Yes, it was worth it. It still is."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The End

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Well, that was fun. I know this chapter had a slightly different tone than the others, but….that's just sort of the way it turned out. I hope everyone enjoyed my little Halloween story. I know I did.

Anyways, I'm off for now.

Later all

Shadow