Note: I've gotten a few comments from people wanting to know what Hojo's special power is supposed to be. If you want a clue, go back to chapter 29 and read about what happens to Jakotsu when he made his visit to Hojo right before he left for the Burning Lands with Sesshomaru. Just remember one thing while reading it; at that point, he's dead and rapidly deteriorating, so he's more vulnerable to Hojo's power. Now, with that in mind, we continue with an important update on Kagome's situation...
Little Sister
Chapter 35: Saving Grace
Kagura stared out onto the sunset from the manor she had taken over. The daimyo who had ruled this land until very recently was seated in the corner of the room. She would parade him out whenever his presence was needed. He was quite easy for her to control; she was quite adept at controlling the dead, both human and demon. If only she were able to control this infant the same way.
Naraku had hidden his physical heart inside this rather disgusting parody of an infant. She was to use this infant to help gain information as to where one last Jewel Shard was located. At first, she and the infant had travelled to different parts of Japan, trying in vain to gain some sort of insight from the various monks that they have destroyed in the process. Once she saw this was not working, she set her sight on mikos, rather than monks. There were two miko in particular that she thought would be of use in locating Shikon Jewel shards: Kikyo and Kagome. Her plot, which worked nearly flawlessly, was to take over the village that was important to them both.
Even though the attack itself was thwarted by Kagome and the Shichinintai, when the mercenary brothers unexpectedly left, Kagura had her chance. What luck that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were missing!
"Sama, we have one of the prisoners. Do you wish to see her now?" one of the late daimyo's guards asked his corpse. Kagura lifted her fan ever so slightly, and the cadaver's head nodded once.
A few seconds later, Kagura's prisoner was brought in. "The only reason I can think that you would be holding us here is that your foul master will be emerging from his hiding place soon." Kagura turned around, and looked into Kikyo's black eyes.
"I was ordered not to harm you. So you needn't worry for your safety, unless you do something exceedingly stupid like try to escape," Kagura drawled. For the life of her, she didn't see what Naraku could possibly want with this woman. She was so unnatural! Kagura's ability to animate corpses didn't even come close to working on this creature! She wasn't even a corpse--in fact, she was more disgusting than the Infant...
"I have something I want you to see. Come closer, miko, to this cradle," Kagura ordered her. Kikyo eyed the cradle skeptically. Only then did she come over. "You can even pick him up and hold him. I'd heard that you had wanted to start a family, and live a normal life. How sad for you, that you never had the chance..."
"Kagura, your attempts at pity are laughable. I've never seen a baby look like this, and I've helped birth numerous babies. Is this one of Naraku's new incarnations?"
"If you don't pick it up, you'll never know," Kagura challenged her.
Kikyo glared at Kagura. "Are you a fool? None of Naraku's incarnations thus far have provoked fear in me. If I pick up this...child, I will discover it's secrets. Why would you want me to do that?"
Kagura nearly laughed at Kikyo's comments. Kikyo saw she was getting nowhere, so instead, she lifted the infant out of the cradle. Immediately, the infant tried to snuggle up to Kikyo's chest. Such a natural thing for a baby to do...but this one doing such a natural thing seemed so odd, indeed. Kikyo let the baby lay his head next to her heart.
Suddenly, the Infant spoke. "This one...has no heart!"
Kikyo gasped. Kagura grabbed the infant away, before Kikyo decided to purify him or something. "Guards! Get her out of here and bring the other prisoner in here, right now!" Kagura ordered. Two dead guards returned to the room and shuffled Kikyo out.
Kikyo said on her way out, "You will have no better luck with Kagome than you did with me. Though she is still living, the foul purpose you have with that infant will not work."
"Do not undersestimate me, Miko!" the Infant suddenly hissed. "Every soul has darkness, and I'm certain this one does as well. Humans are all the same, all weak, all hateful..."
"Kikyo! You're here too?" a girl's voice gasped. Kagura was annoyed that Kagome now knew that Kikyo was there too. Somehow, she thought the two of them plotting together would bring her unending grief. But, there was no catching that horse now that it was let out of the barn...
"What's it to you? Since when do you care about her fate?" Kagura taunted.
Kagome didn't answer, she didn't dare. Kagura and Naraku must never discover the truth, that not only was Kikyo one of her past incarnations, but that she was also her ancestress! Kikyo managed to glance into Kagome's eyes as they passed eachother in the room. Did she have any idea, Kagome wondered.
Soon enough, she was alone with Kagura and the Infant. Kagome sensed the presence of a Shikon shard. She glanced at the daimyo. As if she knew what Kagome was thinking, Kagura laughed lightly and said, "No, the shard you're sensing is not being used in his corpse. Unlike Naraku, I can control the dead with mere thought. Naraku needed to put jewel shards into those cadavers of those mercenaries in order to get them to do their bidding. I suppose you and Inuyasha had made short work of them, hadn't you?" Kagome didn't shake her head. She didn't want to tell Kagura anything that she might possibly not know. Kagura might be more out-of-the-loop than Kanna and Kohaku! "Well, I can tell you that your actions the other day during that battle were more than just an inconvenience. I though I'd never get a hold of you. But then, just like this, you practically fall into my lap. You're going to help Naraku get the last jewel shard."
"No I won't!" Kagome gasped. Was Kagura really serious? Did Naraku know the location of every jewel shard left except one? In her mind, she did a mental inventory of jewel shards not part of Naraku's big chunk. Kohaku had one. Koga had two. If the Shichinintai were successful in ridding themselves of Naraku's jewel shards, then that was...eight more. There was one in Banryu, which was definitely beyond Kagura's reach. This thought make her smirk involuntarily.
"What is it? You know something, don't you? Well, you won't be able to keep it from me for long!" Kagura warned. "You sensed this jewel shard before, didn't you? Here it is now in plain view. Naraku isn't only able to control the dead with Sacred Jewel shards; he can control the living ones just as well. Ask Kohaku if you don't beleive me!" Kagome saw Kagura wielding a tainted jewel shard.
"Naraku didn't really control the Shichinintai as well as he thought he could! Bankotsu had me purify his jewel shard more than once just so he could keep himself free!" Kagome yelled.
"Ha! Free? Freedom is the greatest of illusions, Kagome. Now he's dead. So much for the fleeting freedom you gave him! Foolish girl! Just give up, already! You can't win this. You're no Kikyo; you're not strong enough!"
Oh, really? Well Bankotsu thinks I'm strong enough. Please, Bankotsu, be right about this! Kagome took a deep breath and began to emit a purifying aura. Purifying things was something that she'd gotten very good at. Kagura backed away a step as the jewel shard in her hand began to glow clearer.
"Hmm...I think it's time to make you more cooperative." Kagura picked up the infant and walked over to Kagome. "Now now, no need to put up such a strong aura of purity, after all, this is a baby. How much more pure do things get than when they are babies?"
"Huh? What are you doing with a baby?" Kagome demanded.
"The lady of this manor was due to give birth. By the time her husband got the idea to attack that little village of yours, I had made my arrival. Tragically, the child is all that is left now of the family," Kagura lied.
"You mean you're the one who got this army to attack the village?"
Kagura didn't answer, but handed Kagome the infant. Almost as a reflex, she took the baby into her arms. This made no sense...Why would Kagura keep a baby alive while killing it's parents? Then, she actually took a look at this "baby" and understood it immediately. Before Kagome could scream, before she could toss the child out of her arms, it snuggled up against her chest.
"Kagura, you must wait until I take her soul, and then, you will be able to place the jewel shard in her," the Infant told her. It's baby hands clutched Kagome's school uniform and it's head settled on her bow tie. Kagome couldn't move. "What is this...her conflicts...they are...I could use them, yes, but, how?" Kagome had no idea what this baby was trying to do to her, nor did she know what it wanted with her soul. As if the Infant could read her mind, it laughed. "I want your eyes. I cannot use Kikyo to see Shikon Jewel shards, but I can use you. I will take your soul so you can help Naraku find the last un-accounted jewel shard. Yes, your fear at him finding it...I can maybe use that. Wait, it's not enough."
"Damn you, troublesome wench!" Kagura growled, snapping her fan open.
"Give us time, Kagura!" the Infant commanded her. Resentfully, Kagura stepped back.
Kagome felt the Infant's soul searching plumbing ever deeper. Oh, no, the Infant found Bankotsu! She relived that terrible moment at the well, when he had pulled his jewel shards from his neck, and became a pile of bones. Like cold clammy fingers, the Infant probed her relationship with Bankotsu: the times he had kissed her, bringing forth those feelings of conflict, especially in the beginning, when she thought she was still in love with Inuyasha. The Infant tried to poke around this, but couldn't seem to grasp her heartstrings. "What is this? So, you don't love Inuyasha anymore?"
Kagome didn't answer. Of course I still love Inuyasha! Just not in the way I love Bankotsu! Whatever you're trying to do, what I feel for Bankotsu can't be harmed by your hands. As if it had touched something very hot, the Infant's hands released Kagome's shirt. Kagura was dismayed.
"I will get to her..." the Infant said with determination, then made a renewed effort to plunge deeper into Kagome's soul. Kagome threw the impression of Bankotsu up as a barrier against him. The Infant growled, then expelled himself completely from Kagome's grasp. "Naraku was warned about this girl's powers! I need his help!"
Kagura gulped. The Infact looked ashen. "What did you do to him?" she demanded.
Now that Kagome was completely free of the Infant's grasp, she was able to speak. "Bankotsu is none of his business!" Suddenly, she gasped. She sensed a Shikon Jewel shard, a very large one! No one had a jewel shard that large except...
The roof of the building they were in blew open above them. The night sky, with it's thousands of stars, was soon filled with demons. And then, someone in a bubble-like barrier descended into the room. His red demon's eyes swept around everyone there, and his beautiful lips twisted in disgust. He looked to Kagura. "Get rid of that mannequin, Kagura, we no longer need it."
"Y...Yes, Naraku-sama," she stammered, then waved her fan at the corpse of the daimyo of the land that had ruled, among other areas, Kaede's village. What was left of him collapsed, and Kagome gasped. "So, you're back! I..I wasn't expecting you so soon," Kagura explained quickly.
Naraku smiled. "I see you've all been doing well here." He looked to his newest abomination, the Infant, and snickered. "Kagome-chan...I have some wonderful news for you. It seems as though Bankotsu has managed to remove the jewel shards from his neck and survived it."
In spite of who was telling her this, in spite of her danger, Kagome leaped to her feet. "He did?" She began to sob with relief. Naraku was undisturbed by this display of affection, infact, he seemed to feed from it. He smiled very widely.
"Oh, yes, he did! And, let me tell you something; he has complete faith in your powers. I had Kohaku and Kanna follow him and his comrades to the gates of the World of the Dead, so they were there when he came out of there." Kagome smiled even more widely than Naraku; after all, Naraku's details were unmistakably the real ones, since that had been Sesshomaru's plan in the beginning. "He spoke into Kanna's mirror, and I saw just how much that man adores you..."
Naraku reached to Kagome and cupped her chin. "Just like Kikyo, you managed to ensnare a man's heart so completely. Just think of how heartbroken he's going to be when he finds out that you're dead," he grinned. Kagome gasped as she saw the dagger descending...
Bankotsu, Jakotsu and Suikotsu arrived at the village well area, to see Sango and Miroku unconscious. "Shippo! What happened to them?" Suikotsu asked when they landed.
Shippo seemed conflicted. At first, Bankotsu didn't understand what was wrong with the little kitsune. Kirara was licking a wound, but then looked up at the Shichinintai brothers and hissed. "Shippo, what's going on?" Suikotsu asked again.
"Please...Please don't hurt them," Shippo cried. Bankotsu went over to Sango and began to shake her into consciousness, paying Kirara's hissing little mind.
"Our Little Sister was captured, wasn't she?" Jakotsu surmised, seeing the condition of her friends.
Sango finally was roused. She opened her eyes, and saw that Bankotsu was over her. She screamed and gave him a hard slap. "Don't you touch me you rapist!" Bankotsu backed off, momentarily stunned. "Koga told us all what happened when he caught you with Kagome!"
At once, everything clicked together in Bankotsu's mind. That damned wolf demon told them about that battle they had at the well, when he was returning Kagome to the well so she could take her test. "I'm shocked that it took Koga so long to tell you about that! Don't you people communicate at all?" Bankotsu sniffed.
"Never mind that right now! What happened to the monk? He's barely alive! Tell me what happened to him, right now!" Suikotsu yelled at Sango.
Sango gasped. Suikotsu was in doctor-personality, probably, in spite of the fact that he was yelling. Could he actually do something? He was right, there wasn't a moment to lose. She'd take Bankotsu's balls off later... "Miroku opened the Kazaana," she began.
"What's that?" Suikotsu asked.
"It's the Wind Tunnel that the monk possesses, which is like a void. Anything in the path of the Kazaana gets absorbed into it, to where, no one knows." Bankotsu explained this briefly, as Naraku had told him months ago about it. "Demon slayer, did he suck up Saimyosho?"
Sango gasped and nodded. Bankotsu turned to Suikotsu. "Naraku created the Saimyosho for two reasons, one of them to spy on his enemies, and the other one was to poison this monk whenever he tried to use the Kazaana to absorb Naraku into the void. So right now, he's next to dead."
"Poisoned, you say?" Suikotsu murmured. He took Miroku's head into his hands, and he released the power he'd gotten from the Demon Empress. Miroku's power was fortunately just strong enough to use to repel the poison in his veins. Sango gasped again when Miroku's eyes flew open, and he turned around just in time to vomit black bile.
"Ugh! I...I'm alive?" Miroku panted after he was done. "Is that the poison from..."
"The insects, yes." Miroku turned back around to see Suikotsu.
"You're back? You're...alive?" Miroku asked. "Where did Sesshomaru go?"
"He's got Kohaku and Kanna, but he'll be here to retrieve Rin and Jaken, I'm certain. Come to think of it, he was probably already here, since he was ahead of us. How kind of him to see to your safety! I think I'll have to have some words with him about his manners sometime soon. By the way, is Kikyo here?" Suikotsu asked.
"She...she went after Kagome..." Shippo ventured to tell him. "And what do you mean, you're going to reprimand Sesshomaru about his manners? Are you crazy?"
Jakotsu gave Shippo a lopsided smile. "You're asking the wrong person if he's crazy, Shippo-chan!"
Sango began to shake her head hard. "Wait a minute! I still haven't killed you for hurting my best friend in the whole world, you bastard!" She lunged at Bankotsu, but he quickly caught her arm before she could land a blow.
"Slayer, if they had allowed me to, I would have remained without the shards in my neck, but Kagome insisted on putting them back," Bankotsu told her.
"And of course you should have! Naraku was tainting your Jewel Shards, but Kagome figured she could keep them purified!" Jakotsu reminded him.
Sango lowered her arm in surprise. "You..you mean Naraku was ordering you to attack Kagome?"
"I begged her to stop me with the only slight presence of mind that I had left, but Naraku had control over my body at that point," Bankotsu broke off.
"And that was just after you had told us that Naraku's power over you was not as strong as it has been over Kohaku..." Sango pointed out.
"Naraku's power was growing stronger," Miroku reminded her with a slightly hoarse voice. "I believe that he's telling the truth."
"Yes, he is. Especially after what Kagome said, right before she was captured," Sango admitted as she recalled Kagome's words...
I love him! Why is that so terrible that I love him?
"I don't understand why she did not use Banryu!" Bankotsu said in anguish.
"She didn't want Banryu with it's jewel shard where it could get stolen by a demon. I...I guess she had lost so many jewel shards over time that she just didn't trust herself with it. Or, it could be that she didn't want to repeat the bloodshed that we apparently had here last time. So, she took herself and Banryu to her own era. Inuyasha followed her when Koga had told him about you. She got mad at him, like she always does, so she left him accidentally in her era and came back here. And Naraku's minions siezed the opportunity," Miroku told them.
"Oh, no! You mean Banryu is..." Jakotsu gasped.
"In Kagome's time, yes," Miroku told them. "Along with Inuyasha."
"Big Brother, I could probably get back to Kagome's time again, but it's going to be a bitch carrying that thing through the well, if I could even lift it..." Jakotsu fretted. "Maybe...I could take you through the well!"
"If it is meant to be so, then I will go with you, knowing that Inuyasha awaits me as well. But I must reclaim Banryu. She will come if she knows Kagome is in danger," Bankotsu told them. "Suikotsu, find out where Kagome and Kikyo are being held. We will be back probably before Renkotsu and Ginkotsu return, and then, once we are reunited, we will march on Naraku's allies and crush them.
"Now, Jakotsu, let's go," Bankotsu ordered. He let Jakotsu lead him to the well. "How do we do this, Brother?"
"It's simple. Just think of who is depending on you to be able to get through," Jakotsu instructed. Bankotsu's face changed slightly from that very serious look he'd been wearing to one of adoration. "Yes, that's it! Now, I'll think of my beloved Toshiro who I know is waiting for me, and together, we go!" And with that, Jakotsu leaped into the well, pulling Bankotsu with him into the blue light.