Inuyasha: Upon A Wishing Well

Chapter Twenty

They had never really crossed over to the Western border in the past. Kagome recalled how many times Inuyasha had particularly despised even going there. Something about the territory that Sesshomaru governed had been off limits to them. She was never privy to that kind of information about his life. But they had never been particularly happy to see Sesshomaru either. Not only had he been Inuyasha's most powerful adversary, but he was the most deadly being to walk the planet. His skills in assassination were something of nightmares for many of the demons they came across. Part of Naraku's undoing had been provoking Sesshomaru countless times. When the final battle had started, their tide had turned when Sesshomaru joined with them. To be entering his territory now, to purposely try and provoke him, was something that had never been considered by Kagome in the past.

Provoking a demon that could permanently destroy appendages was not a good idea.

Still, she had done worse recently. She had gone to Naraku's reincarnation and thought she needed to be exorcised. She had fought that reincarnation and almost died. The questions of her power all rested in knowing whether or not Rin was okay. If Rin was a live, the creature that Maiko created was not Rin. It was a taunt, or an attempt to throw them off course. It was a powerful recreation of a girl who could be happy.

The walk to the territory borderline, as Inuyasha called it on the way there, took two entire days. The territory of the inu yokai was vast. The more they travelled in that direction, the more it appeared Shippo grew aggravated. All in all, they were aware that Inuyasha had not been particularly close to Sesshomaru in the past. Time would tell if they were any better now.

"Are we going to tell Sesshomaru about… her?" Sango asked, as they walked along the path. Kirara had grown tired, unusually, and also remained in a smaller form. All of the group walked in silence, but Kagome thought about it. It would give them one more ally. But it also potentially meant Sesshomaru could go on a wild hunt for Maiko. Sesshomaru was susceptible to the creature Maiko created too. Spiritual energy was powerful, and the form it took on with Maiko was especially corrosive. They could tell him, but they could risk his life in a way. But it meant they had an ally who would be able to attack her. Kagome felt torn between the two options. "We'll have to tell him," Miroku decided, for all of them. "How else would we explain asking about Rin now. It's been a long time since any of us have asked about her."

"Why? Didn't she live in the village?" Kagome asked. The questions that had bothered her since her return finally surfaced. But instead of a sad answer, as she expected, she saw smiles. Every face was smiling, especially Inuyasha. It was a hint of a smile, but he was happy. "A lord from the West came to court her," Sango explained, and then she reached up to wipe under her eyes. Something about her words made Kagome's stomach feel strange. She had seen Rin as a child, and her attachment to the demon world had been cemented by her time with Sesshomaru. She had formed bonds with Sesshomaru like none Kagome had seen in the past. But even more so, she had seen how Rin bonded with everyone. From Inuyasha to Kohaku, no one could deny the little girl was a part of the complex world they lived in. Kagome, too, had been fond of her, for the times she had known her. To know Rin had been wedded off to a human sounded unusual, even to her. What kind of human man would want the child of a daiyokai. Rin was essentially now the child of a demon lord.

I always thought she would either return to Sesshomaru, or even…

Kagome looked at Sango again, and remembered their brief conversation about Kohaku. She had always thought Kohaku had been especially fond of Rin. But not knowing when Kohaku died would mean it was possible it was never an option. There was sadness in everything that happened here. Kagome didn't want to drag down the one bit of happiness that was in their lives right now. Rin, married and happy, was a thousand times happier than anyone else. At least Sesshomaru and Rin could enjoy a happiness that none of them could. The shikon no tama had not succeeded in ruining all of their lives after all.

"I couldn't go to the wedding. That was around when Kohaku was," Sango began.

To Kagome's surprise, Inuyasha's hand went to Sango's shoulder. It was as if he was telling her that there was no need to reopen those wounds. A friendly gesture that Kagome had never imagined Inuyasha doing in the past. The look of recognition between them revealed a lot more about Sango and Inuyasha now than in the past. Kagome watched Inuyasha nod, and Sango return the nod.

They were both friends, close friends now. Kagome had thought Inuyasha was never capable of friendly gestures, but he was. He was telling her she didn't need to talk about it if it hurt. Kagome couldn't stop her own smile. But she knew it was something that really affected Sango. More than love, more than anything, Sango had wanted Kohaku to be by her side. Her family meant more to her than even Miroku. To know that something had killed the brother she loved so much meant knowing that every happiness Sango fought for was gone. Now, she was rebuilding that happiness at her own pace. She had given up love for something much bigger. A family she could see as her own again.

The four of us are on different paths. This is temporary. I don't have the right to make bonds with them when I know I'll go back to my era and do what makes me happy. Being a nurse, helping people, and seeing my family again will make me happy.

I promised them I would go back.

She clenched her hands into fists, just as they felt an unusual chill in the air. Inuyasha stopped in his tracks, his ears twitched, and then he held his arm out to bar them from walking further. "This is it. He knows we're here," Inuyasha instructed, even as his hand moved to tetsusaiga. Kagome had never seen him so tense. She couldn't blame him either. Sesshomaru was now the most powerful demon in all of sengoku jidai. He could destroy any creature with a swing of his sword. All he needed was motivation. Asking about Rin might be motivation, or bringing Inuyasha, his loathed half-brother, was enough motivation.

Inuyasha carefully took a step backwards. As if on instinct, she walked to stand closer to him. Even when she knew she had the most powerful spiritual energy of them all, she felt safest with Inuyasha. The instinct was rooted in her from six years ago, when she had always stood at his side during difficult times. Their bond was still one from the past, even if they had moved past it. She felt the fibres of his haori touch her sleeve, and the instinctive warmth filled her. But she felt it too. Once she could separate the demonic energies of Kirara, Shippo and Inuyasha from their surroundings, she felt the demonic energy surging towards them on a much higher scale. Sesshomaru's demonic energy was lively and fast. He was coming to them this time, where they'd chosen to evoke him.

Kagome felt her hands shake, despite being much older and much more capable than she had been as a teenager. She, for the first time, became painfully aware that she was caught in a different conflict. One that she couldn't use a barrier to protect herself from. She didn't even have the grasp on her powers that she did when she was younger. Her family wouldn't know if she died her.

While her hand was shaking, she felt a hand slip into hers and hold it. It startled her, until she saw Inuyasha's clawed hand holding hers. The warmth from his fingertips, the way he seemed to give her strength, made her feel weaker. She didn't remove her hand, but she felt safe nonetheless. Inuyasha was here. He wouldn't let her die.

None of her friends would let her die. They were all a team. They were a team united by a cause. To stop Maiko once and for all.

She exhaled, and then squeezed his hand.

Sesshomaru's arrival was quick. There was only a sound of wind, and he appeared before them. The same person Kagome had seen six years ago, the same powerful aura, and the same stature. What was more terrifying was the two swords at his side, one obviously the famed bakusaiga, but the other was tenseiga. These swords were both a part of Sesshomaru, and they were part of why Kagome had always feared him more than Naraku. To some extent, they were all simply blots on his territory. It would take more than a fight to show him that they needed answers. How else could they explain how dangerous Maiko was?

Only Kagome, and to an extent Inuyasha, had ever seen her. No one else here knew what she had.

"B-before you two fight—" Kagome interrupted, almost forgetting she shouldn't be speaking. Her inclinations as a teenager came back in a rush. She'd done this in the past. She remembered doing it in University, between a teacher reprimanding Greg, who had found it funny that a random girl had helped Greg in poor English. She had done this in the past too, but never when Inuyasha was about to fight Sesshomaru.

Awkward silence, and all eyes, fell on Kagome.

Sesshomaru's eyes especially unnerved her. He had no emotion. He looked ready to kill.

Kagome finally took out her cellphone. The power of technology was with her. She pulled up the picture of Maiko, the one that had the red eyes and the long, wavy black hair. In this picture, she especially looked like Naraku. The resemblance was undeniable, especially if it was to someone who saw the world in black and white. Sesshomaru was intelligent enough to take up any sort of resemblance immediately. Where Kagome had failed, Sesshomaru's eyes seemed to widen with a brief recognition. He saw what it was, especially the white haori that was underneath long black locks of hair. "It's exactly what you think," Kagome continued, and even held the phone out. She was nervous about giving up her one possession of importance now. Her phone was important. But he didn't reach out for it. He seemed keen on listening.

Kagome let go of Inuyasha's hand, hesitantly, and then took a step forward. "She's Naraku's reincarnation. We don't know where she is right now, but she's very powerful. Inuyasha and I had to escape her in my time because she made something out of spiritual energy," Kagome explained this quickly. Sesshomaru didn't need to know too much about her time. Only enough that he could accept what Maiko was. "How did a demon reincarnate as a miko?" Sesshomaru asked.

His question was the one no one could answer. Kagome looked away, mostly because the question asked the impossible. Naraku was not faithful, he was never a good person. He reincarnated in the same world as Kikyo's reincarnation, became her friend, and then corrupted his own reincarnation. Now, they had to fight not only Naraku, but a powerful miko. Maiko was undoubtedly skilled. She was so skilled that they couldn't find her. "Get to the point, already," Inuyasha interrupted. "Is Rin alive?"

Silence. Sesshomaru's gaze moved away from Kagome, but not before recognising her. If her scent hadn't been a giveaway, Kagome realised he only recognised her once she saw the others there. Another moment passed, and his eyes moved to Sango. Somehow, Kagome felt he was summing up each of their worths. Why did they want to know? Who did they want to know about? No one had the nerve to go up and tell him about the creature Maiko summoned. Despite the painful throb in Kagome's neck, she backed down. Sesshomaru had a fiery temper. It could mean her own death, and she couldn't die without killing Maiko too.

She was beginning to accept her job. To kill someone who she had played with as a child. It sounded normal in her mind, although she felt the chills up her spine as a result of it. She was not the same girl who had been here before, after all. Now, she was here with a purpose. Her purpose was clear. This entire conflict was hers to resolve. She had help, but it would be her arrow that took out Maiko.

Sango finally seemed to break the mesmerizing silence and stepped ahead of them all. Something about knowing that a taijiya was confronting a daiyokai made everyone stand back. Sango was no match for Sesshomaru, even though she was much more powerful than they gave her credit for at times. It was concerning that Sesshomaru could grab her easily and kill her. But the way she walked revealed something new about Sango. She was beginning to be confident in herself. Kagome had not seen this side of Sango in the past. It felt as if she had nothing to lose. Sango's new demeanor was probably a result of losing Kohaku. "Because that girl summoned a creature that looks like Rin, and blamed you for her death," Sango said, in a voice that was just as relaxed as Sesshomaru's. "It was made of pure spiritual energy. Inuyasha was burned by touching it. If she's alive, it isn't her. And if she isn't then…"

"The very yokai that killed your brother destroyed Rin's village. She is no more."

His words were so abrupt, so painful to hear.

Kagome moved her hands to her face, and couldn't resist the way her fingernails grabbed her own skin. Even that one happiness was temporary.

No one could be happy forever. Not even the far removed, innocent little girl who had been so precious to Sesshomaru. All of them would suffer from loneliness and loss.

She looked up only when the silence died down. For once, the strange calm felt even worse. Sesshomaru and Sango stared at one another in a way that reminded her of the past. Sango had once endangered Rin, and her repentance had been giving her a mask to save her life. Rin's life had been more precious to Sesshomaru than anything else in his world. Kagome had seen the immense way he cared for her. She had understood that her relationship as his child was fostered from how warm the young girl had been. She had been married, safe, and somehow been snatched away. What now bonded Sesshomaru to her was death. Sango was bonded in the same way to Kohaku. These two opposite beings were now against the same loss.

Sango's hands were clenched into fists. She could see how ready her friend was to leave. This had not been what she expected. All of them had thought Rin was alive and well. Her life was supposed to be there, safe, sound. Sesshomaru was the most powerful demon in their world. To know that he had been unable to save her from another demon meant even he had been caught off guard.

Kohaku and Rin were both dead. Maiko had somehow brought a dead girl's spirit to life in the form of spiritual energy. Kagome's worst fears were both confirmed and denied all at once. Maiko did not simply bring back a spectre, she brought back the emotional anguish and pain Rin had felt when she died. She blamed Sesshomaru for her death, and the creature that had been Rin's emotions let out.

Did she feel that grief when she died? Did she wish Sesshomaru had been there to save her? What way had she died? What manner of creature had killed her? Was Maiko able to summon anything that had died? Kagome could only imagine what a Kohaku would do to Sango. She could only imagine what having Koharu returned from the dead would do to Miroku.

How did she know Rin had died when those who lived in this world were unaware of it?

Questions made Kagome dizzy. Had it not been for Inuyasha, she might have fell. Instead, she slowly lowered her head and tried to think of a response. She tried to think of a way to say what she thought. All of it died when she saw the look between Sesshomaru and Sango. This was now no longer about Maiko and Rin. This was about the demon that took Rin and Kohaku away. Suddenly, all of them were distanced from this conversation. Inuyasha, Miroku, herself and Shippo had no place here. They had never seen this demon, and they were not present for the pain and anguish Kohaku and Rin went through. The wounds Kagome saw on display were ones between Sesshomaru and Sango, two people who were opposites of one another.

Kagome took a step back out of awkwardness, especially when Sesshomaru looked down at Sango's hands.

"It was the daiyokai of the South," Sango hissed. "Kohaku tried to defend our village from him. And he succeeded, but at his own death."

"Kokosei is hiding," Sesshomaru said, aloud. He was musing. Why he had let this go for so long made Kagome curious. He was vengeful. He chased Naraku for simply using him against Inuyasha. Rin's death was so inexcusable that Kagome wondered if Sesshomaru had gone soft. "Then I'll find him. I can find anyone," Sango added. "Once we find Naraku and end him once and for all, I'll have no more obligations to fulfill."

Obligations. Kagome's bringing Maiko here was an obligation. An obligation in the way of vengeance. Sango's life seemed to be a never ending vengeance. Turmoil after turmoil would gather around her, and she would fall victim to it. Sango would seek out a new enemy once Maiko was gone, and she would continue to do so now that she had lost Kohaku. To know that he was not alive, to know that their struggle to save his life six years ago had been fruitless, revealed a truth to Kagome that she had seen time and time again. Not in this world, but in her own. In the hospitals where she trained. In every room where someone died of a sickness or an injury.

Death did not stop because of one victory. It would claim whoever it wanted.

This reality was one Inuyasha and the others had sheltered her from. Death could be stopped here, in the past anyway. Few people died, and those that did returned from the dead. Now, she understood that death itself was whole. In her world, it claimed and it claimed. The death tolls globally would rise. She could never tell these sheltered people who devastating it would be in her time. She was desensitized to it, to some extent, but to know someone she had come to know had died hurt. And she understood her own agony over it better than all others.

Rin's death, Kohaku's death and the eventual death of all of these people meant nothing to her in her own time. She would go back and they would die each time she did. This was still temporary.

She was doing this to save a future.

Sesshomaru appeared to be in thought. His eyes basked with a consideration. When he seemed to look at Sango, Kagome saw something she had not seen before. In the past, many had overlooked Sango. Miroku had received ample attention because of his status as a monk, she as a Miko, and Inuyasha as a powerful hanyo. But Sango had never received any attention of the sort, much less from Sesshomaru. It was his current look that revealed he finally found something useful in her. The way she gazed back revealed an ample amount of respect between them. They had a common enemy, one that would be hunted down and destroyed once they dealt with Maiko. Through their newfound bond, formed in death itself, they were both enemies and allies. Kagome knew this look. It was the very same one she and Inuyasha gave one another now. Naraku bonded them all – and this Kokosei demon would bond Sango to Sesshomaru.

"Find her, then we will find Kokosei," was Sesshomaru's offer to Sango.

And to her surprise – to everyone's surprise, really – Sango accepted the offer with a nod. "You have my word," she answered.

As the wind picked up, and they watched Sesshomaru take off, there was an inkling of uncertainty now. They had found an ally in Sesshomaru, learned that Rin was dead. It confirmed that Maiko could know who had died, who still lived. She somehow had more memories than Naraku could have. She had more power than any miko that anyone had ever encountered. Her power was far more potent than any Kagome, Kaede or even Kikyo had ever encountered. Doubtlessly sullied by the influence of Naraku's memories.

A silence roared around them. Until Miroku took the moment to speak up. "There is a miko in the North, named Tsukae. She is said to have been the one to be trained under the same mistress as Lady Kikyo. We must go to her if we are to learn more about Maiko's powers, and possibly help Kagome awaken more of hers," he said.

Inuyasha's eyes widened at the name. Familiarity? Kagome watched him with more interest, taking in the way the mention of Kikyo's name truly brought him out. She felt a bitterness inside of her just from the mention of her past incarnation. Kikyo, who was now deceased, still ruled over their lives. Conversations centered around her. They would have to retrace the steps of her past in order to find a way to stop Maiko.

"How far is it?" Inuyasha asked.

"Three nights journey. We can stop along the way," Miroku resolved. "For now, we should be grateful we have an ally in Sesshomaru. Although I'm not sure why he—" Miroku's eyes were locked on Sango, who was far away. As the uncomfortable third party, Kagome didn't know what to make of it. Was he worried for her?

Or did he see the unusual way that Sango had connected with Sesshomaru, too?