Chapter 33: Connection of a Broken Bond
Miyuki remains calm despite for how much she has to keep her secrets from Kagome. "Tsubaki's mom, Satsuki happens to be one of my friends growing up. She had no idea that her own daughter would do something like this." Kaede didn't see this coming. "How come you never told me any of this?" She asks her in mid surprise. "She and I had an agreement that she didn't tell you who she was. All you know so far is being Tsubaki's mother. As well as one of your teachers."
But then something came up. "But Tsubaki's last name is Homine. And her mother's last name is Yamuke. Why are their last names different? Shouldn't their last names be the same?" Kaede points out the fact. Miyuki nods, "Yes that's true. However, Satsuki didn't want you to be suspicious about knowing her real last to be Tsubaki's. That's why she went with her maiden name instead." Miyuki explains the reason behind the last name issue.
"And I should've said that Tsubaki was once Kikyo's best friend." Miyuki looks to Kagome instead of Kaede because Kaede already knows about that. "Oh. I had no idea about that." Kagome comments nicely. "But then when she met Inuyasha, Tsubaki saw the opportunity to kill her." Kagome gasps. "But why would she do that?" That was all Kagome could ask at that point. "It was about jealousy." Miyuki tells her after short pause. "Why would jealousy be the source? I don't get that." Kagome is confused. "You see, I thought that when Kikyo was dating Inuyasha, her grades were slipping and a lot of that was to believe at first. But it was Tsubaki who hacked into the school system to change her grades little by little." Miyuki tries to make it sense for Kagome to get it.
"Ok." Kagome now understands where this is going. "But sadly when Kikyo saw her grades slipping, she was going to tell Inuyasha that it was his fault that made it happen. But that was the last time I saw her." Miyuki ends her story. Seeing that this is her cue, "I need to be alone. If you excuse me." Kagome murmurs as she leaves the room. When the door closed, Kaede turns to her mom. "Are sure that was the right time to tell her?" She asks nervously.
"Kaede, sweetie. I had to tell her rather she liked it or not. That's all I can do at this point. I knew it was too much for her to take in. Give her some time to get through. Anyway, thank you for returning the device. This will be proof to the authority. For now, I need my rest. I'll be discharged tomorrow afternoon." She hugs Kaede and let her leave the room. Kaede smiles back. "At least there's one problem that was taken care of." She tells herself.
Kagome is in the lobby trying her best to take in the information Miyuki gave her. "All because of jealousy." She knows for sure that she was the one who drove here with Kaede, so she has to head back home with her cousin. "Kagome…" Kaede asks her seeing her stressed out. "Let's go home." Kagome just said that without looking at her. They drive in complete silence. Not a single word left from either of the girls' lips. As soon as they pulled into the driveway. "I need to be alone Kaede." Kagome said to her cousin before heading upstairs.
Kaede feels so ashamed for what Miyuki said to Kagome at the hospital. She looks next door to see Inuyasha is outside minding his own business. "Hey." She waves at him. Inuyasha looks towards Kaede. "Hey, What's going on?" He waves at her. Kaede stays at the steps onto the porch. "Listen, I went to the hospital with Kagome and my mom kind of said some things that made her upset." She starts off. "Like what exactly?" Inuyasha asks her. "Do you remember the times you dated Kikyo? Little did you know that her ex friend Tsubaki was jealous of her?" Kaede tells him so far about what Miyuki told Kagome earlier. "To be honest. I was aware about it but not concerned. I didn't want Kikyo to be stressed about it. I know for sure that she was a show off." Inuyasha gives her his answer. Kaede nods. "Did Kikyo say something about heading over to your place?" She asks him curiously. "All she told was she wanted to break up with me. But she didn't make it to my place. That's when I heard the sirens from here. I had to check it out until I saw her in the stretcher." Inuyasha said her sadly. "The reason she wanted to break up with you was because she blamed you for making her grades slip. She couldn't handle it. Neither did my mom or father. And I know how much they never liked you. They were mistaken about it." Kaede gives her opinion.
Inuyasha nods. "I see. So, I was the reason she lost her live." He has his bangs cover his eyes. "No. It was Tsubaki who killed her. And she poisoned my mom. She's after me since she killed Kikyo. You had nothing to do with it." She tries to calm him. "But you said that I was the reason she wanted to confront me. If I haven't been there earlier to prevent Kikyo's death, she'd still be here." Kaede shakes her head. "Not even the slightest. It was a scheme Tsubaki orchestrated to break the you apart. Her jealousy gotten the better of her to make her to do it. She believes that ever since she was dating you, she never had any time to spend with her. She couldn't stand it one bit. She's the reason, not you." Inuyasha nods. "Ok. But one thing that baffles me though." He turns to her.
"What is it?" Kaede asks him. "Why was it that when Kagome came out of the car, she smelled so vulnerable?" He asks her. "Inuyasha, if you want to talk to her, then you should. I've tried to talk, but she doesn't want to talk to me. Even the car ride home was dead silent. I couldn't bring up the topic to upset her even more." Kaede suggests before heading back to the house. Inuyasha now knows who killed Kikyo. However, he cannot confront Tsubaki about, even if it's true to begin with. For now, he needs to talk to Kagome and hopes that she'll listen to him instead of Kaede.