Chapter Two: Back to the Start
Edo Period, Kaede's Hut
The reunion went almost exactly as Kagome had pictured it.
Miroku had helped her climb out of the well with Shippo and into a twirling, breath stealing hug. Sango had started crying and, when the priestess saw the slayer's hard cupped against her slightly bulging stomach, she shed tears as well.
She'd filled them in on the events of the future on their way back to Kaede's home, their central gathering base, where they spent the better half of the morning sharing tales. Shippo went into great detail when he told Miroku about the bird-butterflies in the demon realm and the deer that stood taller than the trees with giant green antlers. The women gushed over the new addition that would be joining their family come early summer. They laughed over the good times, rich and free. They cried over their hardships and fears, both past and future.
But most importantly, they accepted Kagome and Shippo back into their lives without a moments hesitation.
Permanent fixtures from then on.
When the excitement started to settle to a steady simmer and Kaede had refilled Kagome's tea cup for the fourth time, the demoness looked over to see Rin sitting awkward and rigid just outside of their circle around the fire pit.
Shippo had greeted her, but other than that the little Fox didn't know how else to interact with the girl, so quiet and tense compared to the energetic little human he'd played with in the fields for years. So he clung to Miroku's shoulder, waiting with bated breath for a smile or a glimpse of eye contact to tell him that it was alright to talk to her.
The young priestess moved herself to kneel before the Dog child.
"Let me get a good look at you!" She said, taking the startled Rin's face in her hands.
Kagome looked her over as if she were a precious piece of porcelain, her fingers caressed the soft purple lines that kissed the little girl's cheeks. Her eyes were not as bright as the gold of Sesshoumaru's or the amber of Inuyasha's, but they shimmered like polished tiger's eye. The teen smoothed the child's long, silver hair and tucked it behind small, pointed ears.
Kagome finally let her glamour fall, feeling foolish for still having it on. That was the past. They were her family. She wasn't going to be judged for what she didn't know; they were in it together.
"It's a lot to get used to, isn't it?"
Rin bit her lower lip before nodding, tearing her gaze from Kagome's flattened ears to the floor.
It was hard enough going through the demonic transformation as a spiritually trained young adult. The older Kitsune couldn't even begin to imagine how confusing and painful it must have been for Rin, a child, to go through the same thing that she had. Yet there she was.
Struggling to learn herself in a world pitted against her.
Abruptly, Kagome pulled the small Inu to her chest. It took several stiff moments before Rin returned the hug, reaching around the older girl as far as she could and allowing her locked emotions to bubble to the surface like a tidal wave. The scent of her sorrow and fear was bitter, but it was quickly overpowered by the sweet warmth of gratitude.
The demoness looked over her should to Miroku and Sango, who were watching the two with odd expressions resembling pity. That was when she realized that something was missing.
"Hey..." She started. "Where is Sesshoumaru, anyway?"
Silence fell over the room, the child in her arms fell tense once more.
The Taijia huffed up, ready to curse the demon Lord's name into the lowest reaches of hell. Miroku grabbed her thigh and spoke first to keep his wife from going off into a tirade. "Lord Sesshoumaru... visits on occasion. He is extremely busy these days."
Kagome deflated. "Oh..."
It was clear that Sango didn't want the subject to drop so easily, but she reluctantly let it go after a wordless conversation with the man beside her. The Dog demon seemed to be a sore subject between the lovers.
"Well, good riddance." The Shikon Priestess said with far less conviction than she had intended. Rin curled closer and Kagome placed her chin on the girl's head protectively. "We can do this without him!"
════════════════ With Reason ════════════════
Miroku took a deep breath and listened to the echoing hollowness of the forest, the gurgling of the small brook beside them. He imagined that Kagome could hear much more; the winter birds as the cleared the frost from their feathers, the moaning of tree limbs that were heavy with ice, the whispers of snowflakes as they settled on the deepening snow. He imagined that she could hear the rush of blood pulsing though his veins with those tall, vulpine ears that never stayed still for long.
Without even opening his eyes he knew that they were twitching again—either to focus on a new sound or to shake away the collecting snow. They made slightest rustling noise against her hair.
The once monk let out the held air from his lungs, the condensation from his breath froze into a puff of white.
"You are not relaxed."
Her voice held the tone of her frown. "It's hard to focus on relaxing when there's so much going on. The whole forest is moving."
Miroku chuckled.
For the past few days he had been tasked with helping Kagome access her demonic powers as a separate entity from her Miko light. So far their progress was nearly nonexistent. Without personal experience wielding or training demonic energy, the battle monk had little to go on, so he used the familiar methods for training spiritual energy under the assumption that the two powers were similar enough. Although her purity was as strong and agile as ever, she was still a long ways from unlocking the secrets to the other power locked beneath her skin.
The two had started off their daily training sessions by the well—Kagome wasn't willing to go much farther into Inuyasha's forest just yet—but the calming energies in the wood and the protective tree just beyond seemed to put her too much at ease. They acted like buffers, keeping the outside world out. It was great for meditating and mastering her purity, but it only seemed to drive her demonic powers further within herself.
So the human's new tactic was to take her outside of her comfort zone.
Teaching Kagome how to use her Glamour was one thing; the technique was fairly straightforward and they had Shippo to explain and demonstrate. But this power was something else all together. Shippo's broken description of his foxfire only managed to confuse the young woman, since the little boy didn't know how to explain something that he'd almost always felt. It was a natural power, unique to the individual breed.
"Don't let that distract you, keep your attention inside yourself. Focus on your breathing, be conscious of every movement you make. Catalog your power, even if you cannot yet access it. Good." He nodded. "Now tell me, was there a common factor each time your demon energy came to the surface?"
There was a rustling sound as Kagome shifted.
Miroku peeked open one eye when she remained quiet. Her face was pinched in concentration and she looked frustrated, ready to give up for the day. He reached towards her. Just before his hand made contact with her own, Kagome's eyes shot open.
"Something touched me." She said. "Each time I was scared and something touched me."
Finally! Something to work with!
It wasn't exactly the standard strategy of training, but perhaps they needed to force the powers out of her a few times before she was able to access them on her own.
"Alright, let's try this." Miroku looked down at his hand, at the palm that held the cursed wind tunnel for so many years of his life. The smooth skin still had him in awe. "I want to touch you, Kagome."
The demoness made an unladylike snort.
"Miroku!" She scolded him in a mocking tone. "You're awful! How could you even think of that right now!?"
He made a show of looking deeply wounded by her accusation. "While you are a very attractive woman, my dear Kagome—might I add that your new look is quite becoming, long hair truly suits you—I do have the fortune of being happily married. And, if you must know, my night life is extremely satisfying." He winked and reveled in the pink tinge that his words brought to her cheeks. "I merely wish to touch you with my aura in hand, a minor threat, to see what that may bring about."
Hesitation wasn't something that Kagome had been known for over their adventures those past few years, but in the past week it had been her dominant state. Occasionally she would make a brash decision in failed attempts to grasp at her old confidence, but it wasn't quite the same. She was quiet for several long moments, looking anywhere but his eyes. Her small but sharp fangs worried at her bottom lip.
When she sighed, the Kitsune glanced down at her own small hands.
"I... don't want to hurt you." She admitted.
"So you have been holding back?"
Her shoulders slumped. "Not intentionally. I just..." When she met his gaze then, Miroku felt kicked by the pain that shone in her eyes. "I know what it's capable of."
"Kagome..."
They sat like that for a long while. The two battle shaken warriors were so still that a pair of large cranes settled near them to hunt for their dinner in the shallows of the brook that wasn't yet covered by glass-thin ice. He hoped that they could fix her broken pieces back together with time, but that day he was going to rely on her brash, defensive nature.
When Miroku spoke up, his voice was soft and the words were innocent enough. "I understand if you're not ready. You have hundreds of years to learn, you shouldn't push yourself so hard."
Kagome bristled and her eyes took on a defiant quality, the spark of his old companion glistened within the glowing blues.
"No, I never said that." Kagome offered her arm, too stiff for him to believe that her words were anything more than a show. "I just hope you know what you're doing and you're ready for the backlash." The demoness bit out.
In hindsight, he shouldn't have pushed her. He most certainly shouldn't have taken her up on her offer without thinking it through and planning further ahead. Not when neither of them were completely prepared to face her power.
"I'll be gentle."
The spiritualist grasped her forearm, remaining firm when she wrapped her fingers around his in return. Her arm was so thin, so fragile compared to the lean muscle that hugged every curve of Sango's skin, but he knew better than to underestimate her strength now that she was a Youkai. Miroku let his aura flare, sparkling white without Naraku's taint, before sending a jolt of his spiritual power into the supple flesh of his friend. Just enough to compel a response.
He allowed his demeanor to shift from teacher to threat and hoped that Kagome's instincts would take the bait.
The priestess gasped as his power shocked her body. His energy did little to humans, stunned them at most, but to a demon it was an electrifying shock and she had yet to be on the receiving end.
Power surged quickly after that, the Kitsune's eyes flashed an eerie purple-white sheen for just a second. The two cranes fled to the safety of the air in a fit of fretful wings and awkward legs.
Miroku cried out in shock. Their power collided and he threw up a barrier just in time before the ripple of light hit him full force. It knocked him off the boulder that they had been sitting on and into the frozen stream bed. His back broke through the ice. Frigid water soaked his clothing, it froze his hair in clumps almost instantly. He let out a hoarse groan as the barrier dropped. The pain was immense.
The water felt wonderful.
Kagome was by his side in a heartbeat, panting and shaking.
"Miroku!" She screamed. Or at least he thought she'd screamed. His ears were ringing and everything around him sounded far too loud. Bright, blurring images slowly came into focus and he found himself lying flat and wet in the snow beside the brook's bank. An equally drenched Kitsune hovered over him with fear and concern in her eyes.
A bruised purple burn down the length of her forearm caught caught his eye. "Kagome... your arm."
"My arm!?" Her voice shrieked to a new octave. "Miroku! Your arm is—! It's okay! I can heal this!"
With a gulp, Mroku glanced down at his own arm. Flesh was burnt away in spots as if he had gotten too close to the sun, singed skin spread up to his shoulder. Muscle was visible that had no business being exposed. There was a red streak of blood, a sharp contrast against the white snow, from where she had dragged him. Green blades of grass poked through there, as if hungry for his blood.
It was hard not to panic when he couldn't feel his fingers.
The warrior turned farmer took deep, hyperventilating breaths even as the warmth of the priestess' healing magic enveloped him.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She repeated over and over again.
Miroku forced out a laugh and the bravest face he could muster. She would fix him up, no doubt, he just needed to stay calm and make light of the situation to keep her from panicking further.
"Perhaps..." He began as the pain began to ebb away and the shivers of cold started to take hold. "We may enlist Lord Sesshoumaru for assistance?"
═════════════ Inuyasha X Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════
The young demoness had her good days and her bad days.
Then there were her worst days.
The floor of Miroku and Sango's hut was cold against her bare arms and legs as Kagome sprawled out on her stomach in her summer Pjs, despite there being half a meter of snow outside. Her hair was a tangled mess around her. The newlyweds had built the small home over the summer while the priestess and her little ward were off fooling around in the modern era. It was a modest building, which Sango didn't mind. But Miroku kept going on about the grand expansion in his visions. Since they were closer to the forest than the village, there was plenty of space for growth and the monk always did enjoy the lavish things in life.
A room for each child, he had declared. Not such a strange concept to Kagome since that was what she'd grown up with, but in the Feudal era it was bordering excessive. A grand villa for the large and extended family that he knew they'd have in the near future.
The future...
The thick manila envelope of a file lay innocently in front of the demoness. It begged to be opened. After so many weeks, the sparkling water scent of Koenma and the Spirit Realm was nearly gone. She gazed down at it, reading the neat print of her name on the side tab for the tenth time.
It was her own handwriting.
She wasn't ready to come face to face with her future self, or whatever else could have been inside that would determine her fate. Was it destiny if she was shaping her own future?
Were any of the choices that she would make even her own?
Kagome sighed and blew her breath pitifully at the folder, wishing to make it fly away.
A knock from outside pulled her attention away.
Miroku slid open the wooden storm door and stepped into the dry dirt entryway, taking care not to spill the steaming bowl in his hand as he brushed away the snow from his thick blue robes. The lot of them had gathered at Kaede's for dinner, but the spicy aroma of the stew told the Kitsune that Sango was the one cooking.
"I've brought you dinner, if you're hungry."
When he reached over to hand it to her the hem of his sleeve pulled back, revealing some of the pale scars that surrounded his right arm. Guilt flooded her. Kagome shied away and looked away to the opposite wall.
The wounds that he had received from her power were deep, but she'd healed deep wounds before. Her panic made her sloppy. Her purity had been hard to control, so soon after the demonic power had come to the surface. He claimed that the marks caused him no pain, however Kagome saw the new stiffness as he worked chores and practiced Katas with his staff.
There was permanent damage thanks to her inability to control her powers.
Yet he still came to her every day for their training session. Miroku had not held onto the same anger and regret that she did.
She hated herself.
When Kagome didn't respond or move to take the bowl, Miroku set it gently on the floorboard beside her.
"Please eat something tonight." He said with his softest voice that he usually reserved for injured or frightened children. "You've been given the opportunity to see more years than any mortal should, Kagome. Please don't waste it holding on to your past mistakes. We're all waiting for when you're ready to join us."
With that he left her alone once more.
The fox demoness pulled her arms close and stifled a sob, rolling onto her side. She stared at the entryway, at the summer sandals that Sango kept procrastinating to put into storage.
Why had she thought that she could fix anything by returning to the past? All she seemed to be capable of was making things worse and harming those she loved. Kagome couldn't learn her powers if they were a danger to her friends in the process.
If she was supposed to be there, why did it feel like she'd made the wrong decision?
In a swell of anger, the priestess pulled herself to her knees and ripped the folder off the floor. She held it hard in her clawed grasp, desperate to find meaning in all of it, but terrified all the same.
In the end she couldn't bring herself to open it.
Kagome flung the folder at the wall and cried out when it didn't rip open in a meteor shower of papers.
══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════
Kagome didn't understand.
Sesshoumaru was supposed to be this perfect father figure. She'd looked up to him in the future, as much as she hated to admit it. She was jealous of him because he acted like such a noble, perfect parent, willing to do whatever he could for his child.
And yet the younger Sesshoumaru couldn't even look Rin in the eye when he came to visit.
He arrived on a cloud of Youki, earning the shrieks and yells of the villagers that hoped they'd seen the last of the mighty Dog. He offered a small bundle to Miroku. It contained a deep maroon kimono decorated with white flowers that didn't quite feel like normal silk, a striped blue yukata that had small embroidered frogs, and a shimmering gold hair pin that Rin would put in a box alongside the other beautiful trinkets that she didn't feel comfortable wearing in public.
Without so much as a word—Miroku had filled the silence by telling the demon Lord all that Rin had accomplished and done in his absence—he turned to leave.
"Thank you very much, Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin bowed to his retreating back.
Her hands were trembling.
Kagome jogged forward. "Wait a second!" She called out to make him look back at her. When his cold golden eyes fell on her, the Kitsune felt very insignificant. "Um..."
Why did he get to run away from his responsibility when she had taken such a leap of faith?
The bastard was a coward.
And so was she. Otherwise she would have told him as much without a second thought. Instead, she hesitated. He was finally right there. The demon that would eventually tell her to go back to the past, to take her time learning herself.
She wanted to yell at him.
But she bowed her head meekly and choked out her request.
"Please train me!"
He sized her up in a single sweep, eyebrow raised delicately. A predator eyeing it's prey to see if it was worth the time and energy to hunt for dinner.
His reply was short and cold, his lip upturned in disgust.
"No."
The western Lord left no room for discussion as he swiftly disappeared into the dense forest. Leaving in his wake a speechless Kagome—her heart pounding—and a disappointed Rin.
═══════════════ 犬夜叉 X 幽遊白書 ═══════════════
Rin exited the small hut like a clam diver breaking the ocean's surface for air.
Sango had gone off on a paranoid tirade after Shippo pointed out that the baby's heartbeat didn't sound right. The panic was only inflamed when Kagome had innocently agreed. The priestess had tried to calm the slayer, but was unable to pinpoint exactly what was wrong with the sound of the pulse and her descriptions were getting them nowhere. Sango had the ability to be more frightening than any demon.
Hormones.
That was what Kagome had said was causing Sango's silver tongue and rapid-fire changes in emotion.
Rin didn't think she liked hormones very much.
They were strong.
"What up! Where are you going?" Shippo rushed out after her.
The little demoness gave him a withering look. It was Shippo's fault that Sango was so upset in the first place.
He hadn't changed a bit since she'd met him those years ago. He was still as spirited and tiny as he'd always been back then. Yet, while she'd grown up in both height and knowledge, he'd remained a time capsule. With their growing age gap it seemed that they were bound to grow apart.
But now that she was Lord Sesshoumaru's...
Now that she was a demon just like her Lord, she and the kit were going to be able to grow up together at a snail's pace. However, that didn't take away the years that she'd already gained on him in maturity.
Nose wrinkled, the pup looked away from the fox child. She held her shoulders straight and tall. "I'm going to find Lady Kaede. She'll see if anything is really wrong with the baby. You can't just tell a pregnant mother that their baby's heart sounds all jumbled—that scares people! You have no bedside manner!"
Shippo fell quietly in step behind her.
Rin dared a glance over her shoulder at his downtrodden, sulky form.
She was angry with him, she decided, there was no going back.
The kid acted on impulse and did whatever he wanted without repercussion. He was such a child, all the while she was busy training her aura, studying and mastering finer arts like herbalism, embroidery and flower arranging. It wasn't an explicit order from Lord Sesshoumaru that she be taught such things, but it was implied.
Why else would he leave her for months on end without so much as a visit?
She needed to better herself, to prove her self worth to him.
It wasn't fair that Shippo had it so easy!
Rin rounded on the little boy.
"Oof!" Shippo's chin rammed into her knee and he fell back on his tail. The greens of his eyes were shone more vibrant than the leaves that would be soon growing once more on the trees. "I'm sorry, Rin. Did I do something wrong?"
The Inu pursed her lips before she crossed her arms and looked down her nose at him in her very best Youkai Lord impersonation.
"I'm the big sister now, so I've got to do the best I can to help out and not be any trouble. You should too. You won't be the littlest much longer."
He nodded up at her mutely.
Being mad at him was easy. Staying mad at him was much harder.
"How old are you, Shippo?" She asked with genuine curiosity.
"Um... I don't know, about fifty-three?"
Fine trails of a blush painted her cheeks as she stepped back in shock, failing to hold her composure. "You're almost as old as Lady Kaede!" She sobered before reluctantly admitting "I'm only nine."
Was she even allowed to lecture a fifty-three year old?
"You're still the big sister." Shippo spoke up softly.
Rin lowered her head. "You think?"
"Yeah, you're way bigger than me and you know a ton of cool stuff." The kit scratched his paws on the winter deadened grass. "I wish they'd teach me more things, but everyone thinks I'm too little."
A smile quirked at the corner of Rin's lips. It seemed that she wasn't the only one feeling a bit bitter. It helped a lot knowing that.
"I could try to teach you things... if you want."
"Really?" He took her outstretched hand and got back on his feet. "That'd be awesome!"
Rin brightened.
She changed her decision. It might just be easier to work together than to be angry with him.
They found Kaede sitting on the bank of the stream that wound it's way through the village close to her home. She'd enlisted some of the local children to help wash her rice in the spring runoff. Although the ice was gone, the water was still too cold for her old bones to tolerate.
It didn't take much convincing to get her to walk back with them to the hut at the forest's edge to help calm the commotion. It was a good thing that Miroku was out delivering a cold remedy in one of the further districts; it would make the task far easier without his overblown panic added to the mess.
Kagome was sitting on the ground outside the house looking forlorn and dejected.
Kicked out, no doubt. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last. They'd all been pushed out the door by Sango at least once over the winter. Miroku perhaps a dozen times.
The door flung open quickly when the elder knocked. Sango's worry and anger hung low, seeping out the open doorway like a miasma. Relief lessened some of the tension in her jaw when she spotted Kaede.
"I hear yer troubled." The old woman began, stepping past Sango to enter the hut unannounced. "Come sit, now. I shall see what I can."
"Of course, Lady Kaede."
The trained warrior sat on the wooden floorboards, her long legs sprawled out in the lowered entryway. She tensed when the healer's cold hand slid between the thicker outer kimono to reveal the paper thin undergarment, conscious of the girl's modesty.
"Hmm." Kaede hummed, placing her ear against the fabric.
"Is it weird?" Shippo whispered loudly with his childish lack of filter.
"Hush, silly." Kagome shushed him before she pulled the two kids back outside.
Rin fidgeted, wrapping her long hair in loops around her fingers. She allowed the color to distract her, as it often did. It was such a pretty silver. Admittedly, she did miss her brown locks. The soft brown hair with it's frizz and split ends held far fewer expectations than the silky starlight.
She peeked up at Kagome. The older demoness was dancing with concern, pacing back and forth, but she too stayed a distance from the door where the scents were the strongest. The last bite of winter's cold acted like a sponge, absorbing the offending smells and caressing them with it's forgiving embrace. So long as they were outside.
Shippo sat with his face pressed up against the wood of the door, completely unaffected and oblivious of his companion's conscious efforts to avoid it.
A gasp from inside drew their attention.
Kagome's ear swiveled at the sound, she paused mid-step.
If there was a way to merge through the door, the fox kit would have found it. He was so focused on evesdropping with his nose that he hadn't heard Kaede's footsteps. Shippo toppled over and rolled inside when she slid the barrier away.
Rin hopped to her feet and rushed over to her teacher and main caretaker, stopping short at a polite distance away.
"Ye were right to call fer me." The old woman addressed her, patting her cheek. "A smart child, ye be. From this point on our dear Sango must not be strained. Her condition, I see, is a sensitive one."
Worried, the little girl rushed inside, slipping ahead of Kagome.
The fear and anxiety still hung chokingly heavy in the air, stained with the saltiness of the tears that filled Sango's eyes.
Yet, contrary to all of the overwhelming scents that made every little hair in her nose tingle, a bewildered smile played across the human woman's rosy lips.
She looked up at the confused pup.
"It seems I'm having twins."
Rin's eyes lit up with wonder.
"That makes so much sense! There were two heartbeats!" The black haired Kitsune gushed as she pulled her sisterly friend close. "Oh my gosh, congratulations! Miroku is going to be stoked!"
The Taijia flushed before returning the embrace, grinning ear to ear. "He will be, I think." She laughed. "Is 'stoked' a good thing?"
Kagome giggled. "It's a great thing."
Pleasant and restrain, Rin smiled. She took a step back from the two.
The expectant mother stopped her. Sango reached for the child demoness' wrist and gently pulled her into their loving hold. Rin practically melted between the two and she nearly cried when Sango whispered a thank you in her ear. All she could do in reply was nod.
She was so grateful to have those women in her life.
════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════
Sango and Kagome sat resting against one another, hand in hand, at a small covered tea shop near the village center. It was the best solution to the Kitsune's skin-craving instincts that they had come up with when she'd explained it to them.
It may not have been enough to satisfy her urges forever, but it was going to have to tide her over until a better solution cropped up.
At the beginning, Miroku and Sango had taken turns relaxing with her. After a while Sango couldn't help the spider creeping jealousy when she saw her husband lounging with the priestess, no matter how innocent the contact. Kagome had caught on to her best friend's emotions quickly and started limiting the time she spent with the once-monk. It stopped all together after she'd injured his arm—neither one of them blamed her for that, but the guilt must have been a gaping sore for the fox—though the two still trained together regularly. They focused exclusively on their holy powers.
With the retired demon slayer strictly limited from any overly straining chores, training, exercise or anything else that made life exciting, the woman had plenty of time to enjoy the priestess' company.
The girls watched the spring rain as it pattered on the ground and slipped from the shingled roof in streams.
"I'm glad that you're getting out more. Shippo said that yesterday you taught him and Rin to catch sweetfish."
"Yeah, badly. You know I can't fish."
Kagome glanced at the pregnant woman, then back down at her steaming tea with a smile. Natural, like the girl that had welcomed Sango into their group with open arms and a warm heart, despite the Taijia's failed assassination attempt on Inuyasha's life.
"It's probably the weather." She explained. "Er, not the rain, of course. Just the springtime in general. It always cheers me up. Makes me feel lighter."
"It'll have been a year soon."
A stitch in the fabric of the Kitsune's face tightened a hair before she nodded. "Yeah, it's gone by crazy fast."
Sango's lips fell and she gripped her friend's hand tighter. Her other palm patted Kagome's knee, over where a small hole was beginning to wear in the denim jeans.
"You should visit him, Kagome."
Every once in a while she made sure to bring up the subject. The Slayer knew that the girl was healing well and growing stronger with every passing day, but she'd never truly be whole until she faced the demons that she'd been avoiding since returning home to them.
The teacup clicked against the bench when Kagome set it aside.
"I know." She replied.
"You need closure."
"I will soon." The time traveler said, avoiding her usual excuses. Her voice was more sure than it had been all winter. "Once I know what I want to say to him."
═════════════ Inuyasha X Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════
There was a big difference between taking the time to heal and procrastination.
Kagome knew that she had been procrastinating.
So by the time the cherry blossoms started to form buds on their branches, the fox demoness had started training out on her own to build up her confidence. She hoped that she could crack the codes to her demonic powers on her own, or at the very least figure out how to dampen their potency.
Inuyasha had grown up alone, so he had been forced to learn his powers to survive. There wasn't any reason why she couldn't do the same.
"Okay." She told the crops of trees. "I can do this."
It was a memory that inspired her.
Back in the demon realm, when she lay alone on that stone bench in the lily grove. She had made the little red tulip bloom with just a touch. Somehow it had thrived off of the power that she hadn't been focused on concealing.
With that in mind, she'd experimented with feeding her energy to various plants to see how they were effected. The hard part was grasping her energy to be able to channel it, but after a couple weeks she started to get the hang of it.
It wasn't about structure or following procedure.
It was about feeling everything in her body.
Kagome took hold of the energy swirling deep within her core. She didn't try to call it to the surface like she had to with her Miko powers. She just held it, admiring the massive sensation without letting it consume her.
There was a comforting balance to it; it felt like being tucked snug in a bed in a cool, dark room while also letting the sun warm her cheeks as she danced in a field of cattails. Kagome sat on the center axis of a scale, evenly weighted by the push and pull of the life within and around her.
The demoness closed her eyes and reached out to the rough bark of an old cherry tree. The tree's energy sprang to life beneath her fingertips, the power a living thing that met to greet her.
Slowly, she released her breath.
Kagome imagined a maple tap working in reverse.
It took patience to get the flow started, but it didn't take much energy for the tree to be satisfied once it began.
Branches hung low and heavy with pink and white blossoms when she opened her eyes to check on her progress. It was a beacon of happiness in the otherwise sleeping field. Kagome smiled so wide that the corners of her eyes pinched. It was the biggest thing that she'd brought to bloom and color so far.
Unfortunately, her excitement didn't last very long.
The two energies, the trees' and her own, resonated with each other in a sudden pulse. Her gasp drew everything inward as she pulled back, the visible stream of electric power that tugged away with her made her eyes grow wide. Light sparked and flickered along the tether.
It lasted only a second before the bond snapped.
Kagome stared up in shock at the browned leaved and withered flower heads as they began to shower around her. With some nervous hesitation, she looked down at her slender hands that glowed a rich, demonic purple.
She killed the tree by stealing it's life energy!
No...
It gave her it's power.
Kagome laughed out with awkward triumph over the new discovery before a rogue, arching spark from her hands made her jumpy.
Okay! Cool! That's new!
What did she do with it!?
The dark light threatened to take over her body, the familiar sensation of her deprived instincts tickled the back of her neck. Not allowing the panic to get a foothold, the fox took deep, steadying breaths and rooted herself firmly to the ground.
Kagome reached forward and gripped the trunk of the tree once more. She forced the power back into the ancient, gnarled bark. The sheer buildup of pressure that she shoved into it have been too much too quickly; it's cells couldn't hold it. The tree bowed outward before bursting. A halo of light sent branches, bark and dead leaves flying.
Her arms flew up to shield her head.
When the fallout of dismembered tree parts came to an end the cherry looked as if it had been destroyed by a violent strike of lightning.
She swallowed.
Well... better a tree than a friend, right?
══════════════════ Tsarashi ═══════════════════
"Hey, I'm sorry I haven't visited yet. I've been... preoccupied."
Kagome chuckled and looked down at her scuffed Mary Janes.
"I know, that's not much of an excuse. I've run out of all the good ones."
The silence that followed was a bit awkward, so she cleared her throat and sat down in the grass next to him at the top of the highest rise in Inuyasha's forest. It was part of the forest that would survive to her time period, connected to her family's property. It overlooked the village and you could just make out the rooftops through the trees.
"Look, I need to move on with my life. I know that sounds harsh, but Sango was right—as usual. She knew I needed to come here for that to happen."
Out of her bag the demoness pulled a pair of fat yuzu fruit, placed one in front of him, and began peeling her own. The sadness in her eyes belied the smile on her lips.
"Miroku and Sango had twins last week. Two adorable, tiny girls. Miroku calls them his miracle babies, you know, since they wouldn't have existed if Kohaku hadn't made that wish."
The priestess sucked the juice from one of her orange slices.
"Today's the anniversary of Naraku's death, they're saying. But, I have no clue how accurate that is. We're still on the Chinese calendar, so it might be a couple days off."
Kagome sat there quietly for several minutes as she ate. There was no expectation for him to respond. The day was cool for summer, but not chilly and the wind was just strong enough to make her long hair flutter just above the grass.
Discarded peels began to dry out beside her before she spoke up again.
"The twins helped me put that final piece together and realize what I was forgetting." The young woman stated with a heavy heart. "Life is still going on. With or without me. Without you..." She held a certain pride for making it that far without crying.
"Inuyasha, I loved you. I still love you and part of me will probably always love you. But I can't let that hold me back anymore. The Jewel corrected your timeline, and I accept that now. We were never supposed to meet in the first place. I'm so thankful for the time we did have together. I can't continue wasting my life away wishing that things were different. I was given this new existence and it's a terrifying, awesome gift with lots of ups and downs. I want to take full advantage of it!"
After the bulk of her speech, Kagome got to her feet and wiped at her dewy eyelashes.
"I'm going to live a full, exciting life. But I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for me and for Shippo."
She turned to face the knee high stone monument where Inuyasha's physical remains had been buried after his soul was taken to the afterlife. The markers existed in the future, weathered and unreadable. Never in her youth had she considered that one of them could have belonged to the spirited half demon. Heck, the two of them had even had lunch beside them more than a few times, overlooking the bustling metropolis of Tokyo.
Before leaving, Kagome placed another ripened fruit in front of the second, slightly smaller marker.
She finally felt forgiveness.
"Take care of him, Kikyou."
═══════════════ 犬夜叉 X 幽遊白書 ═══════════════
At first he hadn't known who the female Kitsune had been. Some down on her luck refugee, no doubt, considering the motley crew of misfits that Inuyasha's band tended to acquire over the years.
The second time around there was no mistaking who the young demoness was.
Or, more over, who she had been.
The human Miko that his kid half brother had taken to carrying around like a flea on his back. The defiant way she strode towards him with such foolish fearlessness was absolutely, undeniably her.
So, the woman had been transformed as well?
A Fox wouldn't have been his first choice for her. Perhaps an insufferably talkative cat or maybe even a mangy wolf if he was going to be generous. Foxes held a certain grace and finesse that she most certainly lacked. Something she had proved time and time again with each of their encounters both on and off the battle field. He found the juxtaposition intriguing.
"It's about time you showed up!" She snapped in his direction.
Sesshoumaru cringed inwardly.
Sensitive ears were more a curse than an advantage whenever that woman was involved. How could he forget? The Inu Youkai straightened his posture, shifted the bundle from under his arm and tossed it at her feet since the Monk that usually mediated their transactions and his ward were missing from the scene.
"Do you know how many months you've been making Rin wait for you to visit?!"
He didn't grace her with an answer.
"I don't actually know, since I've stopped counting the days." She stepped over the haphazardly wrapped package of delicate spider silks. "But it's almost the end of summer, Sesshoumaru!"
Her anger with him must have been festering like an open wound. The last time that particular demoness had spoken to him she had the confidence of a whipped house-pet. Now she held all of the directness and impudence that the Dog had come to expect from the odd priestess over the years.
Exhausting, much like his late brother.
The woman stopped just shy of touching his chest, her tall downy ears flicked with an annoyance that amused him.
"Don't you give me that smirk, you ass! You're supposed to be Rin's Father! But so far you've been doing a pretty lousy job! Bring her gifts three times a year isn't nearly—"
The words continued to fall from her snarled lips, not that he heard them. They were nothing but a dull hum after she'd dropped the one that captured his attention in it's fullest.
Father.
Was that what he had become to the little girl?
It was true that his human ward had been changed into a demon by the wish of the Shikon No Tama. She'd absorbed the demonic essence and his own father's blood that had been shed from Inuyasha's descent into the underworld. Purple stripes—his fathers familial markings that told the world of his power and lineage—now graced the child's skin.
She had become his heir and successor, that much had been obvious.
The girl was still Rin, the delicate thing that he had resurrected and entertained the company of. She still smelled like sunflowers and pine pitch, only with the added ferality of his father's blood that hovered around her like the hungry shadow of a dead man. Thankfully, her newfound Youki was distinctly her own; an Inu Youkai aura that belonged to no other.
There was a spark of light withing her that no natural demon held. It must have been a side effect of the Jewel's wish, since the Kitsune standing her ground before him held the same spark shining brightly within her aura.
A spark tucked within a surprisingly vast, raw power that had begun to gnaw and crackle at his senses like an unruly beast.
The Fox had the potential to rival him in strength with the proper instruction... But as she was she had a greater likelihood of posing a threat to his...—to Rin's life and well being.
Fortunately for the Miko, she had several aspects that made her valuable.
The first being the love and respect of his blood child. So long as she maintained that he would not extinguish her life without adequate reason. To do so would cause Rin to be distraught.
Secondly, she had something that he lacked: parental experience.
She had taken in the fox kit, after all. And she had been more a mother to Inuyasha than ever a lover. She'd mothered every creature that steeped foot into their fold, humans and demons alike. She was a woman after all, regardless of her species. Maternal instinct was bound to come easily to her.
The dog demon could take advantage of that as well as her natural talent for meddling. Rin trembled and hesitated when she saw him those days, so he kept his distance, unsure to what he'd done to incite such a response from the small girl that had followed him for years without protest or fear. Without any prodding, he knew that the priestess would point out his faults and mistakes.
With any luck, she might even be more tolerable as a demon than she had been a human.
Sesshoumaru glared at the dainty fingers that waved in front of his face.
"Hey! Are you even—? Oh... are you alright, Sesshoumaru? You've always been sort of quiet, but very focused. You're actually spacing out a little..."
Her concern made him curious.
He might be able to work with her after all; a mutually beneficial arrangement, if given the time and patience.
The things he was willing to put up with for that pup surprised him.
"I will not train you."
Shocking blue eyes looked up at him with surprise and confusion. "Wha—..." She stuttered, her mouth opening and closing like a fish lying in the grass. The stunned silence was far preferable than her condescending lecture. "I didn't ask you this ti—"
A raised hand cut her off. Her gaze focused on the twin magenta striped and avoided the razor sharp claws.
"Not until you are worth my time, Miko... But I will not stop you if you intend to follow me."
The blues widened. "I can join you out there?"
The Western Lord waited patiently for her response as she looked away to consider the meaning behind his words. It seemed that the year had taught her that brashness was not always the best strategy when it came to making important decisions.
Finally she turned to him once more.
"I'll have lots of questions, Lord Sesshoumaru." The title coming from her lips was gratifying. "Will you answer them?"
"I may."
"What about Rin? She hasn't said it outright, but I know she wants to see you more."
"Rin is free to do as she pleases."
Her face lit up with satisfaction, animalistic ears twitched beyond her control. The young demoness' concern for the pup told him that he had made the right decision in extending the truce.
With a step backwards to put a more suitable distance between them and a smile on her small face, the Youkai priestess bowed to him. It was a pleasure to see that she did, in fact, have some respect.
"I think Rin would be pleased if you were to stay for tea?"
Yes. Tea would be a suitable place to begin.
Sesshoumaru granted her with a curt nod and followed the woman across the modest courtyard to the building housing all of those that had been eavesdropping on the conversation. To where his daughter waited with a heart stopping smile and a ready kettle.
════════════════ With Reason ═════════════════
Kagome settled with her back against the soothing energies that danced within the wooden lip of the well, her tail resting in her lap. Sesshoumaru lounged against a large cedar across the clearing from her, his eyes lazily following the two children frolicking among the tall wildflowers.
It had taken some convincing and prodding, but as soon as she got the Dog demon to tell Rin that she could go play, the little pup bound off with an excitement that she'd been holding back all year.
It was okay for the kids to be kids, that was the first thing that he needed to know about raising a daughter.
He'd done fairly well when she was still a human, but now that she was his flesh and blood Kagome had a feeling that he was totally overthinking things. So, she took it upon herself to help where she could and try to mend the relationship that she knew they would have in the future. It was actually surprising how little he had resisted her advice.
The priestess smiled at the twinkling bells of laughter before looking down to the manila envelope in her hands.
Charging forward, she unwound the string from it's round fastener and flipped up the flap that secured the contents. The maroon folder within had been bound like an employee handbook, thick and organized. It was titled The Guardian Guidebook in gold letterhead script and a small round ogre illustration was stamped at the bottom corner.
Okay, Kagome thought. That was a bit overboard.
When she flipped it over she was taken aback by the photo.
A full color glamour shot print of Koenma covered a huge portion of the back cover like a cheesy mass-market romance novel. The Kitsune tried to hold back her laugh, but it came out as a snort when she read the 'review' at the bottom.
'A must read for every Guardian of the Realms just starting out!' -Jorge Saotome
Koenma had made it as unintimidating as he possibly could, and for that she was immensely grateful.
Kagome flipped open the cover page and delved into the secrets written within.
═════════════ Inuyasha X Yu Yu Hakusho ═════════════
Chapter Two: End
(I changed Rin's marking to make better sense. She had no reason having Sesshoumaru or his mother's marks when it was the Inu no Taisho's blood that changed her. I'll be updating that in Just Instincts when I get the chance. Thank you for reading!)