Chapter 4. August 1996 Tessaiga
They had finished washing up, and started discussing about heading out to find the shards, when Tsukiko's attention was caught by something the other two couldn't feel – an amused smile on her lips, she informed them "We're about to have some company."
No sooner had she said, that a large carriage appeared in the air, as if fleeing from something – something that soon appeared to be some kind of gigantic oni. Then, Kagome realized that the Oni wasn't alone, two smaller silhouette could be seen on of his arms, one of them eerily familiar.
Before she could say, or do anything, chains were lashing at the carriage, and a beautiful, dark haired woman, dressed in the finery of nobility, was bound and was looking at her assailant with terror in her eyes.
"Sesshoumaru! What game are you playing at, you bastard?"
Just from InuYasha's tone, Kagome knew she had to be missing something about the situation.
Whatever the youkai had been about to answer, he snapped his mouth shut, an eyebrow rising slightly – and casually throwing the woman he had been attacking a moment before to the ground, he stepped down with effortless grace, focused on the young canine youkai in front of him.
"How quaint." head slightly tilted as if to better observe her "You bear this Sesshoumaru's mark and scent. Explain yourself, pup."
"It's quite simple," Tsukiko answered easily, yet head tilted to bare her neck in the respectful and traditional fashion, Padfoot doing the same thing by her side – this may be her father, he wasn't used to her yet "I've been sent from the future to guide one of Fate's chosen, chichi-ue."
The youkai didn't have any time to answer, as InuYasha was still waiting for answers "What the fuck are you doing with my mother's look-alike?"
Tsukiko turned her attention toward said woman – then sighed "I already told you to use your senses better, oji! This is no human being!"
The affirmation surprised both Kagome and InuYasha, that turned their attention toward her – while Sesshoumaru kept on observing her "This is a mu onna, a spirit formed by the aggregation of the soul of several grieving mothers who lost their child." the young goddess explained "This is a pitiful and grotesque being that shouldn't existed, but grief can twist the soul just as much as anger..."
Kagome eyes had widened at the description, and she could indeed feel a bit the unnatural presence now that she knew about it.
"Keh! What are you playing at using something like that?" InuYasha asked, anger clear in his tone "Your daughter was telling me you trying to kill me was just training, and I was half-way convinced into believing her, and you pull something like that..." he growled, canine ancestry clear in his voice
"This and that are two different matters." Sesshoumaru answered with a bored expression "This Sesshoumaru doesn't have time to waste with lessons today, I am looking for father's grave."
"Why would I know something like that, fucker?" InuYasha snapped back
Tsukiko and Kagome shared a commiserating look – the hanyou had held out a good two sentences before resorting to insults, that was better than nothing, right?
Both girls were wondering whether to interfere between the two brothers that seemed quite content to insult each other, but then an annoying buzzing noise was heard, soon followed by a loud slap, and Tsukiko was holding a rather large flea between her claws "Do not attempt to feed on me without asking." she warned in a cold tone – she knew better than anyone else the power blood could held, what with having her blood used in a resurrection ritual against her will several life-times ago
By her side, Padfoot was growling too, hackles raised, and making a fearsome picture – no doubt he too, was thinking about that damned night in the cemetery.
A small gulping nose was heard, quickly followed by a fearful voice "I'm sorry, hime-sama, I didn't know Sesshoumaru-sama had an heir."
"Well now you know. So speak flea, what are you doing here?"
"I'm Myouga, I was the great Inu no Taishou's retainer, and I was tasked with protecting his younger son!"
"And what a marvelous job you've done." Tsukiko drawled sarcastically – her uncle wasn't a bad man, but he clearly lacked a lost of basic knowledge even a hanyou should have, something the retainer should have imparted him if he had done his duties correctly
"Well this world is dangerous for a youkai as small as I am..."
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you have numerous excuses for your failure." she waved his stammering explanation away "Why are you here right now?"
"I heard Sesshoumaru-sama was looking for the entrance to his father's grave in order to steal his brother's inheritance!"
"This Sesshoumaru has no intention of stealing anything." the other youkai contradicted "There is no reason my father's blades shouldn't come into my hands."
"You already possess Tenseiga, a powerful blade inherited from your honorable father!" the flea pointed out "Tessaiga was always meant for InuYasha-sama!"
"A blade that doesn't cut is worthless."
The air chilled around Tsukiko as her father spit out those words "Excuse me? Did you just call the Tenseiga useless?" golden eyes flickered an ethereal green "Do try to think before speaking."
"Should you really speak like that to your alpha?" her father challenged, an eyebrow raised and power unfurling around him
"While I love you, chichi-ue, I am alpha too, those markings aren't for show." she corrected "And I despise it when people aren't able to realize what they have been gifted with. If you are even already half as powerful as you are in the future you should be able to sense why quite easily."
¤.¤.¤
Intrigued by the affirmation, the yokai tilted his head, focusing on the aura dancing around her, while InuYasha asked, curiosity stronger than animosity "What's so special about those weapons?"
"The Tessaiga and Tenseiga are both weapons forged from Inu no Taishou's own fangs," the flea explained "One is called the Sword of Earth, and is able to cut down one hundred youkai in one swing, while the other is the Sword of Heaven and is able to raise one hundred dead in one swing."
"A sword that raise the dead?" Kagome repeated, eyes widening "How is this even possible?"
"With great skill from the craftsman and the wielder, and divine approval." the youkai princess simplified, still clearly annoyed at her father's careless remark
"This Sesshoumaru doesn't need a healing sword. As one that follow the path of supreme conquest I should have been the one to inherit the Tessaiga." said youkai commented "I do not deny the power of the sword, just it's usefulness for me."
She unwound slightly – so he did understand that the power over death wasn't one lightly handed at least; he just hadn't learned yet to accept it, his warrior pride getting in the way.
Well, she had heard that her father had had trouble with grasping emotions when younger, partly because of his strict education as heir of the West, partly to the fact he had inherited the land far too young; for a few centuries, acting as an icy prick had been the only way to maintain his authority in front of the older Lords.
"It's not as if you would need it." Myouga muttered "You are already more than powerful enough to kill a hundred of lesser youkai with your bare claws..."
The affirmation made Tsukiko raise an eyebrow – then she remembered that just as the flea had unwittingly pointed out to her the Great Disappearance hadn't occurred yet, and the country was filled with beast youkai that wouldn't last a second against her father, even if he was less powerful than he'd be in a few centuries...
"So, you're looking for your father's grave because the Tessaiga was buried with him?" Kagome wondered "But why don't you know where his tomb is?"
"Because the great Inu no Taishou ensured that his body would be well hidden before passing away!" Myouga proudly explained
"Well I guess we could at least look for it. Oji doesn't have a weapon after all." Tsukiko declared lightly
[Life Quest! A father's bequeath...
Goal: Find the Inu no Taishou's grave
Reward: +50XP per goal, +1 Perk Point upon completion]
"Tch, its not as if I need a weapon anyway!" InuYasha mumbled
"You don't want the inheritance your father left you?" Tsukiko couldn't help but ask in a bewildered manner
"Like I said," the hanyou shrugged "I don't use a sword. That's what my claws are for."
"Your choice of weapon is your own," the younger ookami agreed easily "but having a spare is always good, and beside I wasn't talking about the fighting value of the sword."
Seeing at his curious look that he wasn't understanding – and that neither Kagome nor Sesshoumaru seemed to get her point either, even if the later hid it better – Tsukiko sighed, and pointed out patiently "Just like my parents did for me in my first life, just like my mother did in this life... Your father died to protect you, oji-san. Don't you want a memento from the man who gave his life for yours?"
Kagome could read in InuYasha's eyes the surprise when Tsukiko stated that her parents had died for her, followed by a surge of acceptance – this was probably the first time he looked at the girl he'd known for all of a day as family, rather than just an acquaintance.
The young priestess eyes softened as she saw something change in their shard hunting partner change. In his usual brash manner, the hanyou turned toward his half-brother "Heard your daughter, bastard?" he taunted "I'm not letting you have that sword!"
"Seems like the value of father's inheritance finally hit your feeble mind." was Sesshoumaru's calm retort
And just like that, the two brothers were back to insulting each other, InuYasha loud and annoyed, Sesshoumaru calm and collected in appearance yet childishly answering back to each remark – Tsukiko smiled as she realized that her father was still very young compared to the future.
Kagome and her shared an amused glance, and the two girls turned their attention back to the mu onna still prostrated on the ground "So... a spirit..." Kagome remembered her friend's earlier explanation "Can we help her?" she asked
Tsukiko smiled at the girl inherent kindness, and switched to lecture mode without even realizing it "Holy servants are among those able to deal with lingering spirits." she confirmed "Several exorcism ceremonies exist to deal with them."
"Why several ceremonies rather than just one?"
"Because not all spirits will let themselves be sent to the after-life peacefully, among other reason." she knelt before the softly wailing spirit "But generally the only thing tethering mu onna to the Mortal Realm is the sorrow of having lost their child and wanting it back..."
"But..." Kagome immediately realized, turning her attention to the spirit that was only now remarking their presence "If their child is dead, shouldn't they want to pass on faster to be reunited with them?"
"They should." Tsukiko confirmed "But rationality is hard to keep when dying, you have to remember that, and a lot of being are afraid of dying, never realizing that there is no life without death."
"So what should we do?"
"I... I want to see my son again... Will I see him in death?" the spirit finally asked in a hopeful, yet tired voice
"Young souls are send back in the reincarnation circle rapidly." Tsukiko explained patiently, not wanting to lie even if it would have been easier "By refusing to pass on, you may have lost the chance to see him. But you will be able to see his new life should you choose so. And when you're ready... You'll go back to the living too."
The spirit eyes shone with regrets at the first part of the explanation – then the second part brought back hope, then acceptance, and the beautiful, yamato nadeshiko like spirit nodded, then bowed in front of the youkai "Then please help me, holy being."
Kagome's eyes widened at the appellation, wondering what the spirit could sense about her friend that she didn't, but Tsukiko simply smiled, a shikigami swiftly appearing out of her Inventory and she scribbled a single word on it, power swirling around her in waves of green, cold energy.
Kagome only had time to realized that she didn't recognize the language used on the paper figure before it flared, and took the form of a tall, broad-shouldered man with short dark hairs and an eye-patch
"Little Shadow, dogfather." he greeted Tsukiko with a slight bow, then nodding toward Padfoot before turning his attention to her "Little priestess." he added, nodding to her too – she briefly wondered if she should feel insulted to warrant only as much respect as a dog, then quickly reminded herself that Padfoot was probably far from an ordinary canine
"I'm not small, you're the one that's too tall." the youkai grumbled half-hardheartedly, visibly used to the appellation
"Yet not once in four life did you grow over 170 centimeters." the man retorted in a way that indicated that this answer too was usual, before growing more serious "Why did you call me?"
Tsukiko turned toward the spirit "A lost soul needing help to reach Death's Realm." she explained
Wrath – because, of course, he was the one she had called – nodded.
For a normal priestess, calling a shinigami to show the way to the after-life to a spirit was possible, but it involved a long, convoluted ceremony, while the young goddess could simply call her own underling, seeing as she was Death's sister.
Since the only being working for her that had direct access to Death's Islands was Wrath, calling him had been the simplest solution – a solution that would have been much more demanding on her physical body if not for Magic's gifts. Padfoot, while technically one of her underlings, was restricted to the Mortal Realms at the beginning of each life just like herself, being her familiar.
"It shall be done." the former homunculus nodded, gesturing at the spirit, who followed him after a last bow toward the two girls
Soon, both had disappeared, leaving behind only the lingering feeling of Death's cold powers.
"This isn't how I thought a shinigami would look like." Kagome commented lightly "But I'm glad that spirit could pass on peacefully."
[Hunting Complete! Mu Onna
Reward:+25XP, +1 Hunting Trophy]
[Level up! Kagome is now level 43!
+1SP]
Tsukiko raised an eyebrow at the notification, not having realized it would be considered as a successful hunt, but not about to turn down free experience, before warning Kagome "This only went so well because the spirit was not so far gone that it had lost all sense. Otherwise we'd have to subdue it before sending it on... And when the spirit is too far gone, the soul cannot be saved, and is either dragged to Purgatory, or destroyed."
Kagome nodded at the warning, and Tsukiko turned toward a stunned flea "Well, now let's get back to oji-san's sword, shall we?" the flea seemed to want to ask something, then changed his mind "You wish for InuYasha-sama to inherit the Tessaiga?" he seemed perplexed at her lack of desire for the powerful sword
¤.¤.¤
With a sigh, guessing at the old youkai's problem, she pointed out "Even a youkai with feeble senses like you are should have guessed what I am with this small demonstration, so why would I need the Sword of Earth?"
"True." the flea couldn't help but answer immediately "And you did convince InuYasha-sama to claim his inheritance." with a long exhalation, he stated "The right black pearl of the unsuspecting guardian. This is where Inu no Taishou-sama hid away the entrance to his resting place."
Kagome and Tsukiko were both nonplussed at the convoluted affirmation, but Sesshoumaru's voice was amused – even if only Tsukiko could tell "Protecting his grave by not telling it's guardian it is protecting it."
"How could someone protect a grave without knowing?" InuYasha protested
"Quite easily, brother" the word sounded more like a mockery than an acknowledgment, but the hanyou did realize that the fact the elder youkai had bestowed him the title for the first time was telling "By hiding a portal within the chosen guardian's body without telling him."
The young lord turned toward a small, toad-like youkai "Jaken! The nintoujou!"
The newly named Jaken fumbled around with an ugly, twisted staff bearing the head of a man and a woman "Here, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"Now, for the black pearl..." the tall, white-haired youkai turned toward his half-sibling, and with a movement so swift only Tsukiko could follow it, dug his claw in his eye-socket, retrieving, just as he had said, a small black pearl that had been hidden there
Tsukiko sighed at the bloody method her father had favored, somehow not surprised – he always took way too much fun at beating her during their training spars – while InuYasha screamed in agony, and Kagome in shock. Turning toward her friend, she put a calming hand on her arm "We youkai heal faster than humans, Kagome, oji will be fine in a few hours..."
"How can you be so calm? He just pulled out his eye... like a teeth!" Kagome snapped back
"Look again," she said patiently, knowing the young miko wasn't yet used to the casual violence of the Sengoku era, which was even more present among youkai
Still, the teenage girl was so used to listen to her advice that she did calm down a bit, and approaching the brash hanyou, confirmed to herself that he still had two eyes, even if one was quite bloody. Biting her lips, she turned her head toward Tsukiko "Can I..."
The ookami smiled and nodded before she had even asked her question, and resolve made, Kagome turned back toward InuYasha, power humming in her hands. The hanyou watched her warily with his valid eye "What do you think you're doing, onna?"
"Healing you. Now shut up and let me work."
A snort "Miko powers don't work on youkai! Not even hanyou like myself!"
"That's not quite true." Tsukiko contradicted him, surprising both her father and his brother – the former snapping his attention away from the pearl in his hand toward her "It's just that miko in this era haven't yet grasped how to adapt their powers to heal youkai, since they are more used to fight them." a shrug "Kagome have been healing me since she was five year old."
Once more, Sesshoumaru had to hide his surprise, something that had happened more time since meeting his daughter than in the past century. After all, healing with pure power, like the miko was doing to his vocally reluctant half-brother, was something most holy humans struggled to do in this era – to think that slip of a girl had had so much power since so young...
Within a few moments, InuYasha was healed, Kagome looking a bit winded, and Sesshoumaru was nodding toward his retainer – the toad respectfully gave him his staff, and with a decisive movement, he struck it toward the pearl that was now on the ground.
With a flash of magic, the old, shriveled, man's head started to cackle, a portal opened, and the inu youkai wasted no time stepping through.
¤.¤.¤
Tsukiko observed the portal her father and his retainer had already disappeared through, recognizing the now familiar feeling the black light was giving.
"A grave between the Mortal Realms and Death Islands, how interesting..." she whispered to herself, wondering how her powers would act in such a place – well only one way to know "Let's go!" she stated, Padfoot already jumping in by her side
With a shared glance of incomprehension at her sudden jovial attitude, Kagome and InuYasha followed the hime.
They appeared in the air, far above a gigantic dog's skeleton. The miko's eyes went round, she had known InuYasha's father had been an inu youkai, but after having seen Tsukiko and Sesshoumaru's appearance, this clearly wasn't what she had been expecting.
"Youkai are born in their animal form," Tsukiko, like always was guessing about her thoughts before she had even put them into words "And when they die, they reverse back to their birth form."
At that affirmation, Kagome couldn't help but eye her childhood curiously, wondering what her animal form looked like – but her attention was soon dragged toward Chaos Game as a notification flashed by.
[Goal complete:+50XP
Goal update: Awaken the Tessaiga]
[Level up! Kagome is now level 44!
+1SP]
"Awaken?" she couldn't help but mouth, wondering what the game was talking about
"Many high-end youkai made weapon have an awakened form, generally activated by pouring youki into it, just like your tanto only shifts to naginata when you pour reiki into it."
"Oh, that makes sense. Thanks Tsuki-chan, I don't know how lost I would be feeling without you right now!" a bark "And you too Padfoot, of course."
Said dog had shifted to a larger form and caught them on his back as they had appeared in the air, and was now heading toward the skeleton that from up close looked even more impressive, and soon they were in front of the gigantic rib-cage, still covered by an old looking samurai armor.
As soon as they touched the ground, the mischievous Grimm switched back to his normal height, making both Kagome and InuYasha stumble, the later catching his footing faster, while Tsukiko, who had simply seemed to glide down along him laughed at his prank – just as she had thought, she had access to more of her powers in this place in-between the Realms.
Soon, all were turning their attention back to the reason for their presence - right next to the gigantic spine of the legendary Inu no Taishou, embedded into an engraved stone, was a rusty looking katana...
"This is father's inheritance?" InuYasha mocked, not impressed by the weapon's appearance, yet eyes softening at it's sentimental value
"Feel, oji-san..." Tsukiko stressed once more, a trace of awe in her voice
"Tsukiko-hime is right, InuYasha-sama," the flea that had hitched a ride on the hanyou admonished "Don't let yourself be fooled by the Tessaiga's look."
While a bit annoyed at Myouga's repeat performance, InuYasha did focus his youki on the weapon, as unused as he was to using his power like that – and even someone as inexperienced at sensing with youki as he was could immediately feel the weapon's power.
Once more, his niece was right, like she had the annoying habit to be; the wolf girl really was quite likable for all that she was the bastard's daughter.
Sesshoumaru was already stepping toward the sword, but that wasn't too big of a surprise; even if InuYasha had stated that he would take his inheritance, the youkai wouldn't just let him have it that easily, he understood that all the better that Sesshoumaru had all but confirmed Tsukiko's explanation about training earlier without even batting an eyelid about it – he had really thought of his killing attempts as normal training...
What was more surprising was the barrier flaring to life when the full-blooded youkai tried to take a hold of the hilt, heavily scorching his hand.
"Ah! Can't even draw out a sword can you!" InuYasha taunted, amused at the hint of annoyance he could read in his brother's eyes
"Well, why don't you try it, hanyou?" the youkai calmly answered back
"I will!" InuYasha bragged, seeing no reason why he wouldn't be able to take a hold of the weapon – the flea had said it was his inheritance after all
A burnt hand latter, he had realized that the katana clearly wasn't informed it was supposed to be his...
After laughing a bit at both brothers, and easily avoiding both retaliating attacks as there wasn't any real heat behind any of them, Tsukiko approached the weapon, dragging Kagome with her "Come, it's lesson time!"
"Now?" Kagome protested as she was soon face-to-stone with the rock the weapon was embedded into
"It's a practical case," Tsukiko pointed at the stone "see those engraving? They are powering the barrier that forbid chichi-ue and oji-san from touching the Tessaiga. There is probably another enchantment on the blade, but that one it probably hidden under the grip."
Kagome couldn't help but take a closer look at the stone, finding herself drawn in by Tsukiko's explanations like always when she went into teaching mode – but her attention was brutally drawn away by a loud clashing sound, and bone shards flying around...
"What the hell do you think you're doing, attacking without a warning, bastard?" loudly complained InuYasha, quickly explaining what had happened – the two brother were once more fighting, and not only verbally this time
"You should always be aware of your surroundings hanyou. Most youkai won't make enough noise for you to hear their sneak attack like this Sesshoumaru was kind enough to do."
Kagome's eyes widened, and she turned toward her friend as the two brothers continued fighting "He's... teaching him?"
An amused smile was her answer "I told you, didn't I?" she watched her father thoughtfully "His training method hasn't changed a lot to be honest. I think he enjoys beating people halfway to death without having a hair out of place..."
The young miko gave up on being surprised – really, that explained so much about Tsukiko's own training methods...
With that, she turned her attention back to the enchanted stone, and her friend went back to explain about the differences between wards and enchantments, and the different way they could be enacted – those two types of magic were used by holy servant just as well as by youkai or wizards, and each used a different way of making them.
"As a miko, you would probably use sutra placed around the place or object to ward, and enchanting for you mainly would involve a lot of chanting and power. Wizards use runes of different origins for wards, and wands and a lot of fine-pointed wand waving for enchantments..."
"But this is a youkai ward, isn't it?"
"Indeed." nodded Tsukiko, distractedly weaving her fingers through Padfoot's fur "Youkai wards are a bit like wizard ones in that they use a written form, generally engraved in a medium. They are less versatile, but a lot more powerful most of the time. Here you should recognize the writing easily..."
Surprised at the affirmation, she took a closer look at the carving that she had thought quite abstract until now, but it took quite some time before she realized she had indeed already seen this.
"These are pictograms!"
"Chinese pictogram to be precise. The first form of written language from which kanji evolved." an encouraging smile "Can you guess what it is about?"
Kagome paused for a bit – while she had seen some of these pictures in some classical language course at school, it hadn't been in-depth, and so she was mostly left to guessing, on top of that the drawing were intricate, making it even harder to guess at each sign sense...
Still, after some time spent thinking about it, and a few helping comments from Tsukiko, she was quite sure she'd guessed it...
[Bonus complete! Kagome deciphered the ward
Bonus Reward: (50+25)XP, +1 Hunting Trophy, Enhancing System unlocked]
[Level up! You are now level 134!
+1SP]
[Level up! Kagome is now level 46!
+2SP, +2CP]
[New system log entrance: Enhancing System
Known wards and enchantments can be crafted easier thanks to this system.
Enchantments can be added to equipment according to their level and rarity.
New wards and enchantments can be learned through normal way, or by unlocking them with Hunting Trophies in the Hunting System.]
¤.¤.¤
The echo of Tessaiga slipping out of it's resting place was met with eerie silence as both Sesshoumaru and InuYasha stopped their fight to stare disbelievingly at the young miko.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Tsuki-chan made me decipher the ward!" Kagome explained with a happy smile, still not quite believing she'd managed it
"Keh. So what?"
"Don't be so thankless, if I hadn't been there you would still be trying to get that sword! It could only be taken out by a human!" she explained, a bit put out by the lack of praise from their hanyou companion
"Of course," Sesshoumaru nodded, not looking too surprised " how like father to do something like this." his bloodthirsty smile turned toward the girl still holding the rusty looking Tessaiga
Suddenly Kagome wasn't so happy to have all attention turned toward her – and the next moment, Sesshoumaru had disappeared from her eyesight – only to reappear near her, dripping claws stopped by an elegant, dusky blade that didn't reflect the light.
Her eyes widened at how close she'd been from death, while the youkai hime that had just placed herself between death and her lightly commented "Please don't test my friend like that, chichi-ue. Humans aren't quite as resilient as youkai."
"She isn't a weak ningen if she could read through otou-sama's ward so easily." Sesshoumaru contradicted, not even phased at having been stopped in his attack
"I've just started training her, and most of her reiki is still sealed." Tsukiko explained calmly "It's like trying to train a pup before he's finished his first growing spur!"
"What do you think you're doing running away from our fight, bastard?" InuYasha was protesting father away
"Running away? This Sesshoumaru seems to recall you were the one loosing, brother." the inu youkai taunted back
Hearing the hanyou made Kagome remember about the blade she was now holding, and the one it was supposed to belong to. With a shout of "InuYasha, catch!" she was throwing the weapon toward him
InuYasha stumbled a bit at the rash and unexpected action but caught the blade easily.
Sesshoumaru seemed to smile as his brother took the weapon in hand, and Kagome felt her knee give way under her as the inu jumped back toward his brother, attacking him once more as if he hadn't made a detour to try and kill her – or test her, since apparently it was the same thing for him.
"You caught chichi-ue's attention."
"I'd rather not have, I like being alive." she answered feebly
"It's quite the honor, you know," Tsukiko laughed "we're in an era when my father hasn't yet realized that humans can have potential too. You might be the first human he doesn't regard as an insect barely worth his attention."
"I'm not sure I like the achievement." Kagome mumbled, still trembling a bit "He's… intense."
"Keh! I won't let that bastard do anything to you!" InuYasha commented loudly from his spot clashing against his elder brother
Youki pulsed a first time, felt only by Padfoot and Tsukiko, who shared a glance.
"Are you saying you'd be a better protector for Kagome-chan than me, oji-san?" the hime asked sweetly, struck by inspiration
"It's not like I can let you protect her, can I?" InuYasha snorted "You're just a pup, and a lazy on at that!"
"What are you saying?" Kagome wondered, not quite understanding what InuYasha meant by calling her friend a lazy child – but of course, the hanyou completely misunderstood
"I'm saying I'll protect you!" he snapped toward her in a put out voice
Kagome felt strangely touched by the loud proclamation – coming from InuYasha, who tended to hide what he was truly thinking and feeling behind loud boast, it was as good as a proclamation of friendship.
The second pulse of youki was felt by all – and the next second, Tessaiga changed from a rusty old katana to a large, fang like blade that violently pushed back Sesshoumaru, the older youkai using all his speed to avoid the large wave of power that followed the blade's shape-shifting.
Taking a look at the damages wreaked around by the weapon, the inu briefly thought that if his younger brother had gone after him with a bit more of killing intent he probably wouldn't have come out of this attack unscathed – the pup was learning, finally...
[Goal complete:+50XP
Goal update: learn how to unleash the Tessaiga's trade-mark attack
Bonus goal complete: The Lord of the West approval
by demonstrating a good fighting prowess and better understanding of inu youkai culture and traditions, you have gained a bit of Sesshoumaru's approval
Reward: (50+25)XP, +1 soul bound token, InuYasha receive Pack Marking, Kagome gains +10 Wards skill, Map System unlocked]
[Level up! Kagome is now level 48!
+3SP]
[Level up! InuYasha is now level 101!
+2SP, +2CP, +1PP]
[InuYasha is now Three-Tailed!
Three-Tail Perks
- Poison Fang: all your attacks can be enhanced by your own poison, unlocks Poison Resistance as a fast learning Fighting Skill (inherited from father)
- Youkai Blood: your senses are as sharp as those of your youkai ancestors (inherited from father)
- Touched by Death: the more HP you loose, the more damage your inflict on your enemies (unlocked by having been resurrected by Tenseiga)
available: 1]
[System Log: Map System
The Map System offers several option : a Map where different data can be displayed, a Recall Point for each Hunting Party and a quick access to Hunting Spots.
The Recall Rate is of once every week by default, but can be reduced by unlocking the option with Hunting Trophies. Do note that a Recall Point cannot be set in a different era than the one you are currently in.]
¤.¤.¤
Nobody had a chance to take a close look at the multiple notifications that had just arrived as Sesshoumaru was swiftly approaching InuYasha "You've finally grown up a bit, brother." he stated, ignoring the protesting noise the hanyou was starting to emit at the affirmation that clearly implied he hadn't been mature before
The next second, Sesshoumaru's claws were dragging into the tender flesh of InuYasha's face, leaving matching scars embedded with youki on each side.
Not the alpha mark, but the Pack Mark, Tsukiko realized – a mark that would tell youkai all around that InuYasha had been accepted as an adult among them, and a viable member for any pack wanting more members.
It took a few seconds for the importance of the fact to hit her clearly – this was the Sengoku jidai, an era when hanyou weren't accepted by anyone and her father, well-know for his cold persona and upmost indifference toward humans had just accepted his hanyou brother...
"Congratulation, oji-san."
At that, InuYasha finally snapped out of his stupor, and his eyes strayed toward his brother – except of course, Sesshoumaru had no intention of explaining himself and was already far away, having discreetly gone with a simple "We'll see each other again, musume." while his brother was still stunned
"What just happened?" Kagome asked – while it was clear something important had happened, she didn't know precisely what
"These," Tsukiko explained, finger ghosting along the new scars "are the proof that InuYasha has been through the rite of passage for adulthood of canine youkai."
"Oh." her eyes widened – it was important then – she beamed at the hanyou "Congratulation InuYasha!"
An amused smile, and Tsukiko added "And InuYasha is quite probably the first hanyou ever to bear them."
"Eh?"
"Nobody likes hanyou." InuYasha stated bitterly "Too scary for humans, too weak for youkai..."
"This won't always be true, oji-san." Tsukiko corrected softly "And chichi-ue may just have made the first step toward youkai's acceptance of hanyou by marking you." she became more serious "These marks are a great honor, and proof of acceptance from him... But a lot of youkai won't like the fact that you've got them."
"Let them come then! I'll be waiting for them!"
"That's the spirit!" Kagome nodded enthusiastically, not liking the fact that the brash hanyou would be discriminated against just because of his origins
"We'll be ready." nodded Tsukiko with a smile "Just as chichi-ue will be." she added, her smile gaining a wild quality
"What do you mean?" the miko wondered
"The bastard... my brother... he is some kind of important lord," InuYasha explained "His actions will be remarked upon by the other lords."
Seeing worry creeping into her friend's eyes, Tsukiko waved her concern away "Chichi-ue is used to adversity. He did become Lord of the West at only two hundred years after all."she added with no small amount of pride "The other lords spent the better of the first century trying to usurp our land..." a cold smile "And he spent the better of the second one annihilating their attempts against us. By his third century as Lord of the West, there were few youkai stupid enough to go against the West."
Kagome and InuYasha shared an amused glance – never before had it been so clear that the young ookami was very proud of her cold looking father.
"Tch. I hadn't pegged you for a daddy's girl." the hanyou snorted, not quite believing it when the younger youkai's cheek reddened in answer – for barely a few seconds, before she was back in control, but still enough for even a human to catch it
Not able to help it anymore, he laughed, more freely than he had in a long time.
When he finally managed to calm down, he took a long look around them, at his father's resting place, then stated "Well, we'd better get back to the village, I don't think we'll manage to leave today."
¤.¤.¤
Just as InuYasha had said, the day had been mostly gone while they were at the border between Life and Death, and so they'd taken advantage of the end of the day to take a look at Chaos' Game latest Systems unlocked.
The Map System usefulness was evident, even for someone not used to game like InuYasha, and Kaede's hut was swiftly set up as the Shikon Shard Hunting Party home base. Being able to recall themselves directly there would cut by half quite a lot of their traveling, and could help in case of emergency.
The Enhancement System was only useful to Tsukiko right now, but she had assured Kagome that she soon would be able to use it efficiently too with her miko lessons – Kaede was quite awed at the changes there had been in the lessons for holy servant over five hundred years, and Tsukiko had soon promised to give her a bit more information whenever they were in Edo. As for InuYasha, using this system would mean learning more about his youkai heritage, and spending a good number of hours studying, something he wasn't quite ready for just yet.
And finally, another important change had been InuYasha's third tail "Keh. I don't even have tail..." he'd mumbled at the Perk appellation, somehow sounding quite vexed about it
"Well I don't have cute ears either, and you don't hear me complaining about it, don't you?" an amused Kagome retorted
"You just did." Tsukiko pointed out easily, before continuing a bit more seriously "Chaos Game use the Tail as an unit of power more than anything else. Gaining your third tail so young, especially after spending fifty years in the limbs, is quite impressive." she noted
"You've already got three-tails." the hanyou grumbled at the remark
"And I've had Chaos' Game help since birth, not to mention private tutors and a spartan father." she pointed out
In the end, InuYasha had opted for the Youkai Blood Tail Perk. Sesshoumaru sneaking on him during their fight had proved once more to the hanyou that his senses, while clearly superior to a human, weren't up to par with a daiyoukai. Kagome had been a bit disappointed that he hadn't taken the Poison Fang Tail Perk, but understood the fact that he didn't want to take a power that was so similar to Sesshoumaru's main attack just yet – if he was going to prove to his brother and the rest of the youkai that he hadn't been wrong when marking him, it would be on his own power, not a borrowed one, even if it came from their father.
Of course, the hanyou hadn't said as much in words, but both girls were quickly becoming adept at translating his various grumbling in complete sentences...
"Speaking of tail..." Kagome had realized, thinking back to their encounter with Sesshoumaru "Your father didn't look to have several tails, yet he didn't look weak at all..."
"Most of the time, Kitsune are the only canine youkai who display their tails. Both Ookami and Inu tend to merge their tails."
"Why?"
"Well, mainly for the practicality," Tsukiko shrugged "then because if you're good enough to restrain your youki, it means people won't be able to tell how powerful you are, which can be useful."
"So why don't Kitsune hide their tails? Or you?"
"Vanity." InuYasha stated blandly
"He's right. Kitsune are proud of their looks." Tsukiko confirmed with an amused smile "And me... Well I like the look, and I've got several ties with the Kitsune, so I might as well honor their traditions!" she explained
Kagome had nearly face-planted at InuYasha's intervention, but now that she took a better look at her friend, and thought back to that Kyu-bon nigh long ago, it made sense. She spent several hours a week caring for her hair after all, so why wouldn't a youkai have the same kind of thinking with their tails?
¤.¤.¤
The next morning, they were on the road, Kagome riding Padfoot, while Tsukiko and InuYasha both easily rushed along the big Grimm, the ookami still a bit put out at the fact her familiar hadn't even told her he could change size in the Mortal Realms even since he'd hit his adult form at level 100.
A few days out of Edo, while the two girl were taking advantage of a river to bathe, a small monkey stole Kagome's clothes, provoking the girl's ire and making her companions laugh quite a bit before rushing after the beast.
Soon enough, they had found it, and the clothes back – apparently it was the pet of a young, traveling noble who was looking for food. While the young man, who'd presented himself as Nobunaga – but had quickly informed Kagome he wasn't the Oda Nobunaga, but rather came from Takeda rather Owari – was quieting his stomach by going through Tsukiko's stash of sandwiches hidden away in her Inventory, he explained what he was doing out there.
"My lord's daughter was married away to the lord of this part a few months ago. But recently, strange rumors about maiden disappearances in the country have reach our ears, so I can to see for myself if Tsuyu-hime was safe with her husband."
"This guy has a crush the size of the Eiffel tower for this hime..." Kagome was soon whispering to Tsukiko, as the young man was leaving – and promptly falling into a pit "And he doesn't look very reliable..."
"It's the only lead we've got for anything strange right now," the youkai hime mused "we might as well go and see what it's about."
[Secondary Quest! Rescue the princess...
Goal: Enter the shiro
Reward: +25XP per goal, +1 Beginner Skill Tome, +1 Hunting Trophy]
Decision made, they were soon shadowing the young noble near the lord's shiro.
"The place is reeking with malevolent youki." the hanyou mumbled first, nose wrinkled – his niece and even Padfoot sharing his wince at the nasty feeling "There's got to be a shikon shard behind this."
"There's so much youki I can't feel anything..." admitted Kagome "But it probably means you're right." she added with a decided nod "Let's go!"
With that, they were getting ready to jump the wall – when Nobunaga firmly planted himself on Padfoot's back "I'm coming." he said "I've got business in this fortress."
The shards hunters shared a nonplussed glance at the bold move, then shrugged and went along with it. Within moments, they were inside the outer walls – and quickly realizing that something was wrong.
[Goal complete! +25XP
Goal update: find Tsuyu-hime]
"No guards?"
"There's something in the air..." Tsukiko studied the feeling a bit more, letting a small fraction of her power swirl gently around her "A sleeping spell has been weaved on the castle, and it's youkai made." she quickly determined
At that proclamation, Nobunaga was soon rushing forward, loudly calling "Tsuyu-hime! It's me, Nobunaga! I've come to rescue you! Where are you?"
"Should we really let him shout like this?" Kagome wondered as her two hunting partners seemed quite at ease with the man's rash actions
"Everybody's asleep apart from the culprit, I'd say." Tsukiko shrugged
"So he'll eventually catch the youkai's attention!" InuYasha added with a satisfied while
"You're using him as a bait..." Kagome realized, a bit impressed at the fact that once more uncle and niece seemed to understand each other completely when about to enter a battle yet put out by how ruthless they were - the poor guy didn't even know they were using him!
Then again, while the ookami had expressed several time her dissatisfaction with InuYasha's lack of knowledge about his father's heritage, something she seemed quite happy to put on Myouga and her father's heads, she had never criticized his battle prowess, simply stating he wasn't an analytical fighter but a rather efficient instinctual one, even if he still had a large margin of progress.
Following the haphazardly running Nobunaga, they found the princess' room within a few minutes, and Myouga was quite efficient in awakening her by sucking out the corrupted youki...
Even if the fact he had to suck her blood to do so was a bit repulsive to Kagome – she really didn't like mosquitoes, and the flea was acting far too much like one of the annoying blood-sucker for her to be completely at ease with him around...
[Goal Complete!+25XP
Goal update: find the shiro's lord]
[Level up! Kagome is now level 49!
+1SP]
"It began soon after I arrived here to be married," the princess was soon explaining at Nobunaga's request – apparently, the young noble was the son of one of her father's retainer, and a childhood friend "My lord collapsed near the garden's pond, and had a high fever. After that, both his personality and his appearance changed..." she started to cry "What should I do Nobunaga?"
"I'll take you back to your father's shiro." the young man promised
"Go," InuYasha nodded with a satisfied smile "you'll only be in the way from now on!"
"What do you mean?" Nobunaga wondered – his answer soon heard in the form of strange squishy sounds, and an unnatural voice
"Trespassers... You won't escape!"
"This is... my lord!" realized the human princess
[Goal complete! +25XP
Goal update: defeat the youkai]
"Show yourself, bastard!" InuYasha demanded, sword in hand deftly cutting through the bandages hiding away the lord's face to reveal a frog like face
With a sigh, Tsuyu fainted in her childhood friend's arms.
As for Kagome, now that the enemy was so close, even the ambient youki couldn't hide the Shikon shard present anymore "I see the shard!" she quickly announced to the hanyou "It's between his left shoulder and his heart!"
"I'll tear it apart!" proclaimed InuYasha "With how weak he looks one strike will be enough."
"I wouldn't do that..." Tsukiko warned
At the same time, Myouga was warning "This is the tsukumo no gama, a three-hundred year old youkai! Killing him won't be that easy!"
Sure enough, InuYasha's mad dash was stopped brutally when the frog youkai exhaled the air stocked in his cheek, releasing a large cloud of toxic youki...
"Don't breathe this." Tsukiko warned, making Kagome cover her mouth "It's miasma."
Taking advantage of InuYasha's small bout of weakness from the fumes, the enemy youkai was already rushing toward the princess, his tongue slashing across Nobunaga and hurting him badly despite his valiant attempt to protect the woman he loved – brave he may be, he still was a normal human after all, with no particular knowledge or training to fight against even the weakest youkai...
As soon as InuYasha was feeling better, and Kagome had healed a bit the young noble, they were pursuing frog and princess across the shiro.
"How come the miasma didn't have any effect on you?" Kagome wondered as they were approaching a heavily barred door
"I've inherited the poisoned fangs of my father," Tsukiko explained as she and InuYasha quick work of the door "A natural resistance to poisons comes with it, otherwise it would be mostly useless..."
Kagome nodded at the explanation that did make sense, then froze as she took a look at the room they had just stepped through...
Dozens of bubbles looking like frog eggs were heaped up in the youkai's lair; except, in each of the membrane, one of the lost maiden was held – and the princess was already among them...
"The tsukumo no gama keep the girls souls until they are ripe and ready to be eaten..." explained Myouga weakly, looking around just as uneasily as the rest of them
"Are you saying he's going to eat Tsuyu-hime?" a panicked Nobunaga realized
"He won't." Tsukiko contradicted
Kagome shivered at how cold her childhood friend's voice was – and even Padfoot, by her side, seemed far more scary than he ever had, shadows swirling around him and hackles raised.
"Tsukiko?" Kagome called warily, not understanding the youkai princess sudden change in comportment – she had been quite content to stay back and let them work up until then after all
"I'm sorry," the young goddess said, not sounding sorry at all "I'm not supposed to fight in your place..." her cold eyes hadn't left once the frog youkai front of them – and Kagome realized that once more, they were gleaming an ethereal green "But I really despise people who mess with my brother's purview."
That, the miko realized, didn't explain anything at all, and she didn't even know her friend had a brother – but she did not have anytime to said anything about it as the ookami had already drawn her sword and slashed neatly through the youkai, power humming across the dark blade that had saved Kagome's life just the day earlier.
Then, the frog laughed hysterically, apparently unharmed "A blade that doesn't cut! What a waste! And here..." then, he stopped talking abruptly, losing all color and collapsing "You! What have you done!"
"I just took back what you stole." Tsukiko stated calmly – and Kagome shuddered as she realized what the girl meant
Souls were hoovering around the weak looking youkai, souls that had probably been eaten by him earlier. That had been Tsukiko's aim from the start, and explained while she wasn't surprised at the lack of blood...
"I'll just eat more to regain my power!" the frog screamed while trying to rush toward the eggs around him – only to be stopped by a wall of fire appearing around him, forbidding him from getting to his sustenance
"Now," Tsukiko stated, tone still cold as ice "get out of this body before I boil you alive, frog."
The youkai needn't be told twice, and the lord's body collapsed to the ground, free of the youkai that had been possessing it, while the frog tried to escape – only to be stopped once more by Tsukiko's blade, that this time seemed quite capable of cutting through it.
Power swirled around Tsukiko one last time, and all the eggs around them were bursting, freeing the girl imprisoned within them in one swift move, while Tsukiko casually stepped toward the Shikon Shard that was left on the ground among the ashes of the defeated youkai.
"Here Kagome-chan," she said, already far calmer "a pretty glass shard for your collection!"
The miko laughed at the proclamation, and took said shard, quickly putting it with the one she had collected in the remains of the shibu-garasu.
[Quest Complete! +25XP
Reward: +1 Beginner Skill Tome, +1 Hunting Trophy
Bonus goal complete!
You slayed the beast without killing the lord
Bonus goal reward: (50+25)XP, +1 Hunting Trophy
Bonus goal complete!
You freed the the lost souls
Bonus goal reward:(50+25)XP, +1 Perk Point]
[Level up! You are now level 135!
+1SP, +2CP]
[level up! Kagome is now level 52!
+3SP, +2CP, +1PP]
[Level up! InuYasha is now level 103!
+2SP]
[Perks
- Tango under the Stars(2/3): +10 Air, unlocks Tango under the Stars(3/3)
- Faster than the Wind: unlocks Shadow-Step Ability (progress scaled on Parkour skill)
- I am the Night: unlocks Shadow-Blending Ability (progress scaled on Discretion skill)
- Way of the Shinobi(1/2): +10 to Discretion, Parkour and Battle Sense skills (locks Path of the Samourai)
- Path of the Samourai(1/2): +10 to Strategy, Meditation and Killing Intent skills (locks Way of the Shinobi)
available: 1]
[Kagome is now Two-Tailed!
Two-Tail Perks
- Warrior Priestess: your attack are all imbued with holy powers, dealing even more damage than a normal priestess to corrupted beings, unlocks Battle Sense as a normal learning Fighting Skill
- Shrine Maiden: knowledge of the temple come naturally to you, making Wards and Rituals fast learning skills
- Wandering Miko: no temple can hold you down, as your call is to heal all and everyone, making Healing Touch and Spiritual Resistance fast learning skills
available: 1]
¤.¤.¤
While Tsuyu-hime was happily reunited with her husband, the hunting party was soon taking their leave, a heart-broken Nobunaga by their side – but the young man was kind, and while he still loved the princess, he had clearly seen how taken she was with her husband, and the man himself didn't seem like a bad guy now that he was free from the youkai's influence...
As for InuYasha, he was strangely silent – and it was only once Nobunaga was gone, and they had made their camp for the night that he decided himself to ask "You are no ordinary youkai, aren't you, Tsukiko?"
The girl noted the use of her name – this was probably the first time InuYasha did use it rather than girl, pup or any other insulting variant. As for the question, it wasn't too surprising – she hadn't bothered hiding her powers when dealing with the soul-eating weakling.
"I'm not." she confirmed
"Your weapon. It as good as performed an exorcism." he analyzed "A very powerful one, something even Kikyou wouldn't have been able to do."
Kagome eye's widened at the admission – even if the hanyou acted as if he hated the priestess, it wasn't hard to realized he had a lot of respect for her abilities, so for him say something like that... she eyed her friend contemplatively. While she knew Tsukiko could use holy powers, reiki, she hadn't realized the ookami was that powerful, not having any other modern miko around to compare her to – well, there was Saiyuri at home, sure, but she hadn't seen the priestess since she had fallen through time...
"KageShin is my coming of age blade." Tsukiko said, taking the beautiful katana out of its sheath, displaying the dark gray, mat blade "It's made from one of my fangs, just like Kagome-chan's weapon."
The affirmation surprised both Kagome and InuYasha, and both eyes drifted toward the tanto fastened by the miko's side.
"It's the only blade in existence that can channel both youki and reiki..."
"Because you can channel both." InuYasha deduced calmly
A nod.
Finally, InuYasha's calm was broken "How the fuck is it possible? A yokai isn't supposed to have reiki! Even less a pure-blood princess like you!"
"I'm the only youkai in existence to have both youki and reiki." Tsukiko confirmed "As for how it's possible..." a mischievous smile grew on her face "How about we make a bet about who guess first between Kagome-chan and you?"
"Eh?" said girl protested, surprised at being suddenly dragged in the discussion
"Daisuke-kun was the first among the Holy Servant Course students to guess," Tsukiko informed her with an amused smile "Sa-chan was quite put out with him for that for a long time." a fond smile "Your jii-chan is the living proof that everything isn't about power."
"What do you mean?" Kagome wondered, growing curious as she realized that of course, her friend must have know Saiyuri for longer than she'd realized too
Tsukiko went on to explain about her first year at Mahoutokoro, and how the fact she possessed reiki had been a well known, and quite puzzling fact for all – and how it lead to her becoming friend with Daisuke, then Saiyuri.
While Kagome was fascinated by this peak at her friends and family's past, InuYasha, though her tried to hide it, was more interested by Mahoutokoro – in the Sengoku jidai, the description of the multi-racial, multi-cultural school where youkai, hanyou, wizards and holy servants cohabited seemed like a distant utopia...
"That reminds me!" Kagome realized as Tsukiko finished her story "I've got a Tail Perk to chose!"
"Bah, you're even less likely to gain a tail than me!" InuYasha laughed – and a startled Kagome realized that he was teasing her
"Well, I may not have the tail, I still got the Perk!" she laughed in answer, before describing the perks available
All three perks Chaos Game was offering had their own appeal – Kagome didn't want to be left behind as InuYasha did all the fighting, which was a point for the Warrior Priestess Perk, but she had seen how powerful wards could be in Inu no Taishou's grave, which worked in the Shrine Maiden Perk favor. And finally, her own personality made it evident that if she could heal anyone, she'd do it and that meant choosing the Wandering Miko Perk.
In the end, Tsukiko encouraged her to follow her true calling, and she settled on the Wandering Miko Perk, resolving herself to work hard in order not to become a liability during fights anyway.
¤.¤.¤
By the time the small hunting party was back to Edo, a few days latter, the situation was back to the usual – even if the hanyou did have a contemplative gleam in his eyes from time to time has his eyes lingered on his niece.
"What do you mean you're going back?"
"Kagome-chan has to take the placement test for Mahoutokoro's staff to give her the correct packets to study," Tsukiko explained patiently to InuYasha "so we're going back for a few days for her to take the test."
"So she has to go. And you, why are you going?"
"You do realize I've got family on the other side too, oji-san?"
"Your father's on this side too!"
"Well yes, but he's clearly not the same." a shrug "And I've got a cute adopted little sister to annoy and a fiance I haven't seen in weeks on the other side too."
"Eh? A fiance?" he sniffed around "So that's what that kitsune scent hanging around was!"
Tsukiko had to restrain a sigh as once more she realized how much her uncle didn't know about canine youkai, and after a glare at Myouga, asked "Well, why don't you come with us if you've got nothing better to do? I was going to Mahoutokoro with Kagome-chan, you could come too..."
"But won't people look at him?" the young shrine maiden pointed out "He's not exactly inconspicuous with these ears!"
Tsukiko couldn't help but laugh at the remark "You do realize I hide my appearance all the time, don't you, Kagome-chan?"
The girl reddened – just a few days in the Sengoku jidai and she had somehow grown so used to the ookami's true appearance that she had indeed forgotten her usual glamour...
"I'll just add a glamour on oji-san' subduing necklace." the girl explained "It's a charm simple enough, that the kitsune taught to all youkai when we started to go into hiding. It's not as good as a real kitsune transformation, but it's good enough to fool most humans, since they don't really look for the preternatural..." and something she didn't use herself, she didn't feel the need to say, since she had her own Metamorph gift instead, which worked much better
A few moments later, four silhouettes were jumping in an old well – and getting out of it five hundred years in the future...
Tsukiko and Padfoot were the first out of the old well house, the youkai hime running enthusiastically toward a tall, dark red-haired man with intense green eyes.
"Bambina."
"I missed you." Tsukiko whispered to her intended, a smile in her voice
She had been quite frustrated, when the call for a large hunt had been made at the other side of the country while she knew Kagome would soon begin her journey – but the job had to be done, and so they had encouraged her to stay back first in case the young miko fell down the well while they weren't there.
It had been the good choice to make, clearly, since she'd gone to the past before the rest of her hunting group came back to Tokyo, but it didn't mean she'd liked spending so much time away from them.
"Welcome back, Ryo-kun." greeted Kagome with a smile as the couple finally broke their embrace
"To you too." the hunter greeted back with an amused smile "I've heard you started your fated journey."
"Did everyone but me know about it?" the miko couldn't help but wonder
"I've got no secret for Ryo." Tsukiko explained easily
"And it was hard not to guess your importance with how fascinated she became with you when you were born." added Saiyuri with a laugh, the older miko approaching hand in hand with Akane
"I didn't know until last week!" the kitsune proclaimed loudly with a proud smile
"That's no bragging matter..." Saiyuri sighed at their hunting partner "So, I see you've got a guest?"
"This is InuYasha!" Tsukiko announced with an amused smile
The miko and the vixen's reaction were just as entertaining as she had predicted, as the two girl did a once over of the hanyou, not quite believing this was the Lord of the West brother's, the famous Lost General... before he'd been lost, or even became a general!
Ryoichi, of course, wasn't surprised, as she had sent him a message before jumping down the well.
¤.¤.¤
They spent the next few hours catching up, then got ready to head to Mahoutokoro when Saiyuri and Tsukiko's attention suddenly snapped toward the long stairs leading to the shrine.
"Something just tried to breach the wards." the human miko announced with a frown
"They still aren't strong enough to hide the shards then." Tsukiko sighed
"I'll strengthen them." her friend reassured her "You go to Mahoutokoro."
"Thank you, Sa-chan. We'll see you later then."
"Well, I'll head toward the Hunter headquarters to drop our hunt report then." Akane quipped "I'm sure Tsuki-hime and Ryo-dono will be sickening with their sweetness."
"Sweetness? Ryo-dono and Tsuki-hime? Are you sure we're talking about the same two relentless hunters?" Saiyuri asked with a laugh as the group broke in different directions
As the small group arrived on Mahoutokoro's campus, Kagome was herded toward a class-room where she would spent the afternoon taking test to help the teachers decide on her following school-work, while Tsukiko and Ryoichi where showing the school to InuYasha.
While the hanyou was trying to hide his awe behind his usual brash attitude, it didn't fool either of the youkai, particularly not when they saw him realize that just like his niece had said, there were several hanyou around, none of them looking out of place among all the magical beings.
They hadn't lingered too long in the library, and went over the diverse school programs, to end up in the dojos, much to the hanyou interest.
"All the training rooms are reinforced," Tsukiko explained lightly "with all the magical beings around, they have to or they'd be stuck repairing the whole thing after each class."
"I do recall most of the wards having to be strengthened several times once you started to train regularly with Sa-chan." Ryoichi teased the younger youkai
The following three days, Tsukiko spent mainly with her father and fiance, while Kagome went through the battery of tests for Mahoutokoro, met the teachers, and received her first batch of studying sheet to take back to the past.
InuYasha had spent the two first days at the Higurashi shrine, where Souta soon seemed to admire him with childish devotion, then on the third day, Tsukiko, Ryoichi, Akane and Saiyuri took Kagome and the hanyou to the magical district.
Just like in the school, all magical beings were mingling about, and their group didn't go unnoticed – after hearing some whispers a few times, Kagome eventually asked "What are hunters?"
"Protectors of the magical beings." Saiyuri simply explained "Because some beings, be they youkai or humans, let themselves be consumed by the darkness in their heart and become mindless monsters attacking anyone with spiritual powers, we hunter are the one dedicated to hunt them..."
"People all seemed to recognized you." InuYasha noted
"The four of us have been hunting together for more than thirty years now." Akane explained with a smile, the vixen as lively as ever "We've gained a bit of reputation for it..."
"Why? Are you that good?"
"Not only that," Akane admitted "Saiyuri is one of the strongest miko of her generation, and its pretty rare for miko to go into hunting. Tsuki-hime and Ryo-dono both have famous and powerful parents, and are very young to be already so accomplished... In the end I'm the normal one of the party!"
"You're not normal by any mean," Ryoichi contradicted with amusement in his tone "While my cousin's parent aren't quite as well-known as Sesshoumaru-sama or my father, she is very powerful for her age too." he informed Kagome
They were getting back from the magical district when Kagome senses went haywire.
"I'd swear I've felt a Shikon shard!" she muttered distractedly as they neared the long stairs to the shrine
The hunters shared concerned glances. A Shikon shard in the present would bring chaos with it...
"Any rumors about strange things happening in the neighborhood?" Saiyuri asked Akane, who was the one following these of rumors in their hunting party
"A few disappearances." nodded Akane "A hunter was sent to investigate, but he concluded to a non-preternatural happening, since the missing people didn't have any spiritual affinity."
"Well seems like he may have been wrong."
The kitsune nodded at her cousin's comment, and Tsukiko asked Kagome "Can you tell us from where the feeling is coming from?"
¤.¤.¤
Kagome nodded resolutely, and focused on the feeling, pointing in the direction of a nearby construction site.
"Eh! Nee-chan, where are you going?" a young voice interrupted them - the youngest Higurashi sibling was just coming home too, apparently
"Go home Souta, we'll come soon!"
The little boy looked at his sister with a frown "No way! I'm coming with you!"
"This really isn't something a kid should see!" Akane protested "The crime scene from the hunter's investigation were very bloody!"
A pulse of youki was felt around.
"Well, I guess we can't really send him home alone with this thing around, can we?" Akane realized as the malignant feeling became stronger
"Arashi will protect him." Saiyuri decreted
This, Kagome realized, was the name of the miko's cute little cat – a cat with a forked tail, which she had always assumed to be a malformation, but probably meant he was a youkai now that that she thought about it...
As a second wave of youki washed upon them, making Souta shiver in disgust at the feeling, they started to rush toward the construction site.
"It's a good thing it's late enough for the workers to have left." Saiyuri pointed out
"It is." Tsukiko agreed a round stone in hand – with a pulse of reiki, the stone started to float, and light flashed around them "The temporary wards are set."
At the information, all the hunter switched gear, ready to fight with just a though.
Kagome snatched the tanto the ookami had gifted her from her Inventory, mentally kicking herself at not having thought to set more comfortable gear in the Wardrobe System. She felt her brother plastering himself against her side, the young boy suddenly realizing that things were a lot more serious than he'd realized.
"Don't worry." she whispered to the kid "We'll protect you."
And it was true she realized – even as weak as she felt when comparing herself to Tsukiko and the other, she knew that to protect her brother she would fight.
Finally, they found the youkai – no, not youkai, Kagome corrected herself. This was a monster; an unsightly conglomerate of decaying bodies held together with youki, and an unfeeling Noh Mask face.
"An idea about what it is?" Tsukiko asked while jumping out of the way of a clumsy attack – clearly, the thing didn't have a good control of its body
Seeing the monster try to go in Kagome and Souta's direction, Arashi morphed into his bigger size, gesture at the two Higurashi to climb – Kagome helped her brother up, then had to dodge out of the way as the monster seemed to have sensed she was wearing two shards around her neck. With a pulse of reiki, the tanto in her hands shifted into a naginata, and a long, burning wound was left into the thing's body.
"Well there's this old legend about the adhering mask." Saiyuri suggested, taking the monster's attention away with an elegant but dangerous twirling motion of her own weapon "It's an old Noh Mask that can't be destroyed, and whose owner all died mysterious death."
"Why is something like that still out there?" Ryoichi muttered "Didn't hunters go after it already?"
"Apparently its youki is completely dormant as long as it isn't awakened, so it may have slipped through the system..."
"Hugh. Incompetents." Ryoichi's words were dripping with contempt
"So if it's the mask the monster, I'd guess the bodies are those missing teenagers from the skate park." Akane mused, Fox Fire floating and attacking around
"I can see a shard in the mask." Kagome informed them, trying not the sweat-drop at the casual way they were wilting down the monster while talking about it
"They are so cool!" a starry-eyed Souta was whispering by her side
"Well no point in wasting time then." InuYasha commented, Tessaiga rushing out of it's sheath and neatly cleaving through the Noh Mask and the ugly body under it
"Good job!" Akane praised enthusiastically "You'd make a good hunter, you know! You've got great fighting instincts!"
Taken about by the honest and unexpected praise, the hanyou only muttered a half-hearted "Of course!"
"Well, that's done."Tsukiko commented lightly, the wards crumbling down around them with a flash of light "Let's get back to the shrine."
[Hunting Complete! Noh Mask
Reward: +25XP, +1 Hunting Trophy]
[Level up! Souta is now level 35!
+1SP]
Kagome nodded, while pocketing the new shard in the small phial where the other two were kept and wondering why her brother's progress were shown by Chaos Game when he clearly didn't have access to it.
On the way back, Souta was crowing loudly about how cool all of them were – even Kagome who somehow hadn't felt all that cool with professionals by her side – and about how he now wanted to be a hunter.
"Don't worry," Tsukiko smiled, putting her mind a ease "it'll be years before he goes to Mahoutokoro and chose a job for himself. A lot of young kids want cool looking jobs like hunting or curse-breaking, but the requirements are daunting enough that only those that are serious about it can go through them. If he really do become a hunter, it won't be without being correctly trained for it before."
"You need a special license to be a hunter." Saiyuri added by her side, having her the ookami's explanation – she flashed a small card, around the size of a credit card, with her photo on it and several initials "All our credentials are easily accessible from this, and it's impossible to fake."
They were drawing near to the shrine once more when three surprised girl voices resonated "Eh! Kagome-san! What are you doing here?"
The young priestess snapped her head toward the sound, only to see three of her classmates – Yuka, Eri and Ayumi, three girls that were always together and had once been good friends. They had grown apart at the start of middle school, the three becoming more girly while Kagome's training with Tsukiko made her mature faster mentally...
"We've heard you transferred to another school? Why is that?"
Kagome reddened under the attention, not having expected the sudden questioning – it's not like she could say she was studying part-time in a magic school and traveling thought time the rest of the time, right?
"Kagome-san has been offered a place at Mahoutokoro." Tsukiko said with the calm, polite smile that was her public persona toward outsiders – a persona Kagome had seen multiple times when her friend had dropped by her school to see her
"Oh." Yuka's eyes went round "isn't that the very elitist school that only accepts students with recommendations?" her eyes slipped toward Tsukiko - even in the non-magical world, the Taishou were well-known after all
"It is," the youkai hime confirmed "Her schoolwork was good enough that my invitation was taken into account by the council. Now if you will excuse us, I'm afraid we're expected."
"Of course. See you around, Kagome-san!"
"So..." Kagome asked as they started to climb the stairs "Shouldn't the school name be changed when talking about it with people not in the known? I mean there's literally the word magic in it!"
"One thing impressive is the ability non-magicals have to ignore things they cannot explain." Saiyuri shrugged "So Mahoutokoro have the reputation of a very good school for rich and talented students, and that's it, really..."
Well, that wasn't wrong, Kagome realized – now that she thought about it she had heard the name Mahoutokoro before, and had simply found it weird, never wondering whether it might hide something more...
¤.¤.¤
That night, while Kagome was already asleep, Ryoichi and Tsukiko went to the old well "You were right," the hit-man whispered, feeling the power singing around it "I could go through it too."
"What will you do?"
He hesitated a second, eyes lingering on her – while he wanted nothing more than to stay by her side, it wasn't really the time, two powerful youkai like themselves would hinder the young miko's growth more than help it, he realized it well.
But there was other things that could be done on the other side of that well...
"I'll go through with our plan..." he finally decided
"What are you plotting?" they turned toward the hanyou – both had heard it approach, but neither felt the need to hide from him
"You've seen it in the magical district, haven't you?" Tsukiko stated rather than asked "That nearly all the youkai left are either daiyoukai or hanyou..."
InuYasha nodded, a shadow passing though his eyes – he had seen, but hadn't said anything, knowing Kagome wouldn't know since she'd just discovered the magical world, and Tsukiko would tell him only if she wanted.
"In about a hundred year from your time, at the other side of the world, wizards will come together to enact the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy." Tsukiko explained, quickly going over how youkai had gone into hiding, then wizard – until the Great Disappearance occurred, and convinced the holy servants to join them too
"That explains the fact that there's only daiyoukai around," InuYasha nodded "but what does it have to do with the well?"
"We're a dying race InuYasha." Ryoichi sighed "it's a slow going process, but a lot of us are out of options. Sesshoumaru-sama is the last white inu in existence, my father one of the three golden kitsune left, and two of them his children."
"Meanwhile, in the Sengoku, youkai are fighting left and right without any second though about it and orphans are left to fend for themselves and die..."
"You are going to take orphans back to the future?" he guessed
"Orphans, young youkai that would be able to adapt themselves, beast youkai that are gone or as good as good nowadays..." Tsukiko's eyes brightened "This is a chance to save not only the past by collecting the Shikon shards, but also the future by keeping our people from extinction!"
InuYasha nodded, then frowned "Still, we've established that the well doesn't work with everyone, so what make you so sure you can do this?"
An amused smile from Ryoichi "For the exact same reason the bambina can go through time, of course."
The hanyou sighed, realizing he wouldn't get a better answer than that, and made to get back to the branch of the Goshinboku he was sleeping on before changing his mind "You're going to do this alone aren't you?" he asked the kitsune
A nod.
"Stay with us and meet Kaede-obaa-san. She'll help."
Ryoichi inclined his head in thanks, and the hanyou was gone.
He wrapped his arms around Tsukiko, enjoying her presence for the night, and not thinking about the fact they'd part way once more in the morning. An assassin, and an egoist man he maybe, his gifts, as young as they were, as Life's brother, forbid him from doing anything less than try to save the youkai...
"At least we'll be able to write to each other if we're on the same side of the well." Tsukiko whispered sleepily
"That we will, bambina." he confirmed to the half-asleep girl