Chapter 7 – To Sense

''So, who can explain what a daiyoukai is?'' Kagome asked as she calmly waited for both of the kids to order their thoughts. They had finished studying the basics about the demon society and like she did at the end of every week, she started to ask them what they learned.

''I know, I know!" Rin squealed as she raised her hand. When Kagome nodded, she smiled and spoke. ''A daiyoukai is a demon of great power, like Sesshoumaru-sama! Unlike the weaker youkai, they can take a perfect human form.''

''Very good.'' Kagome praised, patting the girl's head.

''But not all youkai who have a human form are daiyoukai!'' Shippo butted in. ''To be considered one, they have to be able to control their beasts and instincts perfectly, and they also turn into huge creatures that are their true form!"

''Yes, you two are getting so smart and even using complicated words to impress me!" Kagome laughed as she opened her arms and hugged both kids, making they giggle happily.

''Now one last question, who are the more known-'' Kagome's sentence was interrupted by Jaken, who banged the door of the room open and started screaming for her.

''Human, Sakura-sama requests your presence in the healing section of the shiro, it's an emergency!" He said, already trying to shove her out of the room.

Frowning, Kagome got up and hugged Rin and Shippo one last time, asking them to behave while she was gone, and quickly walked through the halls. She could feel something off in the atmosphere and her senses were tingling, her reiki trying to warn her of something as she entered the room.

The first thing she saw was Sakura looking through some medications and trying to find the right one, then she realized that Sesshoumaru was there as well and frowned. ''What's happening here?''

''Kagome!" Sakura said, looking relieved to see the miko. ''We need to act fast, Akio is losing a lot of blood and his youki isn't working fast enough to heal his other wounds!"

Only then the human recognized a familiar aura in the room, it belonged to a youkai with dark red hair and black eyes, and she realized that he was the one that occasionally checked up on her. Quickly moving to where he was sitting, Kagome grimaced when she saw the deep gash on his stomach and the blood that drenched his haori.

''Don't fight it.'' She warned before she put her hands on his chest and closed her eyes. Letting her reiki break free, she concentrated on making the bleeding stop and the wounds close. She could feel him struggling to keep his youki in check and was thankful that she wouldn't have to subjugate him in order to heal his body, it would be tricky and there was a high chance of hurting him even more in the process.

Opening her eyes and eyeing the wound, she hummed in appreciation when she saw that the deep gash was closed. Quickly looking at his other injuries, she smiled when saw nothing that would hurt him that badly and let her reiki fade back into her body.

''All done." She said as Sakura moved with a wet rag to clean the blood out of the youkai's skin.

''Thank you, I would be able to heal him but he would pass out from exhaustion and Sesshoumaru-sama needs answers right now,'' Sakura said as she sighed and washed the bloodied rag in a small bucket with water. ''I'm sorry for bothering you.''

''It's alright, I always took care of the sick back in the shrine, I'm used to it.'' Kagome answered with a small smile and stepped away from the youkai when she saw her Lord getting closer.

''What happened, Akio?'' He asked, making the youkai groan in annoyance as he searched for something inside his haori.

''I had sent five soldiers to inspect the east border, they were taking way too much time though so I went there to check what was happening,'' The red haired youkai spoke, holding a small bag on his hand. ''When I got there, four of them were fighting over this and one was already dead. I tried to stop them but they turned on me, I had to kill them to escape alive.''

Once he gave the small package to the daiyoukai and he dropped the contents on the bed, Kagome's eyes widened in fear.

''Impossible...'' She whispered, looking at the three purple shards in front of her.

''Do you know what this is, miko?'' Sesshoumaru asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

The sense of weariness she had before was because of this, she realized, but how had youkai obtained such thing? ''It's the Shikon no Tama.'' She whispered as she tried to understand what was happening. Kikyou had been guarding the jewel, she wouldn't let anyone touch it unless she was dead and she couldn't be dead. She refused to believe this.

''Eh? I thought it was bigger than that.'' Sakura said as she frowned, confused.

''It is, these are just a few shard of the original jewel,'' Kagome answered, frowning. ''They are tainted, your men were probably lured by its power and didn't want to share, so they started to fight in order to obtain it.''

''I thought the Shikon had disappeared years ago,'' Akio spoke, just as confused as everyone else. ''I didn't feel anything when I touched the shards, I didn't even know it was possible for the jewel to be broken.''

''May I purify them, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' Kagome asked as she turned to face the stoic daiyoukai. Her reiki was tingling, her powers wanted to break free and purify the darkness that was around the room.

''Hn.'' Deducing that this was as close as a permission she would get, Kagome touched the shards and felt relieved once they immediately turned pink, her reiki now in check with the evil taint gone.

Akio and Sakura watched with curious eyes the pink shards in front of them, only turning to look up when they heard their Lord's voice.

''Miko, I am inclined to believe that you have some important information to share about this.'' Sesshoumaru said with a bored tone and had Kagome not paid attention, she would've missed the brief flash of curiosity in his eyes.

Nodding, the miko sighed and started to explain. ''As I told you before, I lived on a shrine and since most of the elders considered me a prodigy, they couldn't think of a better option to reveal their secret. The Shikon no Tama never disappeared, the slayers got fed up with the attacks on their village and decided that it would be better if they hid the jewel. They contacted a miko on a village next to the Bone-Eater well and she was able to conjure a barrier to hide the presence of the jewel, they gave the shikon to her and spread rumors that it had simply disappeared from their village, thus gaining their so wanted peace.''

''How easy for them, to leave the problem in the hands of another person,'' Akio commented and Kagome could only nod in response.

''Once the miko died, she passed the jewel to her successor and it kept going like this until now, only the chosen to be the guardian might know of the existence of the Shikon no Tama. It's a secret heavily guarded inside the miko's community, the only reason why the elders knew of this is because one of them had guarded the jewel in the past.'' Kagome said, remembering how surprised she had been once she heard the truth.

''They decided to tell me everything because the last keeper of the jewel had trouble, too many demons were attacking the village and the next in line couldn't discover what was wrong once she passed away. They wanted me to go there and try to put another barrier around the jewel and see if this would solve the problem, they told Kikyou to try this but something kept dissolving her barrier and Kaede-sama thought it would be better if another miko tried.'' Kagome finished her story, trying to understand why the shikon was now broken.

''I see, something must have happened to the keeper,'' Sakura muttered, making Kagome nod and bite her lip in worry. She knew Kikyou was capable of protecting the jewel, the miko had a deadly precision with her attacks and actually helped Kagome to improve a lot with her bow. To think that something happened to her old friend made her feel suddenly sick.

''My barrier worked better than Kikyou's but it still faded after a few months, I always went there to renew it from time to time.'' Kagome sighed, suddenly not being able to be happy with her new life anymore. If something had happened with the jewel, it was partially her fault.

For the rest of the day, she couldn't help but feel guilty for allowing this to happen.


Sakura and the children noticed the change in Kagome's humor. The miko didn't laugh when Jaken was being pranked, she didn't notice when Shippo called her, she didn't smile when Rin made her a crown of flowers and it was like her mind wasn't there, making everyone worry.

During the following week, Sakura caught Kagome playing with the shards on her neck several times while she had a faraway look in her eyes. After realizing that the jewel was dangerous to be kept, Sesshoumaru gave them to the miko and she quickly placed a barrier around them, turning the three small shards into a bigger one in the process. He gave her the task of protecting it, and to make her job easier, Sakura put the shard on a tiny bottle made of glass and fused it with a chain, turning it into a necklace.

Sighing yet again, Kagome stared at the kids playing on the field and decided that she couldn't stay there anymore, she had to do something. She was about to get up and search for her Lord when he sat down next to her like he always did once in a while, making the miko's eyes widen because she didn't notice him approaching her.

He didn't say anything and Kagome took a deep breath as she gathered the courage to ask him what she wanted. Biting her lip, she opened her mouth to speak but was cut by his smooth voice.

''There are rumors that a miko, a hanyou, a slayer and a monk are searching for the shards and gathering them.'' He spoke, making Kagome's eyes widen and her heart beat faster in hopes of the miko being Kikyou.

''Really?" She said and he nodded, turning away from the field to look at her.

''Hn, a few of my soldiers reported that they are rather close to the West.'' The demon said, the miko's excitement when she heard the news was impossible to not notice and he realized that this look suited her more than the rather gloomy one she had the whole week.

''Sesshoumaru-sama, I've been wanting to ask you if you would let me go and search for Kikyou, I won't be able to be in peace until I find that she is safe,'' Kagome muttered, biting her lip as she looked at her folded hands on her lap. ''I'm indirectly responsible for what happened with the jewel and it's eating me alive.''

Kagome started to fidget in place when the demon didn't say anything, even a sigh or a grunt would satisfy her but he was completely silent, making the girl think that maybe she had offended him in some way.

After what it seemed like an eternity, she heard his trademark sound and sighed in relief, she had come to realize that this was his way of saying yes. She was about to thank him when he spoke, surprising her.

''I have personal business with the hanyou, we will leave in three days.'' Getting up, he left a speechless Kagome behind, but paused while walking away and turned to face her again. ''Tell Rin to pack up, you may bring the kit if you want.''