Chapter 19 – To Charm
''Hey, Sakura-chan.'' Kagome spoke as she intently stared at the youkai, who stopped watering her herbs to raise an eyebrow at her. ''What kind of youkai are you? I've been meaning to ask you this but I never really got the time.''
''I'm an Earth Elemental!'' Sakura answered with a smile as she touched a wilted flower and Kagome watched with wide eyes as it started to shine until it was grown beautifully, just like the others. ''I control the earth and everything in it, mostly plants.''
''This is amazing!" Kagome squealed, moving closer to stare at the pink flower with bright eyes. ''Can you teach me how to infuse my reiki in a flower and make it live forever? And can I pick a few flowers from your garden too?''
''May I ask why do you want to do this?'' The youkai asked as she stopped taking care of the plants to look at her friend.
''I got afraid when I saw a purifying arrow going straight to Sesshoumaru's heart.'' Kagome said, remembering the day she met his half-brother. ''I realized that while I'm immune to reiki, most of you are not. It would kill me to see any of you, Jaken included, be hurt by a priestess and I wanted to make some sort of charm to protect you guys. It was supposed to be a secret but I need your help and this kind of spoiled the surprise.''
Eyes softening when she heard this, Sakura smiled at the miko. ''I can help you with this, do you have anything specific in mind?''
''Yes! My knowledge of flowers isn't that great but I want to choose one for each of you, can you help me? I know you care greatly for your garden so I don't want to take too many flowers, one for each person is great already!" Kagome spoke, excited, and Sakura laughed.
It was good to see the miko looking forward to do something, she had used the past weeks to accept what had happened and after mourning for a great deal of time, she was finally able to let it go. The green eyed youkai spent all the free time she had around the miko, motivating her to move on and to open up, and now she could finally say that her friend was getting better.
In fact, the miko seemed to be dealing with the situation better than she had in the past, and Sakura wondered if it was because of the children's company. The youkai was sure that she would've gotten better a lot faster if Rin and Shippo were there to make her laugh, they brought a unique light to the shiro and she couldn't be happier when they were around, the days never seemed dull anymore.
''What kind of charm do you have in mind?'' Sakura asked as Kagome moved to touch a white Chrysanthemum.
''I thought about a necklace with a single flower, Kami knows Shippo and Jaken won't want to wear them if they are too visible.'' She rolled her eyes. ''If it's a necklace, they can hide it under their haori.''
''That's a great idea!" Sakura squealed, moving to sit close to the miko on the soft grass. ''We can start now, which flower did you choose for them?''
''I thought about this one for Rin.'' Kagome said, still touching the white Chrysanthemum. ''It means cheerfulness and optimism.''
''This is a good one!'' Sakura hummed as she moved to pick the flower from the rest of the plants. ''I will give the flower the form of a necklace, and when I tell you to start, I want you to gently surround it with your reiki.''
''Sure!'' Kagome nodded, and watched in fascination as Sakura's hands started to shine in a soft green light and the leaves of the flower started to get longer, growing until they took the form of a vine and entwined around each other, successfully turning into a small necklace.
''Now.'' Sakura muttered, and Kagome slowly started to push her reiki out, focusing on the flower.
She thought about how she wanted to protect Rin from anything that could hurt her and concentrated her powers on this, the flower shining pink as Kagome softly whispered the words to complete the protecting spell. The little girl didn't need protection against reiki, so she made a twist on the spell and ordered it to raise a barrier against youki instead. That way she would be safe even if she ended up separated for everyone else.
''Well done!" Sakura smiled as the miko opened her eyes and the pink light faded into the flower, making Kagome smile brightly at her. ''Who's next?''
Looking around the halls of the shiro, Kagome wondered for a second if she was lost. It didn't matter for how long she lived there, the place would always look like a maze to her. She had to be walking in search of Akio for at least ten minutes and there was no sign of him until now. She also didn't see Sesshoumaru anywhere and frowned, what if he didn't accept her gift?
The idea of the small protection charm being a necklace was mostly because of him, she doubted he would want to walk around with a flower visible to everybody's eyes and so, a necklace that could be easily hidden was the best choice in this situation.
Jaken was with Rin and Shippo and she would give them their gifts later, she had already given Sakura's charm, made of cherry blossoms as it unironically turned out to be her favorite flower. The meaning was also appropriate, they symbolized hope, spring and feminine beauty, something that fitted the youkai greatly.
Turning around the corner, Kagome smiled when she saw Akio's bright red hair and ran to catch up with him.
''Akio-san, wait!" She said as he started to walk away but stopped to look at her.
''Kagome-sama, how are you doing?'' He asked with a small smile on his face and she frowned.
''I already told you to stop calling me this.'' She muttered and his smile widened at her reaction.
''Please forgive me, Kagome.'' He spoke, and this time she smiled, making him chuckle. ''How can I help you?''
''Sakura-chan and I made something for you!" The miko smiled brightly as she gave him a small package and he raised an eyebrow at her once he opened it.
''A flower?'' He asked as he stared at a bright yellow flower with rounded, shield-shaped leaves.
''It's a Nasturtium, and it's not just a flower, it's a protection charm.'' Kagome said, watching as his eyes widened as he stared at her.
''I'm humbled, Kagome-sama.'' He spoke as he bowed and the miko rolled her eyes at his still too formal behavior. ''I promise to wear and protect it, a gift as touching as this one is not something one receives every day.''
''Why is everyone here so polite?'' She mumbled, annoyed, before she took the necklace from his hands and put it on his neck. ''This flower means victory in battle and conquest, Sakura-chan was the one who chose it and I only infused it with my reiki to create the spell. She told me a few tales about how you won several battles and it seemed appropriate for us to choose this flower.''
''It's a beautiful flower and the meaning is touching, thank you.'' He spoke with a small smile as he touched it and Kagome sighed in relief, glad he had liked it.
''It will keep you safe from any kind of holy powers, so you won't need to worry about being randomly hit by a purifying arrow or sutra, it can also take a few hits of youki in case you find yourself vulnerable.'' Kagome said and Akio tilted his head slightly to the side, watching her with his strangely dark eyes.
''Did something happen?'' He asked and Kagome nodded as she bit her lip.
''We had a meeting with InuYasha.'' She spoke and Akio cringed a bit, making the miko laugh. ''Yeah, I know. In the middle of the battle, a purifying arrow was sent straight to Sesshoumaru's heart and he didn't have enough time to dodge it. I don't think he even saw it honestly, I barely felt the reiki in the air.''
''What happened?'' He asked, his eyes widening slightly.
''I shot another arrow and made them both explode in the air, I never stopped to think about it but right then I realized that not only Sesshoumaru but Shippo and everyone else too could die easily at the hands of a miko.'' Kagome said, sighing. ''I got slightly scared at the thought of losing them and decided to do something about it, then I had the idea of making a charm!"
''This is very thoughtful of you, Kagome.'' Akio spoke, making the miko smile at him. ''Have you given the others their charms?''
''Nope, only you and Sakura-chan. I was going to search for Sesshoumaru but I don't think he's here, so I'm going to find Jaken and the others now.'' She said and he nodded, smiling.
''Then I won't stay in your way.'' He said as he pulled the miko into a hug, chuckling when she squealed in surprise. ''Thank you for the gift, I know it will protect me in the future. If you ever need anything, please come to me, it'll be my honor to lend you a helping hand.''
''Okay!" Kagome answered as she hugged him back, happy for being able to do something to repay the kindness of the ones that took care of her in the shiro. ''See you later, Akio-san!"
Waving his hand with a smile on his face as he watched the miko disappear into one of the halls, Akio wondered if there was any other priestess like her, selfless enough to go as far as protecting a kind that could easily end her life.
Shaking his head, he realized that finding anyone like Kagome would be impossible, something in the back of his mind whispered to him that she was unique.
Kagome's step came to a halt as she felt something pulling her back.
Looking around but seeing nothing, she started to walk again and felt that something was calling her, ordering her to go through another path and she frowned. It was an unusual sensation, she had the feeling that something bad was going to happen soon and couldn't understand what was wrong – or why she suddenly had trouble breathing.
Biting her lip, she remembered Rin and the pull suddenly became stronger, making her eyes widen. Starting to run, Kagome almost hit a maid that had just turned around the hall and shouted an apology as she tried to understand what was happening, her hands shaking and adrenaline running through her veins.
As she left the shiro and stepped into the gardens, she saw Rin innocently chasing a butterfly as Shippo played by the small pond next to her. Gasping for breath, Kagome realized there was nothing wrong and was about to turn away when she suddenly felt a tainted aura moving faster and faster towards the little girl.
Eyes widening, Kagome's body moved instinctively and she started running towards Rin, who was still oblivious to everything that was happening. Kagome couldn't see anything, but when she got close to Rin, she felt that the aura would attack and pushed the girl away just in time to avoid the attack as a youkai suddenly materialized in front of her.
Kagome didn't know what was happening, her brain was completely blank and her reiki was threatening to break free. As she tried to control her own body, she faintly heard Rin's scream and frowned in confusion as she felt something drip down her waist to her legs.
Looking down, Kagome saw a red liquid staining her once lilac kimono and her eyes widened slightly when she finally noticed that there was a spear embedded on her stomach. Looking up at the youkai who wore a blank mask to hide his face, Kagome felt the control over her reiki slipping away as she struggled to understand what was happening.
She felt the spear moving to go deeper into her body and gasped as she finally felt the pain. Her body seemed to burn from inside out and she let go of whatever she had been holding back, watching with wide eyes as the youkai in front of her screamed before a bright light surrounded her and he turned into a small pile of ashes.
The pain seemed to fade away completely as Rin's screams became louder and she could faintly hear Shippo crying too. Annoyed that one of her favorite kimonos was now destroyed, Kagome grunted before she held the spear and pulled it off, watching with a grim look on her face as the blood started to flow even more.
The sounds around her seemed to disappear, black spots dancing in front of her. As everything became dark and the weapon slipped from her hands, she wondered if she would live long enough to give the others their protection charms. The only though that crossed her mind was that if she died, all her efforts would go to waste.
This felt awfully a lot like when she had been running away from Onigumo and Kagome couldn't help but pray that this time, she would be able to avoid standing on the edge of her life.
