Chapter 28 – To Honor
A resting hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could proceed with the ritual, and Kagome looked up from the drawings on the floor to find her sister's blank eyes staring at her. The air was heavy around them, and she wondered if the woman would oppose to the plan, for she had been quiet ever since the monk returned to the room.
Kikyou stood silent though, studying the face of the woman kneeling on the ground, and after many seconds filled with tension, a single word left her mouth. ''Why?''
It was a question she had to ask, because if the woman she considered as her sister would be willing to risk her life for a youkai, she needed to know the reason. And she needed to be sure that Kagome knew very well what she was doing, for if the woman showed any kind of doubt, she would not let her proceed.
Kikyou would not lose her sister again even if it meant the destruction of a youkai's ruling house. Her eyes moved through the white circle drawn around the futon were said daiyoukai laid, and she watched as Kagome turned away from her to complete the sphere made of ofudas and connected by their infused reiki. It felt like too much of a risk in her opinion, her life was at stake and the plan was simply absurd, but as Kagome's hand moved to touch the fallen daiyoukai's hair with tenderness, Kikyou suddenly knew the answer.
If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have found her sister again at all. If Kikyou was facing this dilemma right now, worried she might lose Kagome once again, it had been because the Western Lord had saved her in the first place. Had he not helped the woman, she would be long dead by now, and Kikyou would never have figured out what exactly had happened to her.
''I see,'' She muttered, squeezing Kagome's shoulder to catch her attention. ''A life for a life, right?''
Relief seemed to flood her sister's body as she heard that, and the woman nodded before getting up to hold her in a tight embrace. ''Thank you for understanding.''
''I'll help,'' Kikyou said with a sigh. She might not like the idea, but she knew she owed the daiyoukai that much. ''Even if I think this is dangerous, I will not stand in your way.''
''I'm glad,'' The monk breathed in relief, bringing them back from their moment to the reality around them. ''We do not have much time.''
Nodding, Kagome gave everyone in the room one last look before speaking. ''Remember what I said, and do not hesitate to seal me.''
Ignoring the feeling of unease that took over her body as she watched her sister enter the sacred circle of the ritual, Kikyou held Miroku's hands in hers and waited for the signal. Kagome kneeled next to the fallen daiyoukai and put one last ofuda in the middle of his chest, proceeding to position then her left hand on the middle of his browns. It stood right where his crescent moon once was, and Kikyou fought back a shiver as she saw Kagome put her right hand on her chest before signaling for them to start.
Something about the scene with the Lord of the West almost completely wrapped up in death's embrace and her sister right there, trying to fight fate, made Kikyou's heart clench. There was something unspoken in the air around them, and she prayed to every single Kami she knew that the ritual worked and left both the daiyoukai and the miko unscathed by the end of it.
Kikyou did not feel like it would fail, but the thought of its finalization made her freeze in place. It almost seemed like a warning, like there was something bigger involved besides two lives and the future of a nation. Something that mattered much more than that, but she could not quite point it out yet.
For a second, it made her feel like this was an announcement to the moment in which they all would truly start to live. But life always came accompanied by death, and suddenly Kikyou understood.
That moment right there, in which she not only observed but participated too, was the beginning of the end.
If she stood a single more second immersed in that sensation, grasping the unrevealed future that silently hovered around them, she would have it all figured out. She would have known, for her faith would have shown it to her just as it would happen, but it wasn't yet the time and the squeeze she felt in her hand brought her back from an almost altered state of mind.
She saw then Kagome's blue eyes stare at her, a small smile on her face as she nodded, and suddenly Kikyou understood something else. Whatever she had been feeling, Kagome already knew. And if she knew and was willing to proceed either way, Kikyou would not stop her.
With that in mind, the miko nodded at the monk for him to begin, and they both closed their eyes as their voices started whispering prayers so ancient that humanity no longer knew the meaning of. At the same time, the ofudas displayed as a circle around the daiyoukai and the miko began shining in silver, and Kagome closed her eyes too as she let her reiki move out of her and into Sesshoumaru's body.
The three of them stood frozen in that moment, completely immersed in the task they were doing, and at the same time praying it all would turn out just fine. No sound was heard, no movement was made. For the longest while, time itself seemed frozen in that room, and to the only one watching everything from afar, the quietude of the scene put his heart at unease.
Still, InuYasha watched.
It was all he could do for now, but something didn't feel quite right for him though he didn't know exactly what it was. Trying to understand better that sensation, his eyes moved to analyze each element of that room and the ones inside it. First he stared at where Kikyou stood praying, the small furrow of her eyebrows making him want to smile just a little because it exposed to him that she was completely focused on her task even though she didn't think it was an easy one.
Whenever presented with a challenge, the woman would always face it with the utmost calm in her posture, but to the ones that truly knew her, the furrowed browns meant that she wasn't as at ease as she wished she would be. Still, even though she felt like it was a hard task, she always did her best. Kikyou always got things right even when the odds were against her, and the memories of the miko succeeding in the past managed to relieve InuYasha's heart just a little bit.
Next he took a look at the monk, that had his sacred beads wrapped around his hands. Miroku seemed like, well, Miroku. He had never been able to decipher the monk very well, his reserved and quiet nature left little for the others to see, though Sango seemed able to known exactly what he was thinking all the times. InuYasha didn't have that special power, but hoped that if Sango was here, she would say that he looked just fine and had everything under control.
InuYasha then stared at Kagome, the woman who had been saved from death by his brother and now tried to return the favor. He didn't know much about her and though he did not understand how she even managed to get close to Sesshoumaru, he hoped she was strong enough to save him. And speaking of him, InuYasha gazed then at said daiyoukai, frowning as too many thoughts crossed his mind in that moment.
Too much had happened in such a short time, and he didn't know how to feel about any of these things. Starting with the very sight of his aged and dying, cursed brother, InuYasha berated himself for not seeing this coming. Sesshoumaru was a powerful son of a bitch, few were the ones who liked him because truth being told, the bastard didn't do much to make himself likable. Someone getting fed up with his attitude and trying to kill him was bound to happen sooner or later, even more when his death meant an empty throne.
It had to be someone who aimed to catch the crown who plotted this, he was sure. Most of the ruling Lords had been shocked with the death of his father, and though his brother was strong on his own, he had still assumed the control of the lands when he was far too young. Not many respected him at the beginning, and though Sesshoumaru's power instilled fear, he had to fight for the status he had now with all of his might.
InuYasha respected that about his brother, the way he kept the lands of their family under control and made it prosper when every single thing about the situation went against his success. Sesshoumaru seemed to have defied fate itself when he ascended to the throne, and that only angered him more. His brother had proved himself, not only his worth but his power and intelligence too, and yet he was being targeted. If Sesshoumaru fell, those bastards would aim for him next because even though he was a hanyou, half of his blood was still royalty.
InuYasha hated the preppiness that came along being a lord, but if any of those stuck up youkais thought that they could kill him after eliminating Sesshoumaru, they were dead wrong. If his brother came to truly fall, InuYasha would rise. Even if it was against his will and desires, he would reign. And he would make that land prosper too.
He would make sure his people were safe, and he would protect the House of the Moon with all of his power. Even if it meant he would have to fight a hundred demons every single day, he would not back down.
It was a vow he made in that moment: if it all came to fall, he would rule. For his father and his brother, he would take the crown and shed the blood of the traitors all around his lands. He would honor them, because failing was not an option in case the worst happened. He would take the revenge that his brother and father failed to. He would succeed.
InuYasha would make them proud.
