AN: I LIVE! Which is a real concern, considering the whole 2020 covid plague, I suppose. Anyway; here's a new chapter… admittedly short... finally. I hope that no one hates me too much for being AWOL for half a year. More content to come soon. Much love to all of Paradigm Shift's loyal readers!
~Elebelle
…
Posted 7.3.2020
Unedited
… … …
Paradigm Shift
Chapter Twenty-Seven:
… … …
Breathless from dancing around the valley among the bodies gathered, ankle throbbing, face split in a huge grin, Kagome made her way away from the throng and found a dry place to sit, rubbing absently at her sore ankle. She was delighted to find out that most of the bear clan were just as friendly as Heiji, and great dancers to boot.
She had been swept away with the music that flowed from the primitive instruments and heartfelt singing in the lush valley. She had exchanged hands many times, been passed between a blur of exuberant, cheerful, unfamiliar faces, and felt a sense of belonging as everyone enjoyed every minute of the night that they could.
Reality would crash over someone every now and then, child or adult alike, and a look of sadness or anger would wash over their faces. It never lasted long; too many others were ready with a smile or a laugh to pull anyone back from the harshness of reality for just this one night.
Kagome didn't notice Nozomi sitting down at her side until she spoke.
"With some effort, you could heal that."
Kagome jumped and turned her head to look at the severe woman. Her gaze followed the path of Nozomi's clawed finger to her ankle.
"I could?"
"You have more than enough power." Kagome's brows drew together as Nozomi scoffed at her and nodded. "You'll have to figure it out on your own. Unless your monk knows how. Jaki isn't made for healing." Her gray hair fell to one side as she looked up to the moon in thought. "Usually." Her eyes met Kagome's. "I somehow doubt that you'll be achieving any higher youkai forms, so healing via jaki won't be something you can hope for."
They sat in silence for a while, long enough for Kagome's thoughts to wander from reiki healing to Miroku and what he might know about it, and back to the dancing bodies in the valley. Long enough for her to startle again when Nozomi said something else.
"I don't like you."
Kagome's lips parted in surprise as she looked over the agitated inuyoukai. Nozomi hadn't exactly ever been happy that she and Miroku were training at Atsuta, sure. She'd never seemed upset about it before, though.
"I, uhm… I'm sorry?"
"Humans have no business in the affairs of youkai." Nozomi stared into Kagome's eyes as she spoke. "No good ever comes of it."
Kagome was taken aback by the undercurrent of hostility in Nozomi's tone of voice. 'this is because I'm human?' She wondered what had changed enough to make Nozomi dislike her just for being human. She bit her lip and looked away, grateful to see Kouga headed in their direction. The smile he sent her way looked strained as he approached them.
"Yo, Kagome." He bent down and rested a hand on her head, sending a scathing look, unseen by Kagome, at Nozomi. "Your kit is looking pretty tired. You might want to go say goodnight before they take all the little ones in for the night." His eyes never left Nozomi's figure.
Thankful for the reprieve, Kagome ducked her head out from under the weight of Kouga's warm palm and climbed to her feet, giving Kouga a whispered thanks as she hugged him. He dropped a kiss to her forehead, still keeping his eyes fixed on the inuyoukai woman as Kagome took her leave of them and made her way toward Shippou and Rin. He only spoke once he had judged Kagome's footsteps faint enough to not overhear him.
"I don't care who you are or how close to the Western Lord you are. Stay away from Kagome with your bad attitude."
Nozomi huffed and leaned back onto her elbows, holding his gaze steadily.
"Mark my words, wolf, if you bring humans into your life, you'll regret it in the end."
"You should learn to keep your opinions to yourself."
"My opinions are fact. I've watched humans bring trouble to villages, settlements, and regions over and again."
Kouga scoffed and planted his fists on his hips.
"Youkai bring just as much trouble as humans do. I've seen that. Hell, I used to be part of that. Until I met her." He turned his back to Nozomi, his eyes seeking out Kagome's silhouette in the darkness.
"Oh? She must be quite the powerful miko, indeed, to leash both a lord and a prince to her will."
The rumble of Kouga's growl made the demeaning smirk on her face grow wider as he turned and pinned her with an angry scowl.
"You know nothing."
"I know that you and Lord Sesshomaru both seem to have some idiotic weakness for human females."
Kouga's growling subsided and he blinked down at the suddenly empty place where Nozomi had been reclining on her arms, insulting him so openly. Only a lingering feel of Sesshomaru's jaki hinted at where she had gone. He smiled maliciously at the mussed grass where she had been and sauntered back toward the remaining group of youkai around a large fire in the center of the valley. Let Sesshomaru take care of her.
… … …
Shippou's eyes were droopy with sleep when Kagome finally found him and Rin among the other sleepy children. He was sitting near a sleeping Rin, bleary eyed and holding her little hand in his own.
"Hi Shippou." Kagome smiled warmly at him when he looked up at her. "Did you and Rin have fun tonight?"
Shippou didn't answer, only leaning closer to Rin and bowing his head. Kagome dropped a kiss to his forehead and said her goodnights as the children were lead up the pathway and back into the caves for the night.
She wrapped her arms around herself and watched as they left the valley. She hadn't had much time with Shippou and Rin lately. The fun that everyone had in the bath that day had been welcome, but considering all of the chaos, she still wondered whether she was giving the two of them enough attention lately. Then she wondered just when she had started to think of Rin as hers, just as much as Shippou.
… … …
Pain shot through the strained muscles in her chest and sides as she sucked air greedily into her heaving chest. Beads of sweat left behind glistening streaks of moisture where they dripped over her face and shoulders. Strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail were plastered to her neck and shoulders, stuck there as they tried in vain to stem the flow of salty liquid across her skin.
She could taste the salt on her lips as she smiled widely in enjoyment. She surveyed the many soldiers around her and let a happy laugh escape her as one tried to advance on her.
She slid her left foot forward, bent her knee and pushed off as hard as she could. The sword in her right hand came around as she twisted above the soldier's head, skimming neatly along his neck while more soldiers ran into the fray.
Following her body's inertia, she planted her right knee on the shoulder of one of the men, bringing him to his own knees. The point of her katana dug into his back and she let go of it, letting her left foot touch the ground again as she grasped a third man by his elbow. She neatly leaned out of range of his blade and yanked him forward, crushing his comrade as he fell.
Not breaking momentum, she let her spine arch backward and caught her weight on her palms as she tumbled. Her legs swiftly followed and she pushed off the ground, letting her ankles and then knees slide around a fourth soldier's neck.
Her manic grin met a surprise-slackened jaw as she gripped the hair on the sides of his head. She laughed as she gave a soft tug and push, twisting his head to his right slightly.
"Crack!" She exclaimed. "You're all dead."
She let herself fall backwards again, dislodging herself from the man's shoulders and following through until she stood upright once more. A mixture of groans and applause followed her words as she stood in the center of the soldiers, adjusting and tightening the black cloth wrapped around her chest.
"That was amazing, Miss Sango!" One of them shouted, making her laugh again.
"Thanks." She tucked at the fabric a little more and then offered a hand to the last man still laying in the dirt. "Can any of you tell me where you went wrong?" Sango looked around at the soldiers, one hand on her hip as she surveyed them all. "No-one?"
"They didn't work as a group." A voice carried from the back of the ranks and they moved aside to let him through.
"Lord Kuranosuke! You're right, of course. What are you doing here?"
"I was hoping to catch a glimpse of you in action. I must say, I think I got the better end of our deal." He smiled at her and held out the top half of her white slayer's outfit to her. She accepted the garment and then the small armor pieces that dangled by their straps from his fingers. "Let them rest and have a meal, for now."
Sango nodded and waved at the gathered trainees as she walked away.
"You shouldn't have started the training until you were completely healed, Sango. I can afford to spare you a room to rest and heal without a price. If you insist on keeping our trade, you should at least allow yourself to fully heal before starting."
Sango looked down at her leg, seeing the white fabris stained red where the blood had soaked through.
"It's not as bad as it looks." She replied. "The stain will probably be more difficult than the wound is being."
Her words startled a laugh from the Lord at her side.
"I've never seen anyone heal from such a serious wound so quickly, and with so little complaint."
"I have practice at it."
"Practice at healing or practice at not complaining?"
Sango tilted her head from side to side, contemplating. She finally settled on a simple,
"It's complicated."
Kuranosuke pulled aside the flap to the tent where they would eat, gesturing her inside.
"We have plenty of time and I'm a patient man." He looked sideways at her as he sat. "Patient and curious."
Sango folded herself onto the ground across from him and picked up one of the two bowls of rice that were waiting for them. She narrowed her eyes at the white grains as she thought.
"I know you're not an… overly open person, Sango." She lifted her eyes to meet his as he spoke. "Humor me?"
She sighed and set aside her untouched rice.
"I was expecting to be fully healed by the time my message reached you." She started. "I guess it was both lucky and unlucky for me that you had men gathering supplies in the village where I stopped. Maybe I should have waited instead of going with them."
"I'm glad you didn't wait. Whatever message you meant to send to my main complex would have been for naught without me there."
She tugged her hair free and ran her fingers through the wet locks, using it as an excuse to turn her gaze from his. She pushed ahead with her jumbled explanation, ignoring his words.
"It won't take more than a few days for there to be no more than another scar on my leg." She snorted air through her nose. "The biggest scar, but still just another scar."
"How is that possible?"
She closed her eyes at his direct question, pulling her hair back up. 'so much for dodging around the subject.' She thought.
"I'm Taijiya…" She whispered, still refusing to look at him. "Do you… know what that means?"
Kuranosuke reached out and covered one of her hands with his own.
"I know that it means that you're magnificent." He said.
The words made her smile, but she felt jittery and anxious nonetheless.
"Thank you." She sucked in a deep breath, heart pounding against her chest. "The Taijiya… We-"
Her teeth clamped together as she fought with herself. She had lived her whole life with this secret and it seemed like it was getting far too much attention lately. Could she really just tell him?
"I might be the last one, you know. The last Taijiya." Her eyes screwed shut, fighting back tears as the next words left her. "My brother… Kohaku-" A strangled whisper of a sob left her with the name. "He's not really alive… he's not really dead yet either. I don't think any of the others made it out of our village when it was attacked."
Kuranosuke ran his thumb over her knuckles as she spoke, leaning forward and to the side; trying to meet her eyes but not wanting to interrupt her.
"I guess it's just my secret now."
Sango shook off his hand and stood with her back to Kuranosuke, her hands grasping her elbows and her shoulders hunched forward. Still he made no sound to interrupt her and he made no move to go to her.
"I've lived my whole life trying to protect this secret. We fight demons that threaten or terrorize settlements and villages, and protect the secret of our heritage."
She looked over her shoulder for a moment, searching his face for a sign that he had puzzled it out just from that scant amount of information. She couldn't tell.
"The Taijiya village was founded sometime around two hundread years ago. The first people in the village were a mix of youkai, human, and hanyou. It was peaceful." She hugged her arms a little closer and turned to face Kuranosuke. "They intermarried and interbred and the settlement grew."
She took in his open curiosity and interest with a grimace, and continued.
"By the time I was born, no one really knew what had gone wrong. There were stories, of course. Stories that seemed like they came from either one side of whatever conflict had torn the village apart or the other. None of those stories gave a complete view of what happened. None of us know for sure… Mostly, while my brother and I grew up, it was speculation. No one really knows how or why or what, but we know that the Taijiya are as strong as we are because there is some amount of youkai in our blood."
Kuranosuke stood and reached out, pulling her hands away from her chest as she spoke.
"Father once told me that our family had the most youkai blood in the village. It's what made us the best. He said that my great-great-grandmother was one of the original hanyou to build the village."
She didn't know whether to pull her hands out of his or to squeeze his hands in search of reassurance, so she stared at them and waited.
"That certainly explains the healing ability."
The air in the tent was strained and his forced, quiet chuckle didn't reassure her at all. She felt laid bare before him, her deepest secret out in the open. It might be hers to share now, but that thought didn't make it any easier.
"Yeah. I don't heal as quickly as a youkai or hanyou, obviously. I still heal much faster than a human, though." She gave their hands a teary lopsided smile. "I'm Taijiya."
"You're magnificent."
The repetition of his earlier words startled her and she looked up into his smiling face.
"What?"
"You're absolutely magnificent, Sango."
He brought her hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers, even as she tugged them away.
"You don't like youkai, though! I saw you when my friends were here. It was obvious that you disdain youkai."
Kuranosuke's smile faltered and his expression turned serious as he stepped closer to Sango.
"If anyone in the world could change my mind, it would be the woman I've admired and loved for so long."
Sango's breath caught in her throat as his right hand cupped her cheek and his eyes softened.
… … …
Two figures, at the Western border; on the very outskirts of Atsuta. Shrouded in darkness and merely two shadows among many others in the moonlight. If not for the frantic, hushed whispers in the night.
"Even if you could manage it, what's to say he would even listen to you?"
"The Miko is always near him, now. She will make sure of it!"
The silhouettes merged for a moment before parting and rushing off in opposite directions.