Inuyasha and Co do not belong to me. I just like to write about them. Hm, this chapter turned out darker in the end, but that's cool. I enjoy icky villains at times, plus playing music from Inuyasha really sets the mood for me. Anyhoo, hope you enjoy!
Kanashimi no Hate ni - End To Sorrow - Sixteen
Awakening/Onigumo Revisited
"She's been here.." Miroku said softly. "Kagome-chan.." He gazed at the staff that the Shikon shard was tied to. Shippo was asleep as they flew on Kirara's back and Sango was sitting next to him.
"How do you know?" Sango asked.
"Look.." He gestured at the Shikon shard. It glowed brightly for a moment and then it faded.
"It only did that when it was purified." Sango nodded. "I can see how that would happen. Even though the Shikon lends itself to evil, it had been once purified."
Miroku nodded. "Perhaps Sango, it is like all of us - seeking redemption from the evil that threatens to consume us daily."
"Hai, houshi-sama." Sango smiled slightly. "Perhaps you are right."
Miroku smiled. "I hope so, Sango. I hope that this time we will truly defeat the spirit of Naraku."
"I know we - " Sango's face paled. "Kohaku! You don't think - ?"
"I pray it is not so, Sango. But if my Air Void is returning then if Naruku's power becomes focused then - "
Tears fell down Sango's cheeks. "It's not fair! Kohaku - " She placed her hand over her face. Miroku put his arm around her.
"Sango..I know." Miroku sighed softly. "I thought my life was mine once more, only to have the threat of it taken hanging over my head again. You and Kohaku.." He sighed deeply.
"I just - want it to end." Sango said. "I just want peace."
"I know.." Miroku held her as the wind gently caressed their cheeks.
****
The first thing Kagome saw when she woke up was an ornate ceiling and for a moment she was disoriented enough to believe that she was back home in her bed. She smiled. Mom, Sota and she could just hear Grandfather griping about the coffee again. She felt something bounce on her bed.
"Buyo! Don't - " Kagome blinked as she raised herself up. What was on her bed was not a cat but a little girl.
"You're awake!" The girl bounced about, all smiles. She was a cute little thing, perhaps about seven? She reminded Kagome of Sota when he was that age. Was this -
"Rin?" Kagome sat up, looking around.
"You know Rin's name!" The little girl beamed. "Sess-chan must have told you!"
"Sess - chan?" Kagome raised a brow. So this was the little girl that Sesshoumaru kept.
"Um hm! He saved Rin and he make Rin very happy! Rin loves Sess-chan!"
A human loving Sesshoumaru? That was a switch.
"That's - nice." Kagome winced as she stretched.
"What's your name?" Rin asked.
"Oh! It's Kagome." Kagome smiled back at the child. She was irrestible really.
"That's pretty! You're pretty too! And you smell like flowers - not like ol' Jaken who smells like wet socks."
Kagome couldn't help it. She giggled. Jaken did have a peculiar smell about him, that was true.
"Kagome-chan?" Rin asked.
"Hm?"
"Are you and Sesshoumaru-chan going to make babies?"
Kagome turned a beet red.
"Uh, what made you ask that, Rin?"
"Sess-chan never come home with a pretty lady before, so Rin figure that he bring you to be Rin's mother and then Rin will have lots of babies to play with instead of nasty Jaken who cusses at Rin when Sess-chan isn't around."
"I - uh." Babies - with Sesshoumaru? The thought was appalling! She couldn't imagine him as a father.
"Rin can't wait!" Rin started to run around Kagome eagerly.
"Aiiiii.." Kagome flushed scarlet as she got up. She noticed that she wasn't wearing the clothes that Sesshoumaru had given her, but a sleeping garment. She narrowed her eyes. Who in the hell had undressed her? Sesshoumaru? Jaken? Eeek!!
No, no..she thought, looking around her room. Someone as powerful as Sesshoumaru would have servants of some kind doing that sort of thing. She was surprised that she was clean too, although her body still ached from the battle - when was that? A day ago? A week? Everything was so hazy.
"Tetsusaiga!" Kagome exclaimed, looking about the room. If Sesshoumaru had taken it -
"Kagome-chan?" Rin asked, finally stopping.
"What, Rin?"
"Your swords right there!" She giggled, pointing at it. Kagome looked relieved. And her backpack! She still had it! Thank god for small favors. She rumaged through it as she knelt on the floor.
"Rin." A low voice suddenly said, startling Kagome. She turned and stood up. It was Sesshoumaru.
"Don't you let someone know when you come in?" Kagome asked indigantly.
"It is my palace. Do not dictate what I can and cannot do, wench." Sesshoumaru said. "Rin, I told you not to bother her."
"But she's pretty!" Rin danced around Sesshoumaru, playing with the sash around his waist. "And soon Rin will have LOTS of babies to play with!"
Kagome covered her face with her hand and shook her head, wishing she could crawl under a rock.
"Rin.." Sesshoumaru warned. If he was embarrassed or offended it didn't show.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" The child stopped her dancing and looked up at him adoringly.
"It is time for your bath. Hurry or I shall send Jaken to do it."
"Euwwww.." Rin made a face. "Can Kagome-chan come?"
Sesshoumaru said nothing but he nodded.
"Yay!" Rin ran to Kagome, grabbing her by the wrists. "Come, Kagome-chan!"
Kagome nodded, grateful to be away from Sesshoumaru's eyes for the moment. God, how embarrassing!
~Still, it certainly would be fun to make them with him..~ Kagome thought.
"ACK!" Kagome blanched.
"What's wrong, Kagome-chan?" Rin asked as she led her new friend down the wide hallways.
"Nothing - nothing!" Kagome smiled sweetly. Was it her or was the hurt over Inuyasha fading? No, it couldn't be - could it?
She did not notice that Sesshoumaru watched them as they made their way towards the bath house.
****
Sango had fallen asleep against Miroku, and he smiled down at her. It was a genuine smile not the smirk he usually carried. For all his lecherous ways, Sango held a special place in his heart. He had been just about to tell her when all this started again and had turned his world upside once more.
He flexed his cursed hand and stared at it angrily. He could feel the void getting bigger, slowly but surely. He had the feeling it had as much to do with the Shikon no Tama shards being collected as it did with the youkai themselves. They had to find Kagome, for Kaede had said that she was the only one who could purify the shards and drive the pieces of Naruku and Onigumo out of them.
The only consolation he had at the moment was that the youkai appeared to be disorganized and not centered in one being. But if they found a being that was willing - Miroku shuddered.
****
"The miko-incarnate..." Onigumo growled under his breath. He had not realized her power - and with demon-swords too! Oh but he should have, should have. It did not matter, he, Onigumo and Naraku still existed and they found a willing host too - if they could manage to use him properly.
~The youkai with the shards of the Shikon.~.Onigumo mused. ~Scattered to the four winds, each reveling in their dark power and yet I, we dwell in the shards, seeking to be one once more.~
Onigumo smiled. Yes, he remembered Kanna - a part of Naraku. Although she no longer existed in her old form, the mirror did. The mirror that could wrest the souls from living bodies.
"I could wrest the souls of the youkai and their shards of the Shikon.." Onigumo's lidless eyes looked at the darkening skies. "A gathering over the Western Lands, poised to take the host, Jaken - the souls of the youkai and the shards of Naraku and I. Then I, Onigumo will truly live once more and take true form. Naraku was a fool.." Onigumo smiled, his face cracking with the effort. "It was I, Onigumo who willed the youkai to take me and transform me. Never did I ask for Naraku. He will sit and watch as I, Onigumo become what I had wanted to be - lover to the miko, master of her and of all humans and youkai!" His eyes glittered with unbridaled posessiveness. "Onigumo the thief will be Onigumo the master!"
He chuckled with mad glee.
"And I will help Jaken-sama help his master, oh yes.." Onigumo's hairless skull gleamed in the pale light.
"The little girl will perish by his hand - or so it seems.." he smiled. "And then the dog-demon will strive to kill his servant but then WE shall be as one with Jaken, and it will be by his own hand that he kills the demon-lord!"
"Then, I Onigumo will take the demon-lord's form through the completed Shikon no Tama.." Onigumo's thoughts were filled with visions of the miko-incarnate in his arms.
"I will be lord of the Western Lands with the miko-incarnate Kagome and .I will steal the world from beneath the noses of all! I will be - master and Chaos and Shadows will rule forever more!." Onigumo smiled.
"And poor Jaken..he will get his reward - the knowledge that he was but a useless little pawn and that he killed his own master. "
Onigumo laughed at the twisted thought.
Kanashimi no Hate ni - End To Sorrow - Sixteen
Awakening/Onigumo Revisited
"She's been here.." Miroku said softly. "Kagome-chan.." He gazed at the staff that the Shikon shard was tied to. Shippo was asleep as they flew on Kirara's back and Sango was sitting next to him.
"How do you know?" Sango asked.
"Look.." He gestured at the Shikon shard. It glowed brightly for a moment and then it faded.
"It only did that when it was purified." Sango nodded. "I can see how that would happen. Even though the Shikon lends itself to evil, it had been once purified."
Miroku nodded. "Perhaps Sango, it is like all of us - seeking redemption from the evil that threatens to consume us daily."
"Hai, houshi-sama." Sango smiled slightly. "Perhaps you are right."
Miroku smiled. "I hope so, Sango. I hope that this time we will truly defeat the spirit of Naraku."
"I know we - " Sango's face paled. "Kohaku! You don't think - ?"
"I pray it is not so, Sango. But if my Air Void is returning then if Naruku's power becomes focused then - "
Tears fell down Sango's cheeks. "It's not fair! Kohaku - " She placed her hand over her face. Miroku put his arm around her.
"Sango..I know." Miroku sighed softly. "I thought my life was mine once more, only to have the threat of it taken hanging over my head again. You and Kohaku.." He sighed deeply.
"I just - want it to end." Sango said. "I just want peace."
"I know.." Miroku held her as the wind gently caressed their cheeks.
****
The first thing Kagome saw when she woke up was an ornate ceiling and for a moment she was disoriented enough to believe that she was back home in her bed. She smiled. Mom, Sota and she could just hear Grandfather griping about the coffee again. She felt something bounce on her bed.
"Buyo! Don't - " Kagome blinked as she raised herself up. What was on her bed was not a cat but a little girl.
"You're awake!" The girl bounced about, all smiles. She was a cute little thing, perhaps about seven? She reminded Kagome of Sota when he was that age. Was this -
"Rin?" Kagome sat up, looking around.
"You know Rin's name!" The little girl beamed. "Sess-chan must have told you!"
"Sess - chan?" Kagome raised a brow. So this was the little girl that Sesshoumaru kept.
"Um hm! He saved Rin and he make Rin very happy! Rin loves Sess-chan!"
A human loving Sesshoumaru? That was a switch.
"That's - nice." Kagome winced as she stretched.
"What's your name?" Rin asked.
"Oh! It's Kagome." Kagome smiled back at the child. She was irrestible really.
"That's pretty! You're pretty too! And you smell like flowers - not like ol' Jaken who smells like wet socks."
Kagome couldn't help it. She giggled. Jaken did have a peculiar smell about him, that was true.
"Kagome-chan?" Rin asked.
"Hm?"
"Are you and Sesshoumaru-chan going to make babies?"
Kagome turned a beet red.
"Uh, what made you ask that, Rin?"
"Sess-chan never come home with a pretty lady before, so Rin figure that he bring you to be Rin's mother and then Rin will have lots of babies to play with instead of nasty Jaken who cusses at Rin when Sess-chan isn't around."
"I - uh." Babies - with Sesshoumaru? The thought was appalling! She couldn't imagine him as a father.
"Rin can't wait!" Rin started to run around Kagome eagerly.
"Aiiiii.." Kagome flushed scarlet as she got up. She noticed that she wasn't wearing the clothes that Sesshoumaru had given her, but a sleeping garment. She narrowed her eyes. Who in the hell had undressed her? Sesshoumaru? Jaken? Eeek!!
No, no..she thought, looking around her room. Someone as powerful as Sesshoumaru would have servants of some kind doing that sort of thing. She was surprised that she was clean too, although her body still ached from the battle - when was that? A day ago? A week? Everything was so hazy.
"Tetsusaiga!" Kagome exclaimed, looking about the room. If Sesshoumaru had taken it -
"Kagome-chan?" Rin asked, finally stopping.
"What, Rin?"
"Your swords right there!" She giggled, pointing at it. Kagome looked relieved. And her backpack! She still had it! Thank god for small favors. She rumaged through it as she knelt on the floor.
"Rin." A low voice suddenly said, startling Kagome. She turned and stood up. It was Sesshoumaru.
"Don't you let someone know when you come in?" Kagome asked indigantly.
"It is my palace. Do not dictate what I can and cannot do, wench." Sesshoumaru said. "Rin, I told you not to bother her."
"But she's pretty!" Rin danced around Sesshoumaru, playing with the sash around his waist. "And soon Rin will have LOTS of babies to play with!"
Kagome covered her face with her hand and shook her head, wishing she could crawl under a rock.
"Rin.." Sesshoumaru warned. If he was embarrassed or offended it didn't show.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" The child stopped her dancing and looked up at him adoringly.
"It is time for your bath. Hurry or I shall send Jaken to do it."
"Euwwww.." Rin made a face. "Can Kagome-chan come?"
Sesshoumaru said nothing but he nodded.
"Yay!" Rin ran to Kagome, grabbing her by the wrists. "Come, Kagome-chan!"
Kagome nodded, grateful to be away from Sesshoumaru's eyes for the moment. God, how embarrassing!
~Still, it certainly would be fun to make them with him..~ Kagome thought.
"ACK!" Kagome blanched.
"What's wrong, Kagome-chan?" Rin asked as she led her new friend down the wide hallways.
"Nothing - nothing!" Kagome smiled sweetly. Was it her or was the hurt over Inuyasha fading? No, it couldn't be - could it?
She did not notice that Sesshoumaru watched them as they made their way towards the bath house.
****
Sango had fallen asleep against Miroku, and he smiled down at her. It was a genuine smile not the smirk he usually carried. For all his lecherous ways, Sango held a special place in his heart. He had been just about to tell her when all this started again and had turned his world upside once more.
He flexed his cursed hand and stared at it angrily. He could feel the void getting bigger, slowly but surely. He had the feeling it had as much to do with the Shikon no Tama shards being collected as it did with the youkai themselves. They had to find Kagome, for Kaede had said that she was the only one who could purify the shards and drive the pieces of Naruku and Onigumo out of them.
The only consolation he had at the moment was that the youkai appeared to be disorganized and not centered in one being. But if they found a being that was willing - Miroku shuddered.
****
"The miko-incarnate..." Onigumo growled under his breath. He had not realized her power - and with demon-swords too! Oh but he should have, should have. It did not matter, he, Onigumo and Naraku still existed and they found a willing host too - if they could manage to use him properly.
~The youkai with the shards of the Shikon.~.Onigumo mused. ~Scattered to the four winds, each reveling in their dark power and yet I, we dwell in the shards, seeking to be one once more.~
Onigumo smiled. Yes, he remembered Kanna - a part of Naraku. Although she no longer existed in her old form, the mirror did. The mirror that could wrest the souls from living bodies.
"I could wrest the souls of the youkai and their shards of the Shikon.." Onigumo's lidless eyes looked at the darkening skies. "A gathering over the Western Lands, poised to take the host, Jaken - the souls of the youkai and the shards of Naraku and I. Then I, Onigumo will truly live once more and take true form. Naraku was a fool.." Onigumo smiled, his face cracking with the effort. "It was I, Onigumo who willed the youkai to take me and transform me. Never did I ask for Naraku. He will sit and watch as I, Onigumo become what I had wanted to be - lover to the miko, master of her and of all humans and youkai!" His eyes glittered with unbridaled posessiveness. "Onigumo the thief will be Onigumo the master!"
He chuckled with mad glee.
"And I will help Jaken-sama help his master, oh yes.." Onigumo's hairless skull gleamed in the pale light.
"The little girl will perish by his hand - or so it seems.." he smiled. "And then the dog-demon will strive to kill his servant but then WE shall be as one with Jaken, and it will be by his own hand that he kills the demon-lord!"
"Then, I Onigumo will take the demon-lord's form through the completed Shikon no Tama.." Onigumo's thoughts were filled with visions of the miko-incarnate in his arms.
"I will be lord of the Western Lands with the miko-incarnate Kagome and .I will steal the world from beneath the noses of all! I will be - master and Chaos and Shadows will rule forever more!." Onigumo smiled.
"And poor Jaken..he will get his reward - the knowledge that he was but a useless little pawn and that he killed his own master. "
Onigumo laughed at the twisted thought.
