Welcome to another one shot what-if story (aka go check out the others too). Here, the question of the day is: What if the beads of subjugation never existed?"
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in Inuyasha.
Enjoy!
"Prepare yourself!" he commanded.
"Prepare? For what?" It is extremely difficult to prepare for anything when you're running for your life from some silver haired, claw wielding, animal eared man. She'd been having an awful birthday: first she woke up in the middle of a strange place, and then some giant centipede with a human female torso decided to take a bite out of her. Then she freed the silver haired man in order to stop the centipede and now he was the one attacking her. She took a glance behind her, he was coming! "Ah!" His attack made her stumble forward, but at least she hadn't been clawed. She looked behind her, the ground had three massive holes through it. The jewel she had dropped rolled beside her.
The man jumped off a tree, "ha! Now it's mine!"
He jumped down and picked up the sacred jewel, smiling brightly. He then turned to the downed girl so resembling Kikyo.
"Nay!" The old woman shouted in concern. "She is innocent in this."
He scoffed. "Innocent? Then why'd you have the sacred jewel little girl?"
She merely looked around in confusion. "I don't… I don't know what's going on! That monster suddenly started chasing me and bit me! And the sacred jewel? It's just a fairytale my gramps likes to tell."
He thought about that for a moment, the words resembled his own towards Kikyo when they first met. "The sacred jewel? Never heard of it." Fine, he'd play the role of Kikyo this time. "If you don't know about it, then nevermind. If you value your life at all, then I warn you to stay away from me." "If you don't know about it, then butt out! Or next time I really will take your head." Unlike her, he wasn't about to pass out. Clutching the jewel tight, he turned to leave the helpless humans.
His ear twitched. Charging his claws with youki, he swung at the arrow rapidly approaching him. "Bad move ya old hag!" Saying such, he sprinted towards her and took a murderous swipe.
He was stopped by a barrier. "I cannot allow ye to take the jewel vile hanyou. Not after all ye have done."
He growled, "what I've done! The damned priestess of this village betrayed me! You know what, where is she? It's her head I'm taking first!"
"Where is she," the old woman repeated with confusion, "ye gave her a fatal wound before attempting to take the jewel fifty years ago."
50 years ago? He sputtered, "quick talking like you know anything hag!"
She blinked, "so ye don't remember. I'm the younger sister to Kikyo- Kaede."
He chuckled slightly, "so you're the brat huh?"
She gave him a glare, "fifty years have gone by, and I have grown old."
He turned towards the tree line. "Whatever. It don't affect me. But for the record, I only went after the jewel because Kikyo betrayed me. I don't care what you think." He was gone into the trees, with the jewel.
x
x
Inuyasha sat in a tall tree some distance from the village. "Kikyo died and I never knew." He looked at the jewel. What am I waiting for? I can use this. I can have all I ever wanted. He leaned back. Except Kikyo. Why did it have to be like this?
"Tell me your name and I shall never call you hanyou again."
"Inuyasha! Why don't you come down from there and join us?"
"Stop. That's all I need to hear."
She kissed me. SHE initiated the kiss.
"So you've come, hanyou."
"Die, Inuyasha!"
Why?! Given the day's events, and waking up from a priestess' seal, he couldn't help but fall into a fitful sleep.
The night, however, brought no relief. Instead, he dreamed of the events that got him pinned to the tree, the events replaying in his head over and over, always resulting in an arrow piercing his heart. The last rerun caused him to jolt awake, and he clutched his head uncomfortably. He looked down at his hand, the jewel was still there. Damn you Kikyo, toying with me even in death.
x
A few hours after sunrise, the small village was greeted by a terrifying sight: the return of the inuhanyou that killed their priestess. Many fled, and others grabbed whatever weapons they had.
"Old hag, I wanna talk to you!" He didn't wait for an answer. He just stomped inside what he could smell to be her hut. There he found the old woman and young girl eating breakfast. She had sensed him, and yet had chosen not to get up. His aura was not yet that of a full youkai and if he were going to destroy the village, he would have done it the night before. Plus, it was still sometimes hard for her to reconcile the hanyou she knew with the one that killed her sister. Once he was sealed to the tree, why did he wear such a peaceful expression?
"Yes, Inuyasha?"
"What made you so sure I killed Kikyo?" He wasn't going to beat around the bush.
She sighed. "The wound in her shoulder clearly resembled a wound caused by yer claws. In addition, why else would she have used the last of her strength to pin ye?"
"Come on ya old hag! I was pinned, unmoving, stuck. Did you look at my claws? Was there any blood on them then? Cause I know I don't smell any now. And I doubt any of ya weak humans woulda bothered to clean me."
Kaede blinked. To her, it was far too long ago to recall such a detail. "The evidence was all there to suggest it was ye. If not, who else would have attacked my sister?"
"Maybe he's telling the truth," a voice chimed in.
Kaede looked at the woman that resembled her sister. "What do you mean child? You saw for yourself that he was willing to attack you."
Kagome nodded, "I mean, he was rude to me, telling me I wasn't cute or smart, and he tried to attack me." That really wasn't helping. "But you're also saying he killed Kikyo, so why would he think I was her?"
But Kaede shook her head, "Perhaps he assumed ye merely survived the wound."
This time, Kagome shook her head. "But then wouldn't he have tried to kill me immediately upon waking if he was really out for Kikyo? He was just criticizing me for being so helpless."
Suddenly, they both heard a growl. "Whatever! Obviously you two don't have anything useful to say so I'm done here." He stormed out of the hut, ripping the door flap off. He returned back to his tree.
x
x
He sat in his tree scowling. Useless! It had been hours but no matter how many times he replayed the events in his head, he couldn't find the deceit in Kikyo's actions. Ok, maybe he was always uncertain about turning human, but he had honestly agreed. Kikyo was great at reading people, so she must have thought he was truthful or she never would've kissed him as a hanyou. Why would she kiss him only to try to kill him? Why would she seal him instead of killing him! She'd had plenty of opportunities to kill him before! Wait.
I saw her train the runt-old woman with sealing arrows. The glow on them is a little different. The first arrows she shot at me… they weren't glowing at all. They might've hurt, but she couldn't kill me with them. 'I will destroy you here and now' she said, but that doesn't make sense, the arrows wouldn't have killed me. And then 'Die, Inuyasha' but she only sealed me? He banged his head on the tree. It doesn't make sense. Her words, her actions, they contradict!
"Inuyasha," came the girl's voice… Kagome.
"WHAT?" He cringed. He hadn't meant to shout like that.
"I-I'm sorry," she whispered.
"What?" he asked again. The girl had defended him a tiny bit.
"I-I don't want to get involved in what's none of my business, but I was hoping to use the jewel for just a minute to- "
"Yah right! Ya really think I'd trust you with it." He scoffed.
"N-no. It's just I can't go home, but Kaede thinks the jewel might be able to open the portal." She really didn't want to get involved as she simply didn't have the information and both sides seemed to have something of an argument. So instead, she'd focused on how to get home and thought of the well. She tried to climb down it, but nothing happened, so she explained the situation fully to Kaede. The priestess focused on the jewel, she'd had it with her when she first passed through.
"Again, ya really think I'd just had it over?"
"Please! You don't have to give it to me, just come close enough or something," she pleaded.
She had defended him. No one ever defended a hanyou. He growled. "Fine! Show me where this portal is."
So she did.
"The bone eaters well?" He looked down at it. "Nice try."
"No, really!" She defended, "The centipede woman pulled me down and I wound up here. I just want to go home."
He cringed, smelling the beginning of tears from her. "Fine." Without another word he just grabbed her, threw her over his shoulder, and jumped into the well. The sudden lights surrounding them came as a surprise, but when he looked back up, he noticed there was something above the well. He jumped out. "Huh?"
The highly disoriented Kagome was put down. She took a look around. "The well house!" she screamed before running outside. "I'm home!"
Meanwhile, Inuyasha also stepped outside of the odd hut before being bombarded with far too many strange smells. "What the hell?"
Kagome turned to look at him, "Uh, maybe you should go back through the well and pretend this never happened."
"Kagome!"
"Kagome!"
She turned towards the voices. "Gramps, mama?" She ran towards her mother and enveloped her in a hug.
"Kagome, where were you? We've been searching everywhere. We even called the police." Kagome didn't say anything, she just hugged her family tighter. She had only been gone a night, but it felt like so much longer.
"Kagome." There was a pause. "And who is your friend?" Kagome looked up and followed her mother's gaze to Inuyasha. He was standing there looking embarrassed. "Did you help bring Kagome back to us? Perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner for a thank you?"
Inuyasha shook his head, "No… that's… I didn't..."
Kagome was surprised to see him looking so flustered. He had only been loud. But, then, there was that whole accusation fiasco back there. "Come on, Inuyasha. You did help me get back. Mom's a really good cook."
Mama walked over to him, but something caught her eye. "Your ears, are they real?" she asked, proceeding to grab them.
"Mom, that's not really cool." She whispered, "though I did it too."
He backed away from the woman. She had grabbed him so unexpectedly that he hadn't reacted. But she hadn't used the opportunity to hurt him? He looked unsure, "I can't."
Kagome wasn't having that. "Sure you can, I know you don't have anything else planned."
Mama clapped, "Perfect. I'll get started cooking." She headed into the house.
The old man finally chimed in, "well if you helped my precious granddaughter get home, then you can't be too bad." He also went inside.
Everyone is crazy around here. He looked at the girl who started this, "What are you playing at?"
She sighed, "Nothing. Look, I know you don't like me, but I'm not Kikyo. I don't know what you did or didn't do. What I do know, is you agreed to get me home. So, you're welcome to eat before you go back." She, too, walked into the house.
Inuyasha sighed before taking a look around. Everything he could see in the distance made no sense, so he decided to focus on the shrine grounds. He saw the Goshinboku and decided it was as good a place as any to wait. The tree was usually his go to spot, but before he wouldn't risk staying so close to the village in case Kaede had a few tricks up her old sleeves. But here it felt different. The same tree, but safe. He settled into its welcoming branches and once again took out the jewel.
What is wrong with me? Why won't I just make a wish? A part of him knew why: Kikyo. She'd ruined it for him. It wasn't that he didn't still want to become a youkai, but she'd made him see that there were other things to strive for. He didn't want to be alone anymore. She had filled the void in his heart.
Kikyo. A single tear ran down his face which landed on the sacred jewel.
He looked down on it. He meant what he said before. 'Kikyo even though it ended like this, I still love…' You. I still love you.
I know I didn't kill her. And I know Kikyo didn't really try to kill me. I don't know what really happened, but I know this. He tightened his grip on the jewel. It was all because of this.
"Sacred jewel, I'm ready to make my wish." He saw the small bauble pulse. I know what Kikyo would've wanted, what she could never wish for with selfless intent. But for me, it's too late. He let his eyes close for a moment, before speaking confidently. "No one will ever fall victim to your temptation again. Disappear, forever." The jewel pulsed a few times before a blinding light filled the area. When it was over, he looked down at his hand. The jewel was gone.
x
Far away, an old woman felt a change sweep over the land. The sacred jewel that had plagued her family was gone. How she knew this, she wasn't sure. But she could feel the change, whatever the wish was, it wasn't malicious.
x
"Hey Inuyasha, come inside, dinner's ready!"
He realized he hadn't moved since the jewel's disappearance. She was sincere, they were offering him, a hanyou, food. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. "Coming ya bossy wench."
She pouted, but didn't yell at him after seeing the smile. "Do whatever you want, but Souta will eat everything if you're not quick."
When Kagome's mother offered him food, she offered him some of the weirdest, but best tasting food he'd had since his mother died. Just, far too much of it. And Kagome was worried the little brat would eat all of it? Ha!
It occurred to him while he was sitting in the Goshinboku that night that he had used the sacred jewel to get through the well. He glanced at the well house and cringed, "Oops."
AN: Well that escalated quickly. Fun fact, when I start these what-ifs, I literally just start with the question and no clear story or ending. It just writes as it goes. My original thinking was it would somehow end right where the original plot started, basically saying that the beads were unnecessary to the story. But that wasn't how the story wrote. So if anyone has a what-if they want me to answer, then just let me know.
Sorry if it's a bit open ended. One day I might expand this story, but I want to try to focus on one long story at a time.
