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ABC Thought
Chapter 64.
The next morning.
"It's like the whole place was wiped clean."
Soon after arriving to our house, Kagome tells us about their yesterday result.
"If they erased all of their traces. Then there's nothing more we can do."
Our only clue about that thief turns out to be unusable. So we're back to zero.
"Now that you've become their target. Sooner or later they will reappear."
On the other hand, Jaken suggests us to stop wasting our effort looking for the thief and waits for them to reveal themself to us.
Which... doesn't sound like a bad idea. To me, at least. And when that thief is finally caught, we will be able to find out about Kuro's location.
"Please be extra careful, okay?"
Therefore Kagome reminds me to stay vigilant, even when at home.
"By the way, have you felt anything strange lately?"
"Nothing too extraordinary."
After spending a short moment thinking, I say. Well, except for this one thing...
The unfamiliar voice that appeared inside my head when I was unconscious. Still, that conversation was too vague for me to make out anything logical. It's hard to tell whether that's a dream or not.
"Where's Sesshomaru?"
Haven't seen his presence ever since they're here, Kagome asks.
"He left just before you guys arrived."
Hearing so, Kagome pondered for a moment before replying.
"Nee-san, how about I stay with you for a few days? Just to be sure."
Right after hearing her offer, Jaken barges in.
"Are you saying that Sesshomaru-sama is not capable of protecting her?!"
He's irritated that his master's ability is being underestimated.
"But he isn't here right now. Is he?"
Annoyed by his overreacting, Kagome reminds him about yesterday's incident.
"It's okay. Having you visit me everyday is good enough."
Being refused, her face saddened.
"Beside, I don't think Inuyasha's going to be happy about that. Same goes to Sesshomaru."
To be honest I appreciate Kagome's idea, though I don't want to trouble her any further than this.
Meanwhile, faraway from Kaede's village.
"Just for how long are you intending to stand there, Sesshomaru?"
Two figures can be seen facing against each other in the air.
"You won't either fight or make way. Are you going to act like this forever?"
The moment catching their scent, which was heading toward to his place, Sesshomaru sets out to stop them getting closer by any means necessary.
"Not one more step."
As they walks up to him, Sesshomaru draws out Bakusaiga.
"And what if I don't stop? Are you going slash me with that sword?"
Their head tilts, continues taking another step forward like an act to provoke him.
"I see that you've succumbed to Amenonuhoko's temptation."
His brows furrowed when shadows start appearing behind them. As they're gradually surrounding him.
...
..
"You saw what happened, didn't you?"
From the depth of soul realm, they summoned Amenonuhoko for a little chat.
"Sesshomaru's no longer on my side. To capture the girl, I need more than what you've given me."
With their current state, winning against Sesshomaru would be an impossible task.
"This is all you can get. In order to have more, you must..."
Eventually, Amenonuhoko agreed to bestow them a part of its power.
"I know."
Their eyes closed and they sighed, feeling enormous amount of youkai energy running through their body.
"...A price to pay. And I will definitely fulfill it when everything's over."
..
...
"It was you who pushed me to make that decision."
They blames him for abandoning them back then.
"Then tell me what I wanted to know."
Sesshomaru gives them another chance to fix their estranged relationship.
"And watch you ruin it all soon after that? No thanks."
Still, they refuses. Stating that by doing so will only make things worse.
"You believe that acting this way will make it better?"
Sesshomaru comments on their stubbornness. Despite years have passed, it never changes.
"What I think doesn't matter. Because everything's done for the best possible outcome."
Seeing his grip on Bakusaiga tightened, they commands the shadows to launch at him.
"It's not going to hurt. I promise."
At the same time, inside Kaede's Hut.
"Rin, are you there?"
Upon hearing familiar voice calling for her, Rin stops whatever she's doing to greet that person.
"Onee-chan! I miss you so much!"
Quickly she jumps into her embrace. Giggling happily.
"I miss you too."
Shiomi whispers softly while caressing her hair.
"But is it okay for you to be here alone? Where is Jaken-sama?"
Rin asks, after being informed about her difficult situation.
"If I hear another nagging of his, I'm seriously going to die."
Therefore Shiomi recalls sneaking out of the house when Jaken wasn't looking. Figures that he's going to be very piss later on, but she doesn't care.
"That because he cares about you!"
As always, Rin defends him. No matter how ridiculous Jaken can be.
"Right, sure. Of course."
And Shiomi answers in a monotone. Not wanting to talk about him any further.
"Shiomi-chan, is that you?"
Just then, Sango appears with a huge wicker basket full of clothes on her back. It looks like she's on her way home after finishing doing laundry at the river nearby.
"...Sango-san!"
Shiomi's surprised to see her. Though that subtle anxiousness is replaced by her calm demeanor almost immediately.
"Where are Kagome-chan and Inuyasha? Didn't you guys have something important to discuss?"
Sango's surprised to find her here as well. Since she's informed beforehand that they would have a meeting at Shiomi's house this morning.
"It's... already done. Everything's great. And we have parted ways just now."
Continue stroking Rin's hair, she explains.
"I heard about what happened. Be careful and don't wander off too far, okay?"
Concerning about her safety, Sango tells her not to linger in this place for too long.
"Come on, I'm not a child. You know?"
Unlike the others, however, Shiomi doesn't seem that much worried. "I can take care of myself just fine."
Hearing so, Sango sighs.
"Well if you say so... Anyway, I have to get going now. The kids must be waiting."
Since it's almost noon time, she excuses herself and leaves the hut. "See you later. Shiomi-chan, Rin-chan."
After bidding Sango farewell, Rin turns to Shiomi.
"Onee-chan, what are we doing next? Playing? Cooking? Sewing new kimono? ..."
A cheerful Rin lists out all the stuff they can do in their free time.
"Let's try something new."
However, Shiomi dismisses everything and insists going outside.
"But Sesshomaru-sama will get angry."
Rin resists, knowing that they're not allowed to leave the area on their own. Especially nowadays.
"We will return before he knows it. It'll be fine."
In her defense, she says that the place they'll be staying at is not too far off.
"Uhm... Okay."
Eventually, Rin gives in and takes her hand.
"Onee-chan, can you tell me where are we going?"
Walking on the old route leading toward to village's entrance, she's curious about their next location.
"Don't worry. You are going to love it."
Later on.
Since Shiomi couldn't leave the house, she asked Kagome to bring some stuff to Rin in her place. However when she arrived to Kaede's hut, no one was found. Therefore Kagome went over to Sango's house to ask her about it.
"I passed by Kaede's hut earlier but couldn't find Rin-chan. Had you seen her anywhere?"
Kagome's curious, usually Rin stays at home at this time of day.
"Shiomi-chan was with her a while back. They probably went off somewhere to play?"
On the other hand, Sango thought that Kagome had already known about their plan.
"What do you mean? Nee-san was here?"
"Yes, we talked briefly. She seemed fine."
Therefore Sango tells her about what happened at Kaede's hut. Claiming that she had seen Shiomi with her own eyes, much to Kagome's confusion.
"I told you yesterday that Inuyasha and I would go to her house this morning, right?"
"Uh huh, Shiomi-chan said that the meeting ended early. So you guys took her here to visit Rin-chan."
After listening to Sango's story and connecting the dots, Kagome gasps.
"I have to go back there!"
She raises up from the table and rushes outside. Leaving Sango behind, completely speechless and confused.
Shiomi's house.
"Kagome?"
Shiomi's found sitting alone at the balcony, where they had conversation together earlier.
"What's wrong? Did you forget something?"
She has a confused look upon seeing her.
"Actually, uhm... I came back to check if there's anything essential to prepare for the stay."
Acting as casual as possible, Kagome approaches her from behind with a smile.
"Since I'm going to stick with you for a few days, remember?"
When hearing her excuse, Shiomi's head tilts.
"Really?"
"You was the one who suggested me to stay! Did you forget that already?"
And Kagome insists that they've made a deal in their talk just a while ago.
"Oh... Right! Then treat yourself at home."
After spending a moment recalling to the past, Shiomi gives in and returns watching the scenery outside. Acting as if nothing has happened.
"Who are you? Where is Shiomi? What have you done to her!"
Immediately, Kagome draws out her bow and aims at Shiomi's back.
"Kagome? W-what are you doing? Did I say something wrong?!"
Bewildered by Kagome's strange reaction, she quickly stands up from her seat and takes a few step back.
"Sure heck you did! So stop acting dumb and reveal yourself!"
Kagome shouts, ready to shoot her purification arrow if she senses any suspicious movement from the enemy.
"..."
Since the play is ruined, Shiomi's anxious expression vanishes. Her eyes scans the area before stopping at one specific spot at the corner of the house. Getting curious where she's looking at, Kagome's eyes follow as well.
Taking the chance that Kagome's focus is away, she dashes toward to the shade of a tree nearby and disappears into the ground.
"A shadow?!"
Due to that performance, she figures out its nature instantly.
"Nee-san! Are you here? Nee-san!"
Kagome calls for her everywhere in the house, but there's no answer. Damn it! Had they got her?!
Hold on... Just before the talk, I saw it was looking for something around here.
With that in mind, Kagome begins searching in hope to gain some clues and eventually, she finds Jaken, who is sleeping soundly inside a old tool shed at the backyard.
"...Jaken? Jaken! Wake up!"
After a few slaps to the face, his eyes wide open.
"H-huh? What?"
Turns out, someone had broke into the house and hit him from behind when he wasn't looking. Then they hid his body before turning themself into Shiomi to trick everyone else.
"What to do! This is bad! Sesshomaru-sama is going to kill me when he gets back!"
Running around in circle, Jaken cries in despair.
"I have to find Inuyasha!"
Immediately Kagome sets off to find him. And where the heck is Sesshomaru right now?!
The moment waking up, I find myself sitting alone within the sea of darkness.
"What now? Are you looking for some revenge?"
I speak to the person standing a few steps away.
..
...
A few hours ago.
When passing through the backyard, I found Jaken standing by himself in the middle of our garden. Staring at the growing vegetable and flowers on the ground nearby.
And I thought it was somewhat odd, since he had never paid attention to these kinds of things before.
"Jaken? What are you doing over there?"
For some reasons Jaken didn't move or talk.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I approached and gave a gentle pat on his shoulder.
"Huh?!"
Suddenly, that Jaken melted into a black mess and surrounded my feet. From deep within, multiple black vines raised up and cling onto my body. Dragging me down with them in a mere second.
What are these things?! I can't shake them off!
No matter how much I struggled, more keep appearing and soon my vision's completely covered.
...
..
As usual, that thief doesn't respond and simply gestures their hand in the air. Then, stepping out of the darkness and standing next to them is another me, carrying an unconscious Rin within her arms.
"Rin!? What is going on?!"
They swipes their hand again. Transforming the other me back into a shadow, which looks exactly like the ones that I've fought yesterday.
"What have you done to her!"
Ignoring my outburst, the thief creates a dark sphere that looks big enough to fit a person and tosses Rin into it. Trapping her completely.
"Enough with these kidnapping bull-crap already! What the hell do you want from us?!"
Getting sick of seeing myself and the others falling into their hand one after another, I straight out demand them to name the prize.
"Be my servant."
As if only waiting to be asked, they replies.
"Finally decide to talk... huh?"
Somehow their voice didn't come from their lips, but from inside my head.
Not to mention that they sounded quite similar to that mysterious voice from before.
That means what I experienced back then wasn't a dream. This thief did try to communicate with me through telepathy.
"Hold on a second. Me? Working for you? Are you serious?"
Strange, I swear that I've already had this kind of conversation somewhere before in the past. Oh, right. Naraku. How could I forget...
"If it's info about Amenonuhoko that you need. I will tell you. So let her go."
And I try to talk my way out of it, hoping they will change their mind.
"Refuse me and the girl will be devoured."
However, they concludes everything so fast that there isn't even a second for negotiation.
"Wait! T-This is too sudden! Can you give me some time to think about it? Please?"
I beg for them to calm down. Such an important decision like this can't be made in a blink of an eye.
"Three days. And for each day delayed will be compensated with a limb."
After spending a moment thinking, they offers a deadline and points at Rin. Indicating that they will harm her if I ever try to drag things out.
"Alright, I will remember that."
Three days, a cliche amount but at least they allows ịt. Hopefully that is enough for us to come up with a plan.
"Speak a word to anyone about our deal and she'll die. I'll be watching your every footstep from now on."
With that final warning, they casts me out of the darkness and disappears.
..
...
The moment returning to my house, I bump into someone at the front door.
"Nee-san?!"
For some reasons Kagome's shocked to see me. I hadn't been away for too long, had I?
"What is it?! Is it another shadow?!"
Then Jaken appears by her side.
"Are you really Shiomi?"
With her bow ready in hands, Kagome questions me.
"Okay, I do not know what happened when I was gone but I am definitely Sogo Shiomi. One hundred percent in flesh."
With both arms up in the air, I confirm my identity to her.
"If you are the real one then prove it!"
Not believing in my words easily, Jaken yells.
"What do you want me to do? Kicking you in the head or telling Sesshomaru that you have failed guarding me again?"
"..."
Probably feeling guilty, he turns his head away to avoid my gaze.
"Did you just return from Kaede's village?"
Since Jaken's down, Kagome takes her turn to ask me.
"Sadly, no. I simply went for a walk around this area."
"What about my sleepover?"
"What sleepover? I thought we had already settled with daily visit?"
After hearing my answer, Kagome sighs in relief and gives me a hug. "Oh god, we're so worried!"
"Uhm... Mind telling me what's going on here? What's a shadow and what's not?"
...
..
"And that's what happened."
Gathering up in the living room, Kagome tells me about the shadow that she encountered earlier.
"Also, Rin must be captured by no one else but that thief."
She concludes after witnessing its shapeshifting ability.
"What about you? Where did you go?"
Kagome's curious about my whereabouts since she couldn't find me anywhere.
"I... Uh... Saw someone that looked like that thief so I followed them outside. But turned out I was wrong."
Despite wanting to tell her the truth, I have to pretend that everything's fine. That death threat... it's still ringing so loudly inside my head.
"Sesshomaru-sama, you're back!"
Just then, Jaken announces his return.
"What happened? Where did you go?"
"They ran away."
Sesshomaru speaks briefly about his encounter with the thief.
"Hey! Did you know that when you was gone, Rin was captured! And there was even a shadow that tried to imitate Nee-san and roamed around the village!"
Irritated by his irresponsibility, Kagome informs him about the mess that he missed.
To make sure that they plan succeed, they had lured him away from us.
And I realize that so many things happened in one single morning was because of Sesshomaru's absence.
"Did they do anything?"
Ignoring Kagome's outburst, Sesshomaru steps forward and stops by my side.
"Not to me but... Nope, it's nothing!"
Quickly, I cover up my mouth and turn away. Just now, I almost blurt out everything because of his gaze...
"Sorry, I'm a little tired."
About to suffocate from the stress, I excuse myself and step inside.
Late at night.
After tossing and turning for countless time, I sit up from bed. Holding my head and sighing again.
How can I sleep when Rin is still in their hand? I have to save her. But How?!
Right now, I absolutely have no idea what is the right thing to do. Even worse, I cannot tell anyone about it.
Should I just pretend playing along and backstab them when the chance come? But if I try to do, Rin will get hurt!
None of us knows how much more that thief is capable of. Running away or hiding is no longer the best choice. Fighting back alone? Definitely not...
What is going to happen if I join their side? What kind of shady job are they going to order me to do?
My mind is a mess, I can't think of anything straight anymore.
...I should have asked about it when I had the chance.
In the end, they didn't even tell me how to find them. Do I need to shout out something or jump off a cliff as a sign?
"Shiomi."
A deep voice cuts through my train of thought and I turn around. Seeing him standing right at our bedroom door.
"Sesshomaru!"
And I approach him for a hug. As always, his unique scent gives me a soothing feeling.
"Did you find anything?"
Sesshomaru remains silence to my question. So I take my guess that it didn't go well.
"You must be tired. How about taking some rest?"
When I ask him to stay for the night, he refuses.
"I only return to check on you."
After seeing that I'm doing alright, he will leave again to search for Rin.
"Even when Rin's in danger, I cannot do anything to help..."
Not going to let me finish that speech, Sesshomaru cuts in.
"The battlefield isn't a place for someone like you. Stay home."
Once again, he reminds me not to try anything reckless without informing the others beforehand, especially him. In order to keep our situation from getting worse than it's already is, as well as my life intact.
What if... I'm the only one who can save Rin?
But how am I suppose to stand around and watch. When that thought keeps on haunting my mind like this?