Of This World and Yesterday
I'm so tired, but I can't sleep
Standing on the edge of something much too deep....
-Sarah McLachlan, I Will Remember You
Chapter 10- Shadowed
Setsuna padded silently into the living room, her heels removed and replaced with fuzzy yellow slippers, her suit exchanged for a navy tank top and grey sweatpants, a rather extreme change of clothing for the usually impeccably dressed Soldier of Time. In her hands, she held a cup of green tea, the cool surface catching the light of the lamps on the ceiling fan, white and glimmering inside the house of the Outer Senshi. For a moment, she stood in beside the arching entranceway between hall and room, sipping her tea and looking at the tall weapon with calculating garnet eyes.
Sango's hiraikotsu leaned against the white wall, and Setsuna was trying to figure out what to do with it. It was much too large to carry in modern day Tokyo. Even a hundred years earlier, it would have been a bit conspicuous, though perhaps not nearly so much. Then, maybe it would be passable on the street...odd looks, maybe, but passable. Tokyo in this day and age? Definitely not. There had to be a way to hide it or disguise it.
She was interrupted from her considerations when the sound of water ceased. Looking up from her tea, she stared at the ceiling for a moment, realizing that Sango must have finished her shower. Water had been coursing through the pipes for several minutes, following an explanation of a bathroom and how to use it. They'd been through it with Kami before, and with another time-displaced person on hand, it made it a good deal easier to explain, despite Kami's rather quaint ways of telling her how to do things. But it got the point across well enough.
No phone calls. Nothing on the message recorder, other than the insurance company about her car. Haruka and Michiru were still not back from Vienna, and that was troubling. Returning home, the three senshi expected to see the familiar mounds of Michiru's luggage in the hallway, and the two of them squabbling lightly about how much the aqua haired violinist could take with her on a trip.
"Are you feeling well, Setsuna-san?" a soft voice asked, and she saw Kami emerge silently from the shadows of the hallway, some books in hand, folded so that Setsuna could not see the covers. Kami, too, was prepared for sleep, barefoot and with her hair out of its loops, plaited, now wearing green silk pajamas. "What is it?"
Setsuna sipped her tea again, then cast a worried glance at the giant boomerang. "I'm trying to decide what to do with it. It's much too conspicuous."
"I've been thinking about that too," Kami nodded, reaching out and carefully running a hand over the smooth side of hiraikotsu. "We could barely fit in the car with it, much less take it with us into the city." Her hand grew still as she reached the sharper side of the weapon, withdrawing after a moment. "My memories of them are still somewhat clouded. But this is Sango's primary weapon. It would not be good to take it from her. Too useful."
"Yes," Setsuna agreed, watching the other woman draw back a bit, eyes soft and slightly sad. Curiosity did not usually press itself in Setsuna, but she felt the need to be clearer on what happened in the sengoku jidai. Guardian of the Timegate she may be, but she was hardly omnipotent. "Kami-san, what did happen, when you met with them before?"
Kami's small hands tightened on her books a bit, and she looked down at the deep carpet, closing her eyes and drawing breath. "Two of the shikon no kakera landed at my old home. Where my memorial was. Everything has four souls, and when those four souls are balanced, all things in one person are in harmony. But the shards that landed were corrupt, and as a yurei, I could not balance them well," Kami glanced at Setsuna, the older woman with an impassive face. After a moment, she continued, "It was as though there were two of me. One good, one ill. It was the first time my power as a senshi was made manifest, and I began to slip into dreams."
"You attacked them?"
Kami turned a deep shade of red, squeezing her eyes shut. "Yes. It was an unpleasant thing. I could watch from inside myself, but I could not help much."
There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, softly falling, and Sango appeared at the base holding a pillow, Hotaru behind her carrying several blankets. The two of them were watching Kami's explanation, Sango surprised, Hotaru white faced. There was a mewling sound, and Kirara's ears perked up from where she rode on Sango's shoulder. The taiji-ya still had wet hair, bound up in a loose bun atop her head, several tendrils falling around her shoulders. Setsuna had lent her a white terry cloth robe, and in the shadows of the hallway, she dimly glowed as she walked forward. "We knew it wasn't really you, Kami-san...I'm sorry, but seeing you here was disconcerting."
"I don't blame you for being frightened," Kami sighed, hugging her books closer to her chest as Sango and Hotaru approached. Hotaru was also dressed for sleep, an oversized blue tee-shirt serving duty as a nightgown, loosely hanging on her thin frame. "Please forgive me, taiji-ya-san."
"It's alright, Kami-san," Sango told her evenly, seeing signs of guilt and misery on Kami's face. "The Shikon no Tama has a very negative effect on people who use them. It came into your possession by accident, didn't it?" When Kami nodded, Sango continued, "Then the results are not really your fault. You or not you, people change under the influence of the tama. That's what makes it so dangerous."
Kami nodded, lips drawn thin. "I only remember some of what happened then. I hope the experiences were not too bad."
"We survived," Sango replied, thinking back to that time, and the dreams they were given. The removal of the shikon no kakera from Kohaku's back, catching him as he fell. Houshi-sama, standing there...she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head sharply to clear it from memories. Another memory of that time overlapped that thought, and she fought a blush, biting her lip. Houshi-sama could be such an idiot sometimes. Perhaps, had one of the Inners been present, they would have noticed the flush on her cheeks, but this was, of course, the home of the Outer Senshi, and noticing blushes was not quite the norm. "You held back that evil half of yourself, and lifted that wall around you for Inuyasha to destroy it. You fought back against it, Kami-san, and we know that. It wasn't very long ago we left your mansion, but we...we're all right now."
"Thank you..." Kami breathed, feeling a bit better for the forgiveness.
"Setsuna-mama, onee-san?" Hotaru finally queried, shyly edging her way into the living room with her blankets. She was glad to change the subject, and Sango's forgiving words relieved her. Part of her wanted to know more about what happened to her sister so many centuries ago. Much of who Kami was remained a mystery in ways. They knew how she died, but not so much about how she lived. Though this story...this story frightened Hotaru in a way.
Two people, sharing one spirit, living off each other, one surfacing and attacking innocent people or friends. She suppressed a shudder, reminding herself that Mistress 9 was gone. Gone.
She refused to talk about her any more. Hotaru wanted to forget. It happened, it was the past. Gone away...far away...Papa....
Hotaru sealed away the thoughts, returning to the present as everyone waited for her to continue. "Setsuna-mama, onee-san? I was showing Sango-san where to sleep...the couch, right?"
"Yes," Setsuna replied, backing away and balancing her empty teacup. "Is that all right with you, Sango-san? It's comfortable."
"I'm used to sleeping just about anywhere...even this...carpet..." she stumbled over the word uncertainly, "is softer than the ground. No futon here?"
"No. Just Western style beds."
"They take a bit of getting used to," Kami chimed in, a small smile beginning to form on her face as she relaxed, thinking of the first time she'd been introduced to a foreign bed. It was so high from the ground! She was afraid she'd fall off it in her sleep. "But you do get used to them."
"We'd give you Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama's bed for tonight, but we don't know when they'll be back...they're already late," Hotaru told Sango worriedly. "Their plane should have been back hours ago...maybe we should try to raise them on the communicator, Setsuna-mama."
Setsuna set her teacup down on the end table, empty. "The range is too narrow to call Vienna. They'll call when they get back, I'm sure, but until then we should try to-"
As if on cue, the phone rang, and Sango nearly leapt out of her skin at the clanging noise, Kirara leaping out onto the floor and hissing, spinning wildly as she searched for the source of the sound. "No, No, taji-ya-san," Kami tried to calm as Hotaru dropped her blankets on the couch and knelt beside Kirara, making soothing noises to the agitated cat. "It's the phone. People can talk over very long ways with it. It's harmless, I promise."
Again it rang, and Setsuna hurried from the room. A moment later, the ring cut off abruptly, and they heard her voice saying, "Hello? Haruka! What- you're where? Why?" the conversation became muted as Setsuna lowered her voice to a more normal speech pattern, her murmurings not quite carrying to the other room.
"They're not in Japan," Hotaru realized as she stood up, tentatively holding a calmer Kirara. After a moment, the firecat allowed herself to be petted, at Hotaru smiled faintly as the cat purred. Then she frowned again, turning her head towards Setsuna's voice. "I don't like this. It stinks of planning."
"You think this Karasu person could keep your other step-parents from returning?" Sango asked her, a little puzzled. "What is this plane thing you said they were coming on as well? Is that a ship?"
"An airplane," Hotaru explained. "It's...well, you saw our car, right? Planes are a lot larger, and they have metal wings. People fly inside them, very fast, from one place to another. We can show you Vienna on a map, if you'd like, and where we are from there. It's pretty far away."
"Oh..." Sango managed as there was a click from the other room, and a poker-faced Setsuna returned, announcing what she had just been told.
"They're in Rome. Waylaid by an electrical storm. This is very convenient for our friend Karasu."
"That's what Hotaru just said," Sango informed her, sitting down on the edge of the couch, and running a hand over the smooth upholstery, sakura patterned and elegant. Whoever decorated the house had exquisite taste, and even a time-displaced taiji-ya could see that. "Wouldn't she have to know who and where they were though, to use magic to slow them down?"
Kami sucked in her breath sharply, and Hotaru stopped petting Kirara at that suggestion.
"There is no reason to panic yet," Setsuna told them firmly, looking from one to another. "We don't have any evidence of that, not yet. Coincidental, yes. Bad news, yes. But not devastating. We can fight without Uranus and Neptune if necessary."
"That reminds me...Setsuna-san, Kami-san, Hotaru-chan...it doesn't seem natural for people to walk about with weaponry in your era..." Sango glanced at hiraikotsu against the wall. Behind it, her sheathed sword lay balanced against the wall, ready. "I can probably sneak Kirara around with me somehow, but I don't want to walk around without any weapons. Even my short sword would be better than nothing. Is there a way to conceal them? Either of them?"
"We were just talking about that, actually," Setsuna sighed, once again returning her attention to the boomerang. "The best way is to hide it in a temporal warp pocket, the way the others and I keep our Talismans."
"Talismans?" Sango began, then waved her hand as she thought of something. "Your weapons. The place you sent it back to, making it invisible you mean? The large key I saw earlier today? You two have them as well?"
"I have a Glaive, and onee-san a naginata. Haruka-papa has the Space Sword, Michiru-mama the Deep Aqua Mirror. A dimensional pocket would probably work...Setsuna-mama can probably figure out how to do that."
"It will take some work, but I think I can manage it," she allowed carefully, trying to think of the proper blend of magic and physics required to generate something like that. For a senshi, it came directly from the power of their planet, generated naturally. The concept was familiar, but to create a false pocket warp would take some doing. "What to hide it in, though?"
"I've been thinking about that," Kami winked, holding up the books in her hands and turning them around. The title proudly displayed, "Magic Knight Rayearth" in scripted font on the cover, where three girls were dramatically posing. "Usagi-sama's birthday gift is very addicting! But the Magic Knights use these things here," she opened the book to show Setsuna, then Sango, "these glove jewels. What about a bracelet, with a gem?"
Setsuna was nodding, slowly, then more firmly as she considered it. "Perhaps a verbal link to summoning the weapon as well? Same as a henshin sequence?"
"We can borrow something of Michiru's. She doesn't take everything with her."
The three glanced at Sango, who was blinking up at them from where she sat. "Ah...well...I suppose that sounds all right..." she managed, not really following everything, but getting the general idea.
"Setsuna-san," Kami interjected thoughtfully. "If it is all right with the taji-ya-san, may I help with the making of the pocket dimension?" she turned lavender eyes to Sango. "I'd feel better about it, if the power behind it came from me. To apologize and compensate for before."
"That's...fine," Sango agreed, a bit startled. But she supposed it would make a final gesture of friendship between the two groups, sealing a fissure created by Kami's presence and past.
Setsuna picked up her teacup to take to the kitchen, saying, "Fine, then. I'll show you what you need to do. First lets rummage through Michiru's jewelry box and see what we can find."
"I think she left her one bracelet with the white opal," Hotaru suggested, returning Kirara to the taiji-ya and yawning.
"Hotaru-chan, you'd better get to bed," Setsuna warned her. "School is early tomorrow, you don't want to oversleep."
"Yes, Setsuna-mama," the girl sighed, running a hand through her short, straight hair. School tomorrow, as always. "Let me help Sango-san get her things laid out, and I'll head up."
"Good night, taiji-ya-san," Kami bowed, the long braid of her hair flopping over her shoulder as she did so. "Good night, Hotaru-chan."
"'Night...."
It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
The room was dimly lit for sleep, and Kagome blearily opened one eye to see the ceiling and the glass covered light. Sleep was eluding her, too many thoughts swirling around in her head at once, milling over the events of the day. Lightly, she touched her chest, a faint burning sensation still lingering there, the place where the crystal of her soul had emerged. Before, when Urasue had removed it from her, it had been nebulous and large; somehow Karasu had compacted that aura into something small and gleaming. Same idea, different result from different magic.
Quietly, Kagome turned her head to the side, seeing Shippou down by her waist. The kitsune had a small blanket half over him, his arms splayed to the sides and his mouth wide open as he dreamed away, comfortable with Kagome's familiar presence. Carefully, not to disturb him, she pulled back the covers of her bed, slipping onto the carpet with cool bare feet. She rubbed sleep from her eyes with a knuckle, suppressing a yawn as she checked the clock. Just past midnight. The house was still, no sounds of anyone moving about.
She slid open the window, leaning outside and feeling the wind brush against her shoulders, whisking the drapes aside so that they floated in the breeze. Poking her head out the window, Kagome's hair trailed as she twisted around to tip upward, seeing only the slope of the roof above. "Inuyasha?" she whispered quietly, hoping the hanyou's hearing would pick up her words. "Hey, Inuyasha...Inuyasha?"
A moment later, a dark haired head poked itself over the ledge, blinking wide eyed at the girl. An annoyed look crossed his face for a moment, and he leapt down, grabbing her outstretched hand and pulling her up to him. "Kagome, you're going to fall out if you do that."
"You'd hear me fall and catch me though," she said, playing to his ego. That earned her a smug look of pride, and she grinned at him as she crawled her way forward to perch beside him, folding her legs up under her and feeling glad she wore pajama pants, not a gown. He had not removed the illusion of the Luna Pen yet, and still wore a red jacket and black tie of his school uniform, his human appearance disconcerting. It still struck her as odd, particularly when she looked upward to see a thick slice of the moon in the sky, a horned crown enveloped in a mantle of golden stars.
"I once read, you know, that a long time ago, people used to believe that the sky was a dome around the Earth, and that the stars were these little pinpricks in it, with the light of heaven shining through," she told him, folding her arms around her knees and resting her chin atop them. "Does that sound silly?"
Inuyasha turned and looked at her oddly, eyes upturned and face reflecting the moonlight. She had a crease on her cheek from her blankets, and her hair was smashed on one side from where she lay on it. Something made him want to reach out and run a hand through it, to straighten it to its normal appearance. She felt his eyes on her, and turned her head. "I couldn't sleep. Tired, but not sleepy. You're still awake?"
"Feh. With some crazy witch running around?" he snorted, at the obvious answer, shrugging and holding up Tetsusaiga at bit, then setting it aside on the roof's tiles. "You should have listened to the Ami girl. Get some sleep."
She shrugged, tilting her head to the side and looking at him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, wondering why she was scrutinizing. After a moment, she let go of her legs and gently reached for his jacket pocket, pulling the Luna Pen from where she placed it that evening.
"You're still in human form. It's strange, when there's a moon out."
"Eh..." he shrugged, taking the pen from her and holding it up slightly to see the prismic end catch and flash brightly, the moonlight flowing naturally over the facets. "Don't you want me to stay this way while I'm here?" he asked her furtively, trying to understand why, but still disliking it. She'd always accepted him as a hanyou...why should the era they were in make a difference?
"Only when we're walking around," Kagome told him, puzzled at his behavior. "Inuyasha...I'm not trying to make you look human all the time...I know you don't like it. But people would be scared...people don't see..." she forced herself to hold back a yawn, "people don't see youkai here. They'd be scared. Humans are dangerous in this time...here, they could kill you."
The concept of humans killing him seemed ludicrous. Him? Feh. But Kagome had a deadly serious expression on her face under the weariness, and he realized she wasn't kidding.
His lips drew into a thin line, and he looked at the gem on the end of the pen. This time, he closed his eyes and said flatly, "This had better work. Moon Power. Make me look normal."
Kagome shielded her eyes from the thin white ribbons of light, which circled around the figure beside her for a moment. Then, as they faded away, she waited for him to look at his hands. Once again, they were clawlike, sharp, and he slipped the pen inside his haori, again the usual Inuyasha she knew. "Back to normal."
"Feh."
"At least we know it works now...this is a human world, Inuyasha...."
He was frowning, ears twitching slightly at her words. Human world...a human world. A human world, not for youkai. Even the senshi were human, wielding powers as humans. Nothing like that before, in his world. As a hanyou, he walked the thin ledge between a human world and a youkai world, a bit of both, but fully neither.
Kagome saw the sadness on his face, through the clouded expression, and wondered what he was thinking about. It had been a long time since they had sat together quietly- the last time, she realized, was not so long ago; the day they left Ukifune's old mansion. A strange warmth filled up her belly, remembering how she had woken from a nightmare, and he had held her, loaning her his strength for a time, letting the dream fade into forgetfulness. Somehow he made it easy to forget, and she felt her cheeks begin to turn a light pink at the fullness of the memory.
Tentatively, she reached out and touched one of the locks of hair that fell over his shoulder, running her fingertips over the silvery whiteness of it. That was how it should be. He turned his head to see her running her hand through his hair, and he reached up and caught her wrist in a delicate grip.
She slipped it out of his hand, and slid it around behind his neck, resting her cheek against his shoulder. He stiffened a moment in surprise, then relaxed as she leaned into him, molding into an embrace and resting his own arms around her shoulders. She yawned again, sleepily, feeling warmth radiate up through his kimono and into her skin.
Half asleep, there was a softness in her expression, a slackness of features that melted away any negative thoughts, revealing contentedness. Sitting that way didn't feel uncomfortable, but instead comforting, and he let himself smile vaguely, resting his chin against her hair for a moment.
The idea of some crazy witch coming and stealing her soul was infuriating. He wished he could walk into the school with everyone else, and he'd have to argue for it in the morning, though he was fairly sure that would earn him an 'osuwari,' school uniform or not. But he was going to be closer this time, and be moving around. No sitting still.
The image of that Karasu woman standing over her body, the crystalline soul of Kagome in her hands...bent over an unconscious body, with human black eyes in the face of a youkai that reeked of bird, of raven. A raven youkai...with human eyes...holding a glowing crystal soul....
"Kuso!"
Kagome blinked, feeling his hand suddenly tense on her back, and she turned her head upward, startled, to see him with wide eyes, staring into the distance, searching.
"Inuyasha? What's wrong?" she tried to twist around to see what he seemed to be staring at, only to have him release her slightly, gripping her shoulders. "What? Inuyasha! What're you doing?"
"That bitch Karasu! I've seen her before!"
Kagome suddenly felt considerably more awake, grabbing his arms. "What? When?"
"Kuso...kuso, I barely remember it...kuso!"
"Inuyasha! What is it? Tell me what's going on!"
"There was something before," he told her seriously, almost shaking her as he tried to recall what happened. "The Hoste shit. I've seen it before. The same way. Kuso...it happened before...she called me like she knew me...that bitch attacked Kaede-babaa once. Long time ago."
"A long time ago?" Kagome repeated, then realized that to Inuyasha, a 'long time ago' probably referred to before being pinned to the Goshinboku tree. "When she was little?"
Inuyasha had released her, and had his hand in a fist, ready to pound something. "Yeah. Stench of birds on her, and crow youkai and their relatives don't have enough power to transform."
Kagome remembered how the Shikon no Tama had shattered in the first place, of how the crow had swallowed it and how she had shot it, accidentally breaking the tama inside the creature. She shuddered at the thought of the repulsive thing. "What happened?"
He caught himself, anger draining for a moment. "Kaede...Kaede and-"
"Kikyou?" Kagome supplied quietly, watching him. He nodded once, then continued:
"Kaede and Kikyou...they were out doing some miko shit...the crystal came out of her chest, like I saw yours do. She was a mess...it's got to be the same woman...half transformed, feathers and a beak but on a human body...she couldn't finish the transformation to a more human look."
"But you fought her off then, didn't you? Kaede is fine now...."
"Feh, now. But if that is her, then she's been alive since before...and kuso, she'd have all that time to sit around and get stronger. She called to me like she knew me...."
A horrible realization dawned in Kagome, and when she looked at Inuyasha, she knew he had come to the same thought. If Karasu knew who Inuyasha was, she may know a considerable amount more about all of them. Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Kagome herself...and even, possibly, the senshi. Watching and waiting, waiting and watching....
"We've got to tell them about this."
"Definitely."
Terms of note:
haori- Inuyasha's red outer kimono
babaa- old lady, old hag
Moshi moshi- 'hello' when answering the phone
Nihon- Japan
Welcome to another edition of Author's Ramblings!
This week, we shall discuss pinpricks of light in the dome of the heavens, which Kagome refers to while she's sitting on the roof with Inuyasha. That's a medieval European belief, that the light of heaven shines through the stars. I was just rambling in the scene, and thought it would be sweet to add in. ^_^
And the infernal question of: What to do with hiraikotsu!
Hope this works okay. I didn't want to leave Sango entirely unarmed, but she obviously couldn't walk around downtown Tokyo with a giant, sharpened boomerang strapped on her back. Conspicious? Just a little. I always liked the idea Clamp came up with for the Magic Knights in Rayearth, hiding weaponry in their glove jewels. So the senshi are now capable of making little magical devices when needed. I don't think they ever have, but...well, I don't think there's a rule saying they can't.... ^^;;;; So the bracelet idea is just a spin off of Clamp's idea. Not mine. Just tweaked a little. ^.~
Last chapter I said that if you emailed (or reviewed, I guess....) that I would let you know if you guessed correctly as to who Karasu put in the antique music box. There was only one correct guess, and I emailed her to let her know already. ^_~ If you didn't get an email from me...sorry. Keep an eye out, and see. It's actually quite important....
And sorry, Haruka and Michiru are still away. Don't worry, it won't be too much longer before they come. But there are a lot of major characters in this fic, since I'm trying not to play favorites and make it about one character in particular. Keeping some people away temporarily helps me juggle the many characters, particularly on the Sailormoon side. There're more senshi than Inuyasha-tachi.
So, til next storytime.
~Queen
Coming up next, in Chapter 11: Familiarities-
She was concentrating on one of the video games, rapidly moving the controls. He watched as a smile suddenly lit her face while a beeping noise began to emit from the machine, and she beamed at the young man beside her.
Miroku frowned.