Summary~ As the final battle against Naraku draws nearer, unexpected allies—and enemies—are made. And the many changing relationships are making everyone tense and confused.
Disclaimer~I don't own Inuyasha, Kagome, or any of the show. I own the plot and any other characters you don't recognize.
Chapter One
Kagome was glad that she had been able to come home without too much of a fuss from Inuyasha. She hadn't even had to "sit" him. She felt the familiar sensation of time travel and then the firm ground under her feet. 'Ugh, it's a good thing my pack is just about empty. I'm so dead-tired that it I tried to climb out with it full, I would never be able to get out.' She stretched and her eyes landed on a ladder. 'Wow, that's so considerate…must have been Mom's idea.' Higurashi Kagome's grandfather, while smart and educated, had very little common sense, and Sota, her little brother, would never have thought of a ladder. His overactive imagination would have made him suggest some clever contraption that would never have worked.
Kagome's smile turned into a small frown. How would she tell them that she very possibly might not be coming back? She sighed. 'One step at a time, girl, and the first step is getting out of this well.' She straightened her shoulders and began climbing up.
The first thing she saw—after she stupidly threw open the door to the wellhouse at let her eyes adjust to the sudden light—was Grandpa sweeping the paths of the shrine.
"Ohayo Grandpa!" The old man nearly dropped the broom as he spun around.
"Kagome! You know better to scare a frail old man like that!" he scolded.
"Oh Grandpa, you may be old, but you're about as frail as I am sick with all those things you say I am." She giggled.
The old man smiled. "Kagome, it's good to have you back. Unless you want to finish up these steps, why don't you go tell the others that you're back? I believe there might be some oden left over from—" He never got to finish his sentence, for Kagome had rushed off as soon as "oden" left his lips.
Kagome ran into the kitchen, nearly stepping on Buyo. She did, however, scare the living daylights out of her mom, no "nearly" about it.
"AHHH! Kagome, you scared the living daylights out of me!" Shiori mocked-scolded her daughter. Kagome looked confused for a second, then she caught on.
"Scared you enough for you to drop dead?"
"Nope."
"Darn." Kagome smiled as she threw her arms around her mother. It had been so long since she had been able to play the game with her mom. The game that Kagome had started when she turned 13. Kagome wished that the familiar pattern would never be forgotten. The last time it had been played was right before her 15 birthday…
"Kagome? What's wrong?" Shiori asked, sensing her daughter's sadness.
Kagome looked at her mom. "Mama…um, we have to talk." She broke off the hug, turning her face slightly away and bit her lip.
Shiori knew something was wrong and she had a good feeling that it had to do with either the boy with cute ears or something else in the past. "Kagome…let's go outside." There was a special part of the shrine that linked mother and daughter. It was their "special" place: the back stairs of the shrine, with the house behind them and a small forest in front of them. That was were Kagome and Shiori headed now.
They sat down, neither saying a word, just sitting in companionable silence as they watched the clouds drift lazily over the sun and through the sky.
"Mom…what would you say if I told you something hard to believe?"
"It depends on what you would tell me, Kagome. If it was about the Warring States, then I would be surprised. After all, you have told me next to nothing about it." There was little hurt in her voice, mostly just calmness.
"Mama…" Kagome shifted slightly to face her. "How come you let me go? How come you never once said I couldn't go? Why did you never once tell me to stay?"
"Kagome…you don't live in a shrine all your life without living magic." The confused look on Kagome's face told her to go on. "I was born and raised in this shrine. Many things happened here. I moved out only after I met your father and I moved back in when he died. I know legends and secrets like the back of my hands. But that alone did not convince me to let you go. It was a dream I hand while you were being born."
"A dream?"
"Hai." It became apparent that the woman intended to say no more, so Kagome changed the subject.
"…Mama? What if…I'm scared, Mama." Kagome stared at her mom with glistening eyes.
Shiori examined her daughter for just a second before gathering her raven-haired daughter in her arms. Kagome sank into the embrace, sniffling softly. Shiori stroked her hair down and whispered words of reassurance. After several minutes, Kagome pulled away—although Shiori's arm was still around her shoulder—and wiped her eyes.
"Kagome, don't be scared. I know you, and I know you won't die. You're too stubborn for one thing." This managed to get Kagome to give a half-hearted smile. "And that young man won't let you die. Just believe in yourself, him, and your friends, Kagome."
Kagome looked at her. "You believe in me?"
"Hai Kagome. I will always believe in you, even if you stay there forever."
"Mama? What does that mean?"
Shiori smiled at her daughter. "I know you love him."
The girl sputtered. "Huh? What? I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
The woman let out a laugh. "Kagome, you can't tell a lie if your life depended on it."
Kagome blushed. "Mama…I do. I do love Inuyasha. But so much stuff happens, and I-I don't know if he loves me back." She turned to her mother. "How can you tell?"
Shiori bit her lip. "It differs, Kagome. And it's hard to tell, especially if he had a bad life. But I do believe he cares for you very much, if not loves you.
"Mama…thank you."
The two women watched the clouds float by.
~*~*~*~*~
"Grandpa? Grandpa, where are you?" Kagome's voice drifted through humid air, and around the building to where her Grandpa was sweeping the steps. "Oh, there you are, Grandpa." The schoolgirl walked to the old man and stood slightly away from him, as though she was nervous.
"Kagome? Child, what's wrong?" He stopped sweeping and instead looked at her, leaning on the old broom.
"Grandpa? What…what do you think of Inuyasha?"
The old man's features hardened. "I think that no good demon should go back to where he came and not bother my granddaughter anymore."
"Kagome looked at him. "Nani?" She looked puzzled. "Why?"
"He's a demon, a killer, an uncouth unhuman." The man clenched his hands.
"That's not fair Grandpa!"
"Why? You telling me he's never killed a human before?"
"And you say you haven't?" She shot back with venom in her voice. But, even with the venom, she felt like crying.
"Kagome…that was different. It was war, it was pride, it was—"
"—It was foolish stupidity. You killed for LAND. Inuyasha has killed for his LIFE. There's a big difference there!"
"Kagome, why are you defending him?"
"…"
He gasped. "Kagome…don't tell me…" She averted her face, looking down, up, anywhere but at him. "Kagome…" his voice held a warning to it, to talk to him. "Kagome-chan…do you…love…the hanyou?"
She said nothing.
He silently cursed. "Don't you see? The hanyou has cast a spell over you! We must cleanse you at once! We must—"
"Shut up." The coldness in her voice told him too late that he had gone too far. She glared at him. "Grandpa, I'm not under a spell. I don't need to be cleansed. And I would prefer it if you called him 'Inuyasha', not 'hanyou'."
"Kagome…that filthy youkai is not deserving to be called by name." It happened so fast that no one could comprehend what happened.
Kagome had slapped him. She had slapped her grandfather, her family, her *grandpa*. He stood with one hand still holding the broom while the other went up to his jaw and he touched it gingerly. Kagome dropped her hand and stared in shock. After a long moment of silence, Kagome dropped to her knees and started crying.
"Grandpa…I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to…" He dropped the broom and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry too, Kagome. I shouldn't have said those things…"
Kagome looked at him. "Grandpa…please…onegai…don't make me choose between you and Inuyasha…"
The old man sighed. "I'm sorry Kagome. I've grown up hating youkais. I will have to meditate on this." He stood up and walked away, leaving the tear-stained Kagome on the pathway.
~*~*~*~*~
Kagome ran down the stairs. "Bye Mama, I'm gonna go meet the girls!"
"Kagome, wait!" Sota ran down the stairs after her. "I thought we were gonna go to that place today!"
Kagome winced. 'That's right, I told him I'd take him to the arcade.' "Ano…sorry Sota, but I can't take you. Have Mama or someone else. I have to go."
"Nani? But it's tradition. You have to take me!"
"No, I don't. I have to go meet my friends. Sorry, but I'm not taking you."
"Demo…it's tradition! And I never get to spend time with you!"
That paused Kagome. It was true; she never spent time around him anymore. She was either in the Sengoku Jidai or with her friends. But still…she continued putting her shoes on. "Sorry Sota, but I have to go. If it's so important, then go with someone else." She slid her shoes on.
"Kagome! You're so mean! I hate you!" he ran upstairs and slammed his door. She looked up. 'Guess I shouldn't have broken tradition…but I have to talk to my friends. Sota's a kid…he'll be okay.' She ran out the door.
~*~*~*~*~
"Mama? Grandpa? I'm home!" she walked into the living room only to be greeted by her mother's worried face. "What is it?" She asked, filled with worry and apprehension.
"Kagome dear…it's Sota. He locked himself up in his room and won't come out."
"Oh…well, a lot of kids do that, don't they?"
"He's been in there for several hours and…he's crying."
Kagome froze at that revelation. "I'm…gonna go talk to him."
Shiori nodded. "That might help…"
Kagome walked up the stairs in a daze. She paused outside of his room and deliberated about what to say. "Sota? Open up, would you?"
"Go away. I hate you."
Kagome tried several more times, only to get more of the same responses. She walked to her room, sighing and feeling incredibly guilty. "I'll try more in the morning," she muttered as she got into her comfy bed.
~*~*~*~*~
The raven-haired miko stretched and yawned as she woke up. She got dressed and packed. She was still upset though.
After that, she tried to talk to Sota again, but he had not come out. She got the same responses as the same day.
After a tense and silent breakfast, she went back upstairs. "Sota? I'm leaving now." No response. "Sota? Are you gonna say goodbye?" No response. "Sota? Well…ja ne."
She turned and brought her pack downstairs. She hugged her mother tightly. Her grandpa smiled and said in her ear when they hugged, "I'll try." She had smiled and hugged him even tighter. Then they separated and she looked upstairs. "Well…ja." She hefted her pack up and walked to the well house.
"What am I doing?" Sota asked himself out loud. "Sis needs forgiveness…she must be pretty stressed in the past…" He stood up and ran downstairs.
Kagome poised on the lip of the well. She gave in last look at the shrine before looking down into the inky blackness of the well. "Well, here I come."
"SIS!"
"Huh?" She looked around and saw Sota come running in. He ran straight at her and jumped into her arms, knocking them both into the well.
The last thing she thought was 'Oh no' as the familiar time travel sensation traveled up her spine.
Well, what'd you think? Good? Bad? I'm a little concerned with how the conversation between Kagome and her grandpa played out…thanx to MoonyMonster for helping me with that part!
Starwriter ~ lol, that did sound sadistic…
Blackscarf Dragon Ninja ~ well, it was just the prologue, plus, it was all dialogue. Is this enough feeling for you? ^_~
MoonyMonster ~ Lol, thanx for the 11! I feel so proud!
Panny-chan ~ Lol, hound me everyday at school and I'll avoid you…lol, it's gonna be a long time before this is finished.
Kleptomaniac sam ~ hhhhhhheeeeeeeerrrrrrrreeeee yoooooouuuuuuu goooooooo! ^_~
Goddess of Death ~ ^_____________________________^ THANK YOU!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!