Complete the Circle
Author's Note: To answer tzezuko, yes, Sesshoumaru and Rin appear in the present. Inuyasha's father is not exactly alive in the present, but he's there. And Naraku is definitely going to appear again.
On another note, this story is turning out to be longer than I had originally planned. I wonder, is that a good or bad thing?
Chapter Fourteen: I Remember
Sango followed Kagome as she walked home. She was walking pretty fast for a person who was supposed to have been sick until she arrived. She wondered if Kagome had made up the illness for some reason. But what reason is there to make up an illness, or in her case, several illnesses?
"Kagome-chan," she said, trying to get her new friend to talk to her. She had been acting strange ever since the café. "What's the rush?"
"Nothing," Kagome replied, slowing down a bit. "I just… I just wanted to ask Shippou something."
"Shippou? You mean the kitsune?" Sango asked. "What did you want to ask him?"
"Nothing," Kagome mumbled.
"Fine then," Sango said, a bit more sharply than she had intended.
"Sango-chan…" Kagome started, but then stopped. She bit her lip in anxiety. "Sango-chan, can you please walk with me in the park? I want to tell you some things."
"Sure," Sango said, glad to have Kagome act semi-normal again. But what does she want to talk to me about? Oh well. I have a few questions I want to ask her myself. Like how did two youkai end up living with her.
The two walked to a nearby park. Sango saw a cute little slide and some children playing around. She followed Kagome as she went deeper into the park, into the more private and quiet areas. Kagome walked off the path of the park, heading into the trees. Sango followed reluctantly, wondering why they couldn't discuss what they were about to discuss in an ice cream parlor or something.
"I think no one will be able to listen to our conversation here," Kagome said, stopping in a small clearing.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Sango asked, the setting sun warming her skin. She usually loved to watch the sun set, but now, she felt a strange sense of foreboding.
"Well, the reason I left the café so quickly was because I wanted to ask Shippou something," Kagome started, "and what I wanted to ask him was how my friends…died." Sango looked at Kagome in sympathy.
"Do you mean that little kid saw your friends die?" Sango asked, feeling pity for Kagome and Shippou.
"Yes, but before you say anything else, I want you to understand something," Kagome said, looking at Sango levelly in the eye, "I think that you are the reincarnation of my friend." Sango was about to burst out laughing and call Kagome crazy when she continued, "Not only do you look the same, but your personalities are very similar also. I know it sounds crazy, and I'm not even sure if I'm right, but…right now it's what I believe in."
"But, Kagome-chan," Sango said, trying to bring reason to her friend, "If what you say is true, then wouldn't I be, like, a baby or something? I mean, I should be younger than you if I'm the reincarnation of your friend. Unless you met her a long time ago, or something."
"You're right," Kagome replied, "I did meet her a long time ago. In fact, I met her in the Sengoku Jidai." Sango looked at Kagome like she was crazy. But Kagome-chan isn't the type to lie or joke about this type of thing. And to be able to see a youkai in this era is pretty rare, unless she did go to the Sengoku Jidai and brought the youkai to her home from there. But…but that's impossible!
"There's a well at the shrine where I live in," Kagome said quickly, starting to pace, "It's called the bone-gobbling well. Originally, it was used to dispose of dead youkai's bones, for whatever was thrown in the well mysteriously disappeared a few days later. The same thing sort of happened to me. I went into the well house to fetch my cat, Buyo, when a youkai came out of the well and grabbed me. It pulled me to the Sengoku Jidai, where I met and befriended you, or rather, your past self." She paused, closing her eyes as if to push a painful memory away. "Your past self joined the group that had formed around me for revenge on the one who had slain your entire village. You, Miroku-sama, Shippou, Kirara, and someone you don't remember right now had joined with me to reform the Jewel of the Four Souls, the Shikon no Tama. And to defeat Naraku, the one who you wanted revenge on. Two weeks ago, before you came here and before the well was sealed, I went to the Sengoku Jidai for our last battle against Naraku. Naraku was supposed to be killed in this battle… Naraku won." Kagome leaned against a nearby tree, sinking to her knees. "Shippou and Kirara were the only ones left alive, other than me. Shippou told me that you, I mean your past self, Miroku-sama's past self, and Inu—the guy that you don't know, all died by Naraku's hands."
"Kagome-chan…" Sango didn't know what to say. What am I supposed to say? She's talking about my past self, so how am I supposed to respond to that? It's not like I remember anything that she's saying. And if it was my past life, I don't think I want to remember. It seems so tragic. And yet, Kagome-chan kept on going through the well to the Sengoku Jidai just to reform the Shikon no Tama. I don't think I can be that strong or determined. And did Kagome say "Miroku-sama?" No wonder she kept on acting weird around him. How would I deal with this if I were in Kagome's situation? I would tell the people who look and act like my friends what had happened in their past lives in hopes of getting them to remember. Friendships aren't so easily broken, and if I were Kagome-chan, I would try to be friends with the people who used to be my friends. Does that even make any sense?
"I… I just thought that you should know this background, just in case," Kagome said, getting up and brushing herself off.
"Just in case what?" Sango asked, curious and a little bit frightened by the tale that Kagome had just told her.
"Remember Naraku won? Well, that means that he must still be alive, and since he's a powerful youkai, or rather half youkai, he will probably have lived long enough to exist in this time," Kagome said, her eyes getting a hard look. "I just want you to be prepared, in case anything weird starts to happen to you."
"What do you mean? Naraku already killed me, so why would he want to kill me again?" Sango asked, her sense of foreboding growing stronger.
"I know this is strange, but don't you think it's weird that first you show up, then Miroku-sama? I mean, if you're the reincarnation of someone, that doesn't restrict you to the country that your past self was born in. You could've been born in Europe, America, South America, but you were born here, and then you show up here after the well was sealed. It's almost like you're here again for a reason." Kagome frowned. "If I'm correct, then that means that whatever our mission was in the Sengoku Jidai, it hasn't ended with the sealing of the well. I think something is about to happen, and fate, or luck, has thrown us together again."
"If you're right, then what am I supposed to do?" Sango asked, her tone slightly callous. "I don't know what I can do against Naraku, or whoever it is. I don't know any martial arts or anything. I don't have any holy powers. What do you expect me to do?"
"I don't know!" Kagome said, frustrated. "I don't even know why this is happening! I'm supposed to be grieving for my friends, not making a battle plan on how to get my friends together then try to defeat Naraku again!" The two of them stood there in the tranquility of the grove, silent and thinking. Finally Kagome spoke again.
"I'm thinking that nothing will probably happen until everyone from the past has gathered together again," Kagome said tiredly. "If fate did throw us together again, then I'm sure, or at least I hope, that fate is nice enough not to present us with any challenges until the old group is together again." Sango nodded silently in agreement. This isn't fair at all! Why should my stupid past life interfere with my present life?
It's kind of like Kikyo interfering with Kagome's life, some deep part of her said.
Huh? Who's Kikyo? Sango frowned, wondering where that name had come from. Suddenly a huge snake appeared from seemingly nowhere and grabbed Kagome.
"Give me the Shikon no Tama!" it hissed. It's… It's a youkai! And it's after the Shikon no Tama! Does that mean Kagome really is telling the truth?
"Get away!" Kagome screamed, trying to beat it off with her fists.
"Kagome-chan, give me the Shikon no Tama! I'll distract it while you get away!" Sango suggested, her heart pounding crazily in her chest, panicking with her mind.
"I don't have the Shikon no Tama!" Kagome screamed, trying to kick the snake. The snake started to squeeze her. She doesn't have it?! Then why is that thing attacking her? Unless someone told the stupid youkai that she had it. But who would do that? Naraku?
Sango picked up a fallen branch and tried to hurt the snake with it, but the youkai just batted her away.
"Fools, give me the Shikon no Tama and I might consider sparing your pitiful lives," the snake youkai hissed, squeezing Kagome more tightly. Suddenly a streak of red appeared on the side of its head and Sango heard the sound of something that sounded like a knife hitting against a tree. She looked over to where the sound had come from and found a finely crafted blade lying in the grass. She quickly ran to the blade and picked it up, cutting at the snake's tail until the snake loosened its grip enough on Kagome to allow her to escape.
That was easy. This blade is better than the blade I used as a taiji-ya-san. She looked at the blade absentmindedly before she realized that she had never even seen, much less held a real blade in her life. But I have. I used a blade when my other weapon, Hiraikotsu, was unavailable to me. Wait… Hiraikotsu?
The snake was about to attack the two girls when a sword flashed in the dimming afternoon light, slicing the snake's head off. The body evaporated into thin air. A moment later, they saw an old man flick the blood off the sword and slide the blade gracefully back into its sheath. He walked towards the two, his face grim.
"May I have my dagger back, Miss?" he asked. Sango obediently gave the man back his dagger. This man… He's a youkai, too. Then why did he help us? Wait a minute… How do I know he's a youkai? Sango felt something seem to flow through her, as if it came from her soul. I know because…because I'm a youkai exterminator. The last left in the village. The village… It was destroyed by Naraku. And my brother, Kohaku… He was dead, but then he was alive again. Sango didn't know what to feel at the moment. Sad because she had failed in her revenge and died? Or happy because she had a new life with both her parents and her brother, who looked amazingly similar to the old Kohaku? She had a family again, and her brother was with her once more, but Naraku was still alive.
"You," the old man said, startling both Sango and Kagome, "be careful. That shall not be the last youkai to attack you. In this day and age, not many youkai care about the Shikon no Tama any longer, but some still do. Unless you get your act together, Miko, you should start preparing for your funeral. If you have the Shikon no Tama, then destroy it quickly, if you haven't already." The old man's gray hairs shimmered like his blade in the setting sun, his gaze steady on Kagome as his dagger melded into his arm. "I don't want some all powerful youkai destroying the peace around here. I love my family too much to see some fool of a youkai threatening their safety. Do you understand me, Miko?"
Kagome nodded quickly. Sango was surprised when the youkai suddenly smiled.
"Just be careful, child. You are still young. Don't do anything foolish," he said as he walked away, disappearing into a cluster of trees. Sango heard Kagome let out a sigh of relief.
"So, there really are youkai like Inuyasha, good, I mean," Sango said, waiting for Kagome to start for the path in the park.
"Yeah," Kagome replied, starting to walk towards the park's path. She stopped abruptly. "Sango-chan, did you just—"
"Kagome," Sango interrupted, "I remember everything."