Complete the Circle
Chapter Twenty-One: The Fortuneteller
Miroku ate his dinner silently. His parents were still out working, so he had cooked his own dinner and now sat before the television, eating. Although the television was on, he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on within it. He spun his fork around in his spaghetti, his eyebrows creased in consternation.
There's something wrong with Kagome and Sango, he thought. All right, let's review the facts. Kagome is a modern miko who has a lot of power and just happens to live with not one, but two youkai. I could feel the presence of another youkai in that house, even if the youkai never showed their face. But anyway, there's two youkai at her house. That kid, Shippou, should not have enough power to transform for so long, yet he can. Hmm, I wonder why… I wonder if that kid has a Shikon shard in him…nah. Those things only exist in legends. Then again, youkai are only supposed to exist in legends, too. Hmm, I'll have to leave that at a question mark.
Okay, now Sango. Comes from a family of youkai exterminators. That should explain any weird things about her, but it doesn't. I want to know how she was able to last against Inuyasha that long. If she were truly the beginner her father says she is, which I doubt, then she should have been knocked out of that match a long time ago. Plus, she's pretty violent. I've only known her for, what, a week? And she's already hitting me as if though she's known me her whole life. Strange girl.
How are they connected? Sango seemed to get pretty close to Kagome ever since that afternoon in the café. I wonder if something had happened after school to get them so close. One day they're strangers becoming friends, and the next day, they're best buds.
Now it's to the question of "why would a miko be friends with a youkai?" That question should be easy, but it's not. Let's see, why am I, the grandson of a priest, the friend of a youkai, if you can call him that? I knew him before I knew that youkai were bad, so that's how we became such good friends. Did the girl know the kid before—no, that's wrong. The kitsune looks younger than her. Then again, it's kind of hard to tell a youkai's age just by looking at them. Okay, so the relationship between the miko and the kitsune remains a mystery.
I wonder if Kagome's mother knows everything about her daughter? Does she know that her daughter is a miko? Or that there's two youkai under their roof? She never exactly said that she didn't know, but she didn't exactly say that she did know. Okay, I'm going to skip that question, too.
Oh, yes. Tetsusaiga. Wonder what it is. Is it the sword's name? Why was the sword up the tree anyway? And why was Inuyasha acting weird around the sword? I'll have to ask him later.
Which reminds me… Was Inuyasha's blood glowing on Sunday? Miroku scooped another fork of noodles into his mouth. Something definitely weird about him, but I can't exactly ask him. The guy's more clueless about this than I am.
Argh! What am I going to tell my grandfather? All I have are questions without answers. I have no hard-core evidence that anything is wrong. I should probably call him and tell him about this, but I don't want to worry him. He's sick enough without me making it worse. I'll call him once I get real facts. Once Miroku reached his conclusion, he promptly finished his dinner and tried to put his mind at ease.
Inuyasha sat in class that morning, not really listening to the teacher. He didn't really need to pay attention in class for a while; the teacher had given him a bit more homework than was supposed to, so Inuyasha had a few days worth of free time since he had already learned and did the homework for that class.
Besides, even if he didn't have that excuse, Inuyasha still couldn't pay attention. His thoughts kept drifting back to Kagome and her family. Her blood brother was definitely acting weird the last time he was there. He kept on showing him stuff, and he kept looking at him as if though expecting him to remember something. Really, the kid was creeping him out. And what about Shippou? When the kid had transformed into that dog-eared guy… He didn't know what happened, but something did happen. He had felt something; it wasn't exactly a physical feeling, but… He didn't know what it was.
Then there was that rusted sword on top of the tree. When he had saw it, warning bells kept going off in his head. He didn't know what powers that sword possessed, but he knew he didn't like it for some reason. And when he had gotten that sword, why did Kagome ask him to keep it? It wasn't like it belonged to him. At first, he had thought that such an ancient sword such as that one must have been important to the shrine, but then she contradicted his thoughts by offering it to him.
And her room… The kid, Souta, kept on saying something about a Shikon shard, or something. What was up with that? And there was something in the room… He didn't know what it was, but he had really felt uncomfortable in that room. It had felt as if though something had been pulling at him in there.
He brushed the thought aside and looked at Kagome. That girl… He didn't know if it was because she was a miko, but whenever he saw her, he felt this sense in him that told him to get away from her. Every time he was near her, something in him told him to stay away, while another part of him enjoyed her company and wanted to spend more time with her. What was wrong with him? Was he starting to go crazy?
He felt something poking at his elbow and turned to see who was poking him. It was Miroku, and he was poking him with a rolled up piece of paper. Inuyasha took the paper and unrolled it, reading its contents.
It read:
"Busy this afternoon. Sub for me in the kendo match. Not going to go to your house today."
Inuyasha crumpled the paper and stuffed it in his backpack. That stupid Miroku. Always so lazy and trying to cut out on his responsibilities in the kendo club. Really, he didn't know how he put up with him.
Kagome talked excitedly with Sango as they walked home. The school had announced that the archery club was going to be starting again since they had finally found a supervisor that actually knew how to use a bow and arrow. Kagome was excited about the club; she hadn't shot an arrow ever since the battle with Naraku, and she was beginning to miss the feel of the arrow flying through the air. Sango had decided to join her in the club since she found out that Miroku was in the kendo club, and she didn't want to be groped by him when the club was in session.
The conversation between the two girls soon halted when they both reached the steps to the shrine. Kagome had invited Sango to her house to do their homework together, and the two were going to visit a neighboring shrine later that afternoon for they had heard that there was a woman there who could read the future. They had decided to try the woman to see if any questions regarding Inuyasha or Miroku could be answered. They had little idea that they were being followed.
Kagome looked at the woman anxiously as the woman looked closely at her. The woman had not asked for her palm, or her birthday, or anything like that, and had simply just stared at her ever since she had paid her the money.
"Um, excuse me, but, are you going to say something?" asked Kagome, feeling like a fool before the dark haired lady. The woman simply held up a hand for silence and continued to stare at her.
"Err, excuse Miss…?"
"Kaede. The Lady Kaede," she said in a soft voice, never once blinking or taking her eyes off Kagome. Kagome was surprised by the name and silently scolded herself. She had to stop assuming anyone with the same name as those people she met in the past were the same people in the future. Although this woman did look like a very young version of Kaede-baa-chan. Finally, the woman blinked.
"Beware of the friend you love and trust. Though their heart is true, they will fall prey to evil," she said in a misty voice. "The illusion of your enemy may turn out to be your greatest friend."
"What?" Kagome blinked, not understanding anything the woman was saying.
"The Heart of the Priestess shall aid you," the Lady Kaede said in reply.
"What?" Kagome repeated, still not comprehending the first thing that the woman had said.
"Listen, kid," the woman said in a rough voice suddenly. "If you want me to be more clear, you're going to have to cough up more dough. I can't give you clear descriptions with so little money." Kagome became angry with the woman's statement and stomped out of the room, cursing herself to be foolish enough to believe in fortunetellers. She looked for Sango, but couldn't find her to warn her about the fake fortuneteller. Kagome sighed and sat down at the steps of the shrine, watching people pass by, some with incense in their hands, and others who had fruits to offer to the gods. She sat there and waited for Sango to show up. Had the girl gone to the fortuneteller just as she rushed out?
"So, Kaede-sama, can you see anything in my future?" asked Sango. She had paid the woman quite a lot of money and hoped that the woman could provide some useful information to her.
"A man who is and yet is not a monk shall fall into the pattern as he did before," the woman said, seeming to gaze into a place beyond Sango. "His life is not in your hands, but in the hands of another. You love him, and you can rest assured for he loves you, too." Suddenly she frowned, marring her beautiful face. "A battle…you will lose." Sango felt her heart drop into her stomach at the woman's words. "But wait… A dream… You must win in the land of dreams. Do not be reckless. Wait for the Lady of the Souls…" Suddenly the woman leaned back in her chair, breathing heavily.
"Is that all?" Sango asked, not quite sure if she wanted to hear more.
"I can't seem to see your future as clearly as I do others," the Lady Kaede said. "It seems that your path can go two ways: one to your death and destruction, and another to life and happiness. Your life is so closely woven to three others that if one of them should fail, all of you will fail." Sango wondered if the woman was referring to Kagome, Miroku and Inuyasha.
"Thank you, Kaede-sama," Sango said getting up and getting ready to leave when the woman stopped her and handed her something.
"Take this," she said, handing her a beautiful flower that seemed as if though it were made of four separate flowers intertwined into one and frozen forever in life in some sort of clear hard sap. The rectangular block was no bigger than her hand.
"What's this?" asked Sango, looking curiously at the multi-colored flower.
"I call it the Flower of the Four Souls," Kaede said in a soft voice. "I don't know how, but it'll help you later. Please keep it with you at all times." Sango curled her fingers around the long block, feeling its coolness slip into her hand. She nodded her assent, then left the room.
"So, we've finally completed our mission," an old voice said.
"Yes, we have, Myouga-sama," the Lady said. "It's all up to them, now."
Miroku found the two ladies he had been following chatting near the shrine. He heard snatches of their conversation: something about fortunetellers, battles, and dreams. When he realized he was getting nowhere just by spying on them, he decided to get his questions answered the direct way: he was going to ask them.
He walked up to the two ladies, not even pretending that it was coincidence that brought them together. The two looked at him nervously.
"I have a few questions that I would like to have answered," he stated simply. The two girls looked at each other, then to him. They were trying to smile, but weren't really doing a good job.
"What can we do for you, Miroku?" Kagome asked.
"First off, you can tell me what you are doing here," Miroku said, his face empty of emotion.
"We're here to get our fortunes told," said Sango, looking at Miroku straight in the eye. If she had wanted him to flinch, she was sorely disappointed.
"And what could be so important in your lives that you need to get your fortune told right now?" Miroku asked, his eyes cold and calculating.
"We just had some free time after school and decided to come here," Kagome said, hoping her nervousness wasn't showing. Miroku didn't seem to believe her.
"Tell me," Miroku interrupted before Kagome could go into the full deep version of why they came here, "have you heard of the legend of the Shikon no Tama?" Kagome and Sango nodded their heads slowly, wondering what this was leading up to. "Then I ask you, does the kid, Shippou, have at least a part of it?"
"Yes," Kagome answered hesitantly.
"So it does exist," Miroku muttered to himself. That would explain Shippou's power. "Tell me how it looks like."
"If we answer all of these questions of yours, what do we get in return?" asked Sango before Kagome could answer.
"What do you want in return?"
"How about you have to help us in our cause," Sango said.
"What cause?" Miroku asked, wondering what the girls were involved in.
"The 'completing the Shikon no Tama' cause," Sango stated as if it were obvious.
"Completing the Shikon no Tama?" wondered Miroku out loud, "Why do you want to complete it?"
"The Shikon no Tama is too powerful and will upset the balance between youkai in this world," Kagome explained. "We need to complete it in order to make a good wish on it so that it will disappear."
"So, you're just in this to get your wish, eh?" asked Miroku, not amused.
"No," Kagome said. "I don't care about the wish. I would rather leave the Shikon no Tama as it is, but that's not possible. If we don't complete the Shikon no Tama and destroy it, Naraku may use the jewel to become full youkai, and then we'll really be in trouble."
"Did you just say 'Naraku'?" asked Miroku, surprised.
"Yes. Wha—?" But Kagome was never able to finish her question.
Author's Note: Kaede and Myouga make their appearance! Up next: "The Monk Who Remembered."