Disclaimer: Ya ya, you all just gotta make us admit it. Well then, if I have to: Inuyasha and Company are not mine.
Hi y'all! It's Nimue again! Thanx to you people who have reviewed, I appreciate everything you guys say! Well, enjoy the story, k? And don't forget to R+R, ONEGAI!
Itoshigo- dear child Chotto matte- wait a moment Iie- no Hai- yes Sakura- cherry blossom(s) Doko- where Onegai- please
Chapter 2: Undercurrents
Inuyasha stood unmoving before the Hirgurashi door, torn in half inside his mind. This time, it was truly his fault Kagome had been hurt; could he bear the faces beyond this door? Could he face Souta and Kagome's mother and grandfather after having failed to protect his charge? His hands trembled slightly, more from indecision than from the pain he felt in his arm. After all, he could already feel the tendons, muscles, and skin healing beneath his haori.
He looked down at the girl he was cradling in his arms, the blood on her shirt and shoulder blackening. Speckles of it dotted her face. Her face. The same face on two different women… two completely different women. One who lived and one who pretended to live. One who gave life while the other took it. It was- it was…
Light blinded Inuyasha's delicate senses for a moment when Souta opened the door. Before he had time to shake the aftershock out of his eyes, he heard a rising cry of "ONE-CHAN!"
"No! No! Souta, chotto matte! Chotto-"Inuyasha's plea was cut off as Higurashi-san rushed to Souta's side. The color drained completely from the woman's face when she saw her daughter in Inuyasha's arms, and the bloody evidence.
Inuyasha's only movement was to gently place the unconscious Kagome in her mother's stunned arms. "Higurashi-san. Kagome was hurt while fighting a you-"His voice crackled slightly, but he continued, "a youkai… Please," He hesitated. "I have to return. There are others still in danger." The latter was said with such a growl even Souta shrank back from his hero Inuyasha.
And then he was gone in the night, as swift as the hunting wolf.
Mrs. Figurate looked down at her son.
"Souta. Run and get Grandfather."
***
Inuyasha stormed through the shrine grounds, racing to the Bone Eater's Well, pausing only a moment to take a fleeting look at Kagome's house, trying to penetrate the walls to see the girl he had left behind, wounded and unconscious, in the care of humans. But it was only a moment, before he had hurdled over the well, and landed. The over-powering scent of human that heralded Kagome's future was fainter here; instead the stinging heady scent of blood stabbed his nose. Inuyasha leaped, clearing the well and sniffed the air. Would she still be here, waiting for him? His eyes scanned the tree-line suspiciously.
But the answer was already waiting for him. Kikyou's tightly drawn arrow nicked the back of his neck, startling Inuyasha. "Ahh Inuyasha. So you still came, even after that… interference." The silk voice sounded right behind him.
Inuyasha's face hardened, if stone could harden. He began to turn, but the increased pressure on his neck warned him against continuing. Kikyou's voice flowed on as if the undercurrents to their conversation never occurred.
"You show a surprising amount of preservation instincts toward that girl, Inuyasha. I'm surprised you still would even bother seeing me-"The river wavered, just slightly. Inuyasha stood face to face with her.
The dead woman's eyes narrowed inscrutably. "I asked you to leave her out of this, Kikyou." Inuyasha said softly, but with a vein of granite in his tone.
"I think you bring her 'into' this."
The hanyou flinched.
The bow relaxed, but Kikyou's face shifted while the clouds passed overhead. "Do you remember the sakura tree, Inuyasha?" She asked quietly.
"The beginning of spring, I had been chased out of the town of Kurogashi a few weeks earlier and we were going to celebrate the blossoms…" He said automatically, as if it he had lived the moment over in a million lifetimes, instead of just one.
"Ahh, you 'do' remember." Kikyou's mouth curved upward. It wasn't a smile; it couldn't ever be called a smile, that insignificant crease in her mouth. Kagome smiled, and when she did it was like the sun had defeated the clouds on a rainy day when-
"Of course I remember," he growled angrily, pulling away from her. Somehow, without him noticing, her hand found his cheek.
The change that had taken over her face with that half-smile that never touched her eyes melted away like a watery mask. Faintly, in the gloom, Kikyou's hand found a new hold on her bow while her voice came silky and cool. "Inuyasha- tell me you haven't forgotten, then, what we-"
"Kikyou, the only reason I came tonight was to tell you that the deal is off."
The hand on her bow became white-knuckled.
The hanyou wasn't looking at her, but his eyes had dropped to the ground, and rose slowly, coming to a rest on her lips. He didn't even know if he could look at this Kikyou's eyes when the sakura had brought him a Kikyou with sparkling life and energy.
Seeing him so hesitant, the grip unloosened, and her hand wandered again to his face. He jerked back, but didn't break the contact. "…Inu-"
A scream cut the air like a knife through warm butter. Inuyasha's hand flew to the Tetsusaiga, Kikyou's eyes blazed as she turned east, feeling with her miko powers the presence of a youkai. Close. Closer than Inuyasha would have thought possible while he was near. Shamefully, his eyes flickered toward the woman at his side; Kikyou could make him forget about death itself.
"It's the town," he said quietly. "Kaede-baba and the others are in trouble."
Kikyou pressed a hand on his arm to stop him, "Chotto, Sango and Miroku are perfectly capable of dealing with whatever is attacking, Inuyasha."
The hanyou's jaw clenched. "Iie."
Her black, dead eyes glared at him, eternally condemning him. "Never for me."
His growl was outright this time. "Never for anyone, Kikyou." He bounded off, a blur through the deep forest, the growing light accenting his silver hair.
Kikyou watched him, her eyes becoming snake-like slits, before she turned in the opposite direction, calling silently to her soul-gatherers.
***
Kagome…
Come back to us…
…Kagome!
Morning sunlight, dull and grey for some reason, made criss-cross patterns on the sleeping girl's face, stoking consciousness in her comatose mind. Oh, awareness came, but too quickly, always too quickly. And brought with it far too much pain.
There was a hand on her face, though, always when she felt wakefulness creeping on her and bringing the pain, always there, always there to stroke her face. Calm and cool.
Calm and cool.
"Inuyasha?"
Pause.
"Iie." Softly. Soft and gentle, as the returning caress on her forehead, the tender brushing of hair away from eyes.
Kagome sighed. "Mama."
"Hai."
She was tripping again, back into the darkness, into the oblivion where she could be safe from pain and pain and…
"…Inuyasha… Doko…"
Kagome…
Please… Don't leave us…
…Kagome!
Sweat was pouring down her face, soaking through her clothes, droplets splashing away from her face when her eyes snapped open. Panting, she looked around her, for the first time coherent. Initial panic and unfamiliarity dissolved as she recognized her desk in the corner of her room, her window, the bed she was laying in. The mechanical release of tension brought pain in her hands, and she saw her fingernails had been pressing into the skin of her palm, cutting through it. Gasping, she retracted her digits, wiping the four small puncture wounds on her covers, forgetting how difficult she knew it was to remove blood from cloth.
She winced, sliding her feet off her bed carefully so that she had moved into a sitting position. The light streaming through her windows was bright enough, but dull, as though being served through a filter. The second thing she noticed was the quiet. Except, it really wasn't quiet while the traffic outside provided a constant throb of noise; it seemed so different from what she was used to. It was so different from-
Kagome exhaled a slow, long breath while she reconfigured her life to fit what she knew about feudal Japan and an arrogant bastard hanyou named Inuyasha with going to school and friends.
"Oooshitmatzuuu- oooow…" She groaned, flopping onto her back with such exasperation before it turned into pain that stabbed her brutally in the general region of her shoulder. Cursing under her breath, she fumbled with her shirt, pulling it down far enough to peer at the injury over her nose. What she saw made her curse a little louder.
"At least you still 'have' that arm, itoshigo."
Kagome would not have jumped higher if there were hot coals burning in her pants. "Aya! Mama, onegai, tell me before you scare the rest of the wits out of my brain," Kagome half-joked, half-growled.
However, Mrs. Higurashi did not smile indulgently and instead remained resting against the doorframe, her face an unreadable puzzle. The room was practically humming with exuded tension when Kagome glanced up at her mother. She was still staring at Kagome like a cat with her fur out of line. Kagome blinked warily, then pushed herself up, unsteady on her own feet, but determined. Wobbling, Kagome perambulated toward the small bag resting at the foot of her bed.
"Kagome." The tone in her mother's voice stopped her in her tracks and compelled her to turn, to confront the face from whence the voice came.
"Mama?"
"I've decided."
"…Mama?"
"You're not going back."
Hi y'all! It's Nimue again! Thanx to you people who have reviewed, I appreciate everything you guys say! Well, enjoy the story, k? And don't forget to R+R, ONEGAI!
Itoshigo- dear child Chotto matte- wait a moment Iie- no Hai- yes Sakura- cherry blossom(s) Doko- where Onegai- please
Chapter 2: Undercurrents
Inuyasha stood unmoving before the Hirgurashi door, torn in half inside his mind. This time, it was truly his fault Kagome had been hurt; could he bear the faces beyond this door? Could he face Souta and Kagome's mother and grandfather after having failed to protect his charge? His hands trembled slightly, more from indecision than from the pain he felt in his arm. After all, he could already feel the tendons, muscles, and skin healing beneath his haori.
He looked down at the girl he was cradling in his arms, the blood on her shirt and shoulder blackening. Speckles of it dotted her face. Her face. The same face on two different women… two completely different women. One who lived and one who pretended to live. One who gave life while the other took it. It was- it was…
Light blinded Inuyasha's delicate senses for a moment when Souta opened the door. Before he had time to shake the aftershock out of his eyes, he heard a rising cry of "ONE-CHAN!"
"No! No! Souta, chotto matte! Chotto-"Inuyasha's plea was cut off as Higurashi-san rushed to Souta's side. The color drained completely from the woman's face when she saw her daughter in Inuyasha's arms, and the bloody evidence.
Inuyasha's only movement was to gently place the unconscious Kagome in her mother's stunned arms. "Higurashi-san. Kagome was hurt while fighting a you-"His voice crackled slightly, but he continued, "a youkai… Please," He hesitated. "I have to return. There are others still in danger." The latter was said with such a growl even Souta shrank back from his hero Inuyasha.
And then he was gone in the night, as swift as the hunting wolf.
Mrs. Figurate looked down at her son.
"Souta. Run and get Grandfather."
***
Inuyasha stormed through the shrine grounds, racing to the Bone Eater's Well, pausing only a moment to take a fleeting look at Kagome's house, trying to penetrate the walls to see the girl he had left behind, wounded and unconscious, in the care of humans. But it was only a moment, before he had hurdled over the well, and landed. The over-powering scent of human that heralded Kagome's future was fainter here; instead the stinging heady scent of blood stabbed his nose. Inuyasha leaped, clearing the well and sniffed the air. Would she still be here, waiting for him? His eyes scanned the tree-line suspiciously.
But the answer was already waiting for him. Kikyou's tightly drawn arrow nicked the back of his neck, startling Inuyasha. "Ahh Inuyasha. So you still came, even after that… interference." The silk voice sounded right behind him.
Inuyasha's face hardened, if stone could harden. He began to turn, but the increased pressure on his neck warned him against continuing. Kikyou's voice flowed on as if the undercurrents to their conversation never occurred.
"You show a surprising amount of preservation instincts toward that girl, Inuyasha. I'm surprised you still would even bother seeing me-"The river wavered, just slightly. Inuyasha stood face to face with her.
The dead woman's eyes narrowed inscrutably. "I asked you to leave her out of this, Kikyou." Inuyasha said softly, but with a vein of granite in his tone.
"I think you bring her 'into' this."
The hanyou flinched.
The bow relaxed, but Kikyou's face shifted while the clouds passed overhead. "Do you remember the sakura tree, Inuyasha?" She asked quietly.
"The beginning of spring, I had been chased out of the town of Kurogashi a few weeks earlier and we were going to celebrate the blossoms…" He said automatically, as if it he had lived the moment over in a million lifetimes, instead of just one.
"Ahh, you 'do' remember." Kikyou's mouth curved upward. It wasn't a smile; it couldn't ever be called a smile, that insignificant crease in her mouth. Kagome smiled, and when she did it was like the sun had defeated the clouds on a rainy day when-
"Of course I remember," he growled angrily, pulling away from her. Somehow, without him noticing, her hand found his cheek.
The change that had taken over her face with that half-smile that never touched her eyes melted away like a watery mask. Faintly, in the gloom, Kikyou's hand found a new hold on her bow while her voice came silky and cool. "Inuyasha- tell me you haven't forgotten, then, what we-"
"Kikyou, the only reason I came tonight was to tell you that the deal is off."
The hand on her bow became white-knuckled.
The hanyou wasn't looking at her, but his eyes had dropped to the ground, and rose slowly, coming to a rest on her lips. He didn't even know if he could look at this Kikyou's eyes when the sakura had brought him a Kikyou with sparkling life and energy.
Seeing him so hesitant, the grip unloosened, and her hand wandered again to his face. He jerked back, but didn't break the contact. "…Inu-"
A scream cut the air like a knife through warm butter. Inuyasha's hand flew to the Tetsusaiga, Kikyou's eyes blazed as she turned east, feeling with her miko powers the presence of a youkai. Close. Closer than Inuyasha would have thought possible while he was near. Shamefully, his eyes flickered toward the woman at his side; Kikyou could make him forget about death itself.
"It's the town," he said quietly. "Kaede-baba and the others are in trouble."
Kikyou pressed a hand on his arm to stop him, "Chotto, Sango and Miroku are perfectly capable of dealing with whatever is attacking, Inuyasha."
The hanyou's jaw clenched. "Iie."
Her black, dead eyes glared at him, eternally condemning him. "Never for me."
His growl was outright this time. "Never for anyone, Kikyou." He bounded off, a blur through the deep forest, the growing light accenting his silver hair.
Kikyou watched him, her eyes becoming snake-like slits, before she turned in the opposite direction, calling silently to her soul-gatherers.
***
Kagome…
Come back to us…
…Kagome!
Morning sunlight, dull and grey for some reason, made criss-cross patterns on the sleeping girl's face, stoking consciousness in her comatose mind. Oh, awareness came, but too quickly, always too quickly. And brought with it far too much pain.
There was a hand on her face, though, always when she felt wakefulness creeping on her and bringing the pain, always there, always there to stroke her face. Calm and cool.
Calm and cool.
"Inuyasha?"
Pause.
"Iie." Softly. Soft and gentle, as the returning caress on her forehead, the tender brushing of hair away from eyes.
Kagome sighed. "Mama."
"Hai."
She was tripping again, back into the darkness, into the oblivion where she could be safe from pain and pain and…
"…Inuyasha… Doko…"
Kagome…
Please… Don't leave us…
…Kagome!
Sweat was pouring down her face, soaking through her clothes, droplets splashing away from her face when her eyes snapped open. Panting, she looked around her, for the first time coherent. Initial panic and unfamiliarity dissolved as she recognized her desk in the corner of her room, her window, the bed she was laying in. The mechanical release of tension brought pain in her hands, and she saw her fingernails had been pressing into the skin of her palm, cutting through it. Gasping, she retracted her digits, wiping the four small puncture wounds on her covers, forgetting how difficult she knew it was to remove blood from cloth.
She winced, sliding her feet off her bed carefully so that she had moved into a sitting position. The light streaming through her windows was bright enough, but dull, as though being served through a filter. The second thing she noticed was the quiet. Except, it really wasn't quiet while the traffic outside provided a constant throb of noise; it seemed so different from what she was used to. It was so different from-
Kagome exhaled a slow, long breath while she reconfigured her life to fit what she knew about feudal Japan and an arrogant bastard hanyou named Inuyasha with going to school and friends.
"Oooshitmatzuuu- oooow…" She groaned, flopping onto her back with such exasperation before it turned into pain that stabbed her brutally in the general region of her shoulder. Cursing under her breath, she fumbled with her shirt, pulling it down far enough to peer at the injury over her nose. What she saw made her curse a little louder.
"At least you still 'have' that arm, itoshigo."
Kagome would not have jumped higher if there were hot coals burning in her pants. "Aya! Mama, onegai, tell me before you scare the rest of the wits out of my brain," Kagome half-joked, half-growled.
However, Mrs. Higurashi did not smile indulgently and instead remained resting against the doorframe, her face an unreadable puzzle. The room was practically humming with exuded tension when Kagome glanced up at her mother. She was still staring at Kagome like a cat with her fur out of line. Kagome blinked warily, then pushed herself up, unsteady on her own feet, but determined. Wobbling, Kagome perambulated toward the small bag resting at the foot of her bed.
"Kagome." The tone in her mother's voice stopped her in her tracks and compelled her to turn, to confront the face from whence the voice came.
"Mama?"
"I've decided."
"…Mama?"
"You're not going back."