To Live Again
By Rurouni Star
Trina: I don't understand what everyone's problem with Kikyo is. She's a bad guy. It's her job to do bad things. And besides that, we're not even sure she's bad in the first place…
Cecilia: Thank you! I'm so proud… my presence as a favorite used to be non-existent…
SilverQuick: I try not to do the traditional stuff. It's too easy.
Cherry-wolf-blossom: Yay! I'm awesome!
Deo: I'm glad my cliffhangers are work- I mean really? It's not intentional at all!
Romm: Wouldn't YOU like to know? Come to think of it, I would too.
Profiler120: Another favorite! Go me! Thanks for reviewing all the chapters… it makes me so happy to see the amazing numbers of reviews I have…
Dragon of Sakura: I'm afraid I can't tell you what's going on with Kikyo. I don't know myself. But as for Sesshoumaru, he's finally getting a clue and beginning to fall in love. I've waited long enough, after all.
Aphiopsyduck: I like making people double take. It's my job as a fanfic author. ^_^
Emme: As before stated, I'm just different that way. I don't like the obsessive way people start on Kikyo… it scares me.
YoYo and Golden Vegeta: Thanks! I still thought it was bad, but thanks all the same.
Chapter 11 – Talking with the Moon
The cloud descended for the night. Kagome had begun to wonder if they would ever find Naraku, except that Kikyo had let her know that they would face him at some point.
Of course, that had been four days ago. And she'd taken the five shards.
"I need you to trust me."
God she was going to feel like such an idiot if Kikyo had lied. She didn't know why she was even considering it, seeing as the woman had a terrible track record with her. And something else held her back too, although she didn't want to admit it, even to herself. Especially to herself.
Kikyo had come between her and Inu Yasha.
Kagome sat beneath her tree like usual, fingering the red tie that identified her as a priestess. Did she really deserve it? Did she even want it?
"Kagome."
She started at Sesshoumaru's voice.
"Y-yes?" She looked up at his figure, sitting on the highest branch of the tree and looking up at the moon.
"Nothing. It is impolite." She blinked. This was a change.
"I told you to ask me things instead of beating around the bush," she said in a quiet voice.
"You are sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Good Kami, she wanted him to ask questions. It was unnerving traveling with someone that never asked questions.
"What was it like, traveling with my brother." His brother? Didn't he usually refer to him as Inu Yasha?
"It was...well...it was never dull. I could probably tell you quite a bit. Do you want to know anything specific?" She dearly hoped that this wouldn't put him off the subject.
"Start at the beginning, then." Kagome stared at him a moment. Was Sesshoumaru, the one she knew, making conversation?
"I...hmm. I suppose it began when I climbed out of the well. I was a bit lost, I thought I was still in Tokyo, but I see now that it was a stupid thought. Sengoku Jidai is too green to be Tokyo." She got that feeling of an impending question again.
"Sengoku Jidai?" Kagome remembered belatedly that Sesshoumaru didn't know about her modern era. She was so used to everyone taking it as a given that she came from another world.
"Wow. This may take some explaining." Sesshoumaru shifted his gaze from the moon to her.
"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to." The demon lord paused. Why did that phrase sound so familiar?
"No, no, it's okay," Kagome hastened to reassure him. "It's just that I'm used to everyone knowing. Sengoku Jidai is...what people call this era. Where I'm from. I mean...the future."
That got his attention. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed.
"Do not play games with me." Kagome shivered beneath that glare, but remembered the Kikyo's cold, pale face. Her strength returned somewhat.
"It's true. I'm still not quite used to this era, it doesn't have as many conveniences. But..." She was about to say that she was stuck here. Something held her back, though.
Sesshoumaru had revealed nothing of himself to her. She wasn't about to let him see the things that had nearly broken her.
"But it's nice here. Not as much smog." He must have noticed her change in what she was going to say, but said nothing. "In any case...I fell down our shrine's well. Or, was pulled down it. Somehow, the Shikon no Tama revived a centipede demon in the well. It had been there since...well, since now, I guess. It tried to take the Shikon from me, even though I didn't know I had it..." She smiled weakly. "Are you confused yet?"
Sesshoumaru merely inclined his head, telling her to continue.
"Ah. Ok. I thought I was going to die when it pulled me in. We don't actually have demons in the future, so it was a big surprise. I did that thing I did before, when you surprised me. It made the thing let me go, and when I got up from the bottom of the well, I was in Sengoku Jidai. I climbed up and figured I'd somehow gotten myself lost, so I went toward the Goshimboku in the distance. It's part of our shrine, so I thought I might find my house there."
"But you found my brother instead," Sesshoumaru stated wryly. "How unlucky for you."
"Sometimes I agree with that," Kagome thought sadly.
"Yeah. I found Inu Yasha. He was pinned to the tree with an arrow. I'd never seen a dog demon before, so when I went up to see why he was up there, I couldn't help but check to see if the ears were real. I sort of rubbed them."
Kagome was surprised to hear a laugh from Sesshoumaru. A real one.
"Oh fine, laugh if you want," she grumbled good-naturedly. "It's not like that lasted too long. Just as I thought of trying to get him down, the villagers fired on me. I got taken back to the village because they thought I was a kitsune in disguise." Only when she was telling the story did she realize how funny it was. It wasn't at all funny when you were experiencing it, but looking back... "The old priestess, Kaede, tried to exorcise me at first. Then she looked at me very closely and said I looked like Kikyo. I sort of smiled and nodded because she gave me some food and got me untied."
"The priestess did warn you of my brother? Why did you release him?" The girl smiled.
"That was actually a sort of interesting set of events. The centipede demon tracked me down, still moaning about the stupid jewel. I figured I would lead it away from the village since it was only after me. I ended up at the Goshimboku, and for some reason or other, Inu Yasha was awake. He started yelling at me because he thought I was Kikyo, and it was a bit distracting. The demon caught up and pulled the Shikon no Tama out of me and tried to squeeze me to death against the tree. Inu Yasha offered to help me if I took the arrow out. Obviously I did. He killed it pretty easily. Then he tried to kill me."
"The rosary?" Sesshoumaru asked softly. She made a noise of agreement.
"It was pretty funny, except that it was life or death," Kagome said with a far away look on her face.
Sesshoumaru did not speak for a long time. He was digesting the large amount of information she had just provided him with. She was Kikyo's reincarnation. She was from the future and there was a well somewhere that could go there that was near a very large tree. And she was somehow linked to the jewel.
"Sesshoumaru?"
"Yes?" Kagome bit her lip. She was dying to ask him a few things. Why he hated Inu Yasha so much. Why he was so cold.
But as he had said, those were impolite.
"Never mind. Good night."
And the demon lord turned his gaze back to the moon.
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It was interesting how time went by after that. Kagome found it much easier to get along with the group, although she often caught herself thinking on her former traveling companions and what they were doing.
Had Sango gotten Kohaku back yet? Had Shippo gotten stronger or bigger? Had Miroku...was Miroku still alive? That one chilled her to the core. It wasn't possible. She couldn't have left him to die.
Had Kikyo contacted Inu Yasha while she was gone?
While she was gone? She was acting as though she were going to return.
It took a long time to sort out such thoughts. But she had all the time she needed, after all. This new group was not exactly talkative.
It was in such a state that she found herself once again sitting below a tree in the middle of the night. She was surprised once more when Sesshoumaru began to ask her questions again.
When had she met Shippo? What kind of demons had they killed? What did she know of Naraku.
It began to occur to her that Sesshoumaru was asking her for information disguised as idle chatter. But she didn't care. If she could get a break from the oppressive silence of the day, she didn't care.
Another question interrupted her.
"This monk...why does he have the hole in his hand?" Kagome bit her lip as she thought over her previous doubts.
Was he still alive?
"Miroku-sama? His grandfather had the curse inflicted on him by Naraku. It's passed down through the family." She heard something resembling a snort.
"That is a curse? A weapon to carry around at all times?" Kagome became angry.
"It will eventually consume him! It did the same to his father and grandfather! What do you think it's like looking death in the face every day, knowing you're going to die soon?" She slapped a hand over her mouth. If he didn't ask questions anymore, she would be stuck in silence again.
But instead...he seemed to be considering it.
"I'm sure it is unpleasant," he concluded. That was about as much sympathy as anyone ever got from him.
Was it because she'd tried to relate it to him?
"Naraku...he's done some things I can never forgive," Kagome said quietly. "I don't think I've told you about Sango yet. He destroyed her village down to the last person and made her brother kill her family. He even made sure Kohaku knew he'd done it. Sango...Sango survived, and he told her that it was Inu Yasha's fault. She nearly killed herself trying to avenge her family on the wrong person...and Naraku used her until he couldn't anymore..."
Sesshoumaru didn't know why this should bother him so much. He knew what being used felt like. It was a terrible feeling, to know that someone had succeeded in manipulating you, tricking you into risking your life for their ends. And if you'd been manipulated by the slayer of your kin...would that not be so much worse?
"Naraku has many things to answer for," Sesshoumaru said in a soft growl, remembering Rin's kidnapping. Naraku had tried to use him then.
Wait. Hadn't there been a boy there, trying to kill Rin? Yes. That girl, Sango, had called him Kohaku.
"This Kohaku is still alive," Sesshoumaru stated grimly, not knowing that Kagome was looking at him as though he were a ghost.
"Yes...and no. Naraku put a Shikon shard in his back. He's controlling him, and he made him forget about Sango. He's tried to kill us more than once."
"He should be destroyed," Sesshoumaru muttered.
"We would never do that to Sango," the miko said quietly. "He's her only hope of having a family."
Sesshoumaru didn't respond. Of course he knew what it was like to fight family. He did it every time he tried to take the Tetsusaiga. But that was intentional – Inu Yasha was only a half-breed, after all. Why care? Why should it matter more that you kill your brother than a simple stranger?
"Maybe you should!"
Why couldn't the blasted woman's voice leave him alone?
The demon's expression turned icy, though she couldn't see it. He turned away from her and looked to the moon once again. It was made only of light, and it didn't make you think.