Author Note: This Chapter begins right where the last one ended. Okay, all my chapters will begin where the one before it ended, unless said otherwise... I think! ^_^ Now, I don't have to put this in all the time....
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer... I don't own Inuyasha. (Wouldn't it be nice if we could just say this at the beginning of a first chapter and call it a day, so to speak?? I'd really like that... one less thing to write.)
Chapter 5: Careful, What You Wish
Kagome sighed at the noise going on in front of her and sat up on the make shift mat she'd been laying on. Her headache had stopped a while ago, but now another was forming. Kagome brought her hands up and rubbed her temples with the pads of her fingers. She closed her eyes to block out the noise.
The three friends were voicing their opinion, quite loudly, about her revelation. Sango, believed that if Kagome said it was so, than it was so. Inuyasha's thought, simple as it was, basically was 'fat chance at that', while, Mirouku, always the diplomat, agreed with them both. He decided that, while yes, he agreed it was a 'fat chance' that Sesshoumaru would bring Inuyasha back, he also agreed that if Kagome said it then she must know something they don't. Since neither of the other two appreciated his thoughts on the subject, since he didn't really choose a side, the argument continued, loudly.
Kagome squeezed her eyes tighter and kept trying to tell herself, 'if she can't see it, she can't hear it', but it wasn't working like she hoped. Kagome sighed and looked up as she felt a weight sit down beside her. She looked up and met a pretty gray gaze and smiled warmly at the sympathy she saw in them.
"Hello," she smiled at the woman.
"Hello, I'm Yuki" the woman smiled. "This is my home you're in."
"Kagome." Kagome responded and continued in a louder voice meant for the other occupants in the room, "My friends have no manners!!"
Yuki watched the other three stop in their yelling to stare at the young miko for a moment, before dismissing her from their thoughts and resuming their argument. Yuki smiled at her words. She has not changed much, she thought to herself
"Thank you for the use of your home Yuki."
"Yes, I know who you are. I was training with Kaede when you arrived the first time. I was glad I could help."
"Ohh, I remember you. You're a miko, I thought I sensed the power in you. You didn't talk much."
'Maybe, because she talked enough for us both', said Yuki to herself with a smile.
"I just wished to ask you two questions," said the older miko.
"Alright."
"You have the Shikon no Tama, don't you? Its how you returned."
Kagome smiled at her. She wasn't surprised people could sense the jewel. She could feel that it still hadn't finished doing whatever it was doing to her.
"Yes, I do have the shikon jewel. Its within me."
"Within you..." breathed the Yuki in disbelief, "You mean like before, when you first came here?"
"Yes, but now its inside my heart and can never be removed," Kagome replied. "The power you sense is jewel fusing with me. It was the out come of the test."
"Test? There was a test for the jewel?"
"Yes. Its a long story," sighed Kagome then smiled as she continued, "Suffice it to say that I... won, for lack of a better word."
"Hm. I see," said Yuki even though she didn't, not that it mattered as long as the jewel was safe. And she felt the jewel was indeed safe being with Kagome.
"You said you had two questions. What is the other?" asked Kagome.
"Yes, my other question..." sighed Yuki. Then turning her head and frowning at the other three, who were still arguing, continued, "Could you make them stop, onegai? Or take them out of here? My daughter is napping in the other room."
"Of course. Its a wonder we can hear ourselves think," said Kagome with a frown at her friends.
Kagome studied the three friends and what they said. Personally, she agreed with Sango, but she was not about to voice her opinion. She was supposed to be stopping the argument, not adding to it, she thought ruefully. When her eyes landed on the hanyou and the beads around his neck, she smiled wickedly to herself. "I wonder...", she whispered aloud to herself. It would stop the argument, she laughed to herself.
"Huh..." inquired Yuki at the other girls whisper, but trailed off at the look of wicked glee on her face.
"Sit, boy!"
For a moment nothing happened. Inuyasha was turning his head to laugh at her for he'd heard the command. Then the next thing, they know... he's lying faced down, on the floor of Yuki's home.
For a moment the entire room is quiet, then they all broke out in laughter at the hanyou.
Inuyasha sat up and folded his arms across his chest. He couldn't believe it still worked, after all this time. He voiced his thoughts.
"I can't believe this!" he said in wonderment. "Why the hell does it still work? Shouldn't it have died with Kaede?" He didn't expect any of them to answer... or hear. They were all to busy laughing. Even Yuki.
"Gomen ne Inuyasha. I just wanted to make you guys stop yelling. Yuki's daughter is sleeping in the next room," Kagome said through her giggles. Tears were forming in her eyes at him having his lip poked out like a child.
"So, why didn't you sit them, too!? They were yelling as well!" yelled Inuyasha as he pointed at Sango and Mirouku.
"What did I say, Inuyasha," began Kagome only to stop when she realized she was yelling. She continued quietly, yet forceful, "the girl is sleeping. And I sat you, because I can. Now stop yelling and don't make me say it again. Please, Inuyasha"
Kagome turned to face a smiling Yuki.
"We'll go now Yuki. I hope we have not woke your daughter."
"Yes, Yuki. Yurushite kudasai," added Sango.
"Yes, forgive us Yuki. I pray we did not wake her," Mirouku chimed in.
Inuyasha huffed and nodded his head at the older miko in apology.
"I doubt that. Ayeka sleeps like the dead. She will wake when she is ready, never before. It's a curse and a blessing. I just figured if she heard you, she might somehow hear in her sleep and decide she'd like to see who it is."
Kagome smiled in understanding.
"It is getting dark. You can stay and rest here."
"Arigatou, but we are use to the night. Besides I think their are some things I need to explain to them," Kagome smiled.
They all agreed. They knew the four of them would take up too much space in Yuki's small house. They also needed to get Shippou and Kirara. So, they said their thank yous and made their goodbyes and followed their newly returned friend out of the house.
Yuki watched from the door, as the friends made their exit, and smiled. She couldn't help repeating her earlier thought... the girl hadn't changed much at all. She smiled again and went back inside to find her bed.
*****In the forest not far from the village. Just after nightfall*****
The four friends found Shippou and Kirara playing in a field just outside the village and gathered them up. Shippou and Kirara both jumped into Kagome's arms in instant recognition. They obviously had no doubt as to whom she was.
They had to stop by the well to pick up Kagome's things on their way out of the village. Kagome made a quick trip home to pick up her yellow book bag and her bow and arrows. She was glad she'd thought to pack the bag earlier and leave it by the well in her time in case she needed it.
They found a spot to settle in for the night. Kagome passed out blankets to Mirouku and Sango. While she settled in to her sleeping bag with Shippou curled up to her side like always and Kirara curled up with Sango offering her warmth. After everyone was settled in, the other three resumed their argument from earlier.
Kirara jumped out of Sango's blanket, to get away from the noise, and moved over to Kagome and Shippou. 'Kami-sama, her ears were beginning to ring', Kagome thought irritably. Kagome sighed in frustration then yelled at the three.
"Look you guys, I will try to explain if you all will be quiet!!!"
The other three looked at her a moment then shut up. They all had more to say, but they also wanted to know why she figured Sesshoumaru was the one to bring Inuyasha back.
When it was quiet Kagome sighed in relief. Kirara moved back over to her mistress's blanket, to offer her warmth once more, now that it was quiet.
Kagome decided she should tell them how it all started then it would be easier for them to understand. So, she told them about the spell that she inadvertently caused Kikyo to put on Sesshoumaru. She told them how she ended up releasing him and of the guilt she'd felt over him being locked up. She explained to them the time Sesshoumaru spent with her and her family and how she could see that he missed his own time even if he didn't come right out and say it. Then she told them of the wish. How she had figured it would be the one way to make everything right. She could send Sesshoumaru home and end the turmoil going on inside the Shikon no Tama.
"So you see, it was the wish I made for Sesshoumaru that brought Inuyasha back," she finished.
But they all didn't see. They didn't see how her wish to help Sesshoumaru also brought back Inuyasha. Kagome understood this, after all she'd just figured it out earlier and with Midoriko's help, so she broke it down for them.
"My wish was: 'I wish that Sesshoumaru be returned to his righful time period, with Rin and Jaken. Let his injuries be soothed and most importantly, let this time here with me... be forgotten'," she repeated her wish entirely. Only then would they understand.
Kagome also told them what Midoriko had said to her right before she'd made the jump here.
"You see, Midoriko was warning me about my wish. That there was more to the outcome then I thought. She was telling me that Inuyasha was alive again, but I didn't understand at the time."
"But Kagome, that still doesn't explain how Sesshoumaru brought him back," said Mirouku quietly.
"Or why you know he did," added Sango.
Inuyasha remained quiet. Which worried them all.
"Right. Well... when I wished for Sesshoumaru's injuries to be soothed... in my mind I was speaking of the injuries to his body. In my heart... I meant the injuries to his heart and soul as well. So, when the shikon jewel granted my wish... it granted all of it... heart and mind combined. It was the only way to make it an unselfish wish, but I didn't know this then."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha then, who still remained quiet, and sighed at the look on his face. It was a mixture of anger and hurt, yet she didn't know why.
"It seems Sesshoumaru has unfinished business with you," she added to him.
"Hai," Inuyasha sighed then added, "He still wants to kill me and take Tetsusaiga."
"NO!" she got up to sit next to him and looked him straight in the eyes. Then she added, "The Shikon no Tama would not have granted such a wish. Thats a dark thought and the jewel would not have been purified that way. And it was purified. I know it was... because it is in me."
They all looked up at her in shock. They all had felt the power of the shikon from her, but they just figured it was somewhere on her person. Not that it was inside her.
Kagome looked at her friend's faces, one by one, and saw the shock there. Then Kagome lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap and quietly told them about Midoriko's visit to her and the issuing Test. Then she told them of the outcome of that test.
"So, the jewel is inside you... and it can never be removed?" asked Mirouku, making sure he understood.
"No, it can't."
"So you're... immortal now?" asked Sango in wonder.
"Not really immortal," Kagome breathed then continued, " I can be killed, just not by any man made weapon or witch craft, but my life is prolonged... very prolonged. And before you ask, I will not age, at least not normally."
Inuyasha just starred at her while all this sunk in. Kagome misinterpreting his looked told him of Kikyo.
"Kikyo is alright. She is not in Hell... nor is she in Heaven though," she decided she wouldn't lie to him. "She still needs help with some things so, Midoriko is doing that. I figure Kaede is helping too."
"So, what would have happened if the jewel had chosen Kikyo?" asked Sango.
"She'd still be needing help and Midoriko told me Kaede would have been the one to do it, should that have happened. I guess both of their lives would have been restored and I wouldn't be here right now."
Mirouku and Sango were both happy the jewel had chosen Kagome, but both decided not to voice that particular opinion since Inuyasha was still very quiet.
"Why?"
All heads turned towards Inuyasha and his quietly asked question. He was looking directly at Kagome. His amber eyes were full of questions, but she had no idea what he was asking her. 'Why did the jewel choose her?' she wondered.
Kagome just starred back at him. When she realized he was not going to clarify for her, she decided she'd have to ask.
"Why, what Inuyasha?" she inquired.
For a moment she didn't think he was going to answer her. Then he did.
"Why'd he bring me back?"
Kagome let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She noticed the others exhaled as well. She figured they were thinking the same thing she was thinking... and were also happy to be wrong. Inuyasha was thinking about his half brother, not Kikyo. 'Perhaps, he was over her' she thought to herself and wondered what happened in hell, or wherever they went, between him and Kikyo. She'd ask him at another time she decided.
Kagome looked at Inuyasha and saw the turmoil he was trying hard to hide, but he was never very good at hiding his emotions. She felt the tears prick the back of her eyes, but wouldn't let them go. Not now. She leaned her head on her hanyou friend's shoulder so she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes as she spoke.
" I... I don't know Inuyasha. I don't even think Sesshoumaru knows... not on the surface anyway", she exhaled and suggested, "Maybe you should ask him."
Kagome felt him go stiff beneath her head. She lifted her head and brown eyes met amber ones, and held. Then she heard him reply quietly.
"No."
Then in a flash he was gone. She looked at the rest of them. Kirara and Shippou had fallen asleep a long time ago, but Mirouku and Sango were still awake and starring right back at her.
"He needs time to think. He just learned that there is more to Sesshoumaru then he thought... just like it is for him. He has to decide whether to believe it or not and then what to do about it," said Mirouku with understanding.
"Hai," agreed Sango then added as an after thought, "I think you're right Kagome, about Sesshoumaru not knowing. I don't even think he knows he was the one who brought Inuyasha back. We saw him when he returned here, remember Mirouku? He was shocked to see Inuyasha as much as we were. He just hid it better."
Kagome watched Mirouku nod in agreement. She tilted her head sideways in thought.
"Explain to me later. I'm going to go find Inuyasha."
And with that she was off, as fast as Inuyasha. The two watched her leave. Both mirroring the same surprise on their face's at the miko's enhanced speed. They both shrugged to each other and settled in their blankets to get some sleep.
*****Deeper in the forest. Not too far from the camp*****
"INUYASHA!!"
Kagome screamed. She knew she could use her powers to find him, but decided she'd give him some time. She knew he'd let her find him, when he was ready.
So, she decided to keep playing her part for now and kept moving through the forest in search of the hanyou. She yelled out again as she turned in circles and looked around.
"INUYASHAA!!!"
Boy, she was getting cold. She should have brought her blanket she thought, to herself. Kagome was also getting tired, it had been a long day and she wanted to sleep and end it. Kagome kept calling out his name until she got tired of doing that and stood still for a moment. She shut her eyes and reached out with her senses for the hanyou, when she sensed another familiar presence behind her.
Kagome swiveled around and brown eyes met a pair of amber ones. This time they did not belong to Inuyasha.
"Sesshoumaru," she gasped aloud.
They starred at one another for a moment. Sesshoumaru was standing a ways away from her, than in a movement to fast for her to see, he was directly in front of her. Looking down at her face.
Kagome gasped again at his quickness, 'Well, she could see he was better', she thought ruefully to herself. She couldn't tell what he was thinking about, her eyes were transfixed onto his. He had one of those icy, calm looks on his face. She trembled slightly. 'He didn't look happy to see her', she thought worriedly. No, not happy at all.
Kagome started when he spoke, though it wasn't loud.
"Why are you here?" he asked quietly
"Na... Nani?" she stuttered over the lump in her throat and swallowed.
"So, you are back to play whore for that halfling brother of mine, hm."
Kagome saw something flash in his eyes, but be quickly suppressed, before she could identify it. Not that she cared just then, for Kagome had heard quite well what he had said and her anger was rising steadily. In her anger Kagome, forgot to be scared.
Sesshoumaru could smell her anger rising, not that he needed his sense of smell to know she was getting angry. He could see it quite clearly on her face. He guessed she took exception to his words, he thought. Which is why he was prepared for the hand that came flashing up to smack him... and caught it.
Kagome saw his eyes flash when he caught her hand in the air, an inch away from his beautiful face. She saw and recognized the anger in his eyes this time. She was still too angry to care though. 'How dare he say such a thing to her? She was never Inuyasha's whore!' Kagome seethed in anger. 'She was still a virgin' she huffed to herself.
Kagome opened her mouth to scream her thoughts at him, but had to suck in that breath instead when he bent the wrist he was holding behind her back and twisted. She hissed in pain.
"You're hurting me," she hissed out at him.
Sesshoumaru untwisted her arm, but did not let her go. Instead he took a step closer to her and bent down, causing her body to arch against his as her back bent backwards.
"Why... are you here?" he asked again, thrusting his face closer to hers. Letting her know in no uncertain terms, that he was not going to ask again.
Kagome looked back and forth between his eyes as her anger dissipated. She figured she should answer him.
"I'm here," she began with a sigh and continued, " For the same reason, I figure you're here right now... with me." Then she tilted her head sideways and boldly added, "Or did you come here to see Inuyasha."
Sesshoumaru starred at her. He did not care for her attitude. Though he couldn't help admiring her for it. There was not many who had the guts to stand up to him, Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Westernlands, he thougt. He brought his other hand up to her cheek and watched her suck in her breath. He looked at her mouth. 'She had an impertinent mouth,' he though and didn't like it.. He wanted that mouth... and he didn't like that either.
Kagome sucked in her breath again, and was surprised to see she had any left to suck in. She'd just realized he had both his hands. She guessed all his injuries really had been soothed. That was the reason for the first breath she sucked in. She sucked in the second, when she realized he was starring at her mouth. 'Was he going to kiss her?' she wondered. 'Kami-sama, did she want him to?' she asked herself. Kagome had sinking feeling she did and lowered her eyes to his mouth.
Sesshoumaru saw her eyes soften and lower to his mouth. He figured she'd guessed what he was thinking when she sucked in her breath and her eyes went wide on his, but he'd never imagined she'd want him to kiss her. Interesting. He decided he'd wait instead and pulled his face back from hers.
Kagome tried to hide her disappointment when he pulled away. 'What the hell was wrong with her', she wondered. 'Why would she want him, of all people, to kiss her?' she asked herself hysterically.
Kagome jumped again, when he spoke, causing her body to rub against his and blushed, crimson red.
"Tomorrow I shall know if what you say is true."
He starred for a second making sure she heard him, then with those words he was gone, as quickly as he'd come.
Kagome stumbled to catch her balance and pressed her fingertips to her mouth. She thought about what he said and wondered.
"What exactly did that mean?" she wondered aloud.
Kagome headed back to camp, forgetting why she was out there in the first place.
Inuyasha watched her leave. He'd seen the scene between her and his brother and wondered what was going on. He knew after he'd chosen to go to Hell with Kikyo, out of a false sense of duty, he'd ruined any chance with Kagome. He knew they would only be friends and accepted that, but he loved her still even if her feelings for him had changed. He did not want to se her hurt again, the way he'd hurt her, by Sesshoumaru... or anyone. He'd seen the almost kiss, and was wondering many thing as he followed behind her back to camp. His mind was occupied by many things... all having to do with his older brother.