Blood
By: Rael

Two: Awakening (II)

By late afternoon, the school was largely quiet and empty, except for the few students with club meetings or work to see to. Standing outside the gym, Sango could hear the distant hum of traffic. She'd changed out of her gi back into her school uniform, but kept her hair tied back in the heat of the day. Staring at the ground while she tried to think of something polite to say, someone called her name.

"Sango!" She looked up to find Eri waving goodbye; waved back.

Everything looked so normal.

Turning to Kagome's great aunt, she sighed. "I don't suppose you've ever met my father."

The old woman's eyebrows rose. "No. Should I have?"

"You sound like him." Sango said, just the faintest hint of gloomy resignation in her words.

"Maybe I do. Your family seems to have remembered much of the old ways. It's unusual but not completely surprising."

"So… you say that there's a… Council of Watchers… people like you… looking for girls who can fight… vampires? But… why? And what makes you think I'm a… Slayer? I don't have any special powers, I just train a lot!"

Kaede shook her head. "I watched you during your training just now. I don't doubt that your training in martial arts was responsible, but even you must realise that you are very strong? And given your family background and history, it is… very likely."

"But… I don't even believe in demons…!" Sango protested weakly. "And… vampires? You mean… like in the foreign movies? Why would they be here, in Tokyo?"

Kaede snorted at that. "Not quite like in the foreign movies, but close. Japan has been open to foreign trade and religion for centuries now. I imagine the vampires got in… somehow, though our problem with them is perhaps not as serious as most countries. There are vampires all over the world these days, not just America and Europe, the same way you can find tengu living in the London Underground. And they know… how to hide themselves." The steady, dark eyes met Sango's own and held them. "People might not like to believe it, but just because you can't see the problem doesn't mean it isn't there."

"But… but you're still not sure, right?"

A pause. "That was why I wanted to talk to you. There are… ways for me to find out. Tests. Would you at least let me test you for the power…?

And… what if she was right? What if Sango really was this… Slayer… she was looking for? Sango hesitated, looked away –

And stopped, head snapping round towards the school gates barely visible around the corner of the school building. "What the –" She began, and stopped, frowning. She could feel… something. Nudging at the edges of her senses, a shadow in her vision when she narrowed her eyes to almost closing, a whispering she didn't quite hear.

"There's.. something… What is this?" She demanded, turning to Kaede, who returned her frown.

"You sense something?" She asked. "From where?"

Sango paused, blinking, but hesitantly, head turning, brow furrowed as if she sniffed the air itself. "There…" She pointed towards the gates. "Not too far… it could be near the shrine…" She said.

The old woman's eyes widened, then turned hard as she took a step. "It's a demon. It could be attacking the shrine." She said, biting the words. "Run, quickly, you can get there faster than I can and I don't think my brother can fight an attack off."

Sango's heart went cold. Kagome. Souta. Mrs Higurashi. Grandfather.

"Run!" She ran.




She stumbled back and fell, dazed and blinded, eyes squeezed tight shut against a light that wasn't there anymore. Failed to hit hard earth floor again, but she was too shaken to think or care that she might be sitting on a dead body. Slowly, gingerly, half-wincing as if she expected to be blinded again, she made herself open her eyes.

Darkness. Walls of rough, packed earth and hewn stone. She was still in the well and she was still alive; miracles of miracles, what was that light? Kagome felt much too shaky to stand up and try to climb out.

She just needed a moment to get her breath back, and then she could get out and look for Grandfather and maybe get a bandage – she still hurt all over, but in the distant way of someone who knows they should hurt but can't quite feel it. Yes, just a moment and –

And then whatever it was she was sitting on moved – she squeaked - and a rough hand shoved her off. "Get off me, bitch, what do you think I am, some kind of fucking chair?" An almost-familiar voice snarled.

Almost familiar, because it'd been swearing at her just five minutes ago. She whirled around, as much as she could without keeling over – and gaped.

The dead body wasn't so dead after all.

"You're… you're alive…"

Amber eyes glared down at her. "Yeah, too bad isn't it, Kikyou?" He spat the name like poison. "You certainly tried hard enough to kill me, what with shooting me and pushing me into the damn well and all."

"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not Kikyou!"

"What, do you think I'm stupid? I'd know you anywhere. Don't play the innocent with me, Kikyou, you're not stupid and it's not your style."

"I keep telling you, I don't know who this Kikyou is!" Kagome shouted back, pulling herself to her feet and ignoring the wave of dizziness that tried to knock her over again. Bad enough being attacked by demons and almost getting killed; she didn't need to let this jerk stand over her and call her names. "My name is Kagome. Ka. Go. Me. And I've never seen you in my life! I didn't even know you were down here!"

Her anger cut him short – but he clearly wasn't letting it go, or even halfway convinced. "Feh. Just give me the damn shards, bitch. Then maybe I'll leave you alone." He said, reaching to grab her arm. She drew back as she saw his hand. It was large, strong – and ended in, not soft fingers and nails, but in claws, bony, with nails tapering into sharp, deadly, points.

"I don't know what you mean. I don't have any shards! And even if I did I wouldn't give them to you!" False bravado, even she had to admit. If she thought giving him the shards would make him go away and never come back, she'd give them in a heartbeat. "If that's the way you talk to people, I don't wonder Kikyou shot you and threw you in the well." She snapped before it could strike her that insulting threatening, dangerous strangers was a bad idea.

A voice at the back of her head was stirring. She'd heard this name before, hadn't she? Somewhere… A shriek snapped her from her thoughts to look up -

Oh god, not another one! And she didn't have any arrows left, and anyway, she didn't even know what had happened with the other one, and oh god, this one was angry.

"Sistersistersistersister kill destroy break eat they took you away sister will kill them for you break them destroy them…" The wild keening of grief and pain and rage and vengeance made her flinch. There was a hiss and something hit the wall beside her while Kagome jumped back with a yelp and stared in horror at the glob of spit and poison proceeded to eat its way through stone.

"Feh. Stupid thing." She heard the boy mutter. Then she felt strong fingers wrap around her arm, so tight it hurt and she was airborne – she barely had time to register this or try to fight it, when she felt herself dropped to the ground, sprawling on her hands and knees. Light spilled from the broken doors into the well house – in shambles now, she could see.

The demon had drawn back from the well, rearing back so that it towered over them, jaws opening and closing. It spat again; the boy sidestepped it neatly while Kagome watched his easy, almost contemptuous movements, watched the poison eat a hole through the wooden floor, noted, with disbelief, that he had fur-covered, dog-like ears the colour of his hair.

He took a step, flexing his fingers as if to shake the stiffness of his death-like sleep from them one last time. The demon lunged for him as his right arm drew back.

"Sankon Tetsusou!" A flash and the silence of a scream never screamed as claws tore the demon's throat out, ripped it to pieces, blood (thick and black) raining all over the floor. Kagome felt something wet splatter on her cheek, burning the skin like acid; wincing, she scrubbed it hastily away with the sleeve of her uniform.

"Feh. Like I'm going to let some lousy demon get hold of the shards. You!" She looked up and he'd turned his attention back to her, striding over the demon's remains like they weren't there. "Don't tell me you don't know where the fucking shards are. I can smell power on you – give them to me."

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't know what you're talking about?" She asked, scrambling to her feet and glaring. "And if you try anything, I'll call the police!"

"Kagome!"

Her head turned, relieved, at the distant shout, at the familiar sound of Sango's voice, even as he snorted and grabbed her again, claws digging into her arm with deliberate viciousness while he loomed over her. "You can try, bitch."

"Let go of her!" "Let me go!"

"Not until you give me the –"

"Kagome! Get down!" They turned at the sound of her grandfather's shout, the boy's grip loosening ever so slightly – Kagome wrenched herself from his grasp and ducked, even as her grandfather threw something and shouted a word she didn't know.

The ofuda flew true to strike the boy's raised arm, plastering itself with a crackle of power. He flinched. "What the…?"

Nothing happened. Amber eyes glared at the ofuda, tried to rip it off – it stuck. Sticking, in fact, seemed to be all it was doing. "What the hell is this, old man? He demanded, taking a threatening step towards Kagome's startled grandfather.

"It didn't work? But it has to; those were the strongest wards we had in the house… I must be too far away… Kagome! Seal him!" He called, waving at her.

She stared at her grandfather in disbelief. "What?! I don't know how!"

"Just say a sealing word and focus on the ofuda! It'll do its work and seal him then!"

If her grandfather hadn't managed to make it work, how could she? The boy glared at her over his shoulder and snorted; continued stalking across the yard towards her grandfather with a low, growing growl of irritation.

"What sealing word?!"

"Anything should work!"

"Look here, old man, I don't know what the fuck this stupid thing is supposed to do but you'd better get it –" Sango was moving to stop him, a grim look on her face, even as the boy flexed his fingers again. Kagome froze, watching. Watching the same, still-bloody claws he'd used to tear a demon to pieces just minutes ago…

"Get away from them!" She yelled, fists clenching furiously. "Sit!"

He hit the ground face first with an impressive howl and thump.

The two girls stared. Her grandfather beamed as if he'd planned everything all along. "Well done, Kagome! Admittedly, I'd been planning to use the ofuda on the centipede demon – I'm afraid it caught me at an unguarded moment and knocked me out for a while – but quite impressive for your first try!"

"Tetsu! Sango! The demon…" Kaede appeared at the shrine gates and stopped, stunned. The well house, ruined. Kagome, covered in dirt and blood. Sango, still staring at the white haired boy currently plastered, unmoving, to the ground at her brother's feet…

"Inuyasha?! What in the world happened here? Tetsu! Sango! Kagome, what happened, are you hurt?" She demanded, stalking towards her grand niece.

Kagome blinked. "I… I'm fine…" She said weakly. No she wasn't, her head said as it began to throb with a vengeance. And she felt tired… so tired… At least everyone was safe…

Voices, calling, so far away... "Kagome!"

She fainted.




Kaede picked her way through the well house to stand at the well. Staring down the shaft, she frowned and took stock of the damage. The door was ruined, as was the cover sealing the well. The floorboards were pitted and scarred from the demon's blood and its remains scattered the floor. She grimaced.

"Almost feels like the old days again." Her brother said as he joined her in studying the carnage.

"You make that sound like a good thing. Kagome?"

"Her mother's taking care of her and cleaning those wounds; Sango and Souta are helping. Nothing very serious, thank god - she should heal quickly."

"That's good."

"It is… luckily, she didn't break anything – remember that time you gave us a scare falling into the well and broke your wrist?"

"I remember. And you're sure the seal was fine before this…?" She asked, sparing a glance for the boy outside.

"Yes, yes… I checked it regularly… should have replaced that cover too, but I thought it could wait and… I guess it's too late now."

"And yet Kagome or the demon managed to break the seal." She eyed her brother with narrowed eyes. "Has this ever happened before?"

He sighed and frowned. "Kagome's never had an interest in the shrine. She's never taken the things I tell them seriously either," he said mournfully. "Certainly I thought there might be potential; she does come from a long line of shrine guardians, after all, but since she's never actually tried, nothing like this ever happened that I recall…"

"I'm not surprised." Kaede muttered.

Tetsu gave her a wounded look, and eyed the well. "I thought that… Onigumo, right? said this sort of thing didn't run in families."

"It didn't. But… well. There's never been more than one Slayer before either, but now, we have every Potential in the world becoming a Slayer. The Council has its hands full trying to track all of them down and train them… The Potential might have always run in families, but never been obvious. We don't know."

Oh yes. There was too much they didn't know. None of it helped by the… disappearance… of the Watcher who'd reported finding a Potential in Tokyo at all. She'd been through the few reports he'd filed, and what anyone else had been able to find, but the fact had remained that no one had any idea where Ichimanjou was or who the Potential had been. Had. And then she'd come back at their request and now, it seemed, found the Slayer living in her own shrine.

Assuming Kagome really was the Slayer…

"You thought it was Sango, didn't you? Well. She does seem like a more likely candidate, but going by how well Kagome's first attempt at sealing a demon went, I'm sure she'll do fine."

"If only it were that simple." Kaede huffed and changed the subject. "You're going to need to get new doors and a cover for the well, and sand the floor down… And do you have any rope in the house? I don't think the seal on him –" She nodded at the white haired figure sprawled outside. "- is going to last very long. … And a broom and a dustpan." She added, eyeing the mess.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather use a fire charm? I've got some of those lying around…"

"You are not setting fire to the well house on top of everything else, little brother."

"Come, Kaede, would I do that? Oh fine. We should have some rope somewhere… and I'll get the dustpan. And Kasumi wonders why I bother to keep those long handled dustpans when she never uses them… I always thought they'd come in useful one day…"

"What the fuck are these things?! Dammit! If it's that damn bitch I'm going to fucking kill her!"

By the time enthusiastic, muffled swearing told them that the boy was awake and the seal wearing off, they had disposed of most of the mess, sweeping and dumping the bits of broken wood and demon carcass into the well. Propping the dustpan and broom against one of the largely undamaged walls, they left the well house to find him struggling wildly against the rope they'd tied him firmly with, even wrapping the bright orange nylon around the clawed fingers to make sure he couldn't try to rip his way through them.

He glared as Kaede came to a stop before him, just far enough so he could look at her without breaking his neck, but not so near he could glower comfortably. "Inuyasha."

"Who the hell are you? Dammit, bitch, untie me!"

Kaede gave him a thoughtful look. "You don't recognise me, do you?"

"I've never seen you in my life, old woman." He said, but now there was wariness in the eyes. "What the hell happened here? The whole place… smells different. Where's Kikyou?"

"She's dead." Tetsu said quietly from behind her. "It's been fifty years since she sealed you in the well and died."

The angry eyes widened. "Kikyou's… dead?"

"You remember how badly hurt she was when she shot you."

"You… how do you know all this anyway?" Then he stopped. "Hey… wait. You're those two brats… Kikyou's brother and sister…?"

"Kaede. Tetsu. We have names, you know. And it looks like you're the brat now. Fifty years is a long time, boy." Kaede pointed out.

"Feh. Then who was that bitch who woke me up? She looked just like Kikyou!"

"That was Kagome. My granddaughter." Tetsu said, giving him a look that was all disapproval. The half-demon scowled.

"Not like I give a damn. Now untie me!"

"And leave you free to try and steal the shards like you did the last time? Or run around Tokyo wrecking havoc?"

"Fuck you."

"Maybe we should just leave him here and hope it rains for the rest of the week." Kaede said to no one in particular.

Her brother frowned at her. "He'll scare the visitors away. We'll need to move him where he can't be seen or heard… and spell those ropes so he can't claw out of them…"

The demon in question swore at them. Kaede looked at him, eyebrows raised. "If you keep that up, we will leave you tied up, boy. Now will you listen?" He subsided, sulky. She went on. "I want you to promise not to steal the shards…." He made a noise of enraged protest. "… for now, at least. And you're not to hurt Kagome, or touch anyone else here to force her to give them to you either."

"What kind of fucking bastard do you take me for? I wouldn't do that." He snapped.

"That's good to know. Now, do you promise?" She said.

He glared at her. "And you think I'll keep my word?"

She met his suspicious eyes. "I've never known you to break your word, and I won't break mine. Well?"

Reluctant silence. "Feh. Fine. I won't touch the fucking shards. But only for now, you hear me? Now untie me already, bitch!"

She considered leaving him tied, just a few minutes longer, until he learned to stop swearing every other word - but that would probably involve leaving him tied up for the rest of his life, and she had promised.

"Very well. Now hold still. Tetsu, you can take his feet. Maybe you'll like to tell us what happened when the seal broke."




… light fell through the window, shining through a crystal goblet filled with crimson too dark and thick to be wine, shining on a man with a smile like silk and poison…




Kagome woke in her own room, in her oldest, faded pink pyjamas, with the evening sun shining through the window. Sango was sitting on the floor by her bed with her chin propped on her knees as she stared into the distance. She started as Kagome sat up to wince and rub at the bandage on her cheek.

Not a dream after all.

Sango told her what Aunt Kaede had told her, half-hesitant, half-resigned. Not a dream - even Kagome's dreams were never this strange. She said so and Sango chuckled weakly.

"Where is everyone? Are they all right? What happened to that boy…? Is that weird seal still working?" She swung herself out of bed.

Sango shook her head. "The seal wore off, but he seems… I think he's in the living room, your Aunt said he wouldn't make any more trouble…" She didn't sound convinced at this; Kagome wasn't either. "Your mother's cooking dinner, so I said I'd wait for you to wake up."

"But what time is it? Dinner? Don't you have to be home? Oh, Sango, I'm so sorry… and it's your birthday too…" Picking up her alarm clock, Kagome grimaced at the time.

"It's okay. I called home already – Dad wanted to come over to see the mess, even, but he has a class to teach tonight… he said he'd come over tomorrow morning. It's all right so long as I get home before dinner, and that's just a ten-minute walk. Do you want to go down? Your aunt didn't want to talk about what happened until you woke up."

Kagome sighed. "Does she really think I'm… some vampire hunter? I mean… you'd make a much better… Slayer? than I would! And… it's even worse than those stories Grandfather tells!"

"But… there was that demon. I mean… your Grandfather and Aunt cleared up the well house but it's still a mess. And that boy. Where'd he come from? What did he want?"

Kagome flopped back on her bed to frown at the ceiling. "I don't know… they were asking for the same thing." She suddenly remembered, blood running cold. "Some… shards, or something. I don't even know what that is! That boy… I found him in the well, and I thought he was dead or something when I woke up. I mean… I never knew there was someone in there, and how'd he get in? Why didn't Grandfather tell us? He tells us everything else." She said, sour.

It just figured her grandfather would tell them wild stories about everything except the one thing that was really there. Though then again, if he'd told her there was a boy in the well before all this had happened, would she have believed him? Probably not…

"Oh god, maybe this means those other stories he told us were true too…" She said, horrified at the thought. Sango looked like the same thought had struck her quite a while ago.

Souta peered into the room and perked up to see Kagome awake. "Sis! You're up! Are you okay? You were sleeping for an hour!"

"I'm fine."

"Did you really kill a demon? Grandfather wouldn't let me in the well house, but that boy said you did! It must have been scary…"

Kagome blinked. Things so weird weren't supposed to feel this normal, she thought. "I guess I'd better go down…" She said and swung out of bed, standing before it struck her that – for someone who'd been thrown through a door and fallen down a well and been attacked by a demon with toxic spit, she felt… fine. She'd seen how long it took Sango to heal from some of her more serious training injuries.

Too weird, too weird, too weird, her mind chanted at her.

In the living room, Aunt Kaede and Grandfather were sitting on the couch, heads bent over something on the coffee table while they talked. They looked up as Kagome came in.

"Ah! Kagome! You're up… how are you feeling?" Grandfather asked.

Kagome sank into an armchair and eyed him. "Fine." She said with a huff. "Considering I nearly DIED."

There was a snort from the window behind her. "Only because you were being stupid." The voice behind her said callously.

Startled. Kagome turned to stare at the white-haired boy leaning against the wall by the window while he glowered at whatever it was her grandfather and aunt had been looking at.

"You! What are you doing here?"

He transferred his glare from coffee table to her. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Well… Standing there doing… nothing. But he'd been threatening her and her grandfather just an hour ago, and now he was just standing there like nothing had happened?

"Kagome, this is Inuyasha." Aunt Kaede said from behind her. When Kagome looked at her, surprised, she gave the boy a warning look and continued. "He's a… half demon. You found him in the well because he was sealed there 50 years ago by your great aunt. Kikyou…"

Kikyou… She'd thought that name sounded familiar… but…

"Our eldest sister. She died not long after sealing Inuyasha – did your grandfather ever tell you about her?"

"I… think so… But… why did he keep calling me Kikyou?"

"You look very much like Sister did when she was your age." Aunt Kaede told her. She looked calm, but there was something in her manner – the soft steps of someone treading on thin ice.

"He was asking me to give him the… shards? He was asking for the same thing those demons kept asking for, wasn't he? What is…"

"The demons that attacked you asked for the shards?" Aunt Kaede interrupted, voice sharp and startled.

Kagome blinked. "Yes... wait, no. The centipede monster…. It kept asking for the light… I don't even know what it wanted… And he kept asking me to give him the shards." She added, glaring at the boy. "I don't even know what those are! The shrine doesn't have any shards!"

Her grandfather coughed. "We do now." He said. "I really should have strengthened the wards around the shrine when you told us you were coming back… I suppose I'd better see to it after dinner."

Kagome and Sango stared.

"These are the shards." Aunt Kaede said, gesturing to the table. "You can take a look at them."

A small bag was on the table. Spread on the thick, indigo cloth – velvet, probably – was a handful of glittering crystal shards. Kneeling for a closer look, the two girls stared. Sango reached without thinking, to pick one up, then stopped and drew back, sheepish.

"What are these?" She asked the old woman watching them.

"They're… are they glowing? Even diamonds wouldn't be so bright…" Kagome said, turning to look at her great aunt.

"You can see the light? … What colour is it?"

"White." They said together.

The old woman nodded. "These are the shards of the Shikon no Tama."

"The… Shikon no Tama? Isn't that… the glass ball Grandfather sells on those key chains…?"

"You don't know the story? The jewel was formed from the souls of a powerful warrior priestess and the demons she fought in her last battle. Their souls crystallised into a jewel of immense power, where their souls battled on. For centuries, demons everywhere warred with each other for control of the jewel, until a young priestess shattered it with an arrow, in an attempt to destroy it. The shards were scattered all over Japan and have been lost ever since, despite attempts to gather them and make the jewel whole again…"

Silence. Kagome looked at the shards, carefully picking one up to hold it to the evening light. "These… are the shards? But… there're so many! Why do you have them? So these were what you were looking for?" She said to Inuyasha, blue eyes narrowing. He scowled in answer. "What do you want them for? And why were you sealed in the well?"

"He was sealed because he tried to steal them from Kikyou. Even shattered, the shards can give demons, even people, a lot of power. That's always led to trouble – so the Council I… work for gathered the shards to study their powers and stop them from falling into the wrong hands. As Slayer, they were placed in Kikyou's protection to purify and gather what shards she could find, in hope of completing the jewel…"

When Kagome still did not speak, she continued. "After she died, the Council took them back into its keeping. They attracted too much trouble, and we couldn't deal with it, not with Sister gone. When they asked me to come back to find and train the new Slayer, they gave them to me."

Fifty years and the circle was turning again.

The shard slipped from Kagome's fingers, fell back on the velvet. "What makes you so sure I'm… this Slayer you're looking for? I'm not some hero… I can't kill demons, I don't even know what happened this afternoon…!"

The look in Kaede's eyes was almost gentle. "Kagome, take off the bandage on your cheek and look again."

The sound of tearing plaster was loud in the silence. Kagome's fingers brushed her cheek and drew no pain. Only a faint, red welt of newly healed skin remained where the demon's blood had marked her.

"Healing ability has always been a mark of a Slayer's powers, together with strength, agility, spiritual power…"

Through space and time. Blood to blood.

Fate moved in the strangest ways.

end