Author: taiyoukai-kai
Comments: This is not the sequel to my last fanfic "Fukai Mori: Darkness" but, I hope you enjoy it just as much.
Recently I had an encounter with someone who posted some chapters of the fanfic without my permission. I really can't do anything about those who do this, but it insults my intelligence when you don't even bother to change the story's name. Really. I'm not that stupid. Please respect that I spent time and effort to write these stories and would like them to stay mine. If you want a story write one your own. Please. That being said and done, ON WITH THE STORY!
Disclaimer: Fear his claws…because I don't own him. Characters © Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Kagome has returned to her time after a tragic last battle with Naraku where Inuyasha died, and Kagome, barely saved. Five years later, she can run from the past no longer. But she wasn't the same naïve girl of the past either. [Sess/Kag]
Prologue...:
She knelt in the powdery snow and laid a small bouquet of flowers down before the gravestone. By rights, she should have been dead, too. But something had saved her. She shook her head mirthlessly. No, not something. Someone.
She slowly got to her feet and stared down at the grave. The gravestone was worn and dirty. The name was barely visible under the thick vines that grew over it. She briskly tore them off and hesitantly traced the crudely worn engraved name.
"Inuyasha, a beloved friend. May you rest in peace."
It was only yesterday that she buried him, yet ironically, the stone and the grave were already in great disrepair. She shouldn't have been surprised. After all, it was a few centuries ago when she buried him. Technically.
She dropped her hand back to her side, and stared down at the grave. She felt strange, knowing that she never shed a tear at his death. Even though she had believed she loved him and that the last word he ever spoke, while lying in her arms, was his former lover's name, she never shed a tear. Not even when she hurt. Inside.
She brought a hand to touch her cheeks. And, even as she stood here now, sorrow a living pulse inside her chest, she did not cry.
She realized now, that she never really loved him. Not as a lover. But he was a good friend, even if a bit unorthodox.
She smiled an achingly sad smile and wondered how she could smile in a time like this. At a place like this. But she couldn't stop and she was happy that if she couldn't have him alive, she could at least have the memory of him. Forever.
A yell echoed to her and she turned to look.
"Onee-chan!" Sota called out as he ran. She waved and looked on in amusement. He came to a stop and rested his hands on his knees, to catch his breath. "Onee-chan, Mom says it's time to leave so…" His voice trailed off when he spotted whose gravestone it was. He turned wide eyes to his sister. "Onee-chan…"
Kagome smiled and ruffled his hair. "Its okay." She gave him one last pat on the head and walked off in the direction Sota came, not once looking back.
Sota stood there, his eyes on his sister's retreating back. He glanced back at Inuyasha's grave. "Why did you have to die?" he whispered. "Why did you do that to onee-chan?" He waited for an aching moment as if waiting for an answer. He turned to run after Kagome.
Chapter One...:
"Really, Higurashi-san. You must concentrate." The instructor scolded his best student.
Kagome wiped an arm across her brow and lifted her bow again. Setting the arrow on the strings, she drew back. Sweat ran down the side of her face. She closed an eye as it blurred, to clear it. She opened it again and concentrated on the target. Finally, she let it go, the arrow whizzing through the air.
As the arrow made a muffled thud, she knew instinctively that she had missed he bull's eye yet again. The disappointment and stress caught up with her suddenly and she began coughing, her lungs on fire. [no, it is not SARS] It soon intensified and she bent over with the force of her dry coughs. The bow dropped out of her lax hands and clattered to the wooden floor.
The instructor walked over, and waited for Kagome to stop coughing. When Kagome lifted her head, the instructor smiled thinly and patted her on the back. "It is alright, Higurashi-san. Go home and rest. Tomorrow, come an hour early and we will practice."
Kagome nodded apologetically and the instructor walked away, yelling at a student to straighten his stance.
She softly picked up her bow and padded off to change.
She eased open the door and propped her bow on the lockers. As she opened hers, she caught her image in the mirror she attached to the inside door of her locker. She knew she should have taken it down. She used her fingers to feel the scar that ran up and down her left cheek, just missing her eye. Watched them hide the pale scar in the mirror.
The door opened behind her, and she whirled around, her scar forgotten. But it was only another student.
She spotted Kagome and smiled politely. "The sensei wants to talk to you."
Kagome nodded her assent and the student closed the door. She quickly dressed and went to find the instructor.
He looked up from his desk when Kagome found him. "Ah, Higurashi-san. Please," he gestured with a hand toward the two chairs in front of him. "Have a seat."
Kagome gave a short bow and chose the left seat. She sat down. The instructor leaned closer, his hands steepled. "As you may know, there is a national competition coming up soon." Kagome nodded her assent. "Yes, and how are you feeling?"
Kagome felt her stomach drop. Was he going to bar her from the competitions? Only she knew how many people denied her a chance. She smiled thinly. "I'm fine, thank you."
The instructor looked at her for a minute, his face a mask of impenetrability and almost false concern. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "As you may have realized already, I had considered asking you to…take a break. You know. Because of your…injuries."
Kagome lost her smile and waited for him to continue. "But you are my best archer, and I can ill afford for you to not be there."
Kagome didn't blink. The instructor smiled grimly. "I'm letting you go, but," he lifted a finger imperiously. "If your injuries act up…" He snapped his fingers. "You're out." Kagome nodded, her face emotionless.
He grunted and waved a hand at her. "Dismissed."
She rose from her seat and bowed, although he had clearly turned his attention from her. In the locker room, she gathered her belongings. She grimaced grimly at her sensei's words. Her injuries. If she thought about it hard enough, she could still remember the pain, the fear. She had been even more scared then, than when she was fighting cold-blooded youkais in the feudal era.
She walked briskly down the hall and slid the door open. Her shoes on, she began her walk home. She didn't know why she had decided to join the archery team. She had just felt that she needed to prove to somebody that she was still able. To somebody.
It actually didn't matter to her anymore. Her life was a mess, and has been for some time now. Her mother died five years ago, six days after she graduated from high school. Her grandpa, well, has been dead for a long, long time. Her brother, Sota, was in his rebellious stage and completely uncontrollable. And to add to that, she was physically maimed. Deformed. Marred. She wasn't really crippled or anything.
Just injured enough to affect her aim.
And everything else.
She walked slower, her thoughts completely occupying her mind. Sota probably wasn't even home, yet. She never had the energy or the will to curb his immaturity anymore. Ever since their mother died. He probably blamed her for her death. Perhaps it was her fault.
A hand settled on her shoulder, startling her from her thoughts. As his face came into focus, she groaned.
"Hojo-kun?"
He smiled. "Kagome, long time no——." He abruptly stopped and she knew why. They all did. Always. His mouth worked soundlessly.
"See?" She completed his sentence for him. "Yeah, it has been awhile, neh?"
He exhaled heavily. "Jesus, what happened to your face."
She gave a cold laugh. "Would you believe me if I said I fell down a very long staircase?"
He slowly shook his head. His eyes darted from place to place, avoiding her face. She shrugged his hand off, and resumed her walk. After so many years of him doing so many nice things to her when she was "sick" didn't prepare for the time when she was finally disfigured enough to repel even him. She couldn't stand to see the disgust and shock in his eyes. They all had that look. Sometimes, she wondered if she would meet somebody who wouldn't. She doubted it.
Hojo didn't go after her.
She felt the scars pull tight as she pulled the arrow back. The pain was a sudden stab, but she ignored it. The scars always hurt. So she learned to put the pain away. To lock it away until she could handle it. In private.
She released the arrow with a soft grunt of effort and watched as the arrow struck the target. The judge leaned in to see and yelled out it was a bull's eye. The team erupted in cheers, the tension that had moments before hung about the air so heavily, suddenly vanished. Even the sensei was grinning.
"Good work, Higurashi-san." He slapped her on her back. Just as suddenly, he recoiled as if he had been savagely burned. "I'm sorry!" He panicked. "I forgot about…"
She shrugged and briskly walked away, not letting him voice the obvious. Why do people still think she's incapacitated.
She passed by a pair of girls in high school uniforms excitedly chattering.
"Did you hear? Inutaisho-sama's here?
"Sesshoumaru? The president of Westlands?!"
The girl nodded in reply. "Un. I heard Sakura-chan say she saw him."
"Sugoii~!!" the pair squealed and hurried away, still chattering.
Kagome thought about what she had just heard. Sesshoumaru was here? Could it be the same one as…? She almost snorted. It was probably just a coincidence.
"I've been watching you, Kikyo."
She whirled around, her heart thumping in alarm. Surprise pumped in her blood like adrenaline. "Se——!" Her leg gave out at that moment with her sudden movement, and she collapsed to the floor, her legs folding underneath her. She gripped her leg as it pulsed with pain, too much to just ignore.
The person who spoke looked down and looked faintly surprised. "You aren't Kikyo."
She cursed and looked up. "Damn right. Why does the cursed miko still haunt me!" she yelled through gritted teeth. "Damn it."
She painfully pushed herself up, testing the reliability of her leg. Satisfied that it wasn't going to collapse on her again she took a closer look at the guy who triggered the pain attack in the first place.
Sesshoumaru was almost unchanged. His eyes still held absolutely no warmth or emotion and he was still tall, feminine, and handsome as sin. He also still had white hair, although he had cut it short. It was almost a shame.
She began to notice that they were attracting some stares as they were not speaking but staring at each other silently. She bit her lip and fidgeted. What to say? It didn't seem likely that Sesshoumaru would speak anytime soon. So, she bowed slightly and politely excused herself.
He didn't reply, so she walked away. Only when she got home did she notice that he hadn't reacted at the sight of her scarred face. Nothing out of ordinary, she thought. She doubted he reacted much to anything.
Just about the same time as that revelation struck her another soon followed. Her bow. She had dropped it when she bumped into Sesshoumaru and, for the life of her, she couldn't remember picking it up again.
She grabbed a pillow to muffle her scream.
Of all the bloody people to run into, he runs into Kagome. And of all the bloody people to mistake her for, he mistakes her for the dead miko. Why the bloody hell couldn't he remember that the stupid miko had been dead for bloody centuries!
He sighed. He wholeheartedly agreed with Kagome's sentiments. 'Why does that cursed miko still haunt me?!' Or him. Same difference.
He had no idea.
But what he did know, was that Kagome had matured into a beautiful woman, if a bit reserved and cold. And, he snarled to himself, just his luck that Inuyasha had been reincarnated twenty-two bloody years ago. Kami was clearly not looking down on him with favor.
If he was really unlucky, Naraku would be reincarnated too. So far so good. No Naraku. That he knew of.
He stared at the bow he had set on his table, and wondered what he was going to do with it. Gently running his hand over the wood, he recalled the graceful girl who had used it. He had stopped to watch the final round and could not believe that such a small girl could pull such a large bow. Not that her age had anything to do with it. That was before he had known it was Kagome. Had he known, he would not have been so surprised.
Thinking about her brought back memories of long ago. He had respected her, in a way, for her courage and her undying…drive to reach her goals. But, why she had continued to stay with his worthless half-brother was beyond him.
He viciously dug into the wood of her bow with his nails. She was his. She was his the day Inuyasha failed his duty and he, Sesshoumaru, saved her life.
He removed his fingers from the mauled wood and gently smoothed the gouges.
She just didn't realize it.
He had heard that Kagome had been asking around for her bow. He absently tapped a finger on the table. Perhaps it was time to find her and return it. His lips widened slightly in what could only be called a smirk.
The hunt was on.
There were seldom times when she felt like screaming until lungs exploded. But this was one of them.
She fixed the boy in front of her with a glare. "Are you sure the blond man picked it up?"
The boy shivered as she looked up into her eyes. Her very angry eyes. The ice-cold fury radiated from them, sending chills up his spine. He nodded quickly as if he knew that his tongue was too scared to move.
She stared at him for a moment longer as if looked to see if he was telling the truth. He really believed she could, too. The way she was staring at him…as if she could see all the untruths and white lies he's ever told in his short life. Then, she huffed out of impatience and turned sharply on her heel to stalk away.
He let go a breath he had no idea he had been holding.
"Feisty, isn't she,"
The boy looked up in surprise at the man standing next to him. He looked off after the departing girl with intense purple eyes. The boy violently shook his head.
The man chuckled with humor. "Oh, but she is. Feisty wench." He turned to grin winningly at the boy and he walked off, a swagger quite noticeable. The boy watched as the wind ruffled through the man's black hair, and for a split second, he looked so heroic, so picturesque, like a character straight from a fairy tale. Then the image disappeared and the man returned to his earthly image.
The boy couldn't believe it. The whole day must have been a dream. He shook his head and walked away. An ice cream would be nice.
No one noticed Sesshoumaru standing there, off to the side. His face was hidden in the shadows. A girl looked curiously at him as she walked by, and flinched at the angry expression on his face. She didn't think she did anything wrong. When he noticed her, the expression vanished, smoothed away. He gave her a curt nod, and stalked away. She noticed the wooden bow clenched tightly in his hands and thanked god that she wasn't it.
He couldn't believe it. All his precautions, all his plans. All in vain. Dashed to ground with one fell swoop. Fury pumped in his blood. Why?! Why must that imbecile ruin everything?!
He threw open his door, the hinges shattering. Hurling the bow to the floor, he stalked to his liquor cabinet. After downing a quick shot of brandy, the fire burning a path down to his stomach, he set the glass down with a soft clink. It didn't matter now. His plans were already in tatters. He would just have to devise a new one. One that would, unfortunately, include his idiotic brother, who obviously needed to be taught a lesson.
He smiled as the thought expanded in his head. Oh, yes. A lesson was in hand.
Yosh…I really liked this story line when I thought of it, and I still do. ^_^ But it's such a pain to write…I keep on forgetting how hard writing a whole story is…T.T And I have three going on at the same time…I have got to get a life.
This story and the other one is both placed in modern times…but the next story is going to take place in feudal ages. *nods again*.
Yup…and go check out my other story… "Thy name is Death" *nods* And REVIEW~!!!
Over and Out. Kai.