Disclaimer: ::the psychiatrist looks in through the tiny window of Tessen's padded room. Still in a straitjacket, typing with her feet:: Hmm...... interesting.
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To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Six :: Illusions
Chapter Twenty-Two :: End of the Illusion
Inuyasha walked over calmly, standing across from Tama. The youkai woman was staring him down, snarling. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded and Inuyasha swallowed. *I hope this works.*
Calmly, he spoke aloud. "Tama, listen to me. You can break the transformation. Think about Tanpopo, about the others. You have to regain control."
Tama seemed to stop, her growl becoming rugged as she wavered. The blue of her pupils faded, and she stumbled. After a moment though, she regained consciousness and charged, slashing out and ripping across Inuyasha's chest. He winced, taking the attack full on, and Kagome cried out his name.
From the sidelines, Shippou yelped. "Inuyasha you idiot, don't let her hit you!!"
"Shippou, don't," Miroku said, and the kit looked up. "What?" Miroku gestured to Kagome, and the child turned towards her. Kagome's face was twisted into an expression of worry, tears building in her eyes. He quieted.
Sango gasped. "Why is Inuyasha doing that?! I don't understand!"
"Maybe he knows something we don't," Miroku said, and Shippou and Sango looked back at him. Miroku, still looking on the fight, swallowed and then began to speak again.
"Inuyasha himself has gone through this. While he doesn't remember what happened when he transformed, he does understand what he was feeling at the time. Perhaps he understands how much of Tama is still hanyou, and how much is youkai... and he is trying to reach her."
"You mean all those times he had transformed, he was still aware?" Sango asked and Miroku narrowed his eyes. "I'm just guessing, but I think that, yes, even if he was not aware of his surroundings, inside Inuyasha was always trying to regain control of himself. You remember, he forced himself to pick up Tessaiga when he fought Ryuukotsusei. And perhaps Tama is also able to force herself back into control."
Kagome, having heard Miroku's estimation, looked back out at Inuyasha and Tama. Inuyasha had gotten himself another cut, this time just above his elbow. He didn't look too fazed, but instead he looked more determined. Kagome clenched her fists. *Please be right on this Inuyasha...*
Tama launched herself again at Inuyasha, and this time the hanyou grabbed her wrists, forcing her to stop. "Tama, I know what it feels like!! I know how hard it is! But you have to try! Break the transformation!"
She snarled at him, bringing one knee up, and Inuyasha leaned back, barely dodging. Coming back to dodge the second one, he bit his lip. *What can I do to make her stop?! She can't hear me at all...! This isn't like my own transformation... this is completely different!*
Tama wrenched one hand free and slashed Inuyasha across the chest again, this time raking deep. Inuyasha released her and she leapt back, leaving her brother to hug his wounded chest. Already the poison from the first hit was beginning to spread; his sight was blurring, twinges of searing hot pain rushed through his body.
*I gotta finish this quick, or she'll really kill me, but...* Inuyasha looked at his sister helplessly. *Why can't she hear me?? What would break through to her? Is she really that far gone that she can't hear my voice anymore?*
He looked over her form, at the Shikon shards which tripled every punch, every kick. But the cursed shard on her forehead which had controlled her had been knocked away by Kagome's arrow. Inuyasha shook his head. *No... I know she can hear me!!! But what...*
All the while, in the back of his mind a little voice kept repeating the same phrase: Tama adores her little brother. She loves him more than anything, and she would do anything for him. In his mind, Inuyasha argued that. *But I'm her little brother! I'm here! I'm with her, why doesn't she see me!?*
Then it clicked.
Tama rushed him again, and this time, the moment she was close enough, he jumped at her, locking his arms around hers to prevent her from scratching him, but what came out of his mouth was something no one had expected.
"Neechan stop~!"
Tama stopped. So did everyone else.
Inuyasha hugged her tighter, burying his face against her shoulder. "Tama, do you remember? When I used to call you that... When Ofukuro died and it was just you and me...... Do you remember?"
She wrenched one of her arms free, the claws tearing into his arm to try and force him off. Inuyasha held firm. "Please go back to being my sister, Tama... Go back to the way you used to be."
Slowly, the claws digging onto his arm retracted, and the tension in her body relaxed. Inuyasha turned his head, and Tama's gold eyes met his. She stared up at him, tears glittering in her eyes. "You stupid bastard... you're so reckless."
Inuyasha grinned before hugging her again. "Tama..."
Kagome grinned, rushing over and embracing the other hanyou. "Tama-chan!!" Shippou bounced up onto Tama's shoulders, hugging her neck. "We were so worried!" Tama lowered her face, and Shippou looked up. "Tama??"
She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, guys... I'm sorry I..." She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and glanced up into Kagome's smile. The miko nodded at her, smiling with her eyes. "It's okay, Tama-chan, we understand."
The hanyou closed her eyes, nodded, and sniffled. "Thank you."
Kagome then turned to Inuyasha and hugged him, and the hanyou leaned against her as his knees gave out, the poison from Tama's claws having numbed him. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he murmured a soft response, his breathing heavy against her neck. "I'll be fine."
"This temple..." Miroku changed the subject, looking around, "is Uramiko's, isn't it?" As Tama went to the altar and unwrapped Tanpopo's wrists, taking the girl in her arms, she nodded.
"Uramiko had kidnapped Tanpopo to lure Inuyasha here... I went to save her and instead got used as bait too..." She jerked in surprise suddenly. "Oh yeah, what happened to those two bitches Terith and Terrace?"
Sango narrowed her eyes. "Those two illusionists? We don't know, I don't remember much of what happened between the time they captured us to when Inuyasha broke the spell."
"Why do you care anyway, Miroku?" Shippou asked, and Inuyasha pushed himself to his feet. "Isn't it obvious? That wrinkled old bitch is in here somewhere, if that's true."
"Yes. As someone who desires the Shikon no Tama, and a demon who possess jewel shards..." Miroku began,
"And the one who fucking used my friends... she deserves to die," Inuyasha said, and then turned to them. "Let's go."
"No need," said a gravelly voice, and the gumi spun to glare at the sound. Uramiko was standing behind the altar, having come through a door previously unseen, left open behind the demon miko. Inuyasha cursed. "Uramiko, you bitch!!"
Before he could move though he stopped short, gasping in pain from the poison. Kagome grabbed onto him before he toppled. "Inuyasha, don't move yet!"
"You expect to battle me?" Uramiko demanded, "You can hardly stand, the poison your sister inflicted on you, as little as it was, won't kill you, but surely fighting I, Uramiko, while in such a state would."
"Fucking bitch... how dare you use my friends... Why did you make us fight?!" Inuyasha yelled, and Uramiko smiled. "Didn't you know? The Shikon no Tama is a jewel that can be used for good or evil. When touched by the damned it becomes cursed, when touched by the innocent, it becomes pure.
"However the Shikon no Tama, like a human soul, gathers pure hate and pure energy within it. Like your Kagome. She is the only one who can completely purify the jewel, but even SHE has a glimmer of blackness tainting her soul. The jewel is the same. I simply wish to unleash that pure hatred the jewel stores and use it to my own wishes."
"Which would be what?" Miroku asked defiantly, and Uramiko smiled. "You shall know soon enough. I'll let you go for today, but before I leave..." She lifted her hand, and the shards of the jewel left in Tama's arms and legs suddenly left her, floating over to the miko. The one on the floor that had controlled her also came as if on command. Tama cursed. "You bitch~!!"
Uramiko laughed. "I hope that you enjoy the next act of my play. Kagome, Inuyasha, you're up."
The old miko turned to leave, but turned in surprise when she heard the distinct *twang* of a bowstring, and Kagome's arrow shot straight through her arm.
"I won't forgive you!! I'll end this here!!!" Kagome yelled, firing off a second, and this arrow buried itself into Uramiko's chest. Abruptly the woman's head fell off, her limbs following suit and then the remains turning to dust. Sango narrowed her eyes. "A kugutsu..."
"What could it possibly be that she wants....?" Kagome wondered, and looked down at Inuyasha. He was conscious, but unable to move, sitting up thanks to Tama who was kneeling next to him, holding him up. The female hanyou had taken Kagome's place with him when the young miko attacked Uramiko.
Inuyasha lifted his head and locked eyes with Kagome. Kagome bit her lip. *Uramiko said it was me and Inuyasha... I have to protect him. I don't know what she wants, but I swear I won't let her use him, or me, or any of the others. I'll end this.*
~*~
The fire crackled and popped in the silence, the embers fairly low in the floor-hearth. It was late, daybreak hardly an hour away, and everyone was asleep. Except for Kagome, who was watching over her wounded hanyou. She carefully wiped the sweat from Inuyasha's forehead as he shifted uncomfortably in his sleep, sleeping off the dosages of poison he'd received from the battle against his sister.
"How is he?"
Kagome looked up at Tama, the other hanyou lurking in the shadows. She looked back down at Inuyasha, placing a cold cloth on his head. "He's doing better. His fever's gone down, but he still seems to be in pain. I'll have to make more medicine soon." She looked back up at Tama, blinking. "I thought you were asleep..."
"I can't. I keep thinking about... about that..."
Kagome nodded as the other woman came over, settling in next to her sleeping brother. "I know it's difficult. But it'll be okay. You didn't hurt anyone. So don't worry about it."
"That's not why I'm worried."
Kagome blinked as Tama opened her hand, looking over her claws distressingly. "I can feel my blood boiling in me, even now, in a way it never did before... My youkai blood isn't dormant anymore. I don't know how my blood broke through. Which means I also don't know how to regain control of myself. If I..."
"You won't!" Tama looked up. Kagome shook her head obstinately. "You won't," the miko repeated, "I know. I trust you. I know you never hurt us. Not me, or Inuyasha or Tanpopo or any of the others."
Tama looked down, feeling dejected. She lifted her head again and looked in the dim firelight over the forms of her sleeping friends. Shippou, Kaede-babaa, Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, who had been royally pissed off at having to be left behind when everyone went to rescue Tanpopo.
Kagome and Inuyasha.
Tanpopo.
The people most precious to her now, the way her husband Katsuyoumaru and her daughter Kiseki had been precious. But, she had not been able to protect Kiseki. Her young daughter had been killed when bandits attacked their village. Katsuyoumaru and Tama never again had another child, and he died of an illness as an older man, his hanyou wife forever young and beautiful.
She had not been able to protect her adopted daughter Tsutsuji, who grew up under the wing of a hanyou, never really learning to true extent of her youkai power and because of it, died at the hands of Terrace and Terith.
She swore to herself that she would protect Tanpopo, even if it meant from herself.
"I'm going to go think," Tama said, standing quickly, and Kagome bit her lip. "Tama-chan, you know you're important to us, right? You... mean alot to all of us. You mean alot to Inuyasha."
"Keh," Tama snorted, "I'm just his sister. You heard him before. I just bring back alot of bad memories for him. Besides, I'm just going to think. Don't worry about me."
And with that the hanyou disappeared through the bamboo roll door. Kagome apprehensively watched her leave. *Tama-chan... please don't leave us.*
Tama turned back towards the small hut for only a moment. *Tanpopo... minna... I'm sorry... But until I find a way to reseal my youkai blood... I can't stay with you.* Then the hanyou turned, facing the thick foliage that was Inuyasha's Forest, and in a single bound she disappeared.
~*~
Torou was awakened by screams.
He ran from his chambers down the shrine hall, rushing outside alongside some of the other mikos, his grandmother amongst them. He threw open the doors and looked down the shrine steps, where a pair of heads were posted on stakes sticking from the ground.
The screams were from some of the lower attendants and apprentices in the shrine, who had awoken first to begin their duties.
Torou recognized the heads-- it was his mother, Terrace, and his aunt, Terith. He stared in disgust and horror at the image the pair's heads made when he noticed, standing farther away, a white silhouette.
Sesshoumaru and Torou locked eyes. Sesshoumaru smirked faintly, taunting the younger demon, and Torou glared at him, seething.
After a moment the inuyoukai lord turned silently and walked away.
Torou spun to face his grandmother, Uramiko, who looked neither grieved nor infuriated. She looked, if anything, amused, but her expression was empty of anything he expected.
"What the fuck is wrong with you~!?" he demanded quite suddenly and Uramiko turned her red gaze on him. Torou was trembling with fury as he yelled at his grandmother. "Those are your DAUGHTERS!! And you don't even care!!!"
"Sacrifices are required for greatness," was all she said before turning and walking back into the shrine. Torou stared after her in horror.
*That bitch used my mother and aunt... She never expected them to win... they were just pawns...!!! As I am just a pawn......* Torou turned to look back at his mother and aunt's decapitated heads. Servants were already beginning to take them down.
*Before Uramiko uses up my life in her little fucking game... I shall take my revenge on Sesshoumaru... for the death of my mother~!!*
~*~
Shortly after dawn, Kaede was abruptly awoken by a frightened call from outside.
"Kaede-sama~! Kaede-sama!!!"
At the sound, Kaede, not to mention the others, stirred from their sleep. The old miko opened her eyes and sat up. "Who's there?" A young village woman pushed back the bamboo roll and looked fearfully at the old miko. "Kaede-sama, someone is at Kikyou-sama's gravesite!"
Kaede gasped and stood, rushing up the stairs towards the grave. It had taken quite awhile to fix the small site the last time, and even then, without Kikyou's ashes, it wasn't much but a place to pray that the dead miko find some peace. Miroku and Sango followed the old miko to assist her, leaving Kohaku to protect the kits, Inuyasha and Kagome, who were still asleep. (Tessen:: they can sleep through anything, can't they! ^-^)
Kaede, trailed by Miroku and Sango, reached the head and found a young woman wearing a blue hakama and black haori, and a black cloak over her head and shoulders. She was kneeling at the shrine, running her fingers over it in contemplation.
"Who are you?!" Miroku demanded firmly, "State your business!!"
"This gravesite..." said the woman, "is the grave of the miko, Kikyou?" Kaede nodded. "It is; the gravesite of my onee-sama Kikyou, who protected this village. Now answer our question, who are you?!!"
The woman shook her head, and Kaede thought she heard her laughing. "The little bitch was telling the truth, then..."
In one quick sweep, she reached out with a small urn and scooped up some of the gravesoil, and then spun, firing an arrow as she did. The arrow landed just at Kaede's feet, and when the smoke cleared, the woman had disappeared.
Kaede stared. "What... just happened...??"
Miroku and Sango exchanged a glance, and Miroku frowned. *If I'm not mistaken... those clothes.. Kikyou-sama was wearing those when we last saw her in Kitsuko Forest!!!*
Miroku narrowed his eyes. "What does this mean...?"
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: ::automated woman's voice:: We have reach-ed the half-way point of To Be With You To-mor-row. Please wait for next in-stall-ment. ::intermission::
Lemme know what you think okay~ (I have SO many plans for this next part~!!! MUA HAHAHAHA~~!!)
Okie ja~
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen
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To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Six :: Illusions
Chapter Twenty-Two :: End of the Illusion
Inuyasha walked over calmly, standing across from Tama. The youkai woman was staring him down, snarling. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded and Inuyasha swallowed. *I hope this works.*
Calmly, he spoke aloud. "Tama, listen to me. You can break the transformation. Think about Tanpopo, about the others. You have to regain control."
Tama seemed to stop, her growl becoming rugged as she wavered. The blue of her pupils faded, and she stumbled. After a moment though, she regained consciousness and charged, slashing out and ripping across Inuyasha's chest. He winced, taking the attack full on, and Kagome cried out his name.
From the sidelines, Shippou yelped. "Inuyasha you idiot, don't let her hit you!!"
"Shippou, don't," Miroku said, and the kit looked up. "What?" Miroku gestured to Kagome, and the child turned towards her. Kagome's face was twisted into an expression of worry, tears building in her eyes. He quieted.
Sango gasped. "Why is Inuyasha doing that?! I don't understand!"
"Maybe he knows something we don't," Miroku said, and Shippou and Sango looked back at him. Miroku, still looking on the fight, swallowed and then began to speak again.
"Inuyasha himself has gone through this. While he doesn't remember what happened when he transformed, he does understand what he was feeling at the time. Perhaps he understands how much of Tama is still hanyou, and how much is youkai... and he is trying to reach her."
"You mean all those times he had transformed, he was still aware?" Sango asked and Miroku narrowed his eyes. "I'm just guessing, but I think that, yes, even if he was not aware of his surroundings, inside Inuyasha was always trying to regain control of himself. You remember, he forced himself to pick up Tessaiga when he fought Ryuukotsusei. And perhaps Tama is also able to force herself back into control."
Kagome, having heard Miroku's estimation, looked back out at Inuyasha and Tama. Inuyasha had gotten himself another cut, this time just above his elbow. He didn't look too fazed, but instead he looked more determined. Kagome clenched her fists. *Please be right on this Inuyasha...*
Tama launched herself again at Inuyasha, and this time the hanyou grabbed her wrists, forcing her to stop. "Tama, I know what it feels like!! I know how hard it is! But you have to try! Break the transformation!"
She snarled at him, bringing one knee up, and Inuyasha leaned back, barely dodging. Coming back to dodge the second one, he bit his lip. *What can I do to make her stop?! She can't hear me at all...! This isn't like my own transformation... this is completely different!*
Tama wrenched one hand free and slashed Inuyasha across the chest again, this time raking deep. Inuyasha released her and she leapt back, leaving her brother to hug his wounded chest. Already the poison from the first hit was beginning to spread; his sight was blurring, twinges of searing hot pain rushed through his body.
*I gotta finish this quick, or she'll really kill me, but...* Inuyasha looked at his sister helplessly. *Why can't she hear me?? What would break through to her? Is she really that far gone that she can't hear my voice anymore?*
He looked over her form, at the Shikon shards which tripled every punch, every kick. But the cursed shard on her forehead which had controlled her had been knocked away by Kagome's arrow. Inuyasha shook his head. *No... I know she can hear me!!! But what...*
All the while, in the back of his mind a little voice kept repeating the same phrase: Tama adores her little brother. She loves him more than anything, and she would do anything for him. In his mind, Inuyasha argued that. *But I'm her little brother! I'm here! I'm with her, why doesn't she see me!?*
Then it clicked.
Tama rushed him again, and this time, the moment she was close enough, he jumped at her, locking his arms around hers to prevent her from scratching him, but what came out of his mouth was something no one had expected.
"Neechan stop~!"
Tama stopped. So did everyone else.
Inuyasha hugged her tighter, burying his face against her shoulder. "Tama, do you remember? When I used to call you that... When Ofukuro died and it was just you and me...... Do you remember?"
She wrenched one of her arms free, the claws tearing into his arm to try and force him off. Inuyasha held firm. "Please go back to being my sister, Tama... Go back to the way you used to be."
Slowly, the claws digging onto his arm retracted, and the tension in her body relaxed. Inuyasha turned his head, and Tama's gold eyes met his. She stared up at him, tears glittering in her eyes. "You stupid bastard... you're so reckless."
Inuyasha grinned before hugging her again. "Tama..."
Kagome grinned, rushing over and embracing the other hanyou. "Tama-chan!!" Shippou bounced up onto Tama's shoulders, hugging her neck. "We were so worried!" Tama lowered her face, and Shippou looked up. "Tama??"
She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, guys... I'm sorry I..." She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and glanced up into Kagome's smile. The miko nodded at her, smiling with her eyes. "It's okay, Tama-chan, we understand."
The hanyou closed her eyes, nodded, and sniffled. "Thank you."
Kagome then turned to Inuyasha and hugged him, and the hanyou leaned against her as his knees gave out, the poison from Tama's claws having numbed him. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he murmured a soft response, his breathing heavy against her neck. "I'll be fine."
"This temple..." Miroku changed the subject, looking around, "is Uramiko's, isn't it?" As Tama went to the altar and unwrapped Tanpopo's wrists, taking the girl in her arms, she nodded.
"Uramiko had kidnapped Tanpopo to lure Inuyasha here... I went to save her and instead got used as bait too..." She jerked in surprise suddenly. "Oh yeah, what happened to those two bitches Terith and Terrace?"
Sango narrowed her eyes. "Those two illusionists? We don't know, I don't remember much of what happened between the time they captured us to when Inuyasha broke the spell."
"Why do you care anyway, Miroku?" Shippou asked, and Inuyasha pushed himself to his feet. "Isn't it obvious? That wrinkled old bitch is in here somewhere, if that's true."
"Yes. As someone who desires the Shikon no Tama, and a demon who possess jewel shards..." Miroku began,
"And the one who fucking used my friends... she deserves to die," Inuyasha said, and then turned to them. "Let's go."
"No need," said a gravelly voice, and the gumi spun to glare at the sound. Uramiko was standing behind the altar, having come through a door previously unseen, left open behind the demon miko. Inuyasha cursed. "Uramiko, you bitch!!"
Before he could move though he stopped short, gasping in pain from the poison. Kagome grabbed onto him before he toppled. "Inuyasha, don't move yet!"
"You expect to battle me?" Uramiko demanded, "You can hardly stand, the poison your sister inflicted on you, as little as it was, won't kill you, but surely fighting I, Uramiko, while in such a state would."
"Fucking bitch... how dare you use my friends... Why did you make us fight?!" Inuyasha yelled, and Uramiko smiled. "Didn't you know? The Shikon no Tama is a jewel that can be used for good or evil. When touched by the damned it becomes cursed, when touched by the innocent, it becomes pure.
"However the Shikon no Tama, like a human soul, gathers pure hate and pure energy within it. Like your Kagome. She is the only one who can completely purify the jewel, but even SHE has a glimmer of blackness tainting her soul. The jewel is the same. I simply wish to unleash that pure hatred the jewel stores and use it to my own wishes."
"Which would be what?" Miroku asked defiantly, and Uramiko smiled. "You shall know soon enough. I'll let you go for today, but before I leave..." She lifted her hand, and the shards of the jewel left in Tama's arms and legs suddenly left her, floating over to the miko. The one on the floor that had controlled her also came as if on command. Tama cursed. "You bitch~!!"
Uramiko laughed. "I hope that you enjoy the next act of my play. Kagome, Inuyasha, you're up."
The old miko turned to leave, but turned in surprise when she heard the distinct *twang* of a bowstring, and Kagome's arrow shot straight through her arm.
"I won't forgive you!! I'll end this here!!!" Kagome yelled, firing off a second, and this arrow buried itself into Uramiko's chest. Abruptly the woman's head fell off, her limbs following suit and then the remains turning to dust. Sango narrowed her eyes. "A kugutsu..."
"What could it possibly be that she wants....?" Kagome wondered, and looked down at Inuyasha. He was conscious, but unable to move, sitting up thanks to Tama who was kneeling next to him, holding him up. The female hanyou had taken Kagome's place with him when the young miko attacked Uramiko.
Inuyasha lifted his head and locked eyes with Kagome. Kagome bit her lip. *Uramiko said it was me and Inuyasha... I have to protect him. I don't know what she wants, but I swear I won't let her use him, or me, or any of the others. I'll end this.*
~*~
The fire crackled and popped in the silence, the embers fairly low in the floor-hearth. It was late, daybreak hardly an hour away, and everyone was asleep. Except for Kagome, who was watching over her wounded hanyou. She carefully wiped the sweat from Inuyasha's forehead as he shifted uncomfortably in his sleep, sleeping off the dosages of poison he'd received from the battle against his sister.
"How is he?"
Kagome looked up at Tama, the other hanyou lurking in the shadows. She looked back down at Inuyasha, placing a cold cloth on his head. "He's doing better. His fever's gone down, but he still seems to be in pain. I'll have to make more medicine soon." She looked back up at Tama, blinking. "I thought you were asleep..."
"I can't. I keep thinking about... about that..."
Kagome nodded as the other woman came over, settling in next to her sleeping brother. "I know it's difficult. But it'll be okay. You didn't hurt anyone. So don't worry about it."
"That's not why I'm worried."
Kagome blinked as Tama opened her hand, looking over her claws distressingly. "I can feel my blood boiling in me, even now, in a way it never did before... My youkai blood isn't dormant anymore. I don't know how my blood broke through. Which means I also don't know how to regain control of myself. If I..."
"You won't!" Tama looked up. Kagome shook her head obstinately. "You won't," the miko repeated, "I know. I trust you. I know you never hurt us. Not me, or Inuyasha or Tanpopo or any of the others."
Tama looked down, feeling dejected. She lifted her head again and looked in the dim firelight over the forms of her sleeping friends. Shippou, Kaede-babaa, Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, who had been royally pissed off at having to be left behind when everyone went to rescue Tanpopo.
Kagome and Inuyasha.
Tanpopo.
The people most precious to her now, the way her husband Katsuyoumaru and her daughter Kiseki had been precious. But, she had not been able to protect Kiseki. Her young daughter had been killed when bandits attacked their village. Katsuyoumaru and Tama never again had another child, and he died of an illness as an older man, his hanyou wife forever young and beautiful.
She had not been able to protect her adopted daughter Tsutsuji, who grew up under the wing of a hanyou, never really learning to true extent of her youkai power and because of it, died at the hands of Terrace and Terith.
She swore to herself that she would protect Tanpopo, even if it meant from herself.
"I'm going to go think," Tama said, standing quickly, and Kagome bit her lip. "Tama-chan, you know you're important to us, right? You... mean alot to all of us. You mean alot to Inuyasha."
"Keh," Tama snorted, "I'm just his sister. You heard him before. I just bring back alot of bad memories for him. Besides, I'm just going to think. Don't worry about me."
And with that the hanyou disappeared through the bamboo roll door. Kagome apprehensively watched her leave. *Tama-chan... please don't leave us.*
Tama turned back towards the small hut for only a moment. *Tanpopo... minna... I'm sorry... But until I find a way to reseal my youkai blood... I can't stay with you.* Then the hanyou turned, facing the thick foliage that was Inuyasha's Forest, and in a single bound she disappeared.
~*~
Torou was awakened by screams.
He ran from his chambers down the shrine hall, rushing outside alongside some of the other mikos, his grandmother amongst them. He threw open the doors and looked down the shrine steps, where a pair of heads were posted on stakes sticking from the ground.
The screams were from some of the lower attendants and apprentices in the shrine, who had awoken first to begin their duties.
Torou recognized the heads-- it was his mother, Terrace, and his aunt, Terith. He stared in disgust and horror at the image the pair's heads made when he noticed, standing farther away, a white silhouette.
Sesshoumaru and Torou locked eyes. Sesshoumaru smirked faintly, taunting the younger demon, and Torou glared at him, seething.
After a moment the inuyoukai lord turned silently and walked away.
Torou spun to face his grandmother, Uramiko, who looked neither grieved nor infuriated. She looked, if anything, amused, but her expression was empty of anything he expected.
"What the fuck is wrong with you~!?" he demanded quite suddenly and Uramiko turned her red gaze on him. Torou was trembling with fury as he yelled at his grandmother. "Those are your DAUGHTERS!! And you don't even care!!!"
"Sacrifices are required for greatness," was all she said before turning and walking back into the shrine. Torou stared after her in horror.
*That bitch used my mother and aunt... She never expected them to win... they were just pawns...!!! As I am just a pawn......* Torou turned to look back at his mother and aunt's decapitated heads. Servants were already beginning to take them down.
*Before Uramiko uses up my life in her little fucking game... I shall take my revenge on Sesshoumaru... for the death of my mother~!!*
~*~
Shortly after dawn, Kaede was abruptly awoken by a frightened call from outside.
"Kaede-sama~! Kaede-sama!!!"
At the sound, Kaede, not to mention the others, stirred from their sleep. The old miko opened her eyes and sat up. "Who's there?" A young village woman pushed back the bamboo roll and looked fearfully at the old miko. "Kaede-sama, someone is at Kikyou-sama's gravesite!"
Kaede gasped and stood, rushing up the stairs towards the grave. It had taken quite awhile to fix the small site the last time, and even then, without Kikyou's ashes, it wasn't much but a place to pray that the dead miko find some peace. Miroku and Sango followed the old miko to assist her, leaving Kohaku to protect the kits, Inuyasha and Kagome, who were still asleep. (Tessen:: they can sleep through anything, can't they! ^-^)
Kaede, trailed by Miroku and Sango, reached the head and found a young woman wearing a blue hakama and black haori, and a black cloak over her head and shoulders. She was kneeling at the shrine, running her fingers over it in contemplation.
"Who are you?!" Miroku demanded firmly, "State your business!!"
"This gravesite..." said the woman, "is the grave of the miko, Kikyou?" Kaede nodded. "It is; the gravesite of my onee-sama Kikyou, who protected this village. Now answer our question, who are you?!!"
The woman shook her head, and Kaede thought she heard her laughing. "The little bitch was telling the truth, then..."
In one quick sweep, she reached out with a small urn and scooped up some of the gravesoil, and then spun, firing an arrow as she did. The arrow landed just at Kaede's feet, and when the smoke cleared, the woman had disappeared.
Kaede stared. "What... just happened...??"
Miroku and Sango exchanged a glance, and Miroku frowned. *If I'm not mistaken... those clothes.. Kikyou-sama was wearing those when we last saw her in Kitsuko Forest!!!*
Miroku narrowed his eyes. "What does this mean...?"
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: ::automated woman's voice:: We have reach-ed the half-way point of To Be With You To-mor-row. Please wait for next in-stall-ment. ::intermission::
Lemme know what you think okay~ (I have SO many plans for this next part~!!! MUA HAHAHAHA~~!!)
Okie ja~
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen