The Low Down: Yep! Sango and Miroku are guardians. Yep! Shippo is technically their "boss" but not as grand and all powerful as you would like to believe, or they like to accept. The spell? That's gonna have some funniness just in itself with just what it all entails and just how they're supposed to break it.
Stone Gardens
Chapter 2
Stone Faced
***
Kagome felt like she was going to throw up. Through dinner, she had sat silently and moved her food around on the plate without eating. Apparently she was pale, because her mother, on more than one occasion, reached across and felt her face for warmth muttering about wearing her out in the move and letting her catch a cold.
The entire time, she was fighting off the urge to vomit, and not just from the food. Although, she did make a mental note that from this point on, cooking should not be on the list of duties for a priest in training.
Guilt, the kind that feels like someone took her heart and threw it in a trash compactor, would not let her stop thinking about just how much trouble she could have unwittingly caused if anyone found out. She even considered taking the dust of the crumbled piece and mixing it with super glue into a make-shift mortar and reshaping the arrow by hand.
A good plan, except that all those clay figurines she had made in the first grade turned out looking more like dilapidated pigs than cats.
If the statue stayed in the shadows and no one ever had an interest in it again, it would work. And at least she'd be doing something to fix her mistake. The sitting around, doing nothing, and running away from her screw up only set the trash compactor on a higher setting.
She gave a sigh and glanced out her window. The sun was beginning to set, her family was busy unpacking, and she guessed Miroku was cleaning after dinner. And there she was doing nothing... while the coast was clear...that wouldn't do.
With an annoying itch at the conscience, a person will not rest until they find a way to relieve the unpleasant feeling. It's often when the situation seems hopeless, that they are most resistant to the thought that they simply don't have any control. This was one of those times.
Kagome hopped off the bed and quietly slipped from the room, knowing she was being foolish and the stone pieces wouldn't just magically reassemble themselves, but logic never was very convincing. She tip-toed down the hall and stairs, making her way to the garden, and along the way had to pass the open kitchen, where she distinctly heard the voices of Miroku and Miss Sango in conversation. She glanced in only long enough to see if they were not looking where she would pass, before edging past the door.
"But Miroku," Sango leaned over the table. "Now that we've brought her here, how do we go about trying to break the spell?"
Miroku fidgeted with a salt shaker and avoided her eyes. For five-hundred years, all they had focused on was how they would bring Kagome near Inuyasha. It was a very natural question, what they would do next and he knew it. He just wasn't very happy about it's being asked so quickly.
"Well... you see... the thing is..." he said quietly.
"You don't know." Sango said incredulously.
"It will all work out in the end." he smiled boyishly. "After all, it was Kagome's soul that cast the spell, so I'm sure that embedded in her somewhere is the answer."
She looked doubtful.
"So, you just don't know?" She said again. "Miroku, what else did you have to do for five-hundred years? It's not like you were to busy to research a spell!"
He gave her an offended look. Ok.... so he hadn't been as diligent in spell sorting as he should have been, but in his defense, he was stuck watching the giant rock and he couldn't help it if the shrine maidens and his invisible form proved much more entertaining. Just because her protectorate was mobile, suddenly Sango knew everything.
"It's kind of hard to research a spell when the only person who knew what went into it died an hour after it was cast!" He said and Sango was taken aback at the harshness.
He quickly soothed the tension with a smile and patted his hand on top of hers.
"Look," he said, "We'll figure it out. Don't worry. All spells have an answer." He leaned back casually. "And once she breaks it, all we have to do is sit around and wait for nature to take its course. They're bound to fall in love with each other and we can get back to our lives, outside mortal romances."
Sango still looked doubtful.
"How can we even be sure they will fall in love?" she asked.
"Why shouldn't they?" Miroku said. "Kikyo fell in love with him and it's the same soul in Kagome. It worked then. It worked all the other times."
"It's just I remember Kikyo," Sango said, "The way she was and acted in her duties to her village. And I know Kagome. I've been with her every moment of her life from when her soul first took place inside her mother's womb. Had I not known the history, I would never expect the two were connected."
Miroku was looking at her with such intense concentration, she squashed the need to blush. "They may have shared a soul, Miroku, but they do not have the same spirit."
Miroku looked, for a moment, that these words altered his plans greatly. But all too soon, he shook his head with a smile and waved off her comments. "You make a lot of sense, Sango, but I don't agree. Environment has great influence on a mortal's personality and the same soul will alter drastically, but it is not enough to affect our purposes."
Sango looked down at the counter top. Everything she knew about Kagome was screaming at her to tell Miroku he was wrong, but how could she know for sure? After all, he'd been a guardian long before she had first met with Shippo and was offered the chance to save the souls of the living. Surely, he'd have enough experience to know what they were dealing with...
Wait a second...
"Miroku?" She asked suddenly, "What did you mean, All the other times?"
He stilled and his eyes shifted nervously. However, before he had a chance to think up a descent answer, his salvation came ringing through the air, in the form a of shrill, feminine scream.
Kagome...
~*~
Kagome slipped outside and quietly slid the side door closed. She could still see well enough in the dimming light, so she raced down the path to the garden. As she stepped inside, she held her breath, thinking it even prettier than it had been in the day.
"How could someone forget about this place for so long?" she mumbled, thinking that it should constantly be filled with annoying shrine visitors and camera toting tourists.
She walked to the weeping tree in the back, where she knew she'd find the statue. She pushed through the branches and let them swing back behind her. In the dying light, they made a shimmering green curtain around her.
Once again, she stood before the statue, and once again, she saw that there was absolutely no way she could ever replace that arrow. It made her want to cry to think she had broken something so masterful and emotional, and couldn't help wondering if she was more upset about the trouble she could have caused for her family, or because she had broken a piece of art she liked so much.
She let her fingers play with the spot where the arrow was and to her great surprise, she found that the stone was not chipped or scratchy, like she would expect from having a piece broken from it. She smiled and decided she liked it better this way. The missing arrow made it seem less sad, if only his face was not so painful.
A cold wind blew through the garden and Kagome shivered. She saw the branch curtain was a much darker green and she knew it was getting late. She shook her head and told herself to stop being silly and just go back inside.
She stepped out from under the tree just in time to catch the last sight of the sun before it slipped below the horizon. Behind her, very quiet, but enough to make her stop in her tracks, Kagome heard a crack.
It was followed by another.
Then another.
She turned around, confused, and to her complete horror, she saw that the entire surface of statue broken and marred by cracks, ruining its perfect smoothness.
She gasped broken segments became smaller and smaller, some chipping away. She stepped back, completely afraid and dumbfounded. Had she just seen a flash of red? More over, was the statue moving?!
The eyes, those sad, heart-wrenching eyes, glowed beneath the stone, while chips flew from his head and ears, shining a pure silver.
His hands flexed, ridding chips from smooth and bronzed skin. She saw his claws, shining and dangerous, and much more intimidating in flesh.
A loud growl filled the air and the statue shook violently, throwing stone everywhere and Kagome ducked to avoid being pelted. She looked up and found him regarding her, the glow in his eyes fading to reveal deep, pure golden, and beautiful eyes. His chest rose up and down quickly trying to catch his breath.
He was alive! The statue was alive! Real, living, breathing, and watching her!
"You..." he snarled and turned on her with a face that froze her insides. "You did this that to me!"
And he was mad.
He lunged at her, those claws shining bitterly in the dim light, and she only had time to roll to the side and give off a startled scream.
He lunged again, catching and ripping her sleeve as she frantically tried to distance herself. He wouldn't let her get away. His thoughts bent to those last moments: pain, betrayal, and death. He snarled and grabbed at her wrist, flinging her against a wall. He pinned her arms, claws biting into her flesh, and snarled down at her.
"How does it feel, Kikyo?" he sneered at her. "Caught by surprise and helpless?"
"What?" Kagome peeked out from under her bangs. "No... I'm not..."
"Inuyasha!" a flash of gold swung in front of her face and hit the attacking demon between the eyes, effectively knocking him away from her. Kagome dropped to the ground at the loss of his holding her upright and tried to pull her senses together. Something stepped in front of her... dark robes... sandals... holding a staff...
The attack didn't send the demon far, just knocked him back a few feet and disoriented him enough for Miroku to step in front of Kagome. In a second, Inuyasha was re-focused and madder than ever.
He jumped high, aiming his claws down to the monk who raised his staff over his head to block. But the demon's agility surprised him, and with Miroku's staff as support, Inuyasha pushed himself back into the air and flipped over Miroku's head. Heading straight for his real target with a vengeful snarl.
Kagome felt her heart stop looking up into his eyes. She couldn't move; couldn't make her legs work. He was going to kill her. He really was! And she just couldn't move...
The staff swung around and caught him in the side, sending him off course and crashing into a wall. Miroku had swung the staff as soon as he realized Inuyasha's intention and had managed the defense only just in time.
Well... he'd wanted Inuyasha to move...
Sango came running through the garden door, and he glanced over his shoulder at her worried face. "Sango, get her out of here." he said calmly, getting a quick nod as she moved quickly to Kagome's side. "I'll handle Inuyasha..." he muttered, watching Sango heave the bewildered girl to her feet and supported her with her shoulder.
Inuyasha rose to his feet again in time to see his prey being taken away and gave a frustrated snarl before launching in chase. Miroku raised an eyebrow, annoyed, and wondered if this demon had some learning disability.
"Down boy." Miroku said and smacked him down in the dirt. "How many more times do you want to do this? Because I can go all night."
"Get out of the way!" the demon snarled with fangs glowing eerily in the moon light.
Miroku was far from impressed. "I hoped you would have figured out by now that isn't going to happen." He smiled confidently and said, "I bet you haven't even figured out yet, it's the wrong girl."
"What?" Inuyasha growled.
"She isn't Kikyo." Miroku leaned against his staff.
"Of course that's Ki...." he stopped, catching a scent in the air. "It's not..." he muttered with confusion.
"Good..." Miroku smiled. "I knew you had to have a brain in there somewhere." He watched the demon boy, who was looking around frantically, just now noticing the state this place was in.
"What happened here?" he gasped.
Miroku felt the annoying twinge of sympathy tugging at his heart and tried to squash the feeling. But it was hard to do when the boy looked so absolutely confused and bordering terrified, with his eyes wide and ears flat against his head. "Time." he said simply. "You've been asleep for five-hundred years."
"Five-hun..." Inuyasha said amazed, "Then the others... the real Kikyo...."
"All dead." Miroku nodded.
For an instant, the boy's face was a tapestry of emotion: rage, fear, confusion, sadness. But it passed immediately as he bolted for the nearest wall.
Miroku sighed... what was it with mortals and running away?
"I wouldn't do that." He said loudly. "At least not if you want to stay flesh and blood."
Inuyasha stopped in his tracks and turned slowly to observe the monk. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Think about it, Inuyasha." Miroku walked over to him. "You awoke here when the sun set. You will return to stone sleep when it rises again. And if you want to wake again, you will need to be in this garden."
"How the fuck do you know that?!" he growled angrily.
"I've had five-hundred years with nothing better to do than watch you grow moss." Miroku said with a superior smile "I did some reading on the subject."
Was it true? Well, it certainly could have been. And he seemed to believe it, so Miroku decided it would be the truth for now.
"Just who the hell are you?" Inuyasha snarled defeatedly.
"Why, I'm your guardian angel, Inuyasha." Miroku grinned.
Miroku smiled and turned back down the stone path. He ignored the sputtered threats and dirty names called to his back. Finally! After half a millennium, he could have some fun.
~*~
Kagome was vaguely aware of the stones in the path moving below her and the walls shooting on either side as she entered the house. She glanced up and saw Sango's worried face and her own arm slung across the older woman's shoulders.
Sango set her back on her feet to lock the door and Kagome found she had the peace of mind to stand once again. She looked at Sango, still in a daze, but not ready to question what happened yet.
Kagome shook her head and stumbled from the room. A few moments later, a terrified scream filled the house and Sango ran quickly up the stairs to find her.
And find her, she did. Kagome had walked into the room where her mother had been unpacking, to find the woman unconscious and on the floor. She was on her knees cradling the woman's head and crying and Sango felt her heart wrench.
"Kagome, please..." she muttered, "They are only asleep, I promise."
Kagome looked up as though she had been shot and glared at Sango with burning rage. "You did this?" she snarled. "What did you do to them!"
"We did not want them to worry when they heard you scream." Sango offered lamely. "We didn't want them to discover the demon yet."
"We?" Kagome repeated painfully. "So Miroku's in on this too? You brought us here just to hurt my family?! God, I'm such an idiot. I actually liked the two of you!"
Kagome trembled with suppressed rage, and on top of everything, Sango saw the girl was going into hysterics. She dropped to her knees in front of Kagome and quickly pulled her into her arms.
"Please understand." Sango pleaded desperately to the struggling girl. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I never would."
Kagome looked into her eyes briefly, and stilled when she saw tears there. Sango gave her a sad smile, and Kagome felt a pressure in the base of her neck. "I'm sorry." she heard as blackness over took her.
Red flashed behind her eyelids and Kagome rolled over into her pillow to try and block out the morning. After such a terrible dream... she deserved to sleep in a little late.
Dream...
She sat up like as shot and looked frantically around. She was in her bedroom at the shrine. Everything seemed normal.
But she was dressed in her clothes from last night.
Sango...
She must have carried her to bed after she knocked her out. Just like she had done to the rest of her family! How very kind of her...
Kagome ran down stairs frantically. She had to see. She had to know that they were all right. She was running so fast, she didn't have time to stop when her brother crossed her path and looked up at her like a deer caught in headlights. She plowed into him and tumbled to the floor.
"Kagome, be careful!" her mother called from the kitchen, serving breakfast up at the table. Sitting there, were Sango, pointedly not looking at her, and Miroku, looking bored as her grandfather rattled on and on about counter curses and sealing spells.
They were fine.
Except maybe Sota who had gotten the wind knocked out of him.
They were all fine.
Maybe it had all been a dream... but then why would Sango not look at her?
She pushed herself to her feet and ran outside, leaving her family calling to her in confusion. She ran all the way to the garden, throwing herself in the broken door and rushing to the tree. She yanked back the hanging branches...
And sighed in relief.
He was there. Stone.
Inuyasha was back in place under the willow and stone as he should be. She smiled and gingerly reached up to touch the triangular ear on top of his head, half expecting it to twitch at the contact. She gave a little laugh when it did not and shook her head at her silliness.
It had all been a dream. It had to be. Statues don't just come... to... life...
Kagome yanked her hand away like she was burned and stepped back. He was in the same place she had found him before, and the same stone perfection he had been since she first saw him, but his face... She looked at his face and gasped, bringing her little hands over her open mouth.
It was true. It was all true. It really happened.
The face that had broken her heart the day before, now chilled her soul as his stone eyes starred into her with passionate and burning hatred.
Next Chapter: Sunrise Sunset