Bonfire is over for this year… and was absolutely amazing… but that can't be my excuse anymore for not writing. I'll think up something else though.
The Low Down: My thoughts on this were Inuyasha waking up and finding that 500 years have passed in what is to him an instant. It's gonna mess with someone's head a bit. Plus… the romance between him and Kagome isn't going to just be "oops! They're in love!" Just bear in mind how time has moved for him.
Oh major props to squeakyinuears for giving me faith that the subtle hints do work. You completely got everything 110% on the nose right on! (is that all the clichés? Think so.)
Stone Gardens
Chapter 5
Wicked Voice
***
Smug was not even the word.
Miroku grinned down into his coffee cup with an arm that was partially strained from patting himself on the back. The judges for the smartest being in the universe should be calling any time…
Oh yes. He was good.
Kagome had managed to get Inuyasha, in all his infinite irritability, to eat without getting herself mangled in the process. Inuyasha got his mind off his own problems if only for a moment just trying to figure out the strange girl's behavior.
Silly hanyou. It had taken Miroku two centuries of pondering back in the dark ages to determine that there was no understanding the insanity that is women. He'd accidentally voiced the thought to some Italian painter. He'd thought it was a great idea and decided to paint a portrait of a woman with a smile no man would understand.
So now he'd inspired two masterpieces.
Oh yes. Things were finally all going the way he wanted them to. Miroku gave a contented smile and took a sip of his coffee.
A small, red and white spotted, mushroom bust out of his cup and started crying. Miroku spat the liquid across the room and unsuccessfully tried to hold in the gag. Wiping his mouth, he looked down at he wailing fungus with a glare.
The desire to crush the thing welled up in his blood, but Miroku just sighed and poured his unfinished drink down the sink. He decided he'd stick to tea from that day on.
Another urgent call for their presence…another life shattering matter that Shippo felt could not wait.
"Hell..." Miroku whispered and walked out of the kitchen to find Sango.
But he ran into the old man first. Grandpa Higurashi, wandering around offering fake charm souvenirs to every shrine visitor that passed his way, was generally an amusement to the disguised angel, but not when he was in a hurry.
"Miroku!" Grandpa called and grabbed his 'apprentice' by the arm. "I have to tell you about this sealing spell I've come across. It's unlike anything I've ever seen! It allows the castor to partially remove the spell but leave the greatest part of the curse untouched, leaving the demon helpless and at the castor's mercy."
"That's amazing, sir." Miroku said without feeling and truthfully, without listening. He was much more concerned with how he could he get away from this geezer without having to answer any uncomfortable questions.
"It can even be removed in intervals. Free for a certain time. Sealed for another!" Grandpa oozed with excitement and did not notice that his pupil was quickly trying to escape. "And the cursed one must remain near the source of the spell if he wants even the limited freedom. A perfect entrapment and so very old!"
A tale-tale wail started up from his robes again and Miroku knew Shippo was getting impatient.
"Sir, I think I saw a new batch of visitors walking in through the front stairs a moment ago." Miroku said quickly. "Perhaps we should greet them."
"Oh yes!" Grandpa nodded dutifully, "We must welcome them. Come Miroku!" he rushed down the hall with charms falling from his pockets. Miroku watched him go with a chuckle. He did enjoy the old priest's company, at least when he wasn't trying to 'teach' him concepts he'd known before even the Higurashi's great ancestors were born.
But another superior was waiting and he needed to find Sango.
~*~
Kagome was still asleep, but tossing and turning in great agitation. The girl whimpered in dreams and was clearly afraid of whatever she was seeing. She was even crying in her sleep, and that did not happen unless it was the worst of nightmares that would send her rushing to her mother's room the instant she woke. Sango was more than worried.
That was how Miroku found them; with Kagome in sleeping tears and Sango helpless with concern.
"We have to go." He said gently and she shook her head no. "Shippo has news for us."
"All right." She said. She didn't want to leave Kagome to whatever had been plaguing her mind as of late, but there was nothing she could do without out knowing what was going on. Kagome wasn't likely to tell her, right now, but maybe Shippo would have some clue as to what was going on.
"It will be all right." Miroku said, reading her look, "It's only a bad dream."
With that, he pulled her quickly through the twisting halls to the same closet where they had spoken with Shippo before. They closed the door behind them and waited for the grand appearance and the large room that had appeared the last time.
But nothing appeared and they stood impatiently in the dark.
"What's going on?" Sango whispered.
"Shhh!" a soft hissing voice sounded at their knees and they jumped in the dark. "Just be quiet and follow me."
A tiny hand took hold of Sango's while a larger one grabbed elsewhere. After a well placed kick backwards and another shushing command from Shippo, they started a long walk down what appeared to be a narrow hall. It was too dark to make anything out and Sango relied completely on Shippo's guidance, but the ground was rough and uneven like a tunnel through rock.
They came to a stop after a long walk and Shippo ventured a little light and produced a small blue flame in a lantern. The two confused angel's blinked in the dim light and found themselves in a tiny little room with one door coming from the narrow passage way.
"What is this place?" Miroku asked his normal voice and Shippo waved at him furiously to keep it down. "Why did you take us here?" Miroku whispered.
"We can't be too careful now." Shippo whispered. "We can't be sure who is listening."
Miroku and Sango cast confused looks at each other and looked back at their superior.
Shippo crossed his arms over his chest and looked very serious. "I've had a scout watching this area lately for any threats."
Miroku looked offended. "Shippo, there is no need. We are perfectly able to handle this situation."
"You mean you are perfectly able, right?" Shippo glared at him. "You've sure done a good job the last few times!"
Miroku clenched his fists and was about to argue when Sango stopped him with an arm on his shoulder and a firm look. She nodded to Shippo to continue and ignored her partner's pout.
"Anyway," Shippo sighed, "the scout picked up a trace of a dark presence that he couldn't understand. He wasn't sure what it was, but it might be something targeting Inuyasha and Kagome all over again."
"What can we do?" Sango asked.
"And how do we stop it if we don't have any clue what it is?" Miroku added.
"I don't know." Shippo said sadly. "Just watch them and be on the look out for anything unusual. Don't let them out of your sight and don't take anything for granted. Any little thing may be the answer."
With that, Shippo disappeared in a puff of green smoke and left Miroku and Sango in the little hidden room. Miroku sighed and took the little lantern that was their only light and headed back towards the tunnel.
"What a way to get around…" he muttered.
They slowly made their way back up the tunnel, which was indeed rocky and uneven.
"I guess we must be under the shrine…" Miroku mused looking at their surroundings. "Strange I didn't know this existed…"
"Miroku?" Sango said quietly. "What were the other times Shippo was talking about?" And Miroku gave a sigh.
"I guarded the two souls before they were incarnated as Kikyo and Inuyasha." He said quietly. "Like I said before, it didn't work out very well. The last time, I think it was in Egypt, Kagome's soul was the queen who, under the right convincing, fell in love with a man from Rome… Inuyasha."
Sango stopped in the hall and Miroku turned back confused. "They were Anthony and Cleopatra?!" Sango said disbelievingly.
Miroku gave a shrug and a smile. "It's hard to remember the names after a while, but that sounds familiar."
Sango shook her head and tried hard to fight the smile. It faded quickly, however, when she noticed a little black spider on her shoulder. She took in a sharp breath, more of surprise than fear, but still batted the thing away with a disgusted whap and sent it flying.
"Ugh!" she said in disgust as she hit it off. It fell to the ground and scurried away through a crack in the passage wall.
"Not like spiders?" Miroku smiled.
"Not at all." Sango said very stiffly.
They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the hall closet again. Sango was deep in thought. What might be listening to their conversation with Shippo? What was this dark presence and how could it hurt Inuyasha and Kagome? And more importantly, what was she supposed to look for? Anything unusual… they were two guardian angels trying to coax a teenage girl and a hanyou that turned stone during the day into love! What was usual?
Kagome had seemed like she was acting strange, but Miroku was right. A nightmare wasn't anything to be concerned about. But why was Kagome having nightmares now? And what had been that little episode in the garden before?
Sango shook her head. Could she just be worrying over nothing? She wasn't sure any more.
~*~
Kagome stood near the weeping tree that hid the sleeping Inuyasha with a large tray of food. She'd offered to make dinner that night, saying she wanted to give her mother a break, but really so that he large amount of extra food would not be noticed or missed at the table.
She sat the tray beside her on a bench and watched the sky deepen in color as the sun sank lower to the trees.
'Why am I feeding him?' her thoughts said. 'Why am I caring for the monster?'
She shook her head as if it would make the idea fly out of her skull.
'I should be ridding the world of Inuyasha! Not feeding him.' The thought continued, 'I must destroy the statue.'
Kagome rubbed her temples and tried to concentrate on happier things: the gossip at school, hanging around with her friends, her family, that big math exam she probably failed, anything happier!
'The other priestess died because of him.' It was like a voice in her head but it sounded so much like her own thoughts, if only much more sinister. 'At least she was able to turn him into stone before she died. He was an evil being that should have slept forever, until I broke the arrow. I have to fix the mistake I made. I have to kill Inuyasha!'
'No.'. She thought and was relieved this one did not have the same horrible tone. 'No… he hasn't done anything wrong. Why am I thinking this?'
'He tried to kill me.' The sinister thought came back. The voice sounded exactly like her own. 'He did kill the other priestess. I should kill him now before he does the same to me.'
'No.' her natural thoughts said. 'I don't think he will kill me. He's had the chance and he hasn't. He could have last night. He could have when he came in my room. I don't think he will kill me.'
'Of course he will!' The sinister thought yelled. 'He's a demon! A heartless killer! He will kill me without thinking twice. He's killed before and there's nothing to stop him from killing again. Destroy him! Break his body while he is still stone.'
'No!' Kagome gripped her head tightly and fought back the tears that were forming in her eyes.
'Kill him!'
The sun sank down below the trees and the air turned colder. The thought stopped as she began to hear the cracking of stone under the tree and Inuyasha's cry into the night. Kagome breathed easier and shook the trembles out of her body. She was smiling when he emerged from the tree.
"Good morning." She smiled. "Well, morning for you at least… I brought you some breakfast." She motioned to the tray beside her.
She had gone all out assembling a meal that not even the most ornery of demons could resist. Inuyasha's stomach voiced its approval enthusiastically even if its owner did not look nearly as pleased.
"What did you do?" he studied her. "Poison it or something?"
"Not this time." She winked and patted the empty space on the bench.
He sat down and she pushed the tray over to him with a friendly smile. He did not return it, but kept a steady eye on her movements like a cornered animal waiting for an attack.
"You swear you didn't poison it?" He glared at her under lowered brows.
"Cross my heart." She made a quick crossing motion over her chest.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped.
"It means I promise." She smiled and shoved one of the bowls in his hands.
They sat in quiet for a few moments, letting peace settle a little bit. At least peaceful for Kagome made her best efforts to be friendly. Inuyasha, however, was not exactly the most social of demons and constantly watched her for a sign of attack. When she just smiled and relaxed and showed him no threat, he really didn't know what to do.
"Just what are you plotting?" he glared at her over the bowl. "You did poison this didn't you!?"
"No!" she gave an exasperated sigh. "And I'm not plotting anything."
She shook her head and sat quietly for a moment until Inuyasha seemed satisfied he wasn't going to drop dead and resumed eating.
"Hey…" she said softly, "Can I ask you something?"
"No." he snorted and munched on the steak strip.
"What's it like?" She said, ignoring his gruffness.
"What's what like?" he replied suspiciously.
"You know…" she stumbled and made confused hand gestures towards him, "It. Turning to stone every morning. Waking up and finding a whole day has passed?"
"What the hell do you think it's like!?" he yelled and slammed the bowl down. "It's not fun, that's for sure. And not a day, Five-Hundred years! A whole fucking different world…" He cut off and looked pointedly away.
"Oh." She said meekly and shuffled her feet in front of her. "That's right…" she thought out loud. "Before… the last thing you would have seen was…"
"Getting fucking shot with an arrow." He finished and kicked a rock that had stupidly decided to be near his feet.
'By Kikyo…' She kept the last thought to herself, not wanting to send him in a rage with the name. Even thought, she knew it was what they were both thinking.
The woman he'd loved had sealed him away for what could have been forever. Now he was alone in a new world and all alone. He was proud, she could see that clearly, but he was helpless, having to take food given to him from a girl in a garden. Surviving off of pity… It must be hurting his soul more than anything else had.
"As stone, you're asleep right?" she asked to change the subject.
"Yeah…" he was watching her like she was a predator again. "What of it?"
"Can you dream at all?" she said.
"What kind of stupid question is that?" he snorted at her.
"I was just curious!" she said, a little more harshly than she intended. He just huffed at her and went back to his food.
"You really hate it here don't you." She asked quietly.
"What was your first clue?" he huffed at her.
"Then why do you stay?" she said, a little sadly.
"No choice." He shrugged.
"Of course you have a choice!" she said.
"Yeah… Stay and wake up, or leave and collect pigeon crap for the rest of time." He huffed.
Kagome looked at him confused. "Wait," she said, "you mean you can't leave the garden or else…"
"I'm as good as dead." He nodded. "That's right. Every sunrise I have to park my happy ass back under that tree if I plan on seeing another night. I'm caged."
He looked over and saw her looking at him with a pitying expression that he hated. "Not that I care!" he snapped. "This whole world has gone insane and I'd much rather just stay where things aren't trying to kill me every five seconds."
"It's not that bad." Kagome defended.
"It smells." He said. "Everything is too bright and too loud and too crowded."
"You haven't been able to see much of it." Kagome said. "And I bet you didn't know half of what you saw." A flash of inspiration came to her mind and she looked at him carefully. "Do you want to?"
"Want to what?" he said.
"See the city." She said. "I can show you around and explain things, so everything isn't so unfamiliar to you and you can know your way around. Then you can even go out during the night and not be trapped here in the garden all the time."
"And why would I want to do that?" he growled, but it was weak and both he and Kagome knew it was a bluff.
"Because you don't look like you do well in a cage." She said honestly.
He looked over at the walls and his ears flicked back and forth in what Kagome guessed was indecision. "What have you got to lose?" she offered.
He gave a quick nod and was on his feet, striding quickly to the far garden wall and she rushed to catch up with him.
"Wait!" she yelled. "How are we going to do this? I mean, it's not like I can just take you to catch a bus. You'd kind of stand out."
He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, and with a movement she couldn't detect, he grabbed her arm and hoisted her in the air. She gave a startled yelp as he dumped her on his back and grabbed her legs with a meaningful hiss.
"You scream and I drop you."
With that, he leapt over the walls and high into the night sky and Kagome bit her lips to keep the forbidden scream from escaping. He jumped from tree to tree until they made it to the street level, but instead of dropping to the ground, this time he jumped as high as he could into the air. "Hold on." He commanded and released her legs before landing on a building face and sinking his claws into the surface. She trembled against him and clutched at his neck as he climbed the rest of the way to the top.
Once they were on the building's top, he took her legs again and ran to the side, jumping from building to building.
He could feel her heart thumping against his chest and he smirked with satisfaction. So the little girl was afraid on his back? Good, she'd been confusing him with her lack of fear when he so clearly could destroy her if he wanted to. Lucky for her he didn't have any need to do so.
'Not yet, but it will come. It's so easy. Just let go of her legs and she'll never have the chance to be a threat to me.' A voice said in his head. Inuyasha growled and put his ears back and landed a little rougher than usual.
'What the fuck was that?' he thought. He didn't like where this line was going. Something about that voice in his head, it sounded so much like his own but it didn't feel right. He'd felt something similar before; five-hundred years before to the rest of the world, only weeks to him. It didn't fit.
"Is something wrong?" a meek voice whispered in his ear.
"Nothing." He said and spotted a growth of trees in the middle of all the lights. "What's over there?" He asked and pointed to it.
"It's a park." She said. "Do you want to see?"
He grunted an affirmative and leapt from the building. He felt Kagome clutch tightly at his neck again, but she still didn't scream. The girl had more guts than he'd given her credit for.
They landed between the trees on a dimly lit path and he released her legs so she could slide down. "What do you think so far?" she asked as she pulled her fingers through wind-tangled hair.
"Still smelly. Still crowded. Still bright. Still loud." He shrugged.
"There's more to it than that." She sighed. "There's beauty and families that stick together, friends to stay up all night with talking. Moms who take their kids to parks like this, like my mom did with me and Sota."
He gave a non committal grunt and walked a few steps ahead of her. As he looked around his surroundings, he found them oddly familiar. Ahead of him was a lake, moderate in size, but with a clearing along the north end. He knew this place. Yes, he was sure of it. This was a place where he had once hunted. He would sleep near the lake so he could bathe and fish in the morning.
Something familiar in a strange world.
He didn't realize that his body relaxed, but Kagome did and she smiled.
For a moment in time, things were at peace. But like any perfect moment, something is bound to come along and ruin it all. Hanging around under a street light not far from the path, a local gang of high school kids noticed the pair walking in the park after dark.
The leader laughed and made a crude joke to his friends about the girl, and just what he'd like to do with a girl like that. They all laughed, but none and any intention of taking it any farther than the inappropriate joke.
'Prove it to them.' a thought rang in the leader's mind. 'You want respect. Power. You don't want to be a weak leader. How much will they respect a leader who is all talk and no action?'
"Hey." The young man yelled to his friends. "Let's show them what happens to people who come where they're not supposed to be."
Kagome walked slowly behind Inuyasha, letting him have his space and just look around the park. He looked suddenly younger with wide curious eyes and his ears twitching to all directions.
"Do you want to look around some more or explore somewhere els…" She stopped with a muffled scream as a head closed over her mouth from behind.
Inuyasha turned quickly and was attacked by five other boys. He took care of them easily, throwing them from his shoulders and deflecting their weak punches. One had a small metal club that was quickly knocked from his hand as he was knocked to the ground. When he was clear, he snarled at the one holding Kagome.
The leader smiled viciously at Inuyasha and flipped open a knife with a flick of the wrist. He held the blade up to Kagome's neck and she trembled but held still in his arms. "You don't want to come any closer, or your pretty little friend won't be so pretty. Just throw down all your money and we'll let her go."
Inuyasha did not react.
"What's the matter? Maybe I didn't get this right." The young thug smiled. "Well, if you don't care, I may just go ahead and keep her. I can think of a lot of things I'd like from a girl like this."
Inuyasha didn't respond.
The knife suddenly lost its pressure against her neck. Kagome looked and saw the thugs arm looked as though it was being pulled away, giving her just enough freedom to wriggle free. Once she had room, she turned and kicked straight up and hard, right between her attacker's legs and into his groin.
He doubled over and she rushed away, only a moment before a silver flash appeared and punched the boy hard in the face. The young thug flew back to the ground and before he blacked out, he caught sight of two triangular ears on top of a silver head and flashing claws shining down at him.
"Monster…" he whispered and passed out.
Inuyasha stood over the boy with fierce determination and fighting the urge to kill. "Yeah… nothing but a monster." He snarled and turned away back to Kagome. She was sitting with her legs folded under her and gripping her shirt at her chest. Her breath came in quick pants and she wasn't focusing on him.
"You'd better not cry." He snarled at her.
"You…" she panted. "You stopped them."
He snorted and grabbed her arm, hoisting her back to his back. "Don't you read anything into it." He grunted. "If they killed you, I wouldn't know how to get back. That's all."
He decided he'd had enough of a tour for one night and jumped back into the trees.
~*~
Kagome fell into her desk chair. What a night… and she still hadn't finished any of her homework. Being a student, a daughter, and a care taker to a cursed hanyou was not very forgiving to her schedule. She gathered her books and valiantly started the pile of math problems and reading that needed to be done before school the next day.
Not long into her work load, there was a knock on her door and she absently yelled out "Come in!" without bothering to look up.
The door opened and closed softly, but no one spoke, which was unusual. Sota or Grandpa would just come barging in, and her mother always noticed she was busy in study and would say whatever she needed to say and leave. That was why when Kagome looked up, she was more than surprised to see Sango leaning against her door.
"H…Hi." She stuttered. "Sango… is there something you… uh… needed…I…"
"I know you heard before…" Sango whispered sadly and cut her off. "When I was arguing with Miroku on the stairs."
"Heard?" Kagome sputtered and shook her head, "Heard what? Oh… No… I just was walking up the stairs with Sota. I didn't hear anything…"
Sango smiled and gently shook her head no. "You've never been able to lie." She said.
Kagome stilled with that. Oddly comforting to hear, and yet unnerving because she was right. Again, Sango was claiming to know her so well, but that couldn't be possible.
"I have a lot to explain, I guess." Sango said sadly. "And it's a long story."
"I've got the time…" Kagome whispered.
Sango sighed and began speaking slow and soft. "Five hundred years ago, a priestess turned the demon Inuyasha into stone and died soon after."
"I already knew that part…" Kagome snapped.
"Their spirits were not at ease," Sango continued, "And would not rest in the next life. Also, with only the priestess dieing, and the demon merely being sealed, it threw everything off balance. Because of this, two angels guarded over the two souls until the priestess could be reborn and the spell binding Inuyasha could be broken."
Kagome had been listening in rapt silence. "You?" she asked and Sango gave her a nod. "And Miroku?" Kagome asked again and received the same nod.
"I was lucky enough to follow your soul until it took place inside your mother's body." Sango smiled, "I was there the day you were born, and every day following."
"I don't believe this." Kagome sighed and rested her head in her hands.
"But it is true." Sango said softly.
Kagome looked at her, calculating, and said quickly "Alright. If it's true, what was my favorite stuffed animal when I was a kid?"
"A little white dog." Sango said with a remembering smile. "Your mother named it Annie, but you could not say it properly. So the dog's name became Einie."
"What do I want to do with my life after I graduate?" Kagome shot again.
"You don't know." Sango smiled. "You're still waiting for some divine inspiration on what you should be, but I can tell you it's not going to work out like that."
"When was my first kiss?" She shot out again.
"Not yet." Sango said with a nod. "At least not one you count. The kid who ate paste in kindergarten and chased you around during recess saying he wanted to marry you doesn't count."
"You love children and roses. You prefer your hot chocolate with five marshmallows. You flip through songs on the radio and never listen to them all the way through. You hate math, and you have a scar under your right knee where you fell off a bike when you were seven."
Kagome was gaping. Sango was smiling.
"What am I afraid of?" Kagome asked in wonder.
"Spiders." Sango said simply. "You were cleaning a cupboard when you where ten and uncovered a nest of them. One almost bit you and you've been scared since."
"It didn't though…" Kagome remembered. "All of a sudden, it just flew off to the side…"
"I don't like spiders either…" Sango whispered.
"And earlier tonight?" Kagome met her eyes. "That was you, wasn't it?"
Sango nodded.
Kagome smiled up at Sango, who for the first time in a long time didn't have sadness in her eyes. Sango smiled back, relieved that the girl she had come to care so much for was not afraid and did not hate her.
"Kagome," Sango said, "Has anything been going on that you want to tell me about? You don't have to, but has anything strange been going on? Something I should know about or can help you with?"
Kagome instantly thought of her nightmares and almost spilled everything to Sango right there, but she stopped herself. It was only a silly dream and she wouldn't it come true. Whatever was inside her that was making her dream and think those horrible things, she didn't really want Sango to know about. Sango was an angel! She might be disgusted that these thoughts were even coming to her.
Kagome smiled and shook her head.
"No." she said. "There isn't anything."
Next Chapter: Guilty Conscience