~Chapter Eight: Story of the Secret~
Kaede wiped the path of tears away with a rough napkin from the almost broken wooden table in the middle of the cramped room. Her home with the three teenage servants wasn't much, but it was a home.
"Why do you have to be such a pervert? Can't you be a normal monk?"
The exterminator Sango's voice rang throughout the hut, and was soon joined by the deep laugh of Miroku.
"Whatever happened to the vow of chastity required to become a monk?"
And then there was Kagome. The human who so much resembled the one who gave Kaede pain. The three teens came through the shoji screen, coming back from the small porch. Kagome was first to notice Kaede's watery smile.
"What's wrong, Kaede?" She asked, sitting on one of the worn wooden stools around the table. "Did something happen?"
"No, nothing like that, child." Kaede said, sniffling to hide the nasal sound crying had given her aged voice.
"Then what?" Sango inquired, her and Miroku taking seats as she said it.
"It's high time I told you three a certain secret of mine, and the story behind that secret." Kaede said, staring hard at the cup filled with water. "You see, the Kikyou you see now is not the elder sister I had growing up."
"She's your older sister?" Miroku asked, amazed. Sango pinched him hard on the arm to shut him up.
~*~
She was late. Inuyasha glanced worriedly at the windows of the castle, wondering if he was somehow missed.
'Sesshoumaru sure looked smug at lunch...' He thought.
If there was anyone at the castle to worry about, it was Sesshoumaru. He didn't understand why the elder dog demon hated him, but it was plain as day and obviously wouldn't change anytime soon.
"Inuyasha!"
The hanyou turned quickly to find Kagome running down the hidden path, her raven locks struggling to catch up in wavy torrents.
"I thought you wouldn't come," Inuyasha said, tugging her into his embrace when she stopped panting before him.
"And miss this? Never," Kagome mumbled into his silver mane. "I was late because Kaede told us the circumstances of Kikyou."
Inuyasha tensed, his whole frame going rigid unexpectedly. "What do you mean circumstances?"
Kagome sat down in the sand, and Inuyasha did too. She found her spot in his lap, leaning her back against his chest, legs stretched out in the hot sand and his arms around her waist, him snuggling his nose in her hair.
"Well I thought you knew... Kaede said you did, but she said she couldn't remember it too well."
"I... what I mean to say is..." Inuyasha was at a complete loss for words. Just what were Kikyou's circumstances?
"Maybe you should listen while I tell you what Kaede told us." Kagome suggested.
"Us?" Inuyasha asked, eyebrows raised.
Kagome nodded. "Miroku, Sango and me." Taking a deep breath, Kagome started to tell the story. "Kaede said she was eight or nine, not old enough to be a priestess, but old enough to know what was going on around her. She said that Kikyou would leave her with the village elders for hours at a time almost every day, and would never tell her why."
"I remember that... Kikyou and Kaede had lost their parents a few years before." Inuyasha said quietly.
Kagome nodded again. "Kaede told us that she finally got fed up with it one day and followed Kikyou. Kikyou of course, had no idea. She thought that Kaede had stayed with the elders, so she went along with her business as usual. Well it turned out that Kikyou had been harboring a fugitive, a very injured thief."
"Onigumo," Inuyasha mumbled. Kagome tried to look at him to see his expression, but couldn't manage it. "Kikyou had taken me with her once when she tended to him. I totally forgot."
"Kikyou caught Kaede in the act of spying, and told her that she pitied Onigumo. Kaede didn't understand, and passed it up as just another act of kindness from Kikyou." Kagome said.
Inuyasha squeezed Kagome gently. "And then I came..."
"That part, Kaede would not tell us." Kagome said. The bitterness was a little pronounced in her voice, making him laugh quietly.
"Probably because she knew that I'd tell you if I thought you needed to know. It's not all that important really," Inuyasha said.
They stayed silent for half an hour, watching the sun begin to dip below the horizon, and the waters turn dark in their flow. Finally, Kagome broke under the strain of curiosity.
"Just what happened between you and Kikyou?"
Inuyasha sighed, but answered nonetheless. "I wanted the jewel; Kikyou wanted someone to make a wish on it. Kikyou used me for her own selfish reasons, and only because she didn't want the responsibility that guarding the Shikon no Tama gave." He waved a hand up to the castle, Kagome's eyes following and looking over the stone and moss walls. "She thought the Shikon no Tama was bigger than my responsibility. Kikyou didn't stop to think that my being a half breed and ruling a youkai territory might just yet hold something up to the jewel."
"I see..." Kagome said. "How was it that you met her, anyway?"
"I told you that I used to be violent... when the incident with Sesshoumaru occurred, I was sent out for a month. I didn't stay around the castle like I normally did, and found myself under a big tree that was near Kikyou and Kaede's home. I don't remember Kaede much from then... she didn't like me."
Both human and hanyou were silent again, until Inuyasha noticed just how low the sun was.
"Oh shit! We'll be extremely lucky if no one's noticed our being gone," Inuyasha said, helping Kagome to stand up with him.
They both ran up the path, Inuyasha going a lot faster than Kagome in order to break suspicion that they were there together.
~*~
Naraku sighed. It'd been a while since he'd heard from the wolf youkai... what would Shiro choose? Naraku knew that Inutaisho wouldn't give into the demand unless he was threatening the dog demon's family or lands.
'The exterminator will not come back readily, as she will have heard of the true happenings already.' Naraku mused, 'and Kikyou will not rest until she has Inuyasha...my mate is a tricky one.'
Naraku well remembered the how and why Kikyou had agreed to be his mate. Good thing that Inuyasha's mother was human or she'd have seen right through the guise he'd prepared for her. If the dog demon's family was anything, it was powerful, both intellectually and in strength.
*flashback*
"Master Naraku, the priestess is here."
Naraku looked up from the vases that held the hearts of his incarnations, and nodded to the human servant. He'd expected Kikyou for over three years, but had no idea that she would wait this long before coming to him...
"Naraku," Kikyou had announced her presence before coming to sit in front of him.
"The priestess Kikyou, guardian of the Shikon no Tama... tell me, how is your dear sister Kaede?" Naraku's coal eyes were bearing into Kikyou's, as if trying to catch a glimpse of the girl's soul.
Kikyou completely ignored the snide remark, however, and went straight to the point. "I came here to ask a favor."
Naraku arched an eyebrow. "My favors are not free, Kikyou."
"As I'm aware," She responded coldly.
"Let me guess... Your pet dog has left you to return to his kingdom, and you want him back... but what would a priestess have to do with a prince from a different land?" Naraku taunted.
Kikyou glared. "Enough of your trickery. I shall tell you first my favor, and then I will hear what you have to say about its price."
Naraku motioned her to continue, but didn't say anything. Kikyou told Naraku everything about her duties of the Shikon no Tama, her sister, Onigumo, and her most private wish to become a normal woman. This shed completely new light on Naraku's devious schemes to get the jewel for himself, and so he responded.
"The price of my favor to help you is high."
A look of fierce determination shown in her eyes, however strangely less alive than before. "I am ready to do whatever it takes to have my own wish granted."
"You must become my mate." Naraku said without hesitation.
Oh how it amused his filthy soul to see the look of horror and hopelessness upon her pretty porcelain features.
~*~
Yumari leaned back in the throne, uneasy of the young youkai's glare. Sesshoumaru stood before her, unnervingly close, and it seemed as if he were sending sheets of ice over her body from his mere aura.
"This whole thing will not end up in any good way." He warned.
Yumari narrowed her brown eyes at him. "I'm aware that it's not a good situation, Sesshoumaru."
Now he was practically bearing down on her, his golden eyes boring into her brown ones. "Then why must you persist? It's your son at risk, as well as the validity of your being my father's mate."
"Our story will not be revealed." Yumari responded confidently.
"Are you so sure? If Higurashi is revealed, your past will be as well." Sesshoumaru threatened.
Yumari stood, and for a second some emotion that was heartbreakingly familiar crossed his features. They were so close together that she felt his breath on her face. Oh if only he weren't so cold, if only he could understand her position! It was fatal to refuse a lord of Inutaisho's status, why didn't Sesshoumaru understand?! "And what is that supposed to mean? Surely you wouldn't threaten your father's mate?"
"I would never threaten a lady of the court, Yumari."
Sesshoumaru left her at the throne with a disgusted and highly affronted look on her face. For once, he was satisfied with what had been said between them.
~*~
Kikyou put down the ivory comb and began to put her long raven locks back into their normal style. Her pale white hand grazed the plainly visible scar of teeth marks. The demon priestess closed her eyes, not wanting to remember the why and how they were there.
*Flashback*
Naraku watched her carefully, analyzing her every move and facial feature, wanting to see what she was thinking. Would she choose to take the favor as she'd come for, or would she back out for fear? "I haven't got all day for pretty maidens such as you, Kikyou." Naraku stated. As fun as it was to watch her being tormented, he had other people to betray and maim.
Closing her eyes, Kikyou forced herself to forget her little sister, to forget the village she cared for. "As long as you do this favor for me, I shall do anything you wish."
~*~
"Do you think Kaede was telling the truth about Kikyou?"
Sango looked at Miroku stupidly. "What reason does she have to lie to us?"
Miroku shrugged. "I don't know, it just seemed like such a wild story. I know that a lot of weird things have happened, but how do we know that the Shikon no Tama actually existed?"
Sango's bangs shadowed her eyes as she sat down, the laundry she was folding in her lap. It took Miroku five minutes to see that something was wrong, and when he did, he knelt in front of her, trying to see if she was crying or not.
"The Shikon no Tama did exist. My old home, the village Naraku slaughtered... that's the jewel's home, too." Sango said quietly. "It became too much trouble to protect it when demons came calling for it, so my father and a few others took it to a priestess a few miles away. I guess that priestess was Kikyou."
Miroku sat down beside her, thinking. The jewel was a formidable object, he could tell from Sango's own two cents in the story. But what about the part Kaede didn't tell? Something about a hanyou very much like Prince Inuyasha... Sango leaned against him, Miroku putting an arm around her for comfort. For once, his hand didn't stray to where it shouldn't.
~*~
"And what does this accomplish? You always were more attune to talking with your fist, wolf-boy!" Inutaisho sneered.
The scythe came dangerously close to hitting him that time. Shiro stood about two yards in front of the dog demon, catching the scythe when he pulled it back to him. The rest of the wolf tribe was scattered behind him, watching apprehensively to see what would happen. Inutaisho didn't know what game Shiro was playing, but he was interested; he wasn't here to do a hanyou's bidding, and even Shiro should have had that much pride.
"I knew you were trashy, Shiro, but doing a half-breed's business? That's low, even for you!"
Shiro swung the scythe and threw it again, but this time his aim was off; instead of the scythe shooting forward towards the dog demon, it rocketed backward and landed in the chest of one of the wolf tribe. Shiro swore heavily and tugged it back.
"Don't forget that you're the one with a half-breed son, mutt!" Shiro retorted. 'I will get those jewel shards, and he isn't going to stop me!'
Inutaisho had had enough of Shiro's games. Taking out his legendary sword the Tetsusaiga, he charged Shiro. Though a scythe was a good weapon for the wolf demon, it held nothing up to a sword when it came to close contact.
"I will get what I want," Shiro pressed, the clang of metal a sharp pain in both their sensitive ears.
Shiro was holding the scythe up to the Tetsusaiga, as if that would do anything for him except to stave of the great dog demon.
"Not while it's in my land you won't," Inutaisho growled. "There's something not right about that hanyou, and you know it!"
"And just what are you saying, mutt?" Shiro shouted, "That I'm loosing my head over power? Those jewel shards are worth more than your life!"
Inutaisho smirked. "Threatening me, wolf-boy? That's not a good move, especially when you can't hold up your end of the bargain."
Shiro knew that this battle wasn't like the friendly feuds they'd had before. Seeing as both of them meant business, it was one or the other. The wolves that had been watching them previously began backing away, their senses picking up the delicate beginnings of a power struggle between the two temperamental lords.
AN: Are you all happy with a long chapter? I had to change it around a little, seeing as it is an Alternate Universe fic, but the basic story of Kikyou and Inuyasha is still the same. I may need some ideas...I don't know what I want to do with Sesshoumaru's plan, so if you all have ideas, I'm all ears! Leave a review with comments, flames, ideas, ect.
Kaede wiped the path of tears away with a rough napkin from the almost broken wooden table in the middle of the cramped room. Her home with the three teenage servants wasn't much, but it was a home.
"Why do you have to be such a pervert? Can't you be a normal monk?"
The exterminator Sango's voice rang throughout the hut, and was soon joined by the deep laugh of Miroku.
"Whatever happened to the vow of chastity required to become a monk?"
And then there was Kagome. The human who so much resembled the one who gave Kaede pain. The three teens came through the shoji screen, coming back from the small porch. Kagome was first to notice Kaede's watery smile.
"What's wrong, Kaede?" She asked, sitting on one of the worn wooden stools around the table. "Did something happen?"
"No, nothing like that, child." Kaede said, sniffling to hide the nasal sound crying had given her aged voice.
"Then what?" Sango inquired, her and Miroku taking seats as she said it.
"It's high time I told you three a certain secret of mine, and the story behind that secret." Kaede said, staring hard at the cup filled with water. "You see, the Kikyou you see now is not the elder sister I had growing up."
"She's your older sister?" Miroku asked, amazed. Sango pinched him hard on the arm to shut him up.
~*~
She was late. Inuyasha glanced worriedly at the windows of the castle, wondering if he was somehow missed.
'Sesshoumaru sure looked smug at lunch...' He thought.
If there was anyone at the castle to worry about, it was Sesshoumaru. He didn't understand why the elder dog demon hated him, but it was plain as day and obviously wouldn't change anytime soon.
"Inuyasha!"
The hanyou turned quickly to find Kagome running down the hidden path, her raven locks struggling to catch up in wavy torrents.
"I thought you wouldn't come," Inuyasha said, tugging her into his embrace when she stopped panting before him.
"And miss this? Never," Kagome mumbled into his silver mane. "I was late because Kaede told us the circumstances of Kikyou."
Inuyasha tensed, his whole frame going rigid unexpectedly. "What do you mean circumstances?"
Kagome sat down in the sand, and Inuyasha did too. She found her spot in his lap, leaning her back against his chest, legs stretched out in the hot sand and his arms around her waist, him snuggling his nose in her hair.
"Well I thought you knew... Kaede said you did, but she said she couldn't remember it too well."
"I... what I mean to say is..." Inuyasha was at a complete loss for words. Just what were Kikyou's circumstances?
"Maybe you should listen while I tell you what Kaede told us." Kagome suggested.
"Us?" Inuyasha asked, eyebrows raised.
Kagome nodded. "Miroku, Sango and me." Taking a deep breath, Kagome started to tell the story. "Kaede said she was eight or nine, not old enough to be a priestess, but old enough to know what was going on around her. She said that Kikyou would leave her with the village elders for hours at a time almost every day, and would never tell her why."
"I remember that... Kikyou and Kaede had lost their parents a few years before." Inuyasha said quietly.
Kagome nodded again. "Kaede told us that she finally got fed up with it one day and followed Kikyou. Kikyou of course, had no idea. She thought that Kaede had stayed with the elders, so she went along with her business as usual. Well it turned out that Kikyou had been harboring a fugitive, a very injured thief."
"Onigumo," Inuyasha mumbled. Kagome tried to look at him to see his expression, but couldn't manage it. "Kikyou had taken me with her once when she tended to him. I totally forgot."
"Kikyou caught Kaede in the act of spying, and told her that she pitied Onigumo. Kaede didn't understand, and passed it up as just another act of kindness from Kikyou." Kagome said.
Inuyasha squeezed Kagome gently. "And then I came..."
"That part, Kaede would not tell us." Kagome said. The bitterness was a little pronounced in her voice, making him laugh quietly.
"Probably because she knew that I'd tell you if I thought you needed to know. It's not all that important really," Inuyasha said.
They stayed silent for half an hour, watching the sun begin to dip below the horizon, and the waters turn dark in their flow. Finally, Kagome broke under the strain of curiosity.
"Just what happened between you and Kikyou?"
Inuyasha sighed, but answered nonetheless. "I wanted the jewel; Kikyou wanted someone to make a wish on it. Kikyou used me for her own selfish reasons, and only because she didn't want the responsibility that guarding the Shikon no Tama gave." He waved a hand up to the castle, Kagome's eyes following and looking over the stone and moss walls. "She thought the Shikon no Tama was bigger than my responsibility. Kikyou didn't stop to think that my being a half breed and ruling a youkai territory might just yet hold something up to the jewel."
"I see..." Kagome said. "How was it that you met her, anyway?"
"I told you that I used to be violent... when the incident with Sesshoumaru occurred, I was sent out for a month. I didn't stay around the castle like I normally did, and found myself under a big tree that was near Kikyou and Kaede's home. I don't remember Kaede much from then... she didn't like me."
Both human and hanyou were silent again, until Inuyasha noticed just how low the sun was.
"Oh shit! We'll be extremely lucky if no one's noticed our being gone," Inuyasha said, helping Kagome to stand up with him.
They both ran up the path, Inuyasha going a lot faster than Kagome in order to break suspicion that they were there together.
~*~
Naraku sighed. It'd been a while since he'd heard from the wolf youkai... what would Shiro choose? Naraku knew that Inutaisho wouldn't give into the demand unless he was threatening the dog demon's family or lands.
'The exterminator will not come back readily, as she will have heard of the true happenings already.' Naraku mused, 'and Kikyou will not rest until she has Inuyasha...my mate is a tricky one.'
Naraku well remembered the how and why Kikyou had agreed to be his mate. Good thing that Inuyasha's mother was human or she'd have seen right through the guise he'd prepared for her. If the dog demon's family was anything, it was powerful, both intellectually and in strength.
*flashback*
"Master Naraku, the priestess is here."
Naraku looked up from the vases that held the hearts of his incarnations, and nodded to the human servant. He'd expected Kikyou for over three years, but had no idea that she would wait this long before coming to him...
"Naraku," Kikyou had announced her presence before coming to sit in front of him.
"The priestess Kikyou, guardian of the Shikon no Tama... tell me, how is your dear sister Kaede?" Naraku's coal eyes were bearing into Kikyou's, as if trying to catch a glimpse of the girl's soul.
Kikyou completely ignored the snide remark, however, and went straight to the point. "I came here to ask a favor."
Naraku arched an eyebrow. "My favors are not free, Kikyou."
"As I'm aware," She responded coldly.
"Let me guess... Your pet dog has left you to return to his kingdom, and you want him back... but what would a priestess have to do with a prince from a different land?" Naraku taunted.
Kikyou glared. "Enough of your trickery. I shall tell you first my favor, and then I will hear what you have to say about its price."
Naraku motioned her to continue, but didn't say anything. Kikyou told Naraku everything about her duties of the Shikon no Tama, her sister, Onigumo, and her most private wish to become a normal woman. This shed completely new light on Naraku's devious schemes to get the jewel for himself, and so he responded.
"The price of my favor to help you is high."
A look of fierce determination shown in her eyes, however strangely less alive than before. "I am ready to do whatever it takes to have my own wish granted."
"You must become my mate." Naraku said without hesitation.
Oh how it amused his filthy soul to see the look of horror and hopelessness upon her pretty porcelain features.
~*~
Yumari leaned back in the throne, uneasy of the young youkai's glare. Sesshoumaru stood before her, unnervingly close, and it seemed as if he were sending sheets of ice over her body from his mere aura.
"This whole thing will not end up in any good way." He warned.
Yumari narrowed her brown eyes at him. "I'm aware that it's not a good situation, Sesshoumaru."
Now he was practically bearing down on her, his golden eyes boring into her brown ones. "Then why must you persist? It's your son at risk, as well as the validity of your being my father's mate."
"Our story will not be revealed." Yumari responded confidently.
"Are you so sure? If Higurashi is revealed, your past will be as well." Sesshoumaru threatened.
Yumari stood, and for a second some emotion that was heartbreakingly familiar crossed his features. They were so close together that she felt his breath on her face. Oh if only he weren't so cold, if only he could understand her position! It was fatal to refuse a lord of Inutaisho's status, why didn't Sesshoumaru understand?! "And what is that supposed to mean? Surely you wouldn't threaten your father's mate?"
"I would never threaten a lady of the court, Yumari."
Sesshoumaru left her at the throne with a disgusted and highly affronted look on her face. For once, he was satisfied with what had been said between them.
~*~
Kikyou put down the ivory comb and began to put her long raven locks back into their normal style. Her pale white hand grazed the plainly visible scar of teeth marks. The demon priestess closed her eyes, not wanting to remember the why and how they were there.
*Flashback*
Naraku watched her carefully, analyzing her every move and facial feature, wanting to see what she was thinking. Would she choose to take the favor as she'd come for, or would she back out for fear? "I haven't got all day for pretty maidens such as you, Kikyou." Naraku stated. As fun as it was to watch her being tormented, he had other people to betray and maim.
Closing her eyes, Kikyou forced herself to forget her little sister, to forget the village she cared for. "As long as you do this favor for me, I shall do anything you wish."
~*~
"Do you think Kaede was telling the truth about Kikyou?"
Sango looked at Miroku stupidly. "What reason does she have to lie to us?"
Miroku shrugged. "I don't know, it just seemed like such a wild story. I know that a lot of weird things have happened, but how do we know that the Shikon no Tama actually existed?"
Sango's bangs shadowed her eyes as she sat down, the laundry she was folding in her lap. It took Miroku five minutes to see that something was wrong, and when he did, he knelt in front of her, trying to see if she was crying or not.
"The Shikon no Tama did exist. My old home, the village Naraku slaughtered... that's the jewel's home, too." Sango said quietly. "It became too much trouble to protect it when demons came calling for it, so my father and a few others took it to a priestess a few miles away. I guess that priestess was Kikyou."
Miroku sat down beside her, thinking. The jewel was a formidable object, he could tell from Sango's own two cents in the story. But what about the part Kaede didn't tell? Something about a hanyou very much like Prince Inuyasha... Sango leaned against him, Miroku putting an arm around her for comfort. For once, his hand didn't stray to where it shouldn't.
~*~
"And what does this accomplish? You always were more attune to talking with your fist, wolf-boy!" Inutaisho sneered.
The scythe came dangerously close to hitting him that time. Shiro stood about two yards in front of the dog demon, catching the scythe when he pulled it back to him. The rest of the wolf tribe was scattered behind him, watching apprehensively to see what would happen. Inutaisho didn't know what game Shiro was playing, but he was interested; he wasn't here to do a hanyou's bidding, and even Shiro should have had that much pride.
"I knew you were trashy, Shiro, but doing a half-breed's business? That's low, even for you!"
Shiro swung the scythe and threw it again, but this time his aim was off; instead of the scythe shooting forward towards the dog demon, it rocketed backward and landed in the chest of one of the wolf tribe. Shiro swore heavily and tugged it back.
"Don't forget that you're the one with a half-breed son, mutt!" Shiro retorted. 'I will get those jewel shards, and he isn't going to stop me!'
Inutaisho had had enough of Shiro's games. Taking out his legendary sword the Tetsusaiga, he charged Shiro. Though a scythe was a good weapon for the wolf demon, it held nothing up to a sword when it came to close contact.
"I will get what I want," Shiro pressed, the clang of metal a sharp pain in both their sensitive ears.
Shiro was holding the scythe up to the Tetsusaiga, as if that would do anything for him except to stave of the great dog demon.
"Not while it's in my land you won't," Inutaisho growled. "There's something not right about that hanyou, and you know it!"
"And just what are you saying, mutt?" Shiro shouted, "That I'm loosing my head over power? Those jewel shards are worth more than your life!"
Inutaisho smirked. "Threatening me, wolf-boy? That's not a good move, especially when you can't hold up your end of the bargain."
Shiro knew that this battle wasn't like the friendly feuds they'd had before. Seeing as both of them meant business, it was one or the other. The wolves that had been watching them previously began backing away, their senses picking up the delicate beginnings of a power struggle between the two temperamental lords.
AN: Are you all happy with a long chapter? I had to change it around a little, seeing as it is an Alternate Universe fic, but the basic story of Kikyou and Inuyasha is still the same. I may need some ideas...I don't know what I want to do with Sesshoumaru's plan, so if you all have ideas, I'm all ears! Leave a review with comments, flames, ideas, ect.