DISCLAIMER: As always, I don't own the original story of the Inuyasha series nor do I own the characters and I don't own the Chinese fairytale that I'm basing this story on. But as far as I'm concerned I do own the idea of mixing these two things together :).
'...Italic...': thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
-.-.-.-.-: time gap
capslocked words: noises
-by Kittymui-
Regained Justice
"I'm sorry, I must have scared you to death when I sliced up that snake," he apologized as he threw some dry twigs into the fire.
"No, don't apologize," Kagome smiled. "If it weren't for you, I would probably be in its stomach right now."
The silver-haired dog demon was sitting in front a campfire near a creek while Kagome was busy washing the bloodstains out of her light-blue yukata.
"I'm sorry that you had to lend me your fire rat's fur," she said as she went back to the fire to dry her yukata and sat down while adjusting the red robe that was big enough to cover up most parts of her body.
"No problem. I was the one who got you drenched in blood so it's the least I could do as an apology," he replied. "And besides, I still have this," he added, pointing at the white garment he always wore beneath the red one. "By the way, I'm Inuyasha," he introduced himself. "What's your name?"
"Kagome," Kagome replied.
The two of them stared into the calm fire in silence and listened engrossed to the snapping sounds of the burning wood.
"You're with my brother...aren't you?" he suddenly asked out of the blue.
Kagome slightly nodded.
"Then...why isn't he with you right now?"
"I left..." Kagome responded with an awkward expression on her face.
Inuyasha raised a brow. "Aha! So you were finally aware of his evil side and decided to leave him huh? Oh well, better later than n"
"Stop that!!" she cut him off angrily. "Sesshoumaru-sama isn't evil!! He's very kind to me!! He...he..." Tears stung her eyes and she continue with a dry throat. "...he even risked his life t-to..."
"To get the Shikon no Tama for you," the hanyou helped her.
Kagome looked at the jewel in her hand and sniffed. "He's already done enough for me," she whispered.
"Why?" Inuyasha asked.
She raised her gaze to the dog demon. "Eh?"
"Why did he give you the Shikon no Tama?"
Kagome hesitated before answering. "To give me back...my wings..."
Inuyasha thought for a moment. "So...Naraku wasn't lying when he referred to you as the 'angel'," he recalled.
A small smile formed on her face. "Well, I'm not really an angel...I just need my wings in order for me to return to the moon," she explained.
The hanyou widened his eyes. "The moon?!"
She nodded shyly. "Y-you believe me?"
His lips curled into a grin. "Well, if the woman I care for can be resurrected from her death with clay and mud, what else is there that I cannot believe?"
Kagome pulled up her knees to her chest and covered her entire lower body with the red robe. "The woman you care for...you mean the woman I saw standing beside you when we were back at the castle?"
"Yeah, her name is Kikyou," Inuyasha nodded.
'Kikyou...no wonder I couldn't feel the presence of life within her...she's been resurrected like that...' she concluded inwardly.
"Why did she try to kill me?" she asked, remembering the arrow that would have ended her life, had Sesshoumaru not caught it on time.
Inuyasha sighed and took a moment before replying. "She's a miko...a priestess. Before you came, she was the most powerful one of this era," he began.
"But I'm not a priestess" she argued.
"No, but your purifying powers exceeds hers greatly. I guess you could say that she's jealous of you and feels threatened by your existence."
Kagome placed her chin on top of her pulled-up knees. "Somehow, I feel that that's not the entire reason behind her hatred towards me..."
The hanyou dropped his gaze to the fire again. "She wasn't always like this," he sighed sadly. "She was once a very loving and caring person, but because she died filled with regret and betrayal, she had become such a cold and harsh person after being resurrected unwillingly."
And then, all became silent again.
"What are you thinking right now?" he asked her curiously.
Kagome stared up at the sky. "Say...do you believe in reincarnation?"
Inuyasha gave her a puzzled look. "I don't know...why do you ask?"
"Because I think it's no coincidence that my eldest sister on the moon is also named Kikyou and the fact that she looks exactly the same as the Kikyou here on Earth," she explained.
"Another Kikyou on the moon?!" the dog demon widened his eyes. "But how is that possible???"
"Well, you said this Kikyou who became resurrected is filled with nothing but wrath and hatred didn't you?" she reasoned.
He nodded.
"But you also said she once had a caring and loving side before she passed away in regret," she continued. "I think that that part of her soul was able to reincarnate and became the eldest princess of our kingdom Celes."
"But the hatred and pain she carried to her afterlife probably remained on Earth and lingered around her grave until she got resurrected," she added.
"So you're saying that the Kikyou I know now is merely a vessel carrying the part of the soul that was filled with regret and hatred?" Inuyasha summarized.
"It might be possible, but it's just a thought," Kagome smiled. "I'm only saying that the part of Kikyou's soul you once knew could have reincarnated into my eldest sister on the moon."
Inuyasha smiled warmly. "Thank you."
Somehow, it felt comforting to hear that the Kikyou he once loved hadn't been consumed by her hatred and vanished into nothingness.
But then he suddenly remembered something. "Oh shit!"
"What's wrong?" Kagome asked.
"Are your clothes dry yet?" he asked, as he stood up.
Kagome placed her hand on her yukata. "Yeah almost. Why?"
"Quickly, pull your clothes on. You must leave here as soon as possible. Before she realizes you're here when she comes back," he said worriedly.
'She...?' Kagome thought bewildered as she took her clothes with her into some bushes. "You mean Kikyou?" she asked while slipping into her yukata.
"Hurry, there's no time to explain everything. All I can say is that you better not let her find you," Inuyasha explained.
After putting on her slightly wet yukata, Kagome came out of the bushes again with Inuyasha's red robe in her hands. "What if she finds me?"
Inuyasha took his fire rat's fur. "She'll kill you," he said bluntly. "Now go, please...I don't want Kikyou's hands to be stained with your innocent blood."
"Thank you," Kagome smiled warmly. "Although I don't know you very well, but thank you. I might never see you again after this, so take care."
The hanyou returned a smile. "I'm glad I was able to meet you Kagome. I sincerely hope you will find your true happiness...whether back at your kingdom on the moon or here...by my brother's side."
Kagome blushed before turning half a circle. She looked over her shoulder at him and bode him farewell. "Goodbye, Inuyasha."
And then she left, disappearing into the woods again.
-.- meanwhile -.-
"Thank you so much for your help miko-sama, how can I ever repay you?" the man said as he closed the door of the wooden shed behind him and bowed deeply..
It was a middle-aged man with short dark curls and dark-brown eyes, dressed in a simple mud-green shirt with short sleeves and a pair of shorts of the same color.
"There's nothing you can do to repay me," Kikyou replied dully, her expression as bored as always. "But I do like to know how your brother got that huge gash on his back." She said as her eyes shifted to the sleeping individual on the bed through the small window of the shed.
When she arrived, the older of the two siblings was bleeding immensely at his back. The huge cut on his back seemed to be inflicted by a sword-like weapon but none like any other within her knowledge-area.
"It's those damned imperial guards of Celes...or whatever they called themselves!" the man cursed aloud.
Kikyou raised a brow. 'Imperial guards...? Celes...?'
"If only we had never torn off her wings...things would never have ended up like this..." the man continued, his voice trailing off.
"Torn off whose wings?" the miko inquired.
The dark-haired man turned to her. "That girl's!! The winged one!!" he exclaimed frustrated. "Those guards came for her...they found her wings and demanded answers. We tried to sell them before but everyone called us freaks and avoided contact with us because they thought we might be cursed for taking the wings of an angel. It's all her fault...that witch!!"
While he continued to utter curses and words that were meant to remain inward, Kikyou became busy with her own thoughts.
'A winged angel who's origin's a mystery...why does this sound so familiar...?' she mused, placing a finger on her chin.
Suddenly, some words of an earlier conversation came into her mind.
"By the way, did it ever cross your mind that the Shikon no Tama grants the holder the power to do anything? Like...healing the wounds of our pretty angel here for example..."
Kikyou's eyes narrowed in suspicion, as if she could see the raven-haired girl before her, standing next to the demon lord. 'So the girl's wings were torn off huh? That's why Sesshoumaru wanted the Shikon no Tama so badly...' she concluded in her thoughts.
Her lips formed a satisfying grin. 'Well, I guess it's none of my business now since I will never get the chance to meet her again...'
She snapped back into reality and turned to the man again, who was still busy with being delusional. "I shall take my leave now," she stated plainly and turned to leave.
The human snapped out of it as well. "Y-Yes of course! Goodbye miko-sama, thank you so much for saving my brother's life."
-.-
As Kikyou traveled through the forest with her long bow in her hand and her quiver on her back, she couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious girl. She kept wondering whether the girl had already returned to whence she came or just stayed obediently under the demon lord's protection.
Her endless pondering ended when she felt a presence approaching from the opposite direction.
She quickly hid herself behind a thick tree and waited patiently.
After a while, her patience was rewarded with something she had expected the least. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw the raven-haired girl walking lively pass the tree she was hiding behind.
'Why is she here?!' she thought annoyed; even more annoyed when she felt the presence of the jewel on the girl.
Her grip on her bow tightened. 'That Sesshoumaru...he should have kept his word!'
God knows how much she wanted to notch an arrow and pierce it's head right through the girl's heart. But somehow, she just couldn't do it.
The will of her body totally conflicted with that of her mind and the miko ended up watching the mystery girl disappear into the woods again.
Yet amidst her frustration and disappointment, she still found a small comfort. "Girl...you're lucky I had decided not to stain my hands with your blood," she muttered after her. An upward curl formed on her lips, but it wasn't a friendly one. "...but that doesn't mean I would prevent you from digging your own grave..." she added, reminding herself of what actually lies in the direction the girl had gone to.
-.-.-
Oblivious to what was lying at the end of her path, Kagome kept walking forward.
Her mind was set on avoiding contact with the miko Inuyasha had warned her for but she really didn't see this coming.
She halted her step the moment she stepped into the small clearing and saw the small wooden shed at its center. She could see light coming from the inside.
But what shocked her the most was the man who stood in front of it.
She remembered him. There was no way she could forget, not after what they had done to her. She would recognize the ones who tore off her wings even if they were reduced to ashes.
Fortunately, the man was busy chopping logs on a thick, wide trunk and didn't notice her presence.
Kagome had planned to walk away unnoticed. She would have succeeded, if it were not for the cunning arrow that hit a tree right behind her, which totally gave away her presence and location.
TSJOK
"Who's there!!?" the man asked alerted, his eyes darting around in suspicion.
It was only a matter of time when his dark-brown eyes caught Kagome's existence. "YOU!!!" he cried wide-eyed.
His stare sent shivers down Kagome's spine and she completely forgot about the treacherous arrow.
AN: By the way, it's late in the evening.
"Curse you, you witch!! It's all your fault!!" the human cried angrily, as he started walking into her direction with the axe in his hand.
"S-stop it...don't come any closer!!" Kagome cried and backed away until she hit a tree with her back.
Paralyzed by fear, she watched how the axe rose into the air and came down at her with great speed.
"No!!!" she cried and put up both her arms out of reflex.
SLASH
A burning pain shot from her left arm through her entire body and her legs finally began to obey her again. Kagome quickly stumbled away from the tree before giving the human another chance to raise his axe.
"Have...to get away..." she said to herself, broken in gasps.
But after a couple of steps, her legs lost their strength again and Kagome collapsed forward to the grass.
THUMP
'No!!' she screamed in her mind and turned to look over her shoulder behind her.
Traveling halfway, her eyes paused as they caught a glimpse of red and white behind the trees. Her eyes widened. 'K-Kikyou!!?' she thought shocked as she saw the black-haired woman.
Although the miko was protected by the shadows of the night, Kagome swore she could see the faint smirk on her face. Was it really her?
But she didn't have time to pay any more attention to that, realizing out of the corner of her eye that the axe-user was already standing near her feet.
Completely forgetting the pain, Kagome started to fear for her life.
Surprisingly enough, she didn't feel the need to avert her gaze or close her eyes. She just followed the sharp edge of the axe as it rose up to the sky next to the moon.
'I wish I could see him one last time...' she thought to herself with tears stinging her eyes.
In slow motion, she watched how the axe began its path downwards at her.
Yet only one name consumed her thoughts as she saw her death approaching.
'Sesshoumaru...'
CLASH
Her eyes widened.
One teardrop escaped the corner of her eyes and rolled down her cheek.
'Am I...dreaming...?'
There he was, standing next to the human and blocking the axe with one of his swords.
"S-Sesshou...maru..." she whispered with disbelief filling her eyes.
-.-
"S-Sesshou...maru..." He heard her soft whisper.
He was truly shocked when the scent of her blood caught his nose and he didn't hesitate for one second before dashing through the forest.
God knows how relieved he was.
He couldn't possibly imagine never hearing that voice calling his name again, had he not arrived on time. Angriness filled his heart when he saw the red gash on her left arm.
He pushed the human away from her with one swift motion and quickly knelt down by her side. With his free arm, he helped the girl to sit up.
It took him by surprise when Kagome hastily crawled up to his chest and clasped his haori with a death grip.
He could feel her trembling and knew the girl was crying by the infrequent rise and fall of her shoulders.
"Sesshoumaru-sama...you're here...I'm not dreaming...you've really come..." she sobbed.
Somehow, Sesshoumaru felt a bit disappointed to hear the honorific suffix again. "I told you to go home didn't I? Why didn't you use the Shikon no Tama?" he asked while casting a worried look at her injured arm.
But Kagome didn't answer.
The demon lord frowned when he realized the girl wasn't calming down even with his presence. 'What is she so afraid of...?' he wondered as he looked at her face.
The girl had squeezed her eyes shut and two salty creeks were still streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks.
The amount of fear and anxiety that radiated off of her bewildered the demon lord. But when he raised his gaze to the one who had dared to threaten her life, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 'This human...I've seen him before...'
"This is none of your business demon!! So stay out of it!!" the man cried angrily.
"Everything involving this girl is my business," he stated in reply. "You've got a lot of nerve to hurt her."
The human smirked. "So she belongs to you huh? Then...where the hell were you when I tore off her wings??"
Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red for a moment as they widened. He now completely understood why Kagome wouldn't calm down in his embrace. "So you're the one who tore off her wings..." he said with a low growl.
"Yeah! It was my brother and I who did it! Her kin have wounded my brother and taken away our treasure! So it's payback time!!" he said brutally.
The dog demon's blood boiled even more at the insolent reply of the human that contained not even a single drip of regret.
But something he said had surprised Sesshoumaru. 'Her kin came...? They took her wings?' he thought as he looked down at Kagome, who didn't seem to have heard what the human said. 'Impossible...! They aren't supposed to come this soon...!' he reasoned inwardly.
"Do not make any more excuses human. There's no way you can escape your horrible death now," he growled furiously as he sent him a glare of death.
At the same time, he urged Kagome to stand up. The girl slowly stood up obediently but still leaned onto him for support.
Sesshoumaru squeezed her shoulder comfortingly with his clawed hand and lowered his face to her ear.
"Close your eyes Kagome," he whispered to her.
In response to his words, the girl turned to him completely and leaned her forehead onto his chest.
The demon lord then turned to look at the human again as his grip on Toukijin's hilt tightened in fury. 'Kagome...I shall give you back the justice you deserve...' he promised inwardly.
Not giving the human a chance to escape, he immediately raised his sword in the air.
"SOURYUUHA!!" he cried and swung Toukijin with a curve downwards.
A blue disastrous twister-like attack erupted at the demon lord's summon and moved horizontally towards the human with great speed.
With an expressionless face, Sesshoumaru watched how the disgusting individual and the wooden shed behind him became swallowed by his attack and exploded.
A huge cloud of dust rose from the earth, accompanied with a gush of wind spreading everywhere from the center of the explosion.
The demon lord welcomed the sandy breeze with half shut eyes as he raised his arm to protect Kagome from it with his long, wide sleeve.
After the wind and dust settled down, he lowered his arm and slightly pulled away to look at the girl. "Are you okay?"
She nodded but refused to look up at him.
With a finger placed on her chin, Sesshoumaru gently forced her to look at him.
He was indeed pained to see her red and teary eyes, but as always, Sesshoumaru wasn't the best one to show or express his true thoughts or feelings.
How he admired the fact that her beautiful blue orbs could hold so many different emotions. Fear, relief, happiness, sadness, frustration...and another emotion that was unknown to the demon lord.
He was about to find out what emotion that could be, if it were not for an incoming hazard that caught his attention.
Right when he prepared to dodge it together with Kagome, a shock of pain ran through his body. 'Chikusho...I haven't completely healed yet...' he cursed inwardly.
In the last bit of seconds, Sesshoumaru decided that Kagome's life was more important and he pushed her aside. The second after he did that, a long thin object hit him straight on at his shoulder with great speed and forced the demon lord backwards.
WHAMMM
Sesshoumaru coughed blood after he made a loud impact with the tree behind him.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!!!" her worried voice echoed in his ears and through the forest.
"C-curse you...m-miko..." he groaned in pain as blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth.
-.-
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded. She was truly happy to see him again, but she could face him at all.
Deep down inside, she blamed herself greatly for being so weak. 'Stupid Kagome...you've ended up being saved again! Have you forgotten that Sesshoumaru is still recovering from his previous injuries?!' she scolded herself.
A finger below her chin made her snap back into reality and she realized she was looking straight into the pair of gold-amber eyes she had tried to avoid.
For a moment, she swore she could see a flash of hurt in his eyes.
Was he pained to realize she hadn't returned to the moon? Or maybe...?
Before she could finish her thoughts, Kagome saw Sesshoumaru wince in pain and the next thing she knew was being pushed aside by the demon lord.
WHAMMM
She widened her eyes when she heard Sesshoumaru cough after the loud sound of collision. She quickly turned around, only to find the demon lord pinned to a nearby tree by an arrow in his shoulder.
Blood was coming out of the corner of his mouth.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!!!!" she cried in horror.
"C-curse you...m-miko..." she heard him growl.
'Miko...?' she thought shocked and followed his line of vision to behind her.
Kagome froze. Back then, when she saw her between the trees, she thought it was just her imagination. But now, she had to believe her eyes.
There she was, standing near the crater of the explosion with a long bow in her hand. Her long black hair and the long sleeves of her white robe billowed sideward in the wind as she took the stance of having just fired an arrow.
"K-Kikyou..." she said her name with a gasp.
Oops, another cliffhanger. Sorry!!! Hey, noticed that I've updated earlier than my previous chapters? I told you my muses are most diligent when I'm sitting in the train hahaha :). Anyway I hope you liked this chapter despite the evil cliffie.
Oh by the way, I remember saying once that the Kikyou on the moon is not related to the one on Earth...well I kind of changed my mind a little since everybody's so curious about it and made Kagome tell Inuyasha about that possibility, I hope you liked it :). And how did you like the revenge on those who tore off Kagome's wings? Please let me know!!
Lots of greets,
Kittymui
-.-.-.-.-
Next chapter: Unconditional forgiveness
-.-.-.-.-
Sesshoumaru's pinned to a tree...so Kagome will die if nobody's there to save her from Kikyou's next arrow. Guess who will be there to save her? A danger has passed but then another danger arose...this time someone's blaming the demon lord for her youngest sister's cruel fate and tries to kill him. Did Sesshoumaru really do something wrong? Will he be forgiven on time? Look forward to the next installment!!
-.-.-.-.-
Vocabulary:
sou-ryuu-ha: Means 'azure dragon blast', from what I've seen in the third
movie, this is the ultimate attack of Toukijin. Like 'bakuryuuha' is the ultimate
attack of Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga.
miko: priestess
chikusho: shit/damn
-.-.-.-.-
REPLIES ON REVIEWS:
Guardian-of-the-night: Thank you very much! I like Sesshoumaru being in character too, it makes him so cool :).
Zheariali: Aw...you got a Rin-plushie? That's sooo cute!!
Shiroi senshi: Sorry about the constant cliffhangers, I guess I just can't seem to suppress myself from using them hehehe. Thanks for reviewing!!
Dark Dragon34: Thanks!! Glad you liked it!
anime-lavuh: Pfew...I'm relieved to hear that hihihi. Thanks for reviewing!
Wake-Robin: I'm glad you liked it! Hope you liked this chapter as well!
Mischa: Thanks! I will!!
silverstargazing: Yup and I'm leaving it on a cliffie again...I'm insufferable am I not? Mwuhahahaha!!
Inukamisashi: Hey, don't worry about that :). I'm glad you reviewed this chapter hihi. Thanks for telling me which part you liked!
Angelic 0263: No...thank YOU for reviewing! It's really encouraging you know :).
Kirei Baka Kasumi: Thanks!! I hope you're satisfied with what happened to those who tore off Kagome's wings :).
ISpikedThePunch: Here's more! Still loving it? Thanks for reviewing!
Jirurianu: Thank you!! Inuyasha didn't recognize her in the first place because she was under the snake's blood :) and because it was a bit dark.
writerlover101: Thanks! I'm glad you like my story!
stoictimer: Thanks!! It's encouraging to hear that!
Kyia: Hey there!! Thanks!! I'm glad you're back again :). Hmm still thinking about whether I should make them two meet or not hehe.
Why?What?Shutup: Hahaha yeah, they're so stubborn :). Thanks for reviewing!
Posted: 11 September 2004
Last Edited: 11 September 2004
Spelling check: YES