Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Inuyasha: Sengoku o-Togi Zoushi. I am borrowing it for entertainment purposes only. No money is being made from the writing or reading of this story. Only original characters and situations belong to me.
I Want Tomorrow
©2001-2002 by Kei
V – Thin Line Between Reality and Illusion
'He-he smelled the blood that I saw? Is that it?' Kagome wondered in awe, gazing up at Inuyasha with a dropped jaw. He smirked at her and gave her chin a light tap; her teeth clicked when they connected as her mouth closed.
"I-I'll speak to you about it later, Inuyasha," she told him. Then she leaned over and whispered, "After Shippô-chan is asleep."
"Later then," he agreed with a nod, stripping as he bounded towards the river. Kagome blushed and covered her eyes as she whirled quickly around for modesty's sake. She trundled over to the same tree Inuyasha had perched in during Kagome's bath, and she sat against the strong old base of the trunk, roots curling around her. She remained sitting there for quite some time, poised meditatively as invisible threads of her power trickled over the tree roots and absorbed serenity and wisdom from the tall, sage tree. Being in tune with nature greatly aided Kagome at times when she was under extreme duress as she was now due to the disturbing visions she had been experiencing. None she'd ever had before had been so clear, or so frightening. The elements she perceived with her senses had never been so pungent before, and never before had she been unable to shake off a symbolic or precognitive image. Perhaps that was what caused Kagome to be so afraid, the sheer power of the involuntary divination.
Sorting through her thoughts carefully, siphoning pointless musings and trivial ponderings, Kagome came to a conclusion: 'The focal point of all this is—'
"Come on, Kagome, let's move on," Inuyasha beckoned her loudly, derailing her train of thought. She nodded once and got to her feet, barely noticing when Shippô hopped up and balanced himself on her shoulder. Kagome's mind was elsewhere as her eyes focused on Inuyasha's back, covered in red cloth, right at the point between his slightly defined wing-bones. Dead center.
'Crimson, just like blood. Inuyasha is covered in blood,' Kagome noted, eyes still trained on the hanyou. 'He wears the fluid of life like a robe. If he bleeds, I may never know.'
"Feh, what are you gawking at?" Inuyasha bit out, ever sounding harsher than he actually was.
"Nothing in particular, I was just thinking," Kagome replied evenly, unfazed. Inuyasha snorted and continued to lead the way, Kagome and Shippô in tow.
"He's asleep now, so let's talk," Inuyasha suggested forcefully, eyeing the slumbering Shippô with narrowed gold eyes. Kagome softly patted Shippô and crept over to sit beside Inuyasha on a broken log in front of the dying fire. Midnight blanketed them gently; no clouds overhead blocked the stars or moonlight. The waning silver orb winked down at Kagome, but the priestess was not fooled by the deceptive magic. The warm glow did not woo the analytical teenager and lull her into a false sense of security.
"You said you smelled blood, Inuyasha?" Kagome spoke first, initiating a significant conversation that she knew could present her with vital revelations concerning the not-too-distant future. Lives could depend on it.
"Yes," he said with a slight nod, firelight blazing in his eyes. "I wasn't watching, but I think Shippô had already gotten into the water and you were hesitating for some reason, because he kept calling for you to come in. That was about the time I smelled the blood. Did you hurt yourself, and that was why you dawdled?"
"I wish it were just that," Kagome said softly. "The water showed me another vision, Inuyasha. It—"
"Wait, wait, another vision? I didn't know there was a first one," he interjected, looking at her expectantly.
"The nightmare," stated the dark-haired girl. "It was no ordinary dream, but a symbolic vision. And if I don't discover its real meaning soon, it could mean dreadful results."
"I see."
"In this vision, I saw the sun setting against a blood-red sky. Suddenly, the sky began undulating, and the blood covered everything. It blotted out the sun and flowed through the water, and when I looked up, Shippô was soaked in it, and so were my hands. Then it vanished."
For several long moments Inuyasha said nothing, apparently contemplating the strange hallucination of Kagome's.
"Can you not tell me what the nightmarish vision you had last night was?" he asked at last. He knew it sounded like he was just prying, but he thought if he knew more about the successive visions, he could provide Kagome with more help. Thankfully, she understood his motives and intentions.
"I was standing in a very pretty grove—blue sky, shining sun, green grass and undergrowth. I called for Shippô-chan, but got no reply, and I knew I would get none if I called you. Then a voice called out my name and I turned around to see an intricate mirror. I saw myself in it, of course, but suddenly my reflection looked evil and mirror-me was holding you in her arms. You were unconscious, and she had a knife in her hand, and she slit your throat, and there was all this blood…"
By now, Kagome had lost control of her quivering limbs and filling eyes. Tears spilled out and raced down her cheeks until their tracks became hot. Inuyasha quickly wrapped his arms around her to calm her, and he rocked her slowly until the shaking ceased as well as the tears. He couldn't say the description wasn't unnerving, but imparting his own fears wouldn't help Kagome feel any better, and he truly only wanted her to be happy. But the part about the reflection…
'Kikyou,' Inuyasha thought, his grip on Kagome tightening slightly. She responded by burying her face deeper into the crook of his neck and emitting an almost inaudible whimper. She inhaled a shuddering breath.
"Why would I see myself killing you so, so…mercilessly?" she whispered, obviously horrified as she remembered the bloodlust in her own zinc eyes, the wicked smile painted across her visage. She jerked back abruptly and clasped Inuyasha's hands tightly in her own, gazing up at him with wide, watery, earnest eyes. "Inuyasha!" she breathed. "I would never purposely hurt you, you know that! I would sooner strike myself down with a poisoned arrow than ever intentionally cause you harm!"
"Kagome, Kagome," Inuyasha murmured soothingly, breaking one of his hands free from her numbing grasp and stroking her hair. "I believe you, Kagome. I trust you. I know you would never injure a person you care for on purpose. Whatever that vision was, I can assure you that who you saw in the mirror wasn't you. I know it could never be you."
"H-how do you know?" she questioned, lower lip trembling, nearly invisibly.
"I just do, Kagome."
That was the only answer he could give her. Now wasn't the time to bring up Kikyou, and he hoped that the subject would never need to be discussed. But these macabre images bombarding Kagome's sight were somehow related to Kikyou, he knew it. He wondered briefly if he would ever be free from the menace of a woman, but he was quickly distracted when he realized that Kagome had somehow managed to drift to sleep in his arms. Her breathing was quiet and even, and her entire body was relaxed while her consciousness slipped away into slumber. Inuyasha smiled down at her and carefully carried her over to her sleeping pallet. He laid her out, watched her for a moment, and then settled down against a nearby tree to catch forty winks.
"A castle?" Kagome breathed in awe, her eyes taking in the shining spectacle before her. A huge castle of gleaming white stones with turrets ascending into the heavens stood before her, set in the center of a garden labyrinth. The vibrant green swathed Kagome on all sides, and some of the tall hedges bloomed with roses of every hue.
"What are you waiting for, Kagome?" she heard Inuyasha call her, and her head shot up. She saw him several yards down the maze's corridor in front of her; he wore a bright smile as he beckoned to her and then dashed off around a corner towards the garden's center.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome laughed, taking off after him at top speed. Her pounding footsteps echoed on the smooth white flagstones paving the way through the garden maze.
By listening to Inuyasha's laughter, Kagome was able to trail him and finally see him when they entered a particularly long straight pass through the maze. He glanced over his shoulder and grinned in challenge.
"Inuyasha!" she called again, her smile wide and bright. She extended her arms out to catch him as she quickly gained on him. But right as her fingers were about to contact the red cloth of his kimono, he vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of his presence there.
All of a sudden, the hedges around her began to wilt to the ground as the snow-white flagstones beneath her feet decayed and turned murky beige. And as the green leaves withered, long, thorny vines began to creep up and sprawl all across the castle until hardly any of its walls were visible anymore. Eventually, even those vines wilted.
Finally Kagome was standing in the middle of a deserted plain of cold stones and dead brown plants. In the center of the desert stood the ruins of a once-beautiful castle covered with brown vines.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled, tears gathering in her eyes. "INUYASHAAAAAAA!"
No answer.
"This is a nightmare," Kagome whispered tearfully. "I just—I just have to wake up, and it'll be okay.
"Wake up, Kagome! Wake up, please!" her consciousness begged of her flesh as she continued to weep. "Wake up!"
She could see that her tears had inexplicably formed a rather large puddle of saltwater at her feet, and her reflection gazed back at her.
"Wake up—"
The reflection's expression was sinister as it hissed, "The dead don't wake."
Kagome's eyes grew large as she took a slow step back and collected a scream in her throat. Tears streaming down her pallid face, she released it.
Shippô and Inuyasha were both jolted out of their sleep when they heard a woman's piercing scream coming from a distance. Then they noticed that Kagome was missing. Wordlessly they got to their feet and rushed off in the direction the scream had come from.
"KAGOME!" a familiar voice yelled, and she whirled away from the wicked reflection to see Inuyasha running towards her over the ground littered with crunchy brown plant corpses, Shippô on his heels.
Kagome was about to be overcome by joy and relief, but then she remembered that Inuyasha had disappeared, so this entity couldn't be him. Her suspicions were confirmed when, as the duo neared her, their skin began to corrode and disintegrate. Soon enough, two skeletons were running at her and saying her name.
"Stay away from me!" Kagome shrieked, turning around and trying to run away from them. But the skeleton pretending to be Inuyasha was too fast, and soon its bony arms had wrapped around her from behind, holding her in place as she screamed and thrashed in violent protest.
"Let me go!" Kagome wailed, kicking and squirming in his unyielding grip.
"Stop, Kagome! What's wrong with you?" her skeleton captor asked fiercely.
"If you're asleep, please wake up, Kagome," the smaller skeleton begged, standing in front of her.
"We're not going to hurt you, Kagome! Stop it!" the Inuyasha imposter commanded, his grip on her tightening.
"Like hell you're not going to hurt me! LET ME GO!" she screamed, her power flaring out and knocking the two sets of bones far away from her.
"Kagome," the small skeleton sniffled, slowly regaining its footing and wiping at a nonexistent runny nose. "I-I thought you were gonna take care of me, 'cause-'cause my papa and mama…" Then he broke out into full-blown sobs and mumbled incoherently about his deceased parents and his new guardians, Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Kagome," a voice from behind her murmured. "Just wake up."
Inhaling shakily, Kagome turned back to the tall skeleton and felt her body open its eyes. The skeleton's skin magically reappeared and Inuyasha was standing before her. He had several deep cuts on his face, and she noticed that he was rubbing his right shoulder as though in pain.
"Kagome!" Shippô wailed, running up and throwing his short arms around Kagome's legs. She almost fell down, but managed to retain her balance and then scoop Shippô up into a tight embrace.
"I'm so sorry," Kagome whispered in shame, gently fingering some rips in Shippô's yukata, holes she knew she had caused. "I couldn't wake up…and my reflection told me that the dead don't wake…"
"It's okay, Kagome, you couldn't control it. You were just acting on your instincts, and nobody can blame you for that."
"I can blame me," Kagome responded dejectedly, her head hanging down and her eyes closed. They opened again, however, when Inuyasha placed two fingers under her chin and lifted her face up so he could see her. He was gazing at her with such softness, and a small smile of understanding and caring graced his countenance.
Kagome blushed, and this seemed to remove Inuyasha from the gentle trance. He retracted his hand and said, "Let's get back to camp and pack up so we can keep moving."
Giving Shippô a reassuring squeeze, Kagome sighed and followed Inuyasha back to their camp. She mentally vowed that she was not going to sleep again until the trio arrived at Inuyasha's home.