Disclaimer: Haven't done one of these in a while, have I?
Author's Note:
So, this is the unofficial restart of Dark Lineage. I am happy to announce that I am sick.
Dark Lineage
Shade Ten
"What?! You sucked him into that black hole? Miroku…" Kagome said, confused again. "I thought he was a friend! Why didn't we solve this peacefully, without having to kill him like that?! Kouga would have done something nice, wouldn't he have? Oh, all I know about him is that Kagura had killed off most of his tribe members and he's real mad. And he's fast because of the shards in his legs."
"He's probably not the real Kouga. The real one has about as much brain as I have…hm, as I have what? Oh yes, as I have had innocent years of life." Miroku responded with a careful smile. He wrapped his arm back up with the rosary.
"Besides, we've already cried all the tears we're every going to cry when we found the actual body and person dead. If I had…disposed of him in a more bloody matter, we might have been able to examine the body."
"Don't look at me like that, it's nothing as perverted as you seem to think it is. If it truly was what you think it was, then we'd be-"
"We shouldn't be having a conversation like this." Reminded Kagome, cutting in with a bright red face.
"Right. His body may have contained flaws, which would signal us to the fact that it wasn't natural. Kikyo herself has-had many flaws, that neither you nor Inuyasha ever sought to look past."
"Kikyo? I'm her reincarnation, right? What does she have to do with anything; Inuyasha loves me now, doesn't he?" Kagome asked.
Miroku slapped himself in the forehead. He'd forgotten that Kagura had limited knowledge of their actual relationships, only a little on their fighting skills. Maybe more, seeing as Naraku had had an incarnation named Kanna before.
Not really ready to go into an explanation of one of the most intricate love triangles he had ever seen, he merely replied,
"That's something you should ask Inuyasha about. Come on, we should be getting back together with everyone else."
As soon as Miroku had used his wind tunnel, Sango had left stealthily, not wishing to see the monk explain to Kagome anything. Her friends…yes her friends. She would return when the time was right. Be it a few minutes away, or even a day.
Inuyasha had slipped away as well, not wanting to see her reaction to Kouga any longer. It was bad enough that he had had to accept the wolf's help in the birds' territory, there had been a sort of relief when they had found the body. The tension was back again. He didn't know why Miroku had actually killed him again, but he was thankful.
"Inuyasha! Do you still have all of those shards we got from before? Did Naraku take them again 'cause Kagome isn't here?" asked Shippo innocently, resting on Inuyasha's legs. His head was cocked at a comical angle, and his face was the face of a purely naïve child. Everything was like it was before.
Even so, Inuyasha sensed that there was something wrong. Maybe it was the coloring of his eyes…maybe the slight change in pitch of the voice. That added to Shippo suddenly appearing out of nowhere with a cloud of unknown miasma around him did not add up to a happy ending. Then, of course, there was the Lady Kaede's warning on top of all things. Sango had come up with a plan remarkably quickly, but Miroku had seen several flaws. They were still working on it, the fools, while the threat had probably already landed in their midst.
"Of course Shippo, where else would they be? Kagome-" he bit off his words. There was not point in telling the kitsune, especially if he was really changed or bugged somehow as Inuyasha guessed. Best to answer as cautiously and truthfully as present-and keep all of his senses alert for the people who were almost certainly listening in from some other place.
"Inuyasha, did you scare Kagome away again? I couldn't find or smell her…where is she?" Shippo inquired, looking puzzled. He started to walk around, heading generally in the direction of the well. Very generally. He smacked into a tree.
Inuyasha ran after him, and pulled him to a stop before he ran into another one.
"Kagome is fine. What aren't you telling me?" He asked, trying the direct approach.
"Nothing, what wouldn't I tell you?" Shippo started shaking a little. A little while off, Kimo began to mutter and curse. Her control over the kitsune was weakening…and there was no telling what he might do after that.
"Are those the shards?" Shippo pointed to Inuyasha's chest, and without waiting for an answer, he grabbed them and started running. As he ran, his breath caught in his chest and he hacked and coughed as his speed ran down. Still, quite miraculously, he managed to stay in front of Inuyasha.
However, Inuyasha lunged, and tackled the little fox to the ground, forcing the shards from his hand.
Kimo swore silently, then started running at a quicksilver speed. She was still a while off, and it would be a while before she could reach them, unless she shimmered. For some reason, she didn't. However, she didn't know exactly what was happening, only that Shippo was out of her control and lying down.
Just as Inuyasha was about to start hitting Shippo, Kagome screamed "No!" and skidded to a stop in front of the two. Hands on her hips, she demanded,
"Why are you hurting each other? I thought we were all friends." Before anyone could answer, Kimo burst in from the bushes on the side of the worn path.
"Shippo, you've got-" startled, she stared at first Inuyasha, holding onto the jar, and then at Kagome. Both widened their eyes and walked closer.
"Who the hell are you?!" Inuyasha asked for all of them. Kimo dodged Sango's boomerang, and glared at the exterminator following her weapon.
"I am Kimo, the most recent dark miko to go under study with the infamous Nobu of the mikos. But once again, I am afraid that that is not the question at the moment. I will assume that you," she said, gesturing to Kagome, "-are Kagome, whom the old witch mistook me for. I don't know why you have assumed my guise, but I assure you, you are not welcome to it."
Involuntarily, she took a step towards Kagome. Kagome staggered a bit, and held onto Inuyasha. He looked at her strangely, attached to his arm with an iron grip.
"The two parts must be whole." Whispered Sango. It was a magnetic effect, with each passing moment; the two women stumbled closer together. Kimo wore a look of anger, frustration beginning to appear as she found that she could not control herself anymore than the other…human. Kagome, bewildered, tried to step back towards Inuyasha, the only sanctuary she could recall.
"This is useless and a waste of time." Cried Kimo and she swept with much force into the dark shadow that was waiting behind her. It folded in upon itself, and disappeared.
Kagome fell to the ground, gasping. Her hand clasped to her chest, her vision blurred again.
"Kagome! You alright?" asked Inuyasha, bending down next to her.
"What do you think? Do I look alright?!" She asked angrily, lifting her head a little. They all drew back, having gotten a little more used to the mild-mannered Kagome. This flash of sudden anger didn't fit with the new image they had built.
"What the hell is going on here? Everything is completely crazy." Inuyasha mumbled, not so softly.
"I suppose I should…argh, I don't know if I should. She…"
"Spill it, Sango." Growled the irate hanyou.
"You listened in the last time I tried to actually tell Miroku something important, and were…okay with it, so I suppose I can. She might be wrong about your reaction." Finished Sango, a little nervously.
Reaching into her kimono, she brought out the piece of paper. She had schooled herself not to touch it too much, and give it the worn look of a possession of a worried person.
"Should I read it, or do you each want to see it silently?" she asked all of them, even Kagome.
"What is it?" piped up a child's voice. All looked back at Shippo, blinking at them. Kagome shook her head, which only made her sight worse.
"I thought he went with the witch." She continued in the same rude voice as before.
"Evidently not." Stated Miroku.
"We can see that, monk."
"He doesn't smell as funny as he did before. Maybe he's back to normal." Inuyasha said hopefully.
"Even so, we need to keep him away." Miroku said in a very low voice. He knew that only Inuyasha's sensitive ears could pick it up.
Nodding minutely, Inuyasha asked Kagome,
"Hey, since both of you are still dazed, why don't you take him somewhere out of earshot? We can't trust him yet, and you were always the only one who could stand him anyway."
After being hit numerous times for the way he asked, the remaining adults were relieved when the two finally left.
"We'll have to make something up to actually tell her, though." Sango warned, opening the letter and passing it to Miroku. He read it silently. To pass the time, Sango stared unmercifully at Inuyasha.
Miroku looked up and noticed the sparks flying back and forth, as a result of…of what, he didn't know. But that was alright.
'Maybe Lady Sango will exchange fiery gazes with me!' He thought optimistically, handing Inuyasha the telling evidence.
Since she made no move to start (being either embarrassed from her previous experience, or because she was less comfortable with the one she was actually attracted to), he thought he would do the honors.
It didn't take long for the exterminator to notice.
"Ow…Sango, I was merely waiting for you to begin a staring contest with me!" he said, ruefully rubbing his sore cheek.
"Idiot, do my eyes grow on my chest?!" she replied, crossing her arms as if to better protect herself.
"Shut up, both of you. What are we going to do about Ka-Ki-Kieoko?" interrupted Inuyasha, stumbling over the variation of the two names he cherished. He did mean to discuss all three, just not yet.
"Something."
"Nothing yet." Replied Sango after shooting a look at the innocent looking monk. "What a useless answer? What's he supposed to do with that?" she hissed some more, not caring that Inuyasha was right there, wearing a most annoyed expression.
Sighing as he looked at the bickering couple, with Sango making fierce, unwarranted accusations and Miroku protesting smoothly, he thought, 'This is going to take a while.'
"You can't just leave like that. No one's going to thank you for it." Kimo sighed, for perhaps the fiftieth time. Having chosen to go the long way, despite possibly future accusations of cowardliness, she had also chosen to put up with the monk's incessant worrying. For a very plain reason, he had refused to go ahead of her. Cowards, indeed.
They weren't walking though. No, not by a long shot.
Unless you called sitting on air and passing through things without having to lift a finger walking.
To be more exact, she and the dark monk were relaxing-physically, anyway. All dark mikos could transport themselves this way; that is, to give the air around them intelligence. It could then carry them, through solid objects, if necessary, to wherever they needed to be. And right now, she couldn't decide whether it would be in her best interest to go back to the person who had promised her knowledge.
Ah yes, the Nobu.
The evil, conniving bastard.
He had purposefully kept everything back from her, she knew that now.
And the idiot next to her probably knew something about this as well.
Just thinking of him made her growl, and her target jump. Laughing slightly, she rehearsed what she might say.
For some reason though, she could only keep main points in her mind, but not imagine his reaction to any of what she might have to say.
Kimo would have to touch on why she wasn't told of another look-alike prowling on the loose, why that look-alike seemed to be well known – basically everything about that other woman. Or girl. Swearing softly, she decided that age was also in the to-be conversation. Then there would be a little argument about when she would finally get to learn about what had happened. That, she was certain of. If anything, he would politely turn her demands aside.
She was growing impatient with his evasive answers. He knew how to play his cards just right, enough of a tantalizing hint dropped here and outright statement there.
And then there were the clues that outsiders gave her. Like Tetsaki, for example. Every time she turned and met his gaze, there would be something there before he quickly cloaked his eyes. Lust, maybe, or interest. It was hard to read the cold demon, as always. Some creatures were meant to be wondered about.
"So, she's failed?" asked Mitsuko, entwining her fingers with the decorations and carvings protruding from his mirror. The Nobu had even admitted to stealing the idea from Naraku, claiming that it was better than nothing. His was more of a pool of dark liquid, however. It was surrounded by a dark cherry carving, and sturdy plants that had nothing to do but exist for the pleasing of his eye.
"You could say that. The idiot next to her is a failure as well. A weakling. I thought he could handle it. I am almost never wrong." The Nobu said calmly, inserting a finger into the darkness, creating a disturbance in the once-clear image.
"I doubt that anything could have the success of what could have been accomplished, had she stayed. The Shikon no Tama is no longer the issue, but the power in both Kagome and the one I call Kimo is. I could get some of that raw 'magic', if you will, by killing both, but that would be a waste. Instead, they must both develop more. Then, I can kill them separately. If they actually fuse together again, which I'm sure many are trying to make them do, then they will be out of my reach."
"Are you in the habit of telling insubordinates all of your plans and details?" Mitsuko interrupted dryly.
"Who says that you're an insubordinate?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, only the fact that I'm really dead and have been brought back by my-the Nanashi Akira to be controlled by Naraku says it all for you. What do you think?" the demoness stood up to leave, not liking where the conversation was going.
"And that matters, why?" The Nobu asked her retreating back, that soon disappeared when black mist covered it.
He looked back at the undisturbed surface of his mirror, and at the image of Kimo. As he watched, she frowned as if sensing him.
"Soon, darling, you'll be able to remember."
Author's Note:
Review please. (And Myriadragon, my next chapter may take a while. Gotta get in the groove!!!!)