Disclaimer: Don't own the gang…but I do own some cute new pj's!
Okay, in this chapter, we finally find out who is working with Kikyou. Most of you have probably figured it out by now, but he is unveiled. Also, the pieces of a puzzle come together. Have fun, and see you at the end of the chapter!
Chapter 18- The Truth Unravels
Kikyou had not moved from her spot by the window. The man with her had left almost an hour ago. 'Thank goodness,' she thought, 'something about him…I don't trust him.' (Makes you wonder why she works with him, eh?) She finally broke her gaze from the birds hopping around in the yard and slumped on the couch that was in the living room. She looked up, staring at the high, chapel-style ceiling. "Why does he want more?" She questioned out loud.
The raven-haired girl went to fidgeting with a few papers and magazines on the table near her. "He already has enough. He's the owner of about 8 companies, and about to take control of another. Why does he need them all?" She mused on these questions a bit, and then the telephone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
Kikyou leaned across the couch and picked up the phone. "Onigumo residents, whom do you wish to speak with?" She hated saying that, but that's the way a slave had to answer. Not that she was a slave anymore, but people might get suspicious if someone else were answering the phone. You see, the man lived alone and if anyone other than him answered the phone, people would get ideas.
"Sesshoumaru just left. He's on his way home right now. I heard him say something to that kid driving that he wanted take out." The husky voice dragged on. 'Come to think of it,' Kikyou thought, 'take out sounds good right now…'
"Kikyou!" The voice yelled. "What?" The woman answered venomously. "The boy will be out getting food, meaning Sesshoumaru will be there alone." Kikyou still didn't care. What was he getting at? 'Oh boy, the lord will be at his home alone, hope he's not scared of the boggy man.' She thought sarcastically.
She could tell by the silence that he was irritated. That fact only made her smirk. "It means you will be able to kill him with no distractions." The man said. "Fine," Kikyou said, "I'm going now, is that all you want me to do?" She asked, making sure he wouldn't send her on any more assignments. "Yes, that is all. Good luck." With that, he hung up, leaving Kikyou with the dial tone.
"Good luck?" Her chocolate eyes narrowed. "You don't get luck from killing people, that only brings bad karma." She shook her head. 'But he said if I did this, and he was in charge, he'd release all the slaves. Which means I could find her.' Kikyou thought hopefully. 'But…how do I find her…if I don't remember who she is?'
0o0o0o0
By now, everyone at the hotel had calmed down and they were all in the larger suite watching television. This event was rather odd. They were usually out searching for others with spiritual powers. Lately, they hadn't found any though. Aside from Kaede, who was always busy with her ice cream stand, they had come up empty handed.
"I wanna go home." Shippou said childishly.
Inuyasha glared at the kitsune. "What home? You don't have one, remember?"
Shippou glared back. "Fine, then I wanna go back to your home. I'm just getting tired of this place."
Sango watched the two argue back and forth for a while before breaking into their conversation. "Inuyasha, maybe it is time we leave. I mean, we came here to find more people with powers, but we haven't found any. And we're just sitting around now, so why are we still here?"
Everyone just looked at her. They knew she was right. Though it was fun being in the city, they all wanted to go back to the seclusion of the mansion.
Inuyasha stood up. "Okay then. Everyone, pack your bags, we're going home."
0o0o0o0
They were all packed and had their bags down in the lobby. Inuyasha was pacing back and forth on his cell phone arguing with Hojou. "I don't give a damn about his take out, we need a ride…! Fine! Whatever, we'll find someone else." He dialed another number and waited for an answer. "Oi, Kagura…yeah, it's me…we're at the hotel and need a ride…yeah…he's to busy getting take out…ya think you could…okay…thanks." He shoved the phone in his pocket and turned to the others. "There will be a limo here to pick us up soon. Hojou's to busy catering to the needs of the Lord. So busy in fact, that we don't really matter, because stupid Sesshoumaru needs his damn TAKE OUT!"
The others looked on at his outburst in mild surprise. Miroku chuckled, "Inuyasha, I'd say you're jealous. Do you want take out too?" This was answered with a deadly glare from the angry hanyou.
Kagome and Sango sat on their luggage and watched as Miroku and Shippou talked about what they wanted for dinner when they arrived home. The younger girl fidgeted with the ring on her finger. Sango took notice of this and looked at her friend sadly. "Do you miss her? Your sister I mean." Kagome looked at her friend with a surprised expression. "Yeah…I guess I do. It's been so long, though. I hardly remember her. I only remember when they took her away from me."
Sango smiled a bit. "You cried for days on end. I remember because I tried so hard to make you laugh again. It took me forever, too!" Kagome grinned. "Yeah, I know. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you, Sango." The older girl smiled kindly. "Hmm…I wonder what she's doing right now. Do you ever wonder if she remembers us? I can't even remember her name. Isn't that pathetic?"
Kagome looked off in the same direction that Sango was staring. "I don't know if she remembers us. She's probably forgotten by now." She looked back down at her ring. 'She's probably forgotten that promise too.'
The black limo finally pulled up and the man stepped out to retrieve their luggage. The all rode home in silence, just wanting to get back.
0o0o0o0
When they arrived at the mansion, Hojou was still out running errands. The house was quiet as usual. They assumed Sesshoumaru was in the library as he often was, if he was home at all. They all sat in the kitchen as Miroku cooked up some food. Kouga looked out the window at his old house.
"I can't believe that witch killed me. After all those years…I remember when my family first got her. We were about the same age. She wouldn't talk for weeks. Always going on about her old house, and how she missed her 'baby sister.' She did it for a long time. Even after my parents died, and we were older."
Shippou chimed in. "I remember. I came to live with you and she always told Rin and me stories about when she was a kid. She was so happy when she told them too. She talked about her old master and her little sister. Then, one day…she stopped telling those stories. In fact, she never mentioned her sister again."
"It's like she forgot. Like she just forgot it all. That's when she started being…cold to us." Rin said sadly.
Kouga thought it over for a minute. "Actually, it was right after our first meeting with Naraku when she stared acting that way. I hate that man. He's the one in charge of my companies! He was always after anything I owned! I bet that bastard paid her off! He paid her to kill me!" Kouga jumped up from the table because of his enthusiasm.
"Oh, what a smart wolf you are, my dear Kouga." A silky voice laced the air. None of them had even noticed her standing in the doorway. "Naraku told me there wouldn't be any distractions. I guess he wasn't counting on you all coming home. Coming home…Kouga, please tell me…why are you even alive? I thought I killed you."
"Kikyou? Wench, you did kill me!" Kouga yelled at the miko, who remained unmoved.
"I thought I did…Oh, I understand. The council's after me, are they? Funny, you'd think they would send someone intelligent. Guess the smart members have better things to do." She waved the thought away and stepped in the doorway.
Everyone else took a step back. Kagome tripped over a stool and fell on the floor. Kikyou turned her attention to the girl on the floor. "Kagome…wasn't that your name?" The younger just nodded in response. "Why won't you help me? You're strong; I can feel your energy rippling as we speak. Don't you want to be free?"
"Of course I do. But I'm not gonna kill someone to get my freedom. Why…why are you doing this, Kikyou?" Kagome asked. She searched Kikyou's chocolate eyes for an answer, but they were too deep.
"I made a promise." Kikyou answered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get rid of Sesshoumaru. It's the only way…I can help her." She turned to leave.
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Help who?" Kikyou stopped in the doorway and turned to him. "I don't know, but I promised her I'd get her out of this life, and I won't let anyone stand in my way! Naraku said that if he was the Lord, he'd let all the slaves free!"
"But, Kikyou…" Sango started, "you don't even know who it is you're looking for?"
Kikyou looked hurt. "I used to. I used to see her face…all the time. She was just a child, and so happy. Then…I just…forgot. Just recently, these images of her are starting to come back…and I won't know who she is until I get this done."
Kagome stood up and looked at Kikyou with a broken expression. "You're…a good person." She added a smile to assure Kikyou. The elder girl looked at her. "What?" She asked. "I'm here to kill your master and you're calling me a good person? How's that good!?"
"You're keeping your promise. Someone…someone made me a promise, a long time ago they did. They promised they'd come back and find me…they promised they'd save me…but here I am…still a slave. I figured I'd find my own way out. You know that killing Sesshoumaru is wrong, yet you're doing it. Isn't there another way to keep your promise?"
Kikyou looked at the ground before looked back to Kagome. "This…killing him…was the only option I was given." She turned to leave again.
"Wait!" Kagome yelled, leaping forward. As her luck would have it, though, she tripped again on the same stool she fell over earlier. She hit the ground with a thud, and the silver ring she always wore slipped off her finger. "Oh no! My ring!" Kagome gasped as she stretched her hand out to grab for it.
The silver band spun across the floor and finally stopped after hitting Kikyou's foot. The woman looked down at it. Something about it caught her attention. She leaned down and picked it up, examining it. "Where…where did you get this?" She asked, completely forgetting the task at hand.
Kagome pushed herself into a sitting position. "My sister…my older sister gave it to me years ago. When I was just a little girl. Please give it back! I promised her when I saw her again I'd return it!" The young girl was near tears.
Kouga glanced between the two girls. He noticed once before how similar they were, but now that they were so close, the resemblance was somewhat frightening. He started to piece the things together. Somehow, it all made sense. Two sisters separated as children: it happened to them both, two girls that have made promise and wish to fulfill them: that also happened to the two of them, they shared the same power, and they looked alike.
"Kagome," the wolf youkai started, "I think…you just did…return the ring to your…sister." Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy.
Kagome broke that odd silence. "I guess that would make sense." She looked over to her recently found sister, and Kikyou nodded, letting out a slight smile.
Kouga sighed deeply and closed his eyes to think a moment. "Kikyou," he opened his piercing eyes to look at her, "are you working with Naraku?" The woman looked at him suspiciously, then nodded. "I think I know why you can't remember anything. He has this power, okay, and he's capable of erasing someone's memories and just brings them back whenever he pleases. So I think he erased your memory to get you to do his dirty work." It's odd how the seemingly stupid wolf hit it right on the spot. "Every so often, if images of your past began to resurface, he's just shove 'em back down again."
Kikyou stared at the wolf yokai in disbelief. "But…but he promised…"
Inuyasha scoffed. "No, that freak just lied to you."
Miroku stood up, finally putting a few words in. "So, Kikyou, Naraku is planning on killing Sesshoumaru, correct?" Kikyou nodded. "Yes. He has this idea etched in his head that if he takes over a majority of the companies and kills the lord, that he will be put in charge."
"That probably would happen…" Miroku thought about it, trying to come up with a plan.
"Ya know," Sango started, "he's going to find a way to get rid of Sesshoumaru, whether or not you help him." She directed at Kikyou. "If you join us, we can work together to bring him down."
A new voice from the door startled them all. "Bring who down?"
0o0o0o0
Oh, don't you just love cliffies? I do! Actually, I just need to find out who it is that's standing at the door…it could be Sesshoumaru, or Naraku. Either way, I know how it's going to end. I could put in a lot more humor if it were Sesshoumaru, or I could stick in drama if it were Naraku. So, you tell me! Now for thank yous.
DramaqueenABZ: You are like, the best reviewer ever. Thanks again for the review!
RavenC: Thank you so much for all of the reviews…you sent a lot! LoL!
Okay, hope you all were happy with this chapter. I'll try to update as soon as I can. There isn't much further to go. I think I can finish it up with one or two more chapters. Thanks again, everyone, and remember to review for me!
Kae-sama
