A Curse Can be a Miracle
Chapter 12
All We Do Crumbles to the Ground, Though We Refuse to See
Danie:... well you avid fans.. it's been almost two years?
Inu: uh yeah.. bitch.. left us hanging there and then didn't show up..
Danie: here we go.. I don't own any of the characters in here.. they are just altered to fit my screwed up imagination. The only characters I created were Akiko and Kaori.. oh and some of the monsters and demons.. not all of them though.. luv love
Miroku looked at his cursed hand. It was simply awful that he had not dealt with the frustration and hate he held for his father and grandfather before him.. for giving him this damnable void in his life which, sadly, could be translated as realistically or metaphorically. He had no love in his life, and he wouldn't have much of a life to give with the void in the picture. He had what, all of this year... maybe the next before it might become malignant? That was pretty depressing.
It had never entered his mind that he might not want to go on with the fight against Naraku until Kagome had let him touch her. It was horridly disappointing. He wasn't the great person he had thought he was. He didn't even want to regain his family's honor any longer, what kind of man did that make him now? If he loved Sango, how could he not want to go gallivanting in to save her younger brother and make her love him for all eternity afterwards? He was a miserable example of a man.. and he had never realized it until now. How could he ever pass on his genetic code to other women when he had these monsters hiding behind his every word? Hidden well enough that even he had not been able to figure himself out.
He could hear Sango walking behind him. Did she know about these horrible thoughts he had? Was it apparent to anyone else that he wasn't the kind of guy he appeared to be? What about Shippo? He was a demon. Could he smell the deceptiveness behind his words? The half-veiled hatred he held for his life. He felt a headache coming on behind his eyes as he stressed out about his predicaments.
Thoughts were getting to be too much for him to handle, he ran his hand through his hair dislodging the band keeping his hair together at the nape of his neck. He adjusted the pack at his shoulder and stared at the ground, fearful that if he were to look at any of his comrades, they would be able to read his thoughts.
Shippo clung to the back of Sango's neck. Kagome was the only family he had, and she had just deserted him like his father and mother before her. Was he so unlovable that even Kagome could not stand to be around him anymore? Yesterday when he had leapt at her, she had seemed all love and kisses... then he had gotten those horrible visions, making him relive his father's death and all those close calls with Kagome's own life that had scared him nearly witless. And to top it all off, she had left in the middle of the night when he was asleep. She didn't say 'goodbye' or 'I'll be back' or 'I love you' before she left either. They never did.
He held back the tears that threatened to spill over his cheeks. 'Never cry, Shippo. Men never shed their tears.' He could still recall the day Inu Yasha told him that. Besides that, if Sango saw or heard him crying they would be forced to stop their hunt for Kagome and he would be a burden once again. He would do anything to be as brave as Inu Yasha was. At least Kagome never overlooked him. Maybe she would pay more attention if he were more beefy or more reliable. He knew he couldn't do just as much as the dog demon just yet, but he was trying his best. He didn't feel like he had ever been terribly useful to the group. It was always one thing or another that made him cry and run to Kagome, effectively ruining any chance he had of ever seeming like a man. Inu Yasha never did like him and little wonder as well. There was nothing he did right. He couldn't even help out in the battles. His fox fire never did any harm to any of the enemies he tried it on. He could only do visual tricks and they weren't terribly effective half the time. Shippo was a grade A loser through and through.
Inu Yasha could feel the negative thoughts trying to penetrate his mind. Whenever Kagome had touched them something had come through her, using her contact as a conduit. He could look at Shippo or Miroku and tell that whatever it was had had little resistance to find the dirty sides of their lives and use it to their advantage. He had almost succumbed to the thoughts himself, but then he had realized that Kagome would never intentionally want to hurt any of them in that manner in all her life. In essence, the only other explanation was that the curse was actually a real curse and something was living inside Kagome's body.
Of course, this had to be just the crazy imaginings of his overactive mind, not wanting to give up the love he held for her, no matter how many hardships she forced him to face on her behalf. He bit his tongue to try to still all the negative thoughts, trying to worm out any idea of a demon that had been able to do that before. He was such an idiot to have not realized it before now too. So stupid stupid stupid... and now he ran the chance of losing her forever.
He looked back at Shippo and Sango. Apparently this mind disease could only travel from the host to the donor.. and not from donor to donor.. so how was he going to fix THIS? He raced on through the forest hoping he would not have to turn around to help pick up a depressed group of people. If Kirara were doing her job, he wouldn't have to worry about it too much. She would pick them up if there were any problem with any of them. Wouldn't she?
Sesshomaru looked over the sickly and disgusting mutant demon lying in his guest room. Her hair was matted to her head, her skin looked clammy and dead, her eyes when they were open looked crazed and mad.
However, Rin was dying to get inside, which was precisely why he was letting her linger outside for another half hour or so. He smiled to himself while "Kagome" swallowed the welcomed news he had given her but moments earlier.
He pondered the idea of holding a mirror up to her face to let her see the darkness feasting behind her eyes. Would she be able to see the evil now that she was part demon and not all pure as she used to be when in her human form? It was a very interesting idea and he was dying to try it out just to satisfy his curiosity, but he held himself in check waiting to see what her reply would be when she found out he was going to kick her out of his house now that she was all good and 'well'. He rubbed the bridge of his nose when he saw that she was sobbing. 'Great', he thought 'Now I get to deal with the water works.' He looked to the door. Rin could not come in with Kagome being as contagious as she was. Rin had enough evil things happen to her in her life. It would be cruel to expose her to this.
Turning to the ill woman he sneered, "Now that you're no longer a mass of broken bones and torn flesh, I expect you out of my house as soon as you can pull yourself together."
Kagome turned toward him; she reached out to grab his hand and remembered not to, just as he jerked his hand back. "What do you mean I have 'something' inside of me?" Panic started to well up inside her throat. "I didn't do anything!"
Sesshomaru stared at her. "Of course you did, you stupid woman. It couldn't have happened to you unless you had allowed it in. It feeds off of the negativity housed in your pathetic little mind." He paused as he scratched microscopic bits of lint off of his arm, "because of that you cannot stay in my house. I expect you out within the hour."
He turned and walked to the door, his tail swishing behind him. "Rin, I suggest you step away from the door before I hit you with it." He listened for the scurry of dirty little feet before he pushed the door forward and walked out, leaving Kagome to her misery.
She looked around her at the opulence of the room trying to stave off the thoughts she would have to deal with sooner or later.. preferably the latter of the two. No expense was left wanting. The room looked like it was fit for a king. It was fashioned of marble and granite, she thought. It must have taken years to get it to that perfection. The walls were rough-looking but smooth to the touch. She was lying on a bed of furs from various animals or demons. She moved the one that had been shielding her body only to see angry red welts lining her body in the places where she had been injured. They were going to leave the worst scars. Letting her hands rest on her breasts, she sighed. They were the only normal looking part of her body now. They were perfectly white and rounded. Her legs sported lightning streaks, one on her thigh the other on her calf and around her ankle. She could feel one lining her spine then shifting around to follow her rib cage. Kagome laughed a little as she thought of what she must look like. No beauty queen here anymore.
The doors burst open just then and in stormed a very angry looking Kouga. When his eyes lit on her, he stopped in his tracks. She pulled the cover up to her chin and waved her fingers at him.
"What did that little dog shit do to you now?" He burst out as he leapt to her side. He reached out to pull her into his arms but she shifted away. "So.. he really did claim you for his own then?"
"Do what?" Kagome looked at him in bewilderment. Apparently the blood scent wasn't as strong as she had always thought it was. Or Kouga was just being too concerned about other matters that weren't nearly as important. "Inu Yasha didn't do anything to me that I know of... why?"
Kouga eyed her as if he didn't believe her, then he pulled back the fur cover only to discover her battered broken body. "Shit!" He exclaimed as he took a step backwards. "Kagome, darling, what happened to you?"
Kagome sighed and turned her head away from him. "When Sesshomaru smells you inside his home, he's going to kick your ass." She pulled her hair around to cover the mark following her collar bone. "I fell off a cliff and Sesshomaru came, I'm guessing, and took me here to cure me. Trust me I look a lot better than I could have." She held out her hand for him to give her the cover back, hoping that his eyes had had their fill of her misery. Instead, he laid his hand in hers. She jerked her hand away, but not before she felt the crushing depression that sank into her soul from letting her own die. They were her pack and she had let them walk right into their deaths.
Kagome pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to obliterate the feelings and visions she was receiving.
Kouga sat in the floor, dazed. He touched his hand where it had met Kagome's. "That's what happened to me." Kagome muttered under her breath as she stood and walked past him. She stepped out into the hall and started to sniff for Sesshomaru's scent. She needed clothes before she could go.. and a bath would be terribly nice if he could be so bothered to it.
She closed her eyes so she wouldn't know where she was headed. She figured it was polite for him to be able to keep his house in some semblance of privacy. When she opened a door and knocked into him, she was grateful that she had hit him with the door and not herself. "Can I possibly get some clothes and a tub of clean water before I leave?" Sesshomaru scratched at his forehead in frustration. "Yes if you'll just get out of my home." He looked at her. His golden eyes pierced into hers and held her in place. "Do not move. I will be right back. I think it's needless to say, but don't touch anyone while I'm gone." She nodded and sat down in a chair in the corner waiting for him to come back. Crossing her arms to cover her exposed breasts for the time being; she looked around and played with her tail a bit. The room was just as magnificent as her own. He had a throne set up behind a table. No doubt taken from some minor lord he had murdered years back. Would Kouga come back to see her or would he turn tail and run away? It was more likely to her that he would leave as he was probably disgusted by her for now. There wasn't much she could do about her condition until she realized what was going on inside her own body. She could close her eyes and still feel the sweetness of being held by Inu Yasha's mother or the oblivion of fifty years under a different kind of curse. It was like drifting in and out of sleep.
Sesshomaru came and dropped her clothes on the floor. "The water is outside if you expect to bathe yourself." He stated as he left the room. She picked up the clothes and followed him as he led the way out of the house and to the bath. "When I shut this door, it will be locked and you will not enter my house again." The door slammed just as she turned to the bath. She could see the steam rising up from the surface. Sighing in gratification, she slid her body down into the tub. "Heaven." She groaned as she rolled around in the water. She took her nails and scrubbed her tail and her head trying to dislodge leaves and dirt that had been caked in there for days. Discovering that some of the redness wasn't just her scars, but was blood mixed with herbs and other medicinal things of value. If she weren't so tired of crying from her 'pity me' parties she might have cried for the sheer joy of feeling cleanly for a change.
Inu Yasha could smell her. She was nearby. Her blood was on the air, and every other demon in the vicinity had to smell it as well. He could not let her leave him again.
Danie: Well the chapters are going to be slightly shorter because I need to pace myself so I don't stop for a long period of time like before. Luv Love!