Chapter Two: The Tainted Lineage
"Kenshin?" Kaoru said as her hand flew up to cover her gaping mouth.
"A demon!" Yahiko exclaimed.
"NO WAY!" the both exclaimed.
"It is true," Kikyo said as she calmly took her seat at the table.
"You have to be lying!" Sanosuke yelled. He slammed his big fists on the table top, sending more bowls and cup - and the food- to the floor. "Kenshin might be a great fighter, but he's no demon!"
"Must you all shout so much?" Kikyo asked as she took one of the few remaining dishes of food, picked up some clean chopsticks, and began to eat. "Hmmm. It is good to taste real food again, though my body really needs nothing for sustenance. I commend you, Kaoru-san."
"How dare you!" Kaoru replied. She too slammed her hand on the table and leaned in over Kikyo. "You come into my home, insult Kenshin by calling him a demon, cause all this trouble, and then eat my food like you're welcome!"
"If you will recall, it was little Sanosuke who destroyed your good dishes." Kikyo pointed out.
"Kenshin," Yahiko said, turning to his idol, "She's probably an assassin or spy or something sent to turn us against each other. Beat her up with your reverse-blade sword and get her outa here already!"
"No," Kenshin said, just as calmly as Kikyo.
"WHAT?" all three of his friends exclaimed. Then, with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open, Kenshin walked over to the table, and sat down opposite Kikyo. He glared at her, like he usually did when battling an enemy.
"If this one is indeed what you say, give me your proof," Kenshin said.
Kikyo stopped, her chopsticks raised almost to her mouth. Then, with all the fluid grace she'd had form the moment she entered, she set them and the bowl down, and laid her hands on her lap.
"I have but two things to offer as 'proof'," she said. The others watched and listened. "An ancient heirloom and my story…. Which I have lived and seen for over four hundred years."
Kikyo's Narration
In the days of the Feuding States, I was a priestess in a village where this city now stands. Of what is now known as the Shrine of the Setting Sun. And in that village, I protected the sacred Shikon no Tama from wicked humans and demons. But one day, a half demon named Inu-yasha, the youngest son of the Inu no-Taishu, came seeking the Jewel. I pitied him, for his existence was as lonely and as full of sorrow as my own. For though I had my sister, I felt no connection to anyone. We were alone in the world, and found comfort in one another… He became my…friend. As we grew close, he told me that he wanted to become a complete human. I said the Jewel had this power, and thus, I took it and went to meet him. Unfortunately, a common enemy of ours took on Inu-yasha's form, and he tricked me into be-spelling Inu-yasha to a tree. But I had been wounded, and that very day… I died, taking the Jewel with me.
Fifty years passed after my death. And I had been reborn; reincarnated into a witless young girl. She freed Inu-yasha, and brought back the Sacred Jewel, releasing evil into the world again. My soul would have remained in that girl, but unfortunately for me, my ashes and grave dirt were stolen by a witch, and turned into this false body. The girl reclaimed my soul, but this body has never lost it's pain and hate. I had been turned into one of the undead, forever walking this earth with no hope of peace.
But you wished to know of your lineage, yes, Ken-san? Hm. Well, after his awakening, Inu-yasha and the girl devoted their lives to protecting the land. And like all his kind, he mated with her and created a new lineage with his tainted demon blood. But being only quarter bloods and not half breeds, their children were able to hide themselves among humans. Then, their children bred with other humans, and the blood of demon and human further mingled and meshed. And through all the years, I have stood watch over these descendants… I suppose I feel a certain responsibility over this particular bloodline.
Then, almost thirty five years ago, I lost one of the families of the line. They had seemed to have been wiped out in the midst of the new wars. But upon investigating, I discovered that at least one child, one son, from the lost family lived. I spent the following years searching for that child. In the process, I may have touched the lives of a few others, like little Sanosuke, but my life was otherwise committed to finding the lost son. Occasionally, I would hear of a man called Hitokiri Battosai. A man who's eyes struck fear in the hearts of his enemy, who was merciless and struck with god-like speed. I knew for certain this had to be the one I sought. But these tales also worried me. I had to find him soon.
Finally, one year ago, I heard of a two men in the city of Tokyo who had gained reputations as unstoppable, undefeatable warriors, and that one carried a sword with him in spite of the new ways of the Meiji. At first, I was skeptical, but I came none the less. And since then, I have watched you all as you live and, of course, fight when you had to. And Ken-san, you did not disappoint me. I saw as your eyes turned as yellow and pale as the moon, and I heard your battle cries. Only one with the blood of the dog demons could be this quick and this deadly. I knew, without a doubt, that you were indeed the lost descendant of Inu-yasha.
End Narration
"I still don't believe you," Yahiko said, interrupting Kikyo.
"This is far fetched," Kenshin said. "But you said you had other proof."
"Indeed I do," Kikyo said. Then she got up, and said, "I shall retrieve it from the hall," and she left the room.
"I could get my wooden sword and kick her out," Yahiko said.
"Kenshin," Kaoru said, laying her hand gently on Kenshin's arm, "I don't care what she says or has with her. I don't believe any of it. You couldn't possibly-"
"Here it is," Kikyo said as she returned, a long wrapped bundle in her hand. She held it delicately, as if it were made of fragile glass. "This is the heirloom of Inu-yasha's bloodline. Only his direct descendant can touch it… And only the item's chosen master can wield it's power." then, she carefully unwrapped it from it's sheet. What emerged was a scabbarded sword. It's sheath was polished, and gleamed like deep opals in the light of the room. But it's hilt was a bit shaggy and showed it's age. Kikyo took it in her hands, and said, "Your proof is this," she drew the sword…
Sanosuke and Yahiko fell to the floor laughing.
"That thing is a demon's sword!" Sanosuke laughed, pointing to it. "It couldn't cut melted butter!"
Indeed, the sword was rusted and chipped, it looked so dull that no amount of sharpening could make it lethal, and it might have fallen apart at any second. Kikyo sheathed it again, then she tossed the sword to Kenshin, who caught it with as much ease and grace as Kikyo had thrown it.
"You draw it," Kikyo said. "If you are the lost son I've been seeking, then it shall be awakened.
Kenshin looked as his reflection in the flawless scabbard. Then he said, "If it shall end this, I shall." and he drew the sword.
It was still a rusty piece of junk.
"Alright," Kaoru said, getting up and putting her hands on her hips, "He's drawn it and it's still worthless. He's not your demon child. Now leave!"
Kikyo just laughed. "You think I take orders from a sheepish child? I am immortal!" then, quicker than lightening out of a clear sky, Kikyo had her bow out, and an arrow knocked and pointed at Kaoru's heart.
"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin cried, leaping to his feet.
"Kaoru!" Yahiko and Sanosuke shouted.
"If any of you move any more, she will be dead," Kikyo said as she pulled the string back tighter. Kaoru was frozen in terror.
"Hitten-Mitzurugi Kassin-Ryu!" Kenshin cried, raising the unsheathed chipped sword over his head. Before he could use his god-like speed, the sword began to pulse, and all was frozen in place. Then, in seconds, the rusted sword transformed, and grew a gigantic, white blade, with a hilt covered in white fur. In fact, it looked like sharp, and deadly, fang.
As Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke stared up at the new sword in awe, Kikyo put away both arrow and bow, and said to the stunned Kenshin, who looked at what he held like it was something form another planet, "That, Ken-san, is the sword of Inu-yasha: The Tetsusaiga. The Steel Cleaving Fang that can kill one hundred demons in one blow."
Transition
Later that night, Sanosuke couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned a few times before he just stopped trying, and stared up at the ceiling. The events of the evening kept replaying in his head. Kikyo-sama's reappearance, the demon sword awakened by Kenshin's feelings for Kaoru… and the conversation afterward.
"I refuse to use this sword," Kenshin had said, laying it at Kikyo-sama's pale, perfect feet.
"You must," Kikyo-sama had urged, "Otherwise your demon blood will grow too strong, and you will become a monster who lives for blood and death!"
"Kenshin would never become that!" Kaoru had objected, as she clung to Kenshin's arm. " His heart is good and kind, and I'd never let him!"
"A kind heart and a mortal's love are not enough," Kikyo-sama had replied. "Inu-yasha had both, and even after his children were born, even with their love, he still fell prey to his own demon blood."
"What are you saying?" Yahiko had demanded. "What happened to this Inu-what's-his-face?"
Kikyo-sama looked not at Yahiko, but Kenshin, and answered very solemnly, "Kagome, my reincarnation, had to slay him."
Through this last exchange, Sanosuke kept his mouth shut, for once. He didn't say anything when Kikyo-sama said she would stay the night anyway. Kenshin made no object to her staying after that, and Kaoru just went to her room with her face looking sad. Yahiko, well, he gave Kikyo-sama a dirty look and hurried off to his room, and form the scurrying and racket that came form the room, he probably used all his things to barricade the door.
"Though I doubt she can float through walls, even if she is immortal," Sanosuke said to the ceiling. That's when he heard something. His ears weren't as sharp as Kenshin's, but he still couldn't mistake this sound. It was like wind, yet so totally different from it it couldn't be the wind. It was so familiar. Then came the lights again. The lights just like the ones from the night Kikyo-sama had saved him. He went to the window and looked out. The snake-fish creatures were the ones making the lights. No, they were carrying the lights! Small, bright balls of light. Sanosuke climbed out the window, onto the grass, already covered in dew, and followed the creatures.
He was in the garden. And by the pond was Kikyo-sama. Her hair was unbound, like the first time. As a boy he couldn't explan why he found her so captivating to look at, but now, as a man, he could feel his chest tightening and his face growing hot, just looking at the river of night that was her hair.
Without turning, she said, "Good evening, Little Sanosuke."
"Uh," Sanosuke faltered, feeling a loss for words. Instead he watched as the strange creatures flew around, then occasionally would sweep down, and release an orb of light, letting it float then disappear inside Kikyo-sama. "What are they?" he asked, not realizing he'd spoken out loud.
"They are souls," Kikyo-sama replied. She looked back to him at last, taking his breath away with the look on her face. She must have thought he was confused. "The lights are the souls of the dead," she explained. "And the creatures are demons that collect them for me."
"Demons?" Sanosuke asked in a whisper. Then a collector demon swooped right by his head. He gasped from the sudden startle, and watched it drop yet another soul into Kikyo-sama. "But… why do you need dead souls?"
"I need the souls to stay alive," Kikyo-sama said. "Or else I this body will no longer function, and I shall die again." She lifted her lovely face, and looked right into his eyes. "Do you find me frightening? Are you afraid of me?"
Sanosuke couldn't talk as long as she kept looking at him like that. But surprising to him and, unbeknownst to him, to Kikyo-sama as well, he shook his head 'no'. Then, surprising them both even more, he walked over, never breaking eye contact, and sat down beside her in the grass. After that, she broke the contact by looking into their reflections in the water. He just looked at her.
"Don't I disgust you?" she asked, out of the blue.
"P-pardon?"
"I command demons, take souls that should pass over to the next world. I should be dust in the ground, yet I walk and breath air. Can't you sense it, like Kenshin did? Can't you sense my evil?"
"You are not evil," Sanosuke said with conviction.
"How do you know?" Kikyo-sama whispered.
"You would have let me die, that night," Sanosuke had said. "And you wouldn't have guarded the offspring of your former lover, after all this time, if you were evil."
Then, she smiled. It was her sorrowful, sad, and still so beautiful smile. "You are a fool," she said. But her voice meant no insult.
Authoress' Note:
Please review!