AN: Glad you guys liked that last chapter. I was kinda loopy when I wrote that. Actually, I'm between doses now, so I'm quite sane at the moment. And I can type! It's hard to type when my medicine has fully kicked in, but I have a while until my last dose of the day, so I can dedicate all my attention to writing this lovely chapter for y'all. Isn't that great? I had planned on taking a bit longer to expose Kagome's past, but with all the reviews wanting it sooner, I decided to indulge you guys a bit. Questions and answers are at the end of the chapter, which will be the norm from now on. Note: If you see italics with nothing around it, such as this:
italicsitalicsitalicsitalicsitalicsitalicsblablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablababla. . .
The above is the format of a flashback. There will be many odd formats in this story, for circumstances in the plot require it. Mmm kay? Onward!
Disclaimer: What is wrong with you people? I DON'T OWN HIM! OR HIS SEXY OLDER BROTHER! IS IT CLEAR NOW?
Chapter Four: Revelations
Sesshomaru was watching her. She could feel it in the air, a tickling presence behind her eyes. After that first brusque interrogation, he left her alone, or so it had seemed. But every so often, she would feel his eyes on her. 'He makes me so nervous. I can hardly think properly.' It was a bit of time after the whole 'soup' incident; the sky had long since turned dark.
"Are you finished?"
She jerked away from her thoughts, turning to face her healer. "What?"
"With your meal. Are you finished?" He plainly didn't like repeating himself.
She swallowed nervously. She wasn't really, but he was plainly waiting for her to be done, so. . . "I–"
"It's fine if you're not. Take your time."
She nodded, looking back down to her beef and vegetable stew with bread and quickly finishing it.
Sesshomaru took it from her, resisting the urge to shake his head. 'She's so eager to please. What happened to her?' "I will be back momentarily." He turned and left the room, heading down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"She's done?" asked Kaede, looking up from the plates she was washing. He nodded with a disgruntled sigh. "Give me those." She took the girl's dirty dishes and proceeded to wash them as well. "What's wrong?"
"She's so. . . servile." 'She acts how she thinks I would want her to act.'
"The broth thing," she said with a nod.
"But that's not it. She sits there and watches me as if she's afraid I'll lash out and cut off her head or something."
"Well it's not exactly second nature to be at ease around you," commented his younger brother from the table.
"But she was like that around you and Sango as well."
Inuyasha blinked. 'No comeback or glare or anything. She must really have him stumped.' "She was," he admitted, also puzzled by the girl. "And I'm downright huggable compared to you." That time Sesshomaru did glare at him.
"She did seem a bit. . . introverted," added Sango softly, seated across from Miroku.
"And she is getting worse," muttered Sesshomaru, taking a deep breath and leaning against a counter.
"Hmm." Kaede's brow was furrowed in thought. "I know," she said after a moment. "Why don't we all go up for tea and see if we can't get her to. . . loosen up a little?"
They all nodded their agreement, then the older silver-haired sibling spoke. "But there's another problem. What are we to do with her?"
"She did have a point when we were talking earlier. Why would we send her back to Sakaio if she's got nothing to go back to?" pondered Sango with a worried frown.
"I'd like to know who forced her to come here against her will," murmured Inuyasha, voice barely above a growl.
"Don't forget about her wounds," interjected Kikyo, seated next to him.
"Perhaps they were made by the same person who forced her here," suggested Miroku, speaking for the first time.
"Probably. And where does Lord Naraku fit into all of this?" asked Sango,
Sesshomaru was frowning. He had an idea. More than an idea actually. It was something like a gut instinct, telling him that he wouldn't like Lord Naraku's involvement with the girl waiting fearfully for him up the stairs.
"Whenever we are ready to go." Kaede had a tray with a kettle of hot water, tea, and cups. They all trudged up the stairs, Sesshomaru in the lead.
Kagome sighed in relief as the man left the room. Her nerves were so on edge she could hardly stand it. He made her so anxious. She kept telling herself that she didn't know why, but inside she was certain: he made her anxious because he knew. And if he didn't know, he suspected. She had the sudden urge to scream. There were so many things ricocheting around inside her mind that she was surprised she didn't burst from it all. She felt so raw. She couldn't even to begin to think about what had happened. What had started back in Sakaio on an ordinary, cheery day. Back when her family was still whole. Before. . . 'Stop it! No! I don't remember!' She wrapped her arms around herself, unconsciously rocking back and forth in a slow, comforting rhythm, and looked around.
Even the cold, intimidating presence of her healer was better company than her thoughts. Where was he? 'He said he'd be back momentarily. Where is he?' Although she had found herself wishing that she was alone, she now longed for another's presence. She closed her eyes. Images of her parents the very last time she saw them flickered across her closed eyelids. Her eyes sprang open immediately. 'No!' she screamed to her unruly memories 'I don't remember. I don't remember!' She stared straight ahead, not hearing the door open.
Sesshomaru entered the room and blinked. The girl had all but curled herself into a ball on the bed. Her arms were wrapped around herself tightly and she was rocking back and forth, shivering slightly. "Kagome." He said her name cautiously, watching her warily. Hearing his voice, the girl's eyes shot to him. 'Does she look. . . relieved?' He was almost certain of it. He stepped into the room, the others filing in behind him cautiously. He arranged her back against the pillows once again. It took him a moment, however. The girl's fingers were clenched in the fabric of her nightgown, knuckles pale with her taut grip. As he pried them free, she met his gaze, her eyes appearing distinctly haunted. He blinked. 'What happened? I didn't leave her alone five minutes.' Once their stare had been broken, she too blinked. He watched as her eyes went from haunted, to blank, then to a slight, submissive fear. He sighed. It was the same look in her eyes as when he left.
"We usually have tea after dinner," he started slowly.
"Yes," chimed in Kaede hesitantly. "We thought, since you are a guest, we'd come up and have tea with you. Maybe get to know you better?" They had seen the girl's quite alarming display from the door.
The girl looked at her with eyes like a small frightened animal and gave a terse nod.
Sango stepped forward. "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you or anything." She crossed the room and sat at the end of the bed. "How are you doing? Feeling better now that you've eaten?" she asked with a friendly smile. The girl gave another nod, but seemed to relax slightly. She glanced around the room, taking in familiar and new faces. "Oh." Sango saw her looking about. "You've already met Sesshomaru and Inuyasha of course. That is Miroku." She pointed to the blue-eyed boy who grinned boyishly at their visitor. "That's Kikyo." The aloof serving girl nodded to her. She returned the gesture. "And this is Kaede." The woman was fixing the tea, but gave the girl a warm smile nonetheless.
"It's so nice to see you up Kagome. We were very worried when Sesshomaru first brought you in. But look at you! Sitting up and only after a day! You'll be walking around the inn in no time!" Kaede handed her a cup.
Kagome held it as the woman filled it with the hot beverage. "Thank you," she said, voice little more than a whimper.
"My pleasure." The woman quickly served the others before fixing herself a cup. "There now. Kagome, why don't you tell us some about yourself? How old are you?"
"E-e-eighteen."
"So am I!" exclaimed Sango happily. "My birthday's February twenty-third. When's yours?"
"The seventeenth of August." The girl's eyes were downcast, but she would glance up occasionally as she became more at ease.
"That wasn't too long ago. Did you have a nice birthday?" asked Miroku good-naturedly.
"Y-yes."
"I'm glad you did. All I got was extra chores," grumbled Sango, crossing her arms. They all laughed and the girl put a shy, upward turn to the corners of her mouth. Sango gasped. "Is that a smile?" Kagome's newly sprouted smile grew.
"Aww. She has dimples. How cute!" exclaimed Kaede with a chuckle. The girl flushed crimson, looking away.
Sesshomaru sighed inaudibly. 'Good. They've gotten through to her a bit.'
Inuyasha watched the girl intently. 'She looks a lot better than she did earlier. Maybe it's because she's blushing.' He shook his head. 'Nah. Probably not.'
Kagome must have found the bottom of her teacup very interesting, for she was nearly nose to nose with it.
"Careful you don't drown," commented the older brother drily.
"Yes. It would be a pity, after how hard he worked to get you all patched up," added Kaede with a smile. Kagome took a sip of her tea, the pink in her cheeks never relenting.
There was a long but companionable silence. Kaede took a deep breath. "Well Kagome, what are we going to do with you?"
The girl lowered her eyes once again. 'What are they going to do with me? I have nowhere to go now. It wouldn't be too bad to stay, though. They seem alright, and they don't ask too many questions about. . . NO. Don't remember.' A tremor ran through her body.
Sango looked over at her, concerned, but didn't speak.
"I suppose we could let her stay here. I could always use another hand in the kitchen. Can you cook?" asked the friendly woman.
Kagome nodded. "I used to help my. . ." Her voice tapered off to nothing and tears suddenly came to her eyes in a rush. She blinked them away, taking another sip of her tea.
Kaede put a hand on the girl's shoulder and spoke. "Wonderful. You can start whenever you're ready–"
"After she's fully healed. I wouldn't put it past her to try to start tomorrow," interjected Sesshomaru with a glance at his patient. He could see the corners of her lips quirk a bit over the edge of her teacup.
"Of course. After she's healed. But that won't be long anyway," said Sango. The room once again lapsed into silence, but one that was slightly more uneasy.
'Why are they being so nice to me? Do they always trust strangers that collapse at their inn? They're so kind. Perhaps everyone here isn't as bad as. . .' She vaguely felt herself start to tremble. 'I wish. . . I wish I could just go home. Back to the way things were. Back when. . .' 'But you can't. After all, remember what happened the last time you wished for something?' It was the voice in her head, that little pessimistic something that promised dread, whispered her deepest fears, and crooned her uttermost regrets. No matter how hard she tried to repress it, the voice wormed its way into her consciousness. 'You remember.' The girl shook her head. 'No I don't. I don't remember.' But she did. She remembered everything.
Kagome was sitting at the window next to her mother, watching as her little brother came back from doing his chores. He would come inside and kiss their mother on the cheek. Their mother would tell him to go wash up for dinner. It was the same thing every night and had been for as long as she could remember. She sighed. "Momma, everything's so boring around here. It's the same thing, day in and day out. I wish something a little more. . . interesting would happen."
Her mother turned to her then, face utterly serious and lips turned down into a slight frown. "Hush up. You need to be careful what you wish for. Things are never what they seem."
Things remained ordinary until one afternoon two days later.
"Momma? Who's that?" She was looking at the carriage that had just ridden past their modest house. Her mother didn't reply at first. "Momma?"
"Get inside Kagome. Now."
She did as her mother told her, never understanding until it was too late what her mother meant.
'But I understand now.' Kagome felt a hand on her arm. She jerked herself away from her thoughts.
Sango was looking at her, concerned. "Are you alright, Kagome?"
The girl nodded weakly, but didn't speak. She didn't trust herself, didn't trust her tongue just then. 'I'm sorry Momma. I'm so sorry.' She took a sip of her tea, then another.
There was nary a sound in the room. No one had anything to say after her. . . 'What was it? A trance?' Sesshomaru was still frowning. Kagome was still trembling. Everyone else was still staring. The tension-filled quiet stretched on infinitely.
Kaede looked at the girl worriedly. "Kagome?"
She jumped, startled so badly that her still half-full teacup fell to the floor and shattered. She looked up at Kaede, panic etched into her features. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry." She tried to get off of the bed to clean it up, shaking more violently than before.
"It's okay." The woman was on the floor with a towel, gathering the liquid and shards of ceramic. The girl was still trying to get up and help her.
"It's alright Kagome. It was an accident," said Sango, keeping the girl in bed as Kaede cleaned up the small mess.
The girl turned to her with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Please. I'm sorry." She looked down at her hands, shaking tremulously and still apologizing.
Kaede finished quickly and wrapped her arms around the girl. "It's okay Kagome." She could see the girl try to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks, but failing. The woman smoothed her hair, rocking her comfortingly as the girl cried against her.
"I-I-I–" Kagome started, wiping her eyes.
Sango shushed her, rubbing her back. "It's alright."
Several minutes later, Kagome had stopped crying and was staring, unseeing, straight ahead. Her emotional display had left her exhausted. It was all she could do not to start screaming at the top of her lungs to drown out the memories echoing in her mind.
Sesshomaru looked at the girl. Her posture screamed of defeat, her eyes speaking of terrors they had witnessed.
Sango and Kaede had their arms around her, but she didn't seem to notice. They were at a loss. 'What are we supposed to do?' thought Sango, exasperated. With a sigh, she turned to face the girl and looked her in the eye seriously. "Kagome, what happened?"
Q&A Time, my darlings! Mwahahahahaha!
Fairie Mistress: Is Kikyo gonna be a bitch in this story? Hmm. (Grin) Not really. She's going to be really cold, aloof, and have her bitchy moments, but not necessarily a bitch. She has nothing personal against Kagome in this story. (Well, not for the time being anyway.) There's going to be a different bitch in this story. An OC of mine, and I assure you that everyone will hate her.
Inu Girl Demon: Why can Kagome heal fast? Well, that's going to come into play later in the story, but Kikyo and Kaede said she healed like a miko. Maybe that's it, and maybe it isn't. We'll never know, not until later anyway. (Grin)
AN: Yah. I know. It's short. It was actually seven pages long, but I didn't want to reveal too much too fast, so now it's five. Editing's a bitch. I wasn't very thorough, so forgive me for any spelling and/or grammar glitches. Really sorry. I hope you liked the chapter. As I said before, I was going to have this part a few chapters later, but I decided to give you guys a reward for all the nice reviews you've been giving me. Apeek into Kagome's past and a very promising cliffie. (Grins) Please review. Please? If you do. . . I'll update every few days, I promise. Okay. I'm going now. Gotta work on Ch. 5. It's gona be fun. Buh bye!