A TALE FROM THE PAST
-by Kittymui-
CHAPTER III
It was good to be back again. He thought as he passed the wooden gates that were wide open to welcome him. Not that he liked to travel, but given the choice between staying in the fortress in the middle of the disgusting scent of humans and going on patrol in the wide forests, he definitely didn't have to hesitate before choosing the latter option.
He was glad that his father didn't make a big fuzz about him leaving the fortress because of his young age.
And now, after killing off several groups of spies and intruders, he has returned again.
Nothing had changed after the half year he had been away from the fortress, except for the colors of the garden that he was crossing. But something seemed different as he ascended the small wooden steps leading to the mansion.
It was the scent of the fortress that had changed.
Though it wasn't much, he still managed to distinguish two unfamiliar scents mixed up with the usual ones.
Without feeling obliged to greet his father, he nonchalantly took the direction leading to his quarters.
His thin brows furrowed as he walked alongside the white garden over the elevated wooden floor.
It was annoying to know that the two new guests were also human. But it was even more annoying when he realized that one of the scents was becoming stronger as the distance between him and his room decreased.
'They even have the guts to enter my quarters??' he thought stupefied.
After repeating so many times that without his permission no humans were allowed to enter this part of the fortress, there were still those who'd wished to try their luck.
'That's it! This intruder is going to regret his actions!' So he thought with an invisible grin on his stoic face.
-.-
He came to an abrupt yet silent stop when he arrived at the place where the human scent was strongest.
The last thing he had expected was to see a human child, let alone a girl. And yet, there she was, standing in front of the doors leading to his room.
He knew the child had noticed his presence and patiently he waited for her to look at him.
After their eyes met, it was like the whole scene had stopped moving.
It was strange.
Usually, he would have begun to threaten or use his poisonous claws right away if it was a mere human guard. But now he didn't even feel the urge to raise his claws against this child.
As he wondered why, his eyes slowly drifted towards her small clawless hands, which were still placed on the wooden border of the doors.
Mindlessly, he raised his clawed hand, intending to close up the small gap that the infant had created.
"Sesshoumaru!!" a voice called from behind him.
He felt a swift breeze passing him and suddenly, the human child before him became accompanied by two adults.
One of them was his father, the great lord of the Western Lands.
The other one was a human female. Sesshoumaru widened his gold-amber eyes when he saw the garment she was wearing. "You-!" he began, but was soon cut off by his father's voice.
"Sesshoumaru!"
He gritted his teeth as he watched the woman pick up the human child. 'So she's her mother huh...?' he thought inwardly.
I couldn't possibly ignore the questioning and distrustful looks that both adults were giving him and he narrowed his eyes. 'So they think I was about to kill the girl huh?' he mused in his thoughts.
'Hmp,' he uttered and turned around to leave.
He couldn't care less what everybody thought about him.
-.-
For one second, Kagome really thought the boy was going to hit her when he raised his hand. But when she saw that his eyes were actually locked on the doors she was trying to open a while ago, she told herself not to be scared.
But she was surprised when someone called out a name.
'Sesshoumaru...?' she repeated the name in herself.
Apparently, it was the name of the boy, since he had paused his movements.
From behind him, her mother and the tall silver-haired man appeared and Kagome watched how they hastily ran to her side.
She was quite relieved to see some familiar faces again, but suddenly she felt an uncomfortable aura hanging in the air as she saw the serious expressions on both adults' faces. She followed their lines of vision and eventually ended up looking at the boy.
He didn't look very happy but she noticed the widening movement of his eyes when his eyes fell on her mother.
The boy was angry, though he wasn't really showing it.
When Kagome opened her mouth to say something, the boy beat her to it with a small 'hmp'. She watched him turn his back to them and turned to look at her mother, only to find her slightly shaking her head at her.
After the boy disappeared around a corner, she heard her mother apologize.
"I'm terribly sorry, InuTaisho-sama."
"It's not your fault, don't worry about it," was the man's reply.
"But-"
He turned to them and placed his hand on Kagome's head. "No matter how much my son resents the human kind, I will not break my promise to this little girl," he said.
And with that, he walked away from them.
Kagome turned to her mother. "Mommy, I'm sorry..." she apologized meekly.
Her reply was a soft kiss placed on her forehead.
-.-
Her punishment was to stay by her mother's side all the time and never to leave their sleeping quarters without permission and guidance.
But what about the boy?
Was he angry at her for almost entering his room?
Why he hated humans, she did not understand. Was that the reason why there weren't any guards near his room?
She really wanted to know. And that's why, she couldn't sleep that night.
::FLASHBACK::
They were sitting in a large room and several servants entered with low wooden tables in their hands.
On top of these tables were a bowl filled with rice accompanied with several small dishes and a pair of chopsticks.
Kagome looked around as she waited for one of them to be put down in front of her.
She saw the silver-haired man, whose name she recalled from his morning was InuTaisho, and her mother sitting on some cushions from across her. But there was one person missing.
"Where is Sesshoumaru?" she heard InuTaisho ask one of the servants.
"He's still in his room milord," the servant replied.
The demon lord raised a brow. "Why is that?"
"He said he will not dine with humans, milord."
A scowl appeared on his face. "His rudeness will not be tolerated. We shall dine without him," he decided while picking a bowl of rice.
And then they started to eat. Without the boy.
::END FLASHBACK::
'I wonder if he's hungry right now...' Kagome pondered as she rolled over to her other side on her futon.
From underneath her blanket she pulled out a small green cloth that had something wrapped up inside. 'Maybe he's still up...' she thought to herself and sneakily shuffled out of her warm futon.
After making sure her mother hadn't woken up because of her, she tiptoed on her thick white socks towards the slidings panels.
With a firm push, she created a gap big enough for her to slip through. She let out a sigh of relief after closing the doors behind her. 'I guess it only leaves me the night time to be able to escape from the punishment.' she concluded while walking down the hallways.
Just like this morning, Kagome easily managed to pass through the guards unnoticed and within minutes, she found herself standing on a corner that offered her a clear view of the boy's room from a distance.
There was no light burning inside the room. 'He's probably already sleeping...' she told herself disappointedly.
But right before turning around to leave, she caught a glimpse of silver around the corner of the room.
When she walked a bit closer, she realized it was the same boy from this morning.
He was sitting on the edge of the elevated wooden floor, with his legs hanging over the border. He had his back to her and his long silver-white hair was resting against his back with its tips slightly touching the wooden planks behind him with every breath he exhaled.
'Why is he out here and staring at the garden?' Kagome wondered inwardly.
She silently made her way to stand beside his sitting form and bowed forward a little to look at his face.
To her surprise, the boy had his eyes closed.
'Is he asleep?' she pondered as she straightened up again. 'But it's cold out here...why isn't he sleeping inside?'
Her eyes drifted to his feet that were placed over the edge and on the snowy earth below him and she shivered as she thought how cold he must be having.
Even with her thick kimono and socks protecting her body, she could still feel the cold wind sometimes, seeping through tiny holes in the fabric that cannot be seen with bare eyes.
"E-euhm..." she began.
"Leave me."
Kagome almost jumped up of shock when the boy spoke, for she really thought he was sleeping. But when she tilted her head foreward again, she still found his eyes shut.
"Gomen nasai...but you could catch a cold if you stay out here too long..." she said.
No respond was given to her remark.
"You didn't have dinner tonight...aren't you hungry?" she tried again.
Still no reply.
'I wonder if he's still angry at me for snooping around his room...' she thought.
From her sleeve, she took out the small green package. "I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you something," she said, while kneeling down and putting it on the wooden floor next to him.
But the boy didn't move an inch, nor did he open his eyes.
Kagome dropped her face a little as she stood up again. 'I guess he's still angry...' she sighed inwardly.
"O-oyasumi nasai..." she whispered and turned to leave.
As she walked away from the boy, she kept herself from looking around, thinking that he wouldn't spare her a glance.
But little did she know that had she looked over her shoulder, she would find a pair of dumbfounded gold-amber eyes watching her leave.
-.- several days later -.-
Kagome and her mother were walking down the hallway towards the dining area, as it was almost time for breakfast.
She was dressed in a soft pink kimono with red flowers and her mother was wearing the garment she wore yesterday. It was a dark red kimono with sakura blossoms embroidered with golden silk gracing her sleeves and legs.
Just when they were about to reach their destination, they noticed another person coming from the opposite direction.
"Good morning Sesshoumaru," her mother greeted him with a warm voice.
Kagome wanted to wave at the young demon, but stopped when she realized he had halted his step as soon as he saw them.
Again, he scanned her mother from head to toe and again, displease filled his eyes.
And before she could say anything, he had turned around and left, again.
'He does that every time he sees mommy...why?' she thought puzzled.
Since it was daytime, there was no possibility to leave her mother's side to find the answer to that question, and so she decided inside that she would go out once again after most people fell asleep.
-.- that night -.-
After soundlessly escaping from the guards' lines of visions, Kagome arrived at the forbidden area once again.
Besides seeing a dim light burning inside the room, she also noticed that the doors were opened this time. 'Could he be inside his room?' she asked herself inwardly.
It was no use wondering, and that's why she decided to walk more closely to find out.
As she arrived at the open doorway, she realized nobody was inside.
'Where could he be?' she thought.
While pondering, she was surprised by several waves of cold wind coming from behind her. And because she was unable to withstand the cold temperature with her current clothing, Kagome was forced to enter the room for shelter.
It was a quite big space for a place to sleep. The panoramic landscapes on the walls were painted far more elaborately and vividly than the room she shared with her mother. There were hills, waterfalls, bamboo forests and unreachable horizons.
At the left side of the room, there was a white futon lying on the floor with a yellow blanket neatly folded on top. Everything in the room was given a warm yellow hue coming from the burning oil lamp, which stood on a low round table at the center of the room.
Kagome made a small tour alongside the walls with her eyes exploring the place. As she did that, she suddenly discovered an alcove in the wall at the back of the room.
'Is that a painting?' she wondered as she saw the outlines of a long rectangular and flat object hanging on the indented part of the wall.
It was faint because of the dim light, but as she walked closer to it, she found a person depicted on the work of art.
But there was no way, she could distinguish more than that with her limiting human vision and so she returned to the round table at the center of the room and carefully picked up the oil lamp.
With the source of light in her small hands, she walked back to the alcove and this time she was able to see clearly who had been granted immortality inside the painting.
It was a woman. She was standing in a garden that resembled the one located right in front of the boy's room; only this one on the painting was green instead of white.
She was smiling.
The soft smile on her face added up to her gracefulness, which had already been obtained by her serene golden eyes and the curly silver-white hair that framed her pretty face. The two thin pair of dark marks on each cheek right below her eyes, reminded Kagome of the young silver-haired boy she met yesterday.
'Is this his mother...?' she pondered inside.
But then she finally noticed the dark red garment that the woman in the painting was wearing and her eyes widened. 'T-that's-!!'
Her thoughts were cut off when she heard some faint footsteps approaching from a distance.
Kagome immediately put the oil lamp back to where it belonged on the low round table and exited room without making too much noise.
She quickly left the area via a path at the backside of the room and slipped inside her own room as soon as she arrived.
As she walked towards her own futon she used all her might to breath as soundless as possible, in order not to wake up her sleeping mother.
After settling herself beneath her thick blanket, she thought about the painting she saw hanging inside the boy's chamber.
'Mommy wore the same kimono as the woman in the painting yesterday...and today too...' she remembered, while turning over to lay on her other side. 'Is that why he's angry at mommy...?'
With that thought consuming her mind, the infant fell asleep.
-.-
Sesshoumaru scowled when he entered his room.
He knew there had been an uninvited visitor since a scent other than his own lingered in the air.
From his sleeve, he pulled out a folded green cloth that still carried the scent of fresh rice and the young girl.
'It's her...' he concluded after matching the scent of the cloth and the one lingering in the room.
His clawed hand squeezed the cloth tightly as his anger began to rise. If it weren't for the sake of his own health, he would never have degraded himself to accept the sympathy of a human. But despite that, he was able to suppress his hunger. Also because of that, he had decided to overlook the impudence that was caused by her curiosity.
But the child had gone too far this time. As much as he admired her bravery at such a young age, he would never forgive her for entering his room.
With narrowed eyes, he traced the path the infant had walked with his keen nose and eventually ended up in front of his mother's painting in the alcove.
A low growl escaped his throat. "Child...you will regret this..." he grumbled.
-.- some time later -.-
"Mommy?" Kagome called out to her mother as she and her mother waited in their room for the servants to bring them their clean garments.
"Wait Kagome," her mother said as the doors slid open and revealed two servants carrying piles of clothes in their hands.
Kagome looked at the pile of clothes that was placed on the floor before her mother. Within the stack, she found the dark red kimono with golden flowers.
After the two servants left, she quickly stood up. She knew she had startled her mother when she pulled out the kimono from the stack and caused the other neatly folded garments to become entangled with each other as they fell to the floor.
"Kagome? What are you doing?" her mother asked puzzled.
"Mommy, don't wear this kimono anymore. We will be hated if you wear it again," Kagome explained while holding the kimono close to her.
Her mother raised a brow. "What are you talking about? Who is going to hate us?"
"That boy...it's his mother's kimono...we should give it back," she insisted.
"Who? You mean Sesshoumaru?"
Kagome nodded.
A moment of silence took place between mother and daughter and suddenly Kagome realized what she had done.
By telling the truth about the kimono, she had also revealed her secret escapades during bedtime several days ago.
"Kagome, you-" her mother began with a stern voice.
"I'm sorry mommy," she apologized meekly.
"You went outside when I was asleep??"
It was obvious that her mother was angry, but she couldn't lie to her so she eventually nodded her head.
"Kagome, do you know how dangerous it is to wander off alone like that at night !? How could you just break rules like that?!"
Kagome slightly cringed when she heard her mother's raised voice.
"Mommy, I'm so sorry...I won't-"
-SLAP-
A burning pain stinging her right cheek interrupted Kagome's sentence, and tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Oh K-Kagome...I'm so sorry...I-I didn't mean to..." her mother apologized with a gasp as she stretched out her arms to her.
But Kagome quickly took a step backwards. She knew she was wrong to disobey her mother but somehow this didn't justify the fact that her mother hit her before she could even explain her reasons for breaking the rules.
With the red kimono pressed against her chest, she opened one of the sliding doors with a jerk using her free hand and ran into the hallway without sparing her unreasonable mother another glance.
-.-
'How shameful...' Sesshoumaru thought to himself as he watched the guards running around inside the fortress.
'And all this just because of a human child...' he smirked inside. Actually, he should praise the child for causing such an amusement but unfortunately he had a great memory so he couldn't possible forget about her entering his territory twice.
After a while, the whole disorder started to bore him and he decided to retreat to his own quarters.
But as he arrived, he was annoyed to find the doors opened. 'They even searched this place...?!' he growled inwardly.
He was surprised and agitated to see a figure inside standing in front of the alcove. When he looked more carefully, he realized it was the human child.
'This is the one place where the guards wouldn't search for her...is that why she came here?' he pondered as he silently approached the infant, who had her back to him.
'Foolish girl, you will regret for entering my room for the second time!' he said in his mind as he raised his clawed hand as soon as the girl was within arm-reach.
Just when he wanted to grab the child from behind, a glimpse of dark red caught the peripheral area of his keen eyes.
Sesshoumaru quickly lowered his arm when the girl turned around to him. Shock was written all over her face when she saw him. But when the young demon lowered his gaze to the red object that drew his attention seconds ago, he widened his eyes as well.
The girl was holding his mother's kimono tightly against her chest.
"D-don't hate us..." the child suddenly spoke.
'She had cried...' Sesshoumaru told himself when he saw the redness framing her dark-brown orbs. But then he noticed an unusual shade of red that colored one of her cheeks and reached out a hand to examine it.
-.-
"Ite!" she flinched when a stinging pain as soon as the boy's hand touched her cheek.
Suddenly she felt she wanted to cry again, but she pushed back her tears and told herself not to cry until she had apologized properly.
"G-gomen nasai," she began. "Please don't hate mommy or me...we didn't know and we're really sorry..." With that, she raised her hands that were carrying the red garment.
Her face dropped when she saw the boy turn around to leave. At that moment, she really wanted to burst into tears, although she didn't know whether it was because of her burning cheek or because she realized they were going to be hated forever.
But to her surprise, the silver-haired one came back after a while to stand in front of her again.
Kagome closed her eyes when she saw him raise his hand, convinced that he was going to hit her for real this time.
But instead of another flash of pain, a chilly and gentle sensation landed upon her swollen and burning cheek.
She quickly opened her eyes, only to see the boy's face on the same level as her own.
When she pulled away a little, she saw a small green cloth in his raised hand. It was the same cloth she had used to wrap up the rice balls for him days ago.
"Hold still."
Kagome did as she was told and relaxed as the pain ebbed away with each dab of the cold cloth against her cheek.
"A-arigatou..." she said softly when the boy pulled away the cloth from her face and straightened up again.
With his free hand, the young demon took the red kimono from her hands and walked away with it, leaving Kagome alone again in his room.
In the time that she was alone, she thought about what had happened for the past couple of minutes. Was she forgiven? Was it gentleness that she felt behind those cold eyes?
Her thoughts were cut off when the boy returned. Apparently he went to put away the kimono, as his hands were empty when he came back.
"You should go back," he stated plainly as he stopped before her.
Kagome dropped her face and fear was written on her face. "B-but mommy...she..." she stammered.
When she raised her gaze again, she found the silver-haired one standing at the doorway and looking at her. "Come," he said.
After hesitating for a while, Kagome listened to his words and walked closer to him.
-.-
And so, both of them began to walk; with the young demon walking in the front and Kagome right behind him.
But when they were about to leave the prohibited area, fear began to fill her mind and she immediately stopped walking. Not long after that, she saw the boy turning around to her with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
The last thing Kagome wanted was to make him angry again, but she was unable to take another step, as she couldn't forget the angry face of her mother right before she hit her.
But then he did something she had never expected.
The boy reached out his hand to her.
Kagome hesitated for several seconds, but something inside told her she could trust him despite the uncaring and stoic face he put up.
Eventually, she reached out her hand to him and they began to walk side-by side.
With her small hand settled in his clawed one, Kagome somehow felt very safe and she immediately forgot about her fear. She couldn't help but think how nice it would be if this feeling would remain and that he would always be there to protect her like a brother.
A big brother she never had.
-.-
After walking a while, Kagome was able to see her mother from afar. She was standing with her side facing them, right outside their bedroom and looking at something far away with a worried look.
She was surprised when the boy suddenly let go of her hand and she turned around to him.
"Go," he said to her.
For the first time ever since she had become separated from her father, Kagome felt a very comfortable warmth filling her heart and she expressed it with a warm smile. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Sesshoumaru onii-sama!" she said before turning around and walking away.
Kagome stopped walking when she was about 2 meters away from her mother and eventually her presence was noticed.
"Kagome!"
Kagome watched her mother ran to her and the next thing she knew was being locked inside a very warm embrace.
Her mother held her close and began to cry. "I was so worried Kagome. I'm so sorry for hitting you...I didn't know what I was doing. Please forgive mommy."
Kagome wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her back. "I'm sorry for making you cry mommy..." she apologized. Inside she was very happy to know that her mother wasn't angry anymore.
Suddenly she remembered something and quickly pulled away to look over her shoulder.
But much to her disappointment, Sesshoumaru was already nowhere to be found.
-.-
On the way back to his room, Sesshoumaru became consumed by his thoughts. This wasn't what he had planned at all. His intention was to punish the human girl but why did the situation end up entirely different?
Why did his anger disappear as soon as he saw her red eyes and reddened cheek? Though she didn't tell him, the red kimono was probably part of the reason why she was hit. It would be her own fault, since she had found out on her own initiative that the kimono belonged to his mother, but then why did he feel guilty?
And why did he feel better after seeing her relaxed face when he held the cold cloth against her cheek?
It annoyed him when he realized that the child was apparently too afraid to leave his territory, but as much as he disliked the idea, he had to take away the fear that resided in her. He had to degrade himself once again by offering his hand to a human child and leading her to her mother.
Yet, these events altogether didn't even surpass the one fact that angered him the most.
The fact that...he actually liked the feeling when he was soothing her pain and holding her hand protectively. As much as he hated it and despite the fact that she was human, he had to admit that he felt as if he was holding the hand of his baby sister.
A sister he never had the chance to meet.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I know you might be wondering why demons like InuTaisho and Sesshoumaru eat rice. Well, they have to eat something right? Since InuTaisho and Sesshoumaru are civil demons, I can't really have them devour living beings hehehe. And besides, you've never seen them eating anything in the original series so there. I know Sesshoumaru said to Rin that he didn't eat human food when they first met, but hey, this is an Alternate Universe right? Plus the characters are Out-Of-Character :).
I have to admit that things are going a bit slow at the moment, but all of this is necessary to have you readers sink more into this story :) and I do hope I'm doing a good job at it. A too fast development of the relationships between the characters would be a tad too unrealistic, at least this is what I think. Moreover, the other main character of this story (Bankotsu) isn't going to show up for a while. I'll have to ask you to be patient with me, but I can promise you that you won't be disappointed when he finally shows up.
Before I forget, there are two exams coming up so the coming chapter is going to be slightly delayed, sorry!!s
And of course, I wish you all a happy and healthy 2005!! May the year of the Chicken bring you good fortune!!
Greets,
Kittymui
-.-.-
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
-.-.-.-: time gap
-CAPSLOCKED WORDS-: noises
-.-.-
Next chapter: Chapter IV
-.-
Why would Sesshoumaru actually see a sister in Kagome, you might wonder. And is there a reason for his hatred towards the human kind? A half year has passed and Kagome's mother is beginning to believe that she won't be able to see her husband again. Although InuTaisho still insists that they have to stay under his protection because of their vulnerability, he also knows very well that it is very dishonorable for himself as well as the woman and her child if he lets them stay under his roof just like that. What will he do to protect them?
Please look forward to the next chapter!!
-.-
Vocabulary:
gomen nasai: I'm sorry
ite: ouch
oyasumi nasai: good night
arigatou (gozaimasu): thank you (very much)
onii-sama: by adding the honorific suffix '-sama', this is a more respectful
way of saying 'big brother'
-.-.-
REPLIES ON REVIEWS:
Paleah: Thanks! I'm glad you like it so far :).
anata no egao: Thank you :). I'm sorry to disappoint you that it will remain a Bankotsu x Kagome fic. I think it's because Bankotsu hasn't shown up yet that you think that way hehehe, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, when he finally shows up, I'll be sure to persuade you to like the planned pairing :).
AnimeMoonlightGoddess: I'm doing my best :). But since it's holiday right now, I'm also trying to relax a bit hehehe.
Rhexi: Hahaha, well Sesshoumaru isn't going to be more than Kagome's brother in this story (oops...did I just gave a hint?). But thanks for reviewing! I'm happy to hear you were getting excited about this chapter hihihi.
Wake-Robin: Thanks! I'll try to update as soon as I can!
whitewolfmoro11: -hides- I-I p-p-promise I will get a good role for him!! Please don't be angry!! -reads lower part of your review- Pfew...thanks for understanding hahaha :)!!
Duzzie: Thanks!! I will!!
Skitzoflame: Hope you weren't too disappointed with the minor actions between Kagome and Sesshoumaru hehehe :). Thanks for reviewing and euhm...sorry for the cliffhanger -sweatdrops- :).
azn-sakura17: Yeah, Bankotsu finds a book and now we are reading it through his eyes, I hope I haven't made it too confusing. Thanks for reviewing!
KaIkO-tHe-ShElL-dAuGhTeR: Well, here's a long chappie!! Happy? I sure hope so :)!
The-Freak32: Bankotsu? He's the one reading the book from chapter to chapter, so we're in fact reading it through his eyes. Thanks for reviewing :), I'm glad you like the storyline so far!
shadow-mistress: Thank you!! Best wishes to you too :)!
KagomeMiko2: I'm glad you like it. I hope you're not too disappointed if I told you that Bankotsu isn't going to show up for a while. But I can tell you that I do have a special role for him in this story :). I hope you will continue to read this story till its end!!
Guardian-of-the-night: Thanks!! Hmm you don't mind me telling you spoilers? If you don't, I would answer your curious question :). Best wishes to you too!!
confused dolphin: Thank you very much :)! Yeah, I dislike reading those stories too! I'll try to update as soon as possible!!
Posted: 31 December 2004
Last Edited: 31 December 2004
Spelling check: YES
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters of it. And I do not own whatever elements of this story that seem familiar and had already been used by other creative individuals before. But... I do own the idea of mixing all of these elements together into a new story!