Warring Souls
Summary: IY/YGO crossover AU. After his first full youkai transformation, a half asleep, feverish, injured and seemingly possessed Sango tells Inuyasha of a curse his soul received 2500 years ago. What is the connection between Ryou Bakura and Inuyasha? Revised and edited.
Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Yugioh, they belong to Kazuki Takahashi and Rumiko Takahashi respectively.
A/N: I posted this fic last year, but I took it down due to the fact that it was a very poor example of my writing. I am tempted to go through all of my older works and edit them, because I believe my writing skills have improved exponentially over the past year. All of my COM readers might want to look out for that.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Chapter One:
Inuyasha lay stiffly on his back, attempting to get comfortable enough to get to sleep on the rocky surface, which they had chosen to set up camp on. They were next to a small river, and they had camped there specifically for relatively easy access to both the water and the fish within it. However, having no trees nearby, or even a large boulder to lean on, Inuyasha had been forced to sleep on the floor; a position he was neither fond of nor used to.
He closed his eyes and sighed. The less-than-comfortable sleeping place was not the only reason he was suffering from insomnia. The day before they had all had an encounter with the most frightening and unnerving of all of Naraku's offspring so far: The mind reading ogre Goshinki.
It wasn't so much Goshinki himself that was troubling Inuyasha, but the transformation that he had undergone as a result of their confrontation. Goshinki, being able to foresee Inuyasha's 'Kaze no Kizu' attack via his mind reading abilities, had grabbed Testusaiga in his mouth halfway through the assault, and had somehow managed to break it. What followed was what Inuyasha remembered as a blinding bloodlust, his heart pounding in his ears, and the absolute thrill of sinking his claws into Goshinki's flesh. It was not even that, though, which most disturbed him.
What truly frightened him was that he had almost unleashed that very same bloodlust on Kagome. He had needed more of the satisfying crunch of breaking bone, the intoxicating sensation of warm blood running over his hands, and the invigorating power of ripping through living flesh. What frightened him was that if she had not 'sat' him at that time, he probably would not have stopped.
Growling slightly in frustration over his inability to regulate his thoughts, he rolled over and instantly regretted it. The relatively fresh wounds in his upper body were not completely healed, even with his extraordinarily fast healing capabilities, and were throbbing and burning in protest to his movement. He could not help but wince.
He rolled onto his back again, more carefully this time, and slowly pushed himself upright. He was relieved to find that while his wounds did still burn slightly at the action, this time it was far more tolerable. Scanning over the makeshift camp, his enhanced hanyou vision effortlessly picked out the forms of his resting comrades.
Miroku was sleeping peacefully on his back; his silly smile illuminating the clearly lecherous content of his dreams. Shippou, snoring cutely, was perched precariously on the houshi's stomach, looking as though he may roll off at any moment. Kagome was in her customary sleeping bag; limbs sprawled helter-skelter to reveal that her slumber was a fitful one. Not that he blamed her; considering the circumstances, he was surprised that she could sleep at all with himself so near to her. He noticed that the place where Sango had chosen to sleep was empty of one person, as was Kirara sleeping there soundly by herself, and he frowned.
'Why is she up? She shouldn't be able to walk with her wounds.' Turning around again, his eyes went comically wide as he found himself face to face with the injured taijiya.
"W-what the hell?" Sango's eyes had a haunted, glazed look about them, and he could feel the waves of heat coming of her skin. "You have a fever, Sango. What the hell are you doing-"
"You must get Tetsusaiga repaired, if you do not, everyone dear to you will suffer." Inuyasha blinked in confusion, partly due to his companion's enigmatic words, and partly due to the unusual phenomenon that was occurring around her neck. There appeared to be some kind of necklace there, or at least the translucent echo of one. It was crackling with energy, and he could feel a foreboding and mysterious power emanating from it. That too, though, was like an echo, like something being transmitted from very far away. There was also a nagging feeling, of…what he could only call familiarity.
"What the hell are you talking about, Sango?" Her only response was to continue to gaze at him with those vacant eyes, until she once again began speaking as though she had not heard him at all.
"Two thousand, five hundred years ago, a previous incarnation of your soul was cursed. This curse splits the soul it is afflicting into two. The curse is tied to a magical object, and although it requires full contact with the cursed object to take full affect- the magic is closely entwined with your spirit; this is what causes your full youkai transformation. It is the reason why you, and you alone, suffer from such a transformation.
"The only way to rid yourself of this curse is to either destroy the object from which it originates, or create another object to counteract the effects of the first. Your father sensed this, and created the Tetsusaiga accordingly. Before, the mere existence of this fang allowed you freedom from your destiny. Now though, its breaking has also broken part of the seal. You must have it repaired, and carry it with you at all times; for without it the person that you, and others identify as 'you' will cease to be. Your mind will become two entities…the same, yet not the same." His mouth hung open in bafflement, his breathing quickening with each passing moment. Why was it that Sango's words made absolute sense to him?
'What she's talking about…it's almost like-'
"Like Kikyo and Kagome. They have only part of their soul, and exist as two separate beings- even though they are actually one person. However, you would not get two bodies, the two 'you's would constantly be fighting for dominance over your body. Part of the reason your soul chose to be born as a hanyou, was so that it could have an outlet for the constant struggle it feels as a result of the curse. And the struggle between your human and youkai natures is an ideal outlet." He was highly disturbed by the way she had seemed to read his mind, but he also felt a burning curiosity in the pit of his stomach.
"So wait, where is this 'cursed object', and how can I destroy it?" Although she made no indication of it, it appeared, from what she said next, that she had in fact heard him.
"I do not know."
"Then why the fuck are you saying I must destroy it?" She turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting his directly.
"I am not saying you must destroy the cursed object, I am saying you must repair the Tetsusaiga. Do so, and you will withhold your suffering for another lifetime." With that, Sango fell limply into his arms, fast asleep. However, he had caught her purely out of reflex, his eyes still fixated on the place where hers had been moments before.
Somewhere, five hundred years in the future, Bakura Ryou sneezed.
Kagome stifled a yawn as she stretched her arms up to the morning sky, attempting to work the kinks out of her back. She wondered in idly if she would ever fully get used to sleeping in the wilderness, and promptly dismissed the thought as meaningless. What difference would it make either way? It was her obligation to help Inuyasha collect all of the Shikon shards, and if that meant a little bit of discomfort…well, so be it. Still, a bed, or even a futon, would be really nice for a change…maybe she would ask Miroku to get them someplace to stay that night.
Speaking of Inuyasha…
She swiveled her head to see where the allusive hanyou was. He was still disgruntled from the events that had happened two days ago, no doubt, and she was anxious to see that he was fine. Knowing him, he had probably stayed up all night thinking about it, and he was probably hurting more than he was letting on. Not only that, she thought apprehensively, but he was probably also going to be in a dreadful mood that morning. Just great.
Still seeing no sign of the dog-eared boy, she pushed herself up onto her knees and began rolling her sleeping bag. Then, after putting it back into her yellow backpack, she stood up, dusting off her uniform as she did so. She knew it was futile, but that didn't stop her from repeating it routinely almost every morning. In this era she had an incredibly small supply of clothes, so she often had to make due with wearing the same outfit for days on end without washing them. It was at times like these that she missed her closet at home the most.
In fact, now that she thought about it, it had been far too long since she had last gone back to her own time. Forget about Miroku finding them someplace indoors to sleep, she decided, she was going home tonight. Lopping her backpack onto her shoulders, she began to walk resolutely, intent on finding Inuyasha. She just hoped that he would be more accepting of her decision this time around, but she wasn't expecting anything.
Walking past the riverbank, she saw Sango sleeping as peacefully as someone wounded can, noticing for the first time that she was not in her original sleeping place. Miroku and Shippou were still sleeping, and she could tell that neither would be waking for quite some time. Walking on, she passed by a grassy embankment that sloped down into the river. There, among the dragonflies, sat Inuyasha, his eyes staring somewhere off in space.
Making her way up behind him, she saw his ears twitch and knew that he had heard her approaching. "Good morning, Inuyasha." He didn't look at her, choosing instead to grunt his reply. "Listen, I know that this may be a bit sudden…and I know you're probably going to be completely against it, but I really need to go home for a couple of days. I mean…I know it may a bit selfish of me, but I haven't seen my family in weeks, and they're probably getting really worried. I know you're probably going to get ang-"
"It's fine with me. You can go home for a few days if you really want to."
"-gry, but please consider—WHAT?"
"You heard me. I said that it's okay with me if you really want to go home."
Kagome blinked in astonishment at his out-of-character reaction, fairly certain now that something was troubling the hanyou. Bending down onto her knees, she gently placed her left hand on his forehead. "No fever," she said, exhaling a sigh of relief, "Phew, you had me a bit worried there."
Inuyasha's cheeks grew red with embarrassment and annoyance, and he turned his head sharply away from her hand. He really couldn't think of anything to say in reply to her insinuation, so he merely graced her with his customary "Keh!"
Repressing the suddenly intense urge to giggle, Kagome once again got to her feet. 'As great as it is that he's being so nice for a change, there must be something seriously eating him.'
"Ne, Inuyasha, is there something that's bothering you? It isn't like you to be this…well, accepting." The blush on his cheeks subsided, only to be replaced by a look that she could have sworn was guilty. However, before she could truly decipher it, his head had turned back to the river, hiding his expression from her curious gaze.
"It's none of your business, wench. Just hurry up and go home already."
She couldn't help the blistering hurt that blossomed painfully in her chest at his words, and she barely managed to resist the desire to 'sit' him. Instead, she stomped off with an angry cry of "FINE!" before going over to her friends to say goodbye. So much for him being nice!
By the river, Inuyasha silently cursed himself.
Kagome sighed in unrepentant pleasure. The cotton of her pajamas against her clean skin was absolute heaven. Smiling contentedly, she walked over to her desk, shifting aside some of that day's homework to pick up her hairbrush. Sitting down in her desk chair, she looked over a page of her math work while she gently pulled the brush through her long black tresses.
The standard form of a linear equation is: y mx + c
m: Gradient
c: y intercept
Graph the following equations:
1.1 y 3x-2
1.2 y -4x+3
1.3 y 1/2x…
She stared blankly at the page, as though hoping it would somehow spring to life and explain to her what exactly it meant. Tomorrow was the start of Golden Week(1), and she really needed to catch up on some of her schoolwork during the few days she had off. 'Maybe I'll ask Hojo-kun to help me,' She thought, 'then I might actually understand what the heck this thing is saying.'
"Kagome! Dinner!"
"Coming Mama!" Sighing, she got up from her desk. Padding across her room, her stomach grumbled in anticipation—she hadn't realized how hungry she had been. As she made her way down the stairs, her nose was greeted with the enticing aroma of grilling teriyaki chicken, and she could feel her mouth grow wet with saliva. It had been far too long since she had had one of her mother's home cooked meals.
When she got to the kitchen table, she was met with the sight of Souta and her grandfather already seated, and her mother smiling back at her by the stove. "Why don't you take a seat, Kagome? Before we eat I have something very important to tell you."
Curiosity tickled, Kagome pulled a chair out and did as her mother had asked. Her mother, still smiling, had taken the platter of teriyaki chicken and put it in the center of the table, along with an assortment of various vegetables that had been there before. She then sat down herself.
"Souta and I will be going to Domino City tomorrow for the weekend. Jiichan has decided to stay behind and watch the shrine. Considering that it is Golden Week, would you like to come with us?"
Kagome blinked in confusion. "Domino? Why there?"
"Your great-aunt Hana is turning 80 this weekend, and we decided to head over there to celebrate with her."
Kagome nodded in comprehension. "Well, in that case it would be impolite of me not to go. As long as I can take my homework with me it shouldn't be a problem." 'And as long as Inuyasha doesn't show up for another two days.'
Her mother's smile widened and she clapped her hands together. "I am so very glad to hear that! It will be nice to be able to spend some time with you and Souta." Leaning over with her chopsticks to the bowl of pickled ginger, Kagome's mother took a hearty helping of the spicy vegetable and put it in her rice bowl.
"Itedakimasu!"
A/N: This post is far longer than my original one, and hopefully a little better written. Please review and tell me what you think.
Notes:
(1) Golden Week is a national holiday in Japan where people get a week off of school and work (I'm assuming the latter, if I'm wrong you're welcome to correct me)