Chapter 22 – The Jig Is Up
The tension could be cut with a knife it was so thick. No one spoke, each glued to the spot and staring randomly at each other. The appearance of the strange woman had been somewhat eclipsed by Sesshoumaru's arrival. The woman clearly knew the tai-youkai since she had called him by name, and so casually at that. Before anyone else could make a move, Kikyou's flat, emotionless voice rang out in the silence.
"What are they doing here? You said alone."
All heads snapped to attention with remarkably similar frowns. Kikyou stared coldly at Kagome, silently demanding an answer to her question. For her part, Kagome simply stared in shock at her friends, wishing they had not followed; yet knowing they would have because that's what friends do.
There was worry etched on the faces of Shippou and Sango; Miroku looked confused and guarded. But Inuyasha's countenance struck her the hardest. So many emotions crossed his features that she barely had time to recognize but a few that were the strongest; pain, betrayal, worry, anger, and sadness. She nearly wept at what she had done to him.
"What's going on Kagome-chan?"
Kagome shook her head, finally coming out of shock. "I can't tell you Sango-chan. Gomen nasai."
"That seems to be a moot point, Kagome." Tenmei's soft voice filtered into the conversation. "And I never said you had to keep it to yourself."
"What else was I supposed to do? You never said I could speak either! Why didn't you say something last night?"
Tenmei chuckled softly with a shake of her head. "I'm not your personal handbook on decision making, Kagome." She sobered and pinned the miko with a look. "Question is; why didn't you trust them enough to tell them?"
Kagome flinched at the harsh words. She should have told them several times and there had been opportunities to do so, but she kept pushing them away when they had only wanted to help. She did trust them; trusted them with her very life. The doubt lay within her own mind, twisting into an ugly mess until she was too distraught and confused to make sense of it anymore.
"Why?"
The single word was ground out of the hanyou's lips as he stared at the trio of women across the clearing.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, tears of sadness gathering in her eyes for what she had put him through. I'll make it better soon.
"Start talking, Kagome. No more secrets."
"It would be wise to listen, miko."
So wrapped up in their own little 'world', they had momentarily forgotten Sesshoumaru's presence.
Kagome pulled her gaze away from Sesshoumaru's stoic mask, turning to face her friends head on. Inuyasha was right; no more secrets. Before she could summon up the courage to begin, Kikyou's cold voice once more cut into the silence.
"They will know soon enough. Let's finish this."
Kagome fisted her hands, irritated at the urgency rolling off of the undead miko. "And they have the right to hear it from me, Kikyou. You've waited this long, a few more minutes won't kill you." If the situation had been different, Kagome might have laughed at her choice of words.
When no response was made, Kagome nodded to her friends, motioning to the ground. "I think you're going to want to be sitting down." The group eyed the taiyoukai across the clearing with wariness. Anytime they had run into him it had not been pleasant. But he simply remained at the tree line, his gaze still on the winged woman near Kikyou. Inuyasha remained standing where he was while the others moved closer, opting to take Kagome's advice and sit down. Taking a deep breath, Kagome looked back to the other women for a moment before beginning her tale, silent praying her friends would understand.
"That's Tenmei. She's a Keijigakari; a timekeeper." She looked to Miroku. "You would probably know her best as Ida-ten." Kagome sighed and looked down, too scared to meet their gazes as she spun the rest of the story.
"Four months after I left, Tenmei approached me with some information about Kikyou and a request to help her. Instead of agreeing to help her, I made a bargain to help Kikyou." The resounding gasps made her close her eyes against the sudden tears that threatened to spill. "You see, Urasue had the means to resurrect a likeness of Kikyou, but it was up to Tenmei to allow the real Kikyou to inhabit the body. Kikyou made her own bargain with Tenmei. The piece of my soul that animates her body is the piece that mostly remembers her final moments before death. So I made preparations to return once I finished school."
Kagome thought back to all that she had done in those final weeks before returning. She removed herself from the dojo, telling them she was moving away. Her bank accounts had been closed and any money in them transferred to Souta's account. The majority of her clothing had been given to a homeless shelter and friends. At graduation she had bid all her friends farewell, telling them she was going to college in America. She had done everything she could think of to prepare, except one: telling Mama. Just like with Inuyasha, she was too scared to tell her mother the truth.
"What kind of preparations Kagome-sama?"
Kagome blinked away the memories. "I just made sure I wasn't going to be needed there for awhile." She took a deep breath. This next part was not going to be easy, nor would it go over well with them.
"I had everything set and knew exactly what I was going to do… until I came back. Until I saw Inuyasha. I thought that our argument would give me the strength to carry on with my decisions, but I'd forgotten something. I forgot that I learned to sense auras and what I felt from him… it hurt. I would have given anything to take away that pain, that anguish, but I had a deal to keep and letting Inuyasha get too close was not part of it. And yet it only got worse. I began to doubt my decision to help Kikyou. I wanted to make Inuyasha happy, but I wanted to be happy too. So I called on Tenmei last night so I could know the outcome of my choice."
She blushed at the memory of what she had done after Tenmei left. She could still feel his skin against hers, his breath on her neck as he softly growled and whimpered in her ear. She dared a glance at the hanyou wondering if he was remembering as well. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked somewhere between confused and cross. Possibly both.
"Why didn't you tell us, Kagome-chan?"
Tearing her gaze away, Kagome regarded the woman she had come to view as a sister. "Because I knew you would try to stop me and when you couldn't you would blame him."
"Time enough has been wasted. Let us finish this now."
Kagome frowned, turning to face the undead miko with a resigned sigh. "Hai." Her friends gasped as she stepped towards the other women, but none of them made it very far before a single voice stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Miko."
Kagome halted, eyeing the youkai with guarded curiosity. "Sesshoumaru," she acknowledged.
"You will recall that yours is the higher claim."
"I told you…"
"Intentional or not, our laws demand that he honor it above all others." Sesshoumaru cut her off. He remained where he was, expression neutral, as always, but there was a gleam in his eyes that no one was sure about.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Sesshoumaru frowned slightly. "Surely your nose is not broken, hanyou."
"That? She said it was something about remembering."
"I wanted something to remember him by. I know nothing of your laws or customs, so I didn't know it meant something other than what I intended it to."
"What is this claim, girl?" Kikyou's voice cut into the conversation with barely concealed disdain.
"Nothing." She turned to Tenmei. "Must this be done here?"
Tenmei shook her head. "It does not need to be."
"But it will be."
Shocked eyes met the cold amber gaze of the tai-youkai as he finally approached the group, his eyes on Tenmei alone. "Here. Now. Then this Sesshoumaru will speak with you."
"This does not concern you, youkai." Kikyou frowned. This was not going well at all. She was so close to getting what she wanted, but they all kept Kagome preoccupied. She needed to get the girl away from the others and quickly.
"What's the deal?" Inuyasha's gruff question was directed at Kagome. His confusion was gone, replaced by his trademark scowl as he watched her closely. So far Kagome had been telling them the truth and while he wasn't happy about most of it, he was still pissed that she was leaving out the important piece of the puzzle. The terms of the deal she had made with Tenmei.
When Kagome failed to find her voice, Kikyou took the opportunity to fill him in, thinking it to be a way back into his good graces.
"The deal? Well, once she and I conclude our bargain, you, Inuyasha, and I can finish fulfilling our destiny. With the completed Shikon no Tama, you'll wish to become human and be with me as you promised."
Inuyasha blinked, wide-eyed with shock as Miroku and Sango gasped. Did Kikyou really think he would put Kagome aside so easily? "But the reason I agreed to become human was that you told me my wish to become youkai was 'evil' and would not put Midoriko's soul to rest. That's why I agreed to wish to be human."
"I have said many things and I realize I was not always correct. But you did make me a promise, Inuyasha, and when she is gone you will keep it."
"What do you mean 'when she is gone'?" Inuyasha was panicking. Something about this wasn't right.
"Exactly that. You and I will gather the remaining shards, I will purify it and then we will fulfill the destiny Fate preordained."
Throughout the entire exchange, Kagome was silent, as was Tenmei. Inuyasha could nearly taste the building tension in everyone and he took a moment to really think about what Kikyou was implying. Promises… Kagome gone… a bargain… Tenmei… Keijigakari… He blinked. Timekeeper! That was the bargain! The two women could not co-exist since they shared the same soul. Damnit! That meant one of them had to… NO! He frowned at Kikyou, finally seeing through her mask.
"Our destiny ended when you pinned me to Goshinboku. I've changed since then, and if you can do this without any thought to the rest of us…" he took a deep breath, knowing this was not going to sit well with Kikyou. "Then you aren't the same either. The Kikyou I knew would not have wanted the kind of existence you now possess. She wouldn't have helped Naraku."
"You don't know what you're saying. This is what you want, isn't it? Or was I just imagining all those times you came to me, searched for me when you found out Naraku had not succeeded?"
"Stop it!"
All eyes focused on the screaming miko as she pinned the two lovers with her gaze. With fists clenched at her sides and tears trailing down her cheeks, she whispered, "Just stop."
"Kagome?"
"You have wanted each other for so long and now all you can do is fling insults?" She sniffled. "Why can't you both just accept this and be thankful?"
"Because it's not what I want! I told you that last night!"
"You've made promises to her, Inuyasha! Promises you won't break because your honor won't allow it."
"What about your promises, Kagome? What about your promise to stay with me, to finish the search with us?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "What about promising to live?"
Kagome blanched. "I'm keeping those promises."
"How? How are you going to keep them if you go through with this?"
"It's the same soul, Inuyasha, just in a different body. You'll finally have Kikyou and… and I'll watch from the other side."
"Kagome-sama!"
"Kagome-chan!"
"NO!" Inuyasha growled. He took a few steps forward, then stopped, not daring to go any further for fear of what he might do if he got his hands on either Kagome or Kikyou.
"Don't you love me, Inuyasha?" Kikyou smirked confidently.
He closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He needed to focus and say the right things this time or risk losing Kagome for good.
"Perhaps, like Kagome says, once upon a time, I did love you, but as a friend. I wanted so desperately to fit in that I had decided to become human, believing that once you accepted me as such I wouldn't be lonely anymore. I loved the idea that I wouldn't have to run anymore. I loved the idea of being accepted without fear. But I hated what I would have to do to get it. I never promised to be with you, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't going to stay, because back then I would have. Now I know we wouldn't have been happy, mostly me. You wanted out from the burden of guarding the Shikon no Tama and saw me as a means to fulfill your own selfish wish. We were tainted long before Naraku pitted us against each other."
"You promised me!" Kikyou screeched, finally losing her cool.
"True, but now I have something more important than a promise."
"What's more important?"
"A mate."
Kikyou looked wide-eyed to her reincarnation, then back to Inuyasha. "You didn't… but we…"
"I think enough time has been wasted. Decide, Kagome."
Sesshoumaru blurred across the clearing as soon as Tenmei finished speaking, leaving the rest of them to stare in horrified fascination as he slammed the woman back into a tree hard enough to make the tree splintered and groan from the force, his hand firmly wrapped around her neck as he snarled at her.
"You would shatter another mating?"
"I never shattered the first one," she whispered as she hung limply from his hand in complete submission.
"Why do you look like her, smell like her?"
Slowly, Tenmei raised her hand to grasp the collar of her kimono and pulled it down to bare the top of her left breast to him. Whatever he saw had him releasing her as if his hand were on fire and his face paled as he took a step back. She slid down the tree, releasing her kimono and quietly regarded him for a moment. The rest of the onlookers were silent, each wanting to know what was going on, but afraid to ask.
"I don't have all my memories back, so perhaps you could explain the mark."
"Chichi-ue said that the soul resides within the heart; it guides us, moves us. Perhaps that is why the 'mark' of my name rests there, to show that our bond was greater, that we are Soul Mates." He shook his head as if trying to clear it of something, his voice a mere whisper of wonder. "Even in death you are mine."
Tenmei sighed softly as she rose to her feet. This was not the time to confront each other. She had a task to complete. Pushing away from the tree, she moved to pass Sesshoumaru only to find her wrist trapped in his hand.
"This Sesshoumaru is not finished with you."
"I exist now as I did in life. That is why I look and smell the same. My duty as the Keijigakari will not allow you to keep me." Her eyes softened, pleading. "Let me go, Sesshoumaru-sama."
"Finish what you came to do, then we will talk." His grip lightened, but he did not release her.
She frowned up at him before looking to the others. This had gone on long enough and perhaps she could set things right now that there was a new player in the game.
"Inuyasha."
He growled at her.
"Name your mate."
"Ka-Kagome." He stuttered, shocked that she was asking him such a thing when the situation had nothing to do with it. Kikyou fumed beside Kagome, who looked at the hanyou with shock and love in her eyes.
"But Kagome has offered to take Kikyou's place, to give Kikyou her body. You would have Kagome's body, but it would be Kikyou's mind. You could have both."
"Are you out of your fucking mind? I mated Kagome, not Kikyou! Are you trying to kill me?"
"How would it kill you?"
He snarled and ripped down his haori, baring his chest. "Soul Mates don't outlive each other." Shimmering in blue kanji above his heart was Kagome's name.
"Your mother did."
"Because of me. I was her reason to keep living until she was killed. I don't have a reason to go on if Kagome dies."
"But she's not dying. The soul is the same. Kikyou will simply be the piece of it in control. You are still mated."
"Kagome's piece is who I mated. She's the one who accepts me as I am, who cares for me even when I hurt her."
"Kagome?" Tenmei turned questioning eyes on the miko.
"I'd be a fool to deny that I love him. I want him to be happy, Tenmei. That is my decision." Kagome looked down, waiting for the inevitable.
She never expected the scream from Kikyou moments before the missing piece of her soul returned. She fell to her knees, clutching her heart as she gasped for air. She had only seconds to ponder the meaning of it all before she found herself wrapped in the familiar warmth of a red haori just as oblivion claimed her.
A/N:
Yay! Another chapter for you all! Merry Xmas in advance if I don't spit 23 out before then. The next chapter is going to be long and difficult to write so please bear with me. If you'd like notification for when I update just email me. Ladyblade (at) MSN (dot) com. Grrr, stupid formatting.
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