Kitty-chan: Another chapter... whoopee! This is the rest of what I have written at the moment, and the next chapter will most likely be written half by hand and half by computer. But I'm out of school now, and might be a little slower on updates. Hopefully not... but for the next year or so, I'll be looking for things to keep me busy when I'm not working since I'm not darting straight off to college. Hopefully, I'll chose my stories as one of them. Anyway... here's chapter seven. Hope you like it!
Kagome sighed and brushed Inuyasha's uncontrolled bangs from his eyes, her hand lingering on his cheek. She glanced at Dev, who was snoocing quietly on the excess blankets off to the side. As if to simply keep herself busy, she stood and began mixing some of her herbs in to the cool water to make more of her energy-building drink that was currently working away at Okuri and Miidori's systems. Once she was done mixing, she emptied it into two smaller bowls for when the two awoke. She then filled a cup with a bit of the liquid from one of the bowls and set it beside Dev. At that moment, Dev yawned and sat up. She noticed the drink at her side and promptly ignored it. She wasn't much for herbal medicine. Not only did it rarely work on such a small creature, but it just had a foul taste. She looked at Kagome as she sat beside Inuyasha again and began to brush his cheek again. As if she had already sensed Dev's awakening, Kagome spoke.
"Why isn't he awake? Last time he woke up at the scent of my blood. Now he hasn't woken up even after I freed him. Why not?"
Dev yawned again. "Last time he was only asleep for 50 years. In this world, he's been asleep ten times that. His body is just taking longer to come back to life. It's natural, don't worry." She chuckled slightly at Kagome's paranoia.
Kagome heaved a sigh, and brushed her hand against his cheek once more. Her body turned at the sound of shifting sheets and a small moan. She scooted over to where Miidori lie. She put her hand on the young girl's head. "How do you feel, Miidori-chan?"
Miidori sat up slightly. "I'm alright, Kikyo-sama." She smiled bravely. "I'm just a little tired."
Kagome smiled warmly, and pushed her back onto the futon. "You did very well, today, Miidori-chan. You were very strong. You'll make a wonderful Kikyo-sama someday." Miidori smiled weakly and closed her eyes to sleep once more.
Kagome shifted over to the dozing Okuri, knowing the bandit probably wasn't asleep. "Okuri-sama?" She whispered, in case he actually was in slumber.
Okuri's eyes slowly opened. "Hai, Kagome-sama." He shivered a bit and took a deep breath.
"How do you feel?" Kagome whispered, removing the cloth from his forehead to soak it with fresh water. She put a free hand to Okuri's head. "Well, your fever has gone down."
Okuri shrugged faintly. "I'll be fine. I'm just tired."
Kagome replaced the cloth and placed her hand over it. "Good. You need your rest, so go back to sleep." Okuri nodded and his eyes shut.
She sighed and looked back to Inuyasha, watching his chest rise and fall slowly. She took a deep breath and wandered back to his side. She stared at his face for a long while, half-expecting his eyes to open. She found herself admiring his face, the beauty of it. She traced her finger along his cheekbone, and down to his lips. For a few seconds, she entertained the thought of brushing her lips against his, but quickly decided against it. It might wake him.
Her anxiety at his prolonged slumber getting the better of her, she put a few fingers to his forehead, examining his demonic energy. She had to, almost immediately, pull her hand back as her senses were nearly overwhelmed. She stared at his face for a moment before speaking. "Dev! His demonic energy… it's so strong now. What happened? His power is at least triple what it was in the unaltered world… even with Tetsusaiga!"
Dev snuggled deeper into the blankets. "Makes sense. He's been around for 500 years. Why wouldn't he be stronger?"
Kagome frowned at Dev. "What are you talking about? He's been asleep. He's been… dead. How could he get stronger?"
"Even in the unaltered world he became stronger between the time he was sealed and the time that you freed him."
"How does he get stronger when he's dead?" Kagome repeated, arching an eyebrow.
Dev sighed and propped herself up by her elbow, placing her head in her hand. "His body was dead, yes, but his demonic soul was still very much alive. If that much wasn't alive, he wouldn't have woken up when he smelled your blood or when you pulled out the arrow. Over the years that he was asleep, his demonic soul continued to put out energy. But without any real outlet, the energy had nowhere to go but back into his body. The energy would double back and increase his power. It's rather simple, really.
"All sentient things have a spirit. This is generally accepted. However, there is a major difference between the spirit of a demon or sprite, and the spirit of a human. This difference is simply that demons and sprites have an extra piece of spirit, if you will, that most humans do not have. This extra piece of spirit is called an energy store. Demons and sprites are able to access this store and are able to consciously manipulate their energy and it comes out as power. For instance, when Sesshomaru turns from his dog form to his human form, that is simply him regulating the amount of energy flowing through his energy store. When I manipulate time and space, I am simply pulling energy from my energy store and using it outside my body. Now when a human has an energy store, that extra piece of spirit, they become what we call Priests and Priestesses. Priests and Priestesses are simply humans that have access to their own energy store and therefore can release energy in the form of power.
"In Inuyasha's case, his demonic soul constantly put out energy, but since it had nowhere to go, it doubled back into his energy store. Over time, more and more power built up until it forced his energy store to enlarge. His capacity for stored energy is much greater than it was when he was sealed due to 500 years of energy build-up." She took a pause, then continued. "He probably won't have much control over his power though. Just because he has the power, doesn't mean he knows how to use it."
"You said it doubled back in his body? What about the power released from the tree?" Kagome wondered.
"As you've probably noticed, Inuyasha died loving Kikyo, despite how much resentment he had toward the betrayal. his soul could not let that go, even in death, and so his soul kept an "eye" so to speak, on the Kikyo-sama line for these 500 years. Whenever the tree or Kikyo-sama was threatened, his energy store would release some of that stored energy and drive off enemies. At least, that's what I've gathered from the info around here."
Kagome chuckled. "Dangit, Dev. How do you know all this stuff?"
Dev shrugged in a less-than-modest way. "I've been all over the world in several time periods, and I can only estimate that I've been alive for a little over 720 years. I get around." She smiled and snuggled in once again.
Kagome sighed and looked back to Inuyasha. She stayed at his side a few hours more, only leaving to prepare more medicine, before she felt sleep tug heavily at her body. She finally lay her head on Inuyasha's chest and drifted to sleep.
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She heard the screams.
"Miroku-sama!"
She could feel the wind.
"Sango-chan!"
The air was rank with the smell of blood.
"Shippo-chan!"
Her eyes knew only blackness.
And suddenly, red.
She looked up, seeing the limp form of Inuyasha hanging limply from the arrow impaled in his chest, his eyes open and glazed with death. She gasped and ran foreward to grip his kimono. "Inuyasha! Wake up, please! Say something, damnit!" It wasn't like her to swear, but the agony of knowing her wished had caused his hell was pushing her to extents she had never explored before.
Something cut into her right arm and she clutched it to her chest, releasing Inuyasha and doubling over. She stuffed her arm into the protection of her belly and looked around for the cause. A familiar young face framed by short black hair appeared before her.
"Miroku-sama?" She whispered. The monk smiled sweetly, then screamed as the poison wracked his body into agonizing seizures. "Miroku-sama!"
She was showered with blood from her other side, Though afraid to, she turned to see Sango and Shippo, lying in a bloody heap to the side, their abdomens and throats sliced open. Kirara lay not a few meters away, her tails severed and blood leaking from her frozen mouth, permanently posed in her large form. "Sango-chan! Shippo-chan!" She screamed, afraid to go any closer.
There was suddenly blood. Pools of it. She had no idea where it came from, but it was filling the area. It began as small pools, then rose in heigth to reach her ankles. She wretched from the smell, then her heart began to thump erratically against her ribcage, her mind rushing into waves of panic. Her heart went into overload as the blood bath reached her hips, and soon consumed her waist.
Kagome...
She opened her mouth, but wasn't sure if she actually screamed. Her voice seemed choked and silent in the waves of panic, some unseen rope tying her vocals shut.
Kagome...
She looked up. A voice?
Kagome...
Without knowing exactly what she was doing, she shot her hand upward, toward the unseen source of the voice.
A clawed hand reached out to hers...
"Hey!"
Kagome's eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright, steadying her frantic breathing. Banishing instantly the dream from her mind, she looked toward the window. It was apparently the next day, for pale white sunlight streamedin the window. She shook her head and put a hand to the side of her face. Must've dozed off. Yesterday was a long day.
Some movement to her right caught her eye and she looked down. Her eyes widened to see her silver-haired companion slowly sitting up and batting his eyes at the light streaming in the window. He slowly looked around the room until his eyes landed on her. Within a few short moments, several distinct emotions passed across his orange eyes. They began at bleary, then moved to angered, then angered to confused, and finally they took on an odd sort of look that clearly communicated he was making an honest attempt to find out who she was.
Kagome smiled widely, resisting the urge to throw her arms around him. He was one of the few things she remembered of the unaltered world at this point, and she was relieved beyond compare to have not only a familiar contact with her, but one she truly enjoyed.
Then a thought hit her.
Flashback
She paused again, but continued walking. "Because I am the pre-wish Kagome, I remember what the unaltered world was like, but if I were to meet any of the others… if I were to meet Inuyasha, would he remember me?" There was a sparkled of hope behind Kagome's eyes that made Dev hesitant to answer.
"No, he wouldn't. But like I said, you won't meet him, or any of the others. He's-!"
"- dead. I know." Kagome muttered weakly. "I was just…" Kagome trailed off, looking into the distance. After a few moments, she distractedly finished her sentence, her attention held to that faraway mystery. "… clarifying."
End Flashback
He won't know me... Her cheerful and smiling countenance remained, but her spirits plummeted. Not only would he not remember her, but all she had done to soften his hardened heart would be undone, making him the unpredictable and violent creature he had been at their first meeting.
He stared at her for a long moment. His eyes working hard at a foreign kind of interpretation, as if his attempt to decipher who he was looking at was mixed with intense curiosity and confusion. "Kikyo?" he whispered. Kagome's smile now wilted. She knew all too well that he would immediately associate her with Kikyo, but hearing him mistake her for the other was still painful. Hearing reference to the one from whom she was supposedly reincarnated had always been, and probably always would be, painful. She was faintly surprised to see rage flash across his eyes, but even that dissipated after a brief moment. "No… you're not Kikyo." Her face went blank as his brow furrowed in concentration.
He knows I'm not Kikyo, but how…? She glanced down to Dev, who seemed to be soundly asleep. Deciding against waking her to ask, she looked back to Inuyasha. She nearly yelped. Inuyasha had reached his clawed fingers toward her face and now touched her cheek, examining her features closely.
Kagome felt anxiety fill her stomach. The first time she had revived Inuyasha, he had done his best to kill her, coming after her for the jewel just recently awakened. She was tempted to pull away to satisfy her concern, but refrained, her trust built in the unaltered world keeping her still on the argument that Inuyasha would never harm her. Her lips parted several times, but no words were ever formed. Her mind couldn't quite come up with a reaction to the current situation. Finally, he uttered something that half shocked, half-excited her.
"Ka… Kagome."
Kagome sat frozen in place for a long time. How does he… he knows my… he knows I'm… Even her mind could not fully comprehend what he had just said.
"I don't know how, but you are Kagome." He removed his hand and sat back, his eyes still scrutinizing her. "I know your scent."
Kagome quickly decided she didn't care how he knew her, she would setting with the fact that he did. In an instant, she had thrown herself into his arms, hanging onto his kimono for dear life. "Inuyasha! I can't believe you remember me! Dev told me you wouldn't be able to remember anything about the unaltered world!"
Inuyasha did not push her away, but did not return her embrace either. I don't understand. How do I know this girl? A human girl at that… And what the hell is she talking about? After a moment of awkward silence, he gently gripped her shoulders and moved her slightly away. "How do I know you? You look almost identical to Kikyo, but how do I know you're not? Who are you?"
Kagome stared at him for another long moment, again not quite sure what to say to the situation. "What do you mean?"
"I don't understand how I know you! I've never seen you before in my life, but I know you are Kagome. And…" He went silent, but his mind continued. I want to protect you. Somehow… I love you. Why? How can I love someone I've never met before! "I don't know you!" He commanded, his eyes wide in anxious confusion.
Kagome didn't speak for a moment. "You know my name, but you don't know me. Why?"
"His soul knows you." Dev answered, apparently awoken by Inuyasha's several outbursts. She stretched and floated up to hover next to Kagome's shoulder. Inuyasha, unsurprisingly, heard nothing, and simply stared at Kagome, attempting to decipher the seemingly unwarranted information.
Kagome looked to Dev slightly, speaking in a whisper. "What does that mean?"
"Though his mind has different memories, his soul remembers all that happened in the unaltered world. His mind and soul have different memories right now, so they aren't quite on the same wavelength. So, he doesn't understand how he knows you." Dev explained, taking a seat on Kagome's shoulder.
Inuyasha seemed to, after a few more moments of staring, give up on attempting to figure the whole issue out, and began to examine his surroundings. "Where am I?"
Kagome looked up and sighed. "You're in my house in the Goshin Boku villages. It's right near the tree where you were sealed."
Inuyasha stared at her for a moment before realization dawned quickly in his eyes. He threw the blankets off his body and stood, his entire body tense. "Does Kikyo still live nearby?" he growled.
"No. Kikyo has died." Kagome answered quietly. "500 years have passed since you were sealed to the tree."
His hands relaxed and he slowly turned to look at her. "500… years? I've been sealed to that damn tree for 500 years!"
Kagome shrugged. "No one was able to free you. The tree eventually grew around you so not only could no one see you, but your power within the tree kept everyone safe. Even if people had known you were in there…" she paused for a grief-laden silence. "They wouldn't have wanted to free you."
Inuyasha's eyebrows came to a point, and a low growl emitted from his throat. After a moment, the noise stopped. The last part of her sentence had caught his attention. She continued. "Eventually, your very existence became a rumor. People claimed that the tree had protective power because it was blessed by Kikyo 500 years ago."
He paused thoughtfully. "But you knew. You knew I was in the tree and even dug me out." Kagome paused and looked down, blushing faintly. "Who are you?"
Kagome paused. Awkward as it would be, she was going to have to introduce herbself. "I am the head priestess of the Goshin Boku villages. My name is as you said, Kagome."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, then spoke. "You said before that even if people had known I was in there, they would not have set me free because my power protected them. Why did you free me? Seems to me that would go against your villages wishes."
Kagome looked down. The harsh reality that she had revived him for the main purpose of fighting a war seemed suddenly harsh. At least… that was the only explanation she could offer the villagers. Her own reasons were a bit softer. But letting him know in the least that she was in love with him would most likely freak him out quite a bit. Knowing who she was talking to, she didn't think he would cooperate if she skimped on the details. Despite his normally dense disposition, Inuyasha was a stickler for details when it came to being briefed. Kagome sighed. "In order to tell you that… I have some information for you."
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Inuyasha was shocked enough when, to prove the truth of her words, this strange girl had recited the entire affair of the betrayal between Kikyo and himself. But then she had gone on to tell him the cause of the culprit. His excitement was immense.
While under the seal, he had been at the mercy of his subconscious. Nightmares tortured him day after day, with no consciousness to chase them away. To hear that the inner demons which produced these nightmares could possibly be banished with the death of this Naraku was relief almost unrecognizable. There was really little choice but to believe her. How else would she know about issues both personal and long past? His mind registered how absurd her claims were, but he couldn't deny how perfectly natural it felt to believe her. There was something in him that recognized the feeling of being near her.
Kagome finished her story and watched the emotions play across his face. His ears were turned foreword slightly so the fleshy insides faced her, listening to her every word. He's interested. If he was doubtful, they would be flat to his head. She felt relieved at her own ability to read him. To the untrained eye, his face displayed little, but to determine his mood or reactions, one merely needed to glance up to the top of his head. After giving him a few pondering moments, she stood. "How about you think over it tonight and tell me your decision tomorrow morning?" She headed to check on Miidori and Okuri when a clawed hand gripped her wrist. She turned to look at him.
"I don't need to think about it." He muttered. "If what you say is true… I will do anything to kill Naraku."
Kagome smiled, her hope renewed. "Thank you, Inuyasha" She knelt next to Okuri and began to adjust his blankets before re-soaking the washcloth on his forehead. Inuyasha clenched his fist behind her. Kagome glanced back at him, her smile entering her eyes. She was comforted by his mannerisms. It reminded her of the unaltered world, of which she was remembering less by the day. She remembered Inuyasha clearly, as he sat right before her, and the holy monk was still vivid, but she remembered all else very little. Things were becoming distorted in her mind as the unaltered world was pushed out to make room for the new. She was snapped from her reverie by Inuyasha's voice.
"And once I've finished him off, I can finally get my hands on the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome hesitated. Was it truly necessary to tell him that the Sacred Jewel no longer existed? She shook her head and turned back to her task. No. She couldn't bear to see the look on his face again as his one last surviving dream was crushed. She couldn't… and for as long as she could stall it, she wouldn't.
Inuyasha looked back to her. "When do we leave?"
Kagome didn't look at him this time. "We'll leave the day after tomorrow. These two need to recover fully. From here we'll head East, following some leads on possible allies there."
Inuyasha growled a familiar complaint. "Why do we need to gain allies? I'll take Naraku down myself."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha, you have no concept of Naraku's power. Not only that, but Naraku has legions of both humans and demons at his command. Even if you had the power to fight Naraku, could you take on all of his loyals as well?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "You don't know anything about me, Wench." He growled. Kagome felt a stab at the back of her mind. "You don't know what kind of power I have."
Kagome sighed. "Trust me, Inuyasha. I know more about you than you know."
"Tch!" He scoffed and stood before vanishing out the door of the hut.
Kagome sighed again, but she held a weak smile. Inuyasha's crude attitude, no matter how unpleasant, was refreshing. It was Inuyasha she was with, and afte fearing him dead since the alteration, he could be as crude as he wanted. She felt somewhat foolish that she was so in love with this creature that she felt that way, but she couldn't help it. Her emotional scale was so out of whack at this point that she felt as if she had very little control over her feelings at all. She shook her head and set herself to remaking the futon Inuyasha had used.
She thought back to her conversation with Inuyasha. The look in his eyes when she told him of the betrayal was forever etched into her mind. A deep sense of regret and pain had filled his eyes, and she had so longed to reach out and comfort him. Was he perhaps still in love with Kikyo? Had his love survived the 500-year span? Considering the happenings in the unaltered world, it was likely. Kagome noted that she had failed to speak up on the fact that Kikyo had followed him in death. That did seem to be the overruling factor in the bond that the two shared and had forever tied them together in the previous world. After all, had he not said, "Kikyo came after me, and gave her life. I's only fair that I repay her with my own life," or something of that nature? Had she purposefully omitted that? Or did she just perhaps innocently figure that it was more then his bleary mind could comprehend at the time? After all, he had just awakened from a 500-year sleep. His overload levels had to be lower than normal. But that selfish part of her still desired to retain those small bits of information that could possibly tilt his soul in her favor. Feelings of hypocrisy floated through her mind. She was to lead demons and humans alike into an army to rise against an all-powerful tyrannt, and here she was, lying to Inuyasha to ensure his feelings for her developed again. She shook her head. Some Priestess I am…
"Kagome-san?" Kagome glanced down to Dev. "Something wrong?"
Kagome shook her head. "No. Sorry about that."
Dev gave a sly smile. "He's different isn't he?" Kagome stared at her for a moment, as if asking her meaning. "Inuyasha. He's not the same guy you knew before, is he?"
Kagome smiled remeniscently. "No, actually. He's the same as he was when I first met him; rude, crude, and just an outright jerk."
Dev floated up to place her hands on the bridge of Kagome's nose. "Though, judging by the gooney look on your face, this isn't a problem for you."
Kagome crossed her eyes and chuckled at the sprite. "Maybe not. But you have to understand that I've dealt with this side of him before."
"I figured as much." Dev now leaned an elbow on her nose as if leaning conversationally on a countertop. "You know… you are one of the most lovesick girls I have ever met. And I should know, considering how many places I've been."
Kagome sighed. "Is it that obvious, or are you just picking on me again?"
Dev smiled at her, and looked away, as if finding the rest of the room more interesting at the moment. "Not quite Helen of Troy or Aphrodite calibur, but it's written all over your face."
"Alright. Alright. But keep your mouth shut around him." Kagome rolled her eyes.
Dev's eyebrows raised and she glanced at the doorway where Inuyasha had exited. She paused thoughtfully for a few seconds before she spoke. "So what ou're saying is that he's about as sharp as a bowling ball."
"Oh shut up. Change of subject." She waved Dev away and the sprite flitted over to snuggle into Inuyasha's still-warm pillow. "I do have a question, though."
Dev didn't open her eyes. "What's that?"
"Well… somehow you got Sesshomaru to come help with Inuyasha. How did you do that?"
Dev smiled proudly. "It's actually an interesting story." She chuckled slightly.
"I'll bet. He shouldn't be able to even see you. How did you manage to get his attention?"
"Well… it actually has to do with the Sacred Jewel." She opened her eyes and sat up to tell her story. "What I did to make Sesshomaru hear and see me is something that my kind has been unable to do since the creation of the Sacred Jewel. See… as a time sprite, I pull my life energy and power from the energy around me. In order for me to live and pass through time like I do, I pull energy from what is given off by plants, animals, and even humans."
"Like dream demons." Kagome suggested.
"Sort of. But dream demons' energy primarily comes from sentient beings. Time sprites have a wider range of things we can pull energy from. We can pull energy from sentient and non-sentient things." She paused, then seemed to shift gears. "The Sacred Jewel has similar properties. Like time sprites, the Jewel pulled energy from the things around us, both sentient and non-sentient. So, in a sense, time sprites and the Sacred Jewel have always vied for available energy. Apparently, the Sacred Jewel's pull on energy was stronger than ours, and our energy has been depleted since the Sacred Jewel's existence."
"What does all this have to do with Sesshomaru being able to see you?"
"Well… in theory, if a time sprite focuses enough energy into their body, the energy itself will become visible, and our voice will be projected as well, making us roughly visible and audible to even those without spiritual prowess, in this case, Sesshomaru. When the Sacred Jewel existed, it pulled enough energy from the environment that time sprites could no possibly gather enough energy to do that. It was purely theoretical."
"But now that the Sacred Jewel doesn't exist, more energy is available to you and you were able to gather enough energy to do it." Kagome smiled.
Dev nodded and lay back down, closing her eyes. "Exactly. It was still very tiring. That's why I was so wasted when I came back." She silenced and fell to sleep moments later.
Kagome sat back against the wall, looking out the small window, where she could see Inuyasha examining the tree to which he had been sealed. She sighed. "You are Inuyasha, there is no doubt about that... but are you still the same dependable hanyou I fell in love with?"
"It would seem as though you two had met before, no matter how unlikely that seems."
Kagome's face turned red, and her body gave a small jolt of surprise. She chuckled slightly and looked down at Okuri, the one who had spoken. "Well..." she paused, then turned to him and smiled. "I suppose you could say that."
Okuri looked toward the window, though he was hardly in a position to see through it. "That creature had obviously been in that tree for over half a millenia. How do you know him? how could you have met a creature that has been sealed away for over 500 years?"
Kagome looked bac to the window, her eyes landing only on the top of Inuyasha's head as he sat down beneath the tree, thinking as he often did in the unaltered world. "In another life... you could say." Her eyes remained out the window, taking on a remeniscent quality, as if she were some elder speaking of days long past. "You could say i knew nother Inuyasha."
Okuri smiled slightly and sat up, pulling the cloth from his forehead. "You really aren't from this world, are you?"
Kagome smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't suppose I am."
Okuri placed his hands in his lap and leaned foreward, as if listening to a story. "What's your world like? It has to be better than this one."
Kagome sighed and looked at him. "You'd be surprised. It certainly wasn't perfect... but I did love it... more than I thought... There are a lot of similarities between this world and that one. Demons exist there... but humans aren't in decline like they are here. They are under attack, though. I was part of a group that tried to protect humans."
"Really? A group that benefits humans?" Okuri smiled. "Humans have some protection there?"
Kagome paused as it hit her how aburd it had to be for Okuri to hear of a group that didn't advocate the genocide of human beings. She forced a smile onto her face and smiled at him again. "Yeah... there was a man on it that reminded me a lot of you."
Okuri stared at her for a long moment. "Kagome-sama... you speak in the past tense... why?"
Kagome's breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, she was unable to speak. When she found her voice again, there was a lump in her throat that caused her speech to quiver slightly. "It... it was destroyed." Her voice had rasied about an octave by this point. "And I was sent here."
"Destroyed?" Okuri's smile vanished completely. "How...? How does an entire world disappear."
Kagomenow had tears streamng down her face. "It... it was because of me. i made a mistake... and now... I'm here. And I've done this!" Her hands clenched tight around her ankles and she rested her forehead on her knees.
She suddenly felt a hand on her back and she turned a tear-stained face on the bandit. "Kagome-sama... the destruction of a world can't possibly rest on the shoulders of a single person. You have given hope to the people of this world, which is priceless. What could you have done wrong?"
Kagome looked away again, unable to look at his comforting face anymore. "Naraku is in control because of my mistake."
Okuri was silent for a long time, and when he spoke, she could hear a smile in his voice. "Kagome-sama... Naraku's rise to power started over 500 years ago. It has nothing to do with you."
Kagome shook her head, then looked up to him, sobs now cracking her speech. "Forgive me, Miroku-sama... I didn't listen to you... and see hat I've done...?" She stood and dashed outside to where Inuyasha was, ignoring the looks sent from disapproving villagers. Inuyasha looked up at her as she neared him.
He seemed to notice her tears immediately. Concern hit his orange eyes for a split second, but then vanished to be replaced by fake annoyance. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded gruffly.
She felt a strong pull, stronger than any she had ever felt, to throw her arms around him and cry into his kimono, but not only would sh lose more trust from the villagers, but she knew he would not hold and comfort her as he once would. For this Inuyasha hardly recognized her and barely acknowledged any feelings for her at all. She simply bowed deeply to him, tears falling into the dirt at his feet. 'Forgive me, Inuyasha. I've caused you such pain." Without another word, she turned and headed for the edge of the village.
Inuyasha stared after her for a long moment, standing and ignoring the glares from surrounding villagers. He was used to strange ad cursing looks before. Hell, he had met a few that seemed to bore into him with sympathy. But he had learned to ignore the majority of them. She looks so much like her. how did I know who she was? How did I even know she wasn't Kikyo. And... He looked away from her back and down to the ground. Why did I want to hold her right now? Why should it matter to me if she's upset? Why the hell do I love her so much! He growled and began stomping back toward the house. And what did she mean by causing me pain? she's the one who freed me.
Frustrated at the questions dancing across his mind, he flipped the curtain away from the hut door with a grunt, entering and stopping when he spotted Okuri. "Who are you?" he inquired.
"Uhh... Miroku Okuri. I'm from a few miles northwest of here. I'm with Kagome-sama for now." he answered, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Inuyasha barely noticed it. "What about you? We don't know much about you besides your name and that you are the creature that gave the Goshin Boku its power."
Inuyasha snorted, and jabbed his thumb at the window. "Goshin Boku? You mean that damned tree out there?" he growled. "That thing's not holy. I was trapped in it for 500 years cause the humans around here figured my power was useful to them."
Okuri growled back at him. "Half the people around here didn't even know you existed. The power of the Goshin Boku, your power, was the only thing protecting them from Naraku. No one thought any living thing could stand up to Naraku's kind of power. No one had any reason to believe that there was someone in the tree."
Inuyasha just scoffed. There was a long pause as the bandit took the Goshin Boku source in. He certainly didn't look like an ordinary man. Even ignoring the small white dog ears on the top of his head, the hip-length silver hair would give him away as something more or less than human. Upon a closer inspection, Okuri could see piercing orange eyes and long fingernails, hardened and sharpened to be as claws. Inuyasha was the first to speak after the break.
"What's wrong with that Kagome girl anyway?"
"What do you mean, what's wrong with her?" Okuri growled.
"She came to me, crying, apologizing for Kami-sama knows what, then took off." He snorted, looking to the window.
Okuri rolled his eyes at his tone and he felt a strong tug of annoyance fill his mind. "Listen… she's been through something really rough, and you ought to show a bit more graditude. Not only did she know you were in the tree, but she went against her entire home village to dig you out. She could've been killed for that."
"Look, you… I don't need some human to give me some stupid guilt trip." He shot back, brandishing his claws slightly.
"I'm not giving you a guilt trip. I'm just saying you should be softer on Kagome-sama." He paused, his anger rising. "And what makes you so comfortable around here. What makes you think that I'm comfortable with your presence. I find it offending that a demon was the source of the Holy Tree's power."
Inuyasha smirked with juvenile amusement, as if he got a kick out of the simple fact that he was annoying the young man. "What's wrong with that? My power too dirty for your holy lands?"
Okuri stood, attempting to portray confidence, but his weakened and shaky legs betrayed him. "Curusai! You insult the tree that held you, but that was the hope of this village!" Inuyasha stared him down. "This place is the only place besides the West that has not been overrun by Naraku! That tree gave these people hope! And to find out that the source of that hope is the thing they fear the most!"
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "What would you know about this place, you punk! You people took away my freedom so you could have some false sense of security! Hope stolen from someone else isn't hope at all!" Okuri paused and Inuyasha turned to leave. "That's why I hate humans. So disgusting. Recklessly sacrificing others so just a few can survive for a short time. Then they sacrifice again. They sacrifice their own without thought. You guys are no different from demons." He turned slightly to look at him. "You portray this whole struggle between demons as humans as a fight between good and evil… but I see no good. I only see evil, and you humans are just as much of a problem as demons." He shoved the curtain of the hut away and began to stalk away. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not one of Naraku's pawns."
Okuri clenched his fists at his sides out of anger. Not so much that Inuyasha had, in his own mind, disregarded what he had told him about the hope he had brought, but also that he had made his last argument so effectively. He had to admit that when Inuyasha put it as he had, humans really didn't seem too different from demons. He shook his head. That creature was speaking from a biased point of view. Whatever he was, human or demon, he didn't have a clear view of the situation. He was only speaking from one side of the argument.
So are you.
Okuri nearly hit himself in the head as the thought crossed his mind. He plopped onto the futon and sighed.
"Okuri-sama?"
Okuri looked down at Miidori, who seemed only half-awake, staring up at him with tired eyes. Okuri smiled gently. "How do you feel, Miidori?" He sat up and made his way over to her futon.
"I'm fine." She breathed. She then looked at the door. "That fair-haired man before… was he a demon?"
Okuri leaned his weight back onto his hands. "I honestly don't know, Miidori. He doesn't seem evil enough to be a demon, but he certainly isn't human."
"Well, he couldn't be a demon, right?"
"What makes you say that?" Okuri placed a hand over the cloth on her forehead.
"Well… why would Kagome-sama save a demon?" She paused, then looked to the window again, smiling. "Plus… he has kind eyes."
Okuri was taken aback, thinking to his conversation with the silver-haired creature. Orange piercing eyes. Very deep eyes, no matter how you looked at them. Filled with anger, but the anger was false. Eyes that portrayed fear, regret, pain, and the memories of things he knows he shouldn't have suffered. Eyes that, behind the mask of anger and roughness, have been softened into submission to kindness. "I suppose he does, doesn't he?"
Kitty-chan: Hey... sorry for the stall in plot, but there were a few things that needed to be explained. The next chapter will have more stuff in it. I didn't write this chapter just to stall for time, mind you. This freaking part took up a huge chunk of my notebook. Anyway... review and See ya!