. : Muichimotsu : .
: . By Akikazu . :
. : Chapter Thirty Two : .
The unfamiliar youki (demonic energy) whispered across her senses. The sensation tingled over her nerves and her body tensed before her mind registered what was happening. Faintly she heard a scrape of one of the shoji (paper doors) slide shut. Kagome wiped the tears from her face and reached for her weapon.
A wary eye peered towards the door and Kagome barely had the time to defend herself as a white figure hurtled towards her. Daggers crossed in front of her, supported by arms that trembled under the force of holding the attacking blade.
"You have remained the same, miko."
"Hakudoushi," she whispered her eyes locking on his.
"I have waited for a very long time miko (priestess/ceremonial dancer). There is no one who has waited longer than I to be reunited with their beloved."
"And you think I care?" Kagome demanded. "Why are you here?"
"I have come to assure that you will die a thousand deaths before I send you to the realm beyond."
Kagome shoved him away and pushed herself to her feet. Hakudoushi attacked again his wakizashi (a sword shorter than both a katana and kodachi) sending off sparks as Kagome fended it off with her daggers. She absently wondered what had happened to Hakudoushi's nagnita (weapon sort of like a spear but the blade is longer and curved).
Quickly she disengaged their weapons, knowing that her physical strength was nothing compared to a youkai's. For all his age he was fast too, though not as fast as the canine youkai that had frequently been in her company. The only clear advantage that Kagome had over Hakudoushi was that she had the ability to purify youkai and her daggers were more maneuverable than his wakizashi. The downside was that her range was much shorter than Hakudoushi's and she barely managed to dance out of the way of his attacks.
However, Kagome was only a ningen and didn't have the stamina to outlast Hakudoushi. Soon her movements and her reactions became slower. Hakudoushi was slowly but surely maneuvering himself into victory.
Kagome knew that she had to act, and soon. While she was plotting, Hakudoushi attacked. This time Kagome was far from fortunate and the wakizashi slipped into her body, between two of her ribs. Kagome was shocked for a moment by the sting and coldly burning sensation the expanded from the injury. In those few silent moments, in which the world hung still, Kagome felt Hakudoushi's blade slide smoothly out her back. A single breath forcefully left her and was accompanied by a wave of new pain.
Hakudoushi pulled his wakizashi from her body and prepared to attack again. Kagome stared at the bloodied blade for a second before lunging at the youkai, the blade found a new sheath in her gut while her daggers buried themselves in either side of Hakudoushi's neck. Her weapons began to glow as she forced the purifying energy into her nemesis.
Violet eyes stared at her balefully as the pure energy began to eat at his body. There was an eardrum shattering shriek and even as it echoed through the room, Hakudoushi ceased to exist.
Without anyone to hold it, the wakizashi slide right out of her body, as the blade slide out the wound it caused grew larger as the weapon continued to cut her flesh. Finally it fell to the floor, clanging loudly. Another gasped parted her lips as blood began to poor from her second wound. Numbly she fell to her knees, then further to support her weight with one of her hands, her other hand pressed the wound in her lower abdomen.
A cough ripped through her body and blood dripped from her lips. Kagome's eyes widened and she took in the burning sensation from the vicinity of her lungs. As another cough tinged with blood forced its way through her throat, Kagome realized that the first wound Hakudoushi gave her had pierced her lung straight through to the other side.
Thinking about the placement of the other grievous wound she had received, Kagome knew that there were no normal means from which she could survive.
Kagome collapsed to the floor, consciousness fading even as her blood cascaded from her wounds.
Her eyes closed and she knew that she would die.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
When the hostile youkai finally ran out of reinforcements, Sesshomaru stood in the banquet hall surveying the remnants of battle around him. The ground was thick with corpse and mismatched body parts. The stench of low leveled youkai and their blood clung to the air, the tang of dokkasou (Sesshomaru's "toxic flower claw" attack) wafted through the room in a manner that he considered to be pleasant.
Mentally he sighed when he realized that he would have to open a portal to his estates in the Makai (demon realm) to allow his servants to clean up his manor. No doubt hauling so many corpses out into the open Ningenkai (human realm) would arouse unwanted attention.
Still he could not bring himself to regret the blood battle that had taken place in his palace. It had been a satisfying fight, for though the youkai themselves were low leveled and pathetically easy to defeat they had come in masses providing a semi-worthy battle. Reminiscing about battles long since fought, Sesshomaru almost didn't catch the familiar scent entering the room.
His head turned warily, Tokijin in hand, and he spotted the woman standing hesitantly in the doorway. She looked as she had five centuries ago.
"Rin…"
Large brown eyes gazed at him with a solemnity tinged with fear. She took one stepped towards him but before she could come any further Sesshomaru was in front of her.
"Rin, why are you here? You have been dead for many decades."
Her brow knitted, "I feel like I should know you, but I do not. Should I know you?"
"You do not recall me? You spent many years at my side before you died on the day you were to wed."
"Married? To Hakudoushi?"
The name caused a growl to rumble past his lips.
"That Naraku scum? This Sesshomaru would never allow him to take you." Sesshomaru looked at her, his gaze unreadable. "You do not remember, do you?"
Her head shook, "I only remember Hakudoushi."
"I see. Why have you come if you do not remember?"
"Hakudoushi is going to kill you and a miko. I wanted to warn you." She took a breath and added, "I would also ask that you return me to the land of the dead."
Sesshomaru flinched at the last request. He didn't think he could kill the girl that had once been so important to him. Rin must have seen this because she grabbed his hand and caught his eyes with hers.
"Please. I do not want to go home to Hakudoushi anymore. I am tired of living in a place where I no longer belong."
He saw no doubt in her eyes only a yearning and a deep sadness. Sesshomaru closed his eyes for a second and nodded. He would do this final thing for her.
"Close your eyes," he ordered. "I will make it as painless as I possibly can."
Her eyes closed and a smile curved her lips even as Sesshomaru brought Tokijin down on her.
"Sayonara (good bye/farewell), Sesshomaru-sama."
There was a dull thunk, a spray of blood, and Rin's body collapsed. Her head landed near her body, cloven cleanly near the base of the neck. Her eyes were already dull but her happy smile still lingered on her lips.
Despondently he lifted his empty hand into the air above her body. Acid-like poison dripped from his claws and onto Rin's corpse, melting it into a pile of nothingness. There was nothing left of her brief return to life now, but the slight scent that diminished with every second that passed by.
He allowed sorrow to fill him for a single moment. However Sesshomaru knew that if he could go back he would make the same decision. If he hadn't taken Rin's life he knew that she would have found death before the next dawn. He would never take the chance that could ultimately lead to Rin taking her own life.
His moments of reflection were cut short when a panting wolf princess rushed into the room. Her eyes lighted from dark despair when she saw him. She leapt towards him.
"Sesshomaru-sama!"
"Yes?"
Catching the icy edge to his voice, Ayame took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Although he approved of this, Sesshomaru tapped a claw to Tokijin's hilt impatiently.
"Kagome said to warn you that Kikyo was here!" Ayame finally blurted out.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and focused on the ookami (wolf) princess, mentally he called her several kinds of fool for leaving Kagome along whilst Kikyo was roaming the halls of his palace.
"Where did you leave her?" He demanded, his voice deeper than normal a sure indication of the violence hovering beneath his calm façade.
Ayame's eyes widened a little as she realized how close he was to loosing control, and instinctively she took a step back.
"Where?" He repeated, his eyes gaining a red tinge.
"In one of the empty entertainment rooms, off the main hall," she squeaked.
He was off before she could regain her breath. Darting down the halls he was ripping the shoji out of his way in seconds. The coppery tang of blood assaulted his sensitive nose before he even set foot in the room.
It took but an instant to survey the bodies of Naraku and Sango on the other end of the room. A bloody wakizashi was several yards from them and he could smell the stench of the incarnation Hakudoushi beneath the dusting of miko ki (energy). Then, near the wakizashi, was another body in a growing puddle of blood, and he knew this was Kagome. He moved to the side of his imouto (little sister) and knelt.
Carefully he turned her body over, noting the exit wound on her back as well as its entrance in the front and the stab in her abdomen that dragged down as if someone has pulled the sword out from an angle.
From the placement of the first wound, Sesshomaru could tell that a lung was pierced. He hadn't made a study of the ningen anatomy but he had killed enough to know that the second injury was in a vital place as well. From the amount of blood that had left Kagome's body via the still bleeding wounds, Sesshomaru knew that her bleeding to death was a very prominent possibility.
Upset, Sesshomaru lifted Kagome into his arms and carried her to her room. He gently set her down onto her bed and set about summoning his healer without leaving her side.
A dark portal opened in the doorway and his healer rushed in. His appearance was that of a young man, but he had served at Sesshomaru's side for more than four centuries and Sesshomaru knew him to be trustworthy, despite how he dressed and acted. The healer was Chinese and had become a vassal to the Taiyoukai (demon lord) since he came to Japan to escape his family, at one time he had been ningen (human), but was now some species in the between as in the manner of Hijikata and Souji. He had dark brown hair pulled back, leaving an ear tail to hang by his face. A hoop earring carved out of bone pierced his left ear. Dark eyes watched Sesshomaru respectfully.
"You called, Sesshomaru-sama?"
"Li Shen, approach," Sesshomaru stepped aside so he could see Kagome. "This is your patient."
Li Shen moved to the bedside and had just begun his examination when coughs racked Kagome's body. Her body shuddered for several seconds before Kagome began to make choking noises.
Quickly Li Shen flipped Kagome's body and moved her face onto a cloth he had thrown over his shoulder when he received Sesshomaru's summons. He forced her mouth open and blood spilt from the opening. Once she was in no danger of choking again, Li Shen turned her over and examined her wounds. He frowned and glanced at Sesshomaru warily.
"Report, healer," Sesshomaru snapped.
"I'm afraid there's nothing much I can do Sesshomaru-sama," Li Shen murmured. "Both of these wounds are lethal on their own, and if they were alone I could heal her, perhaps. But together they are outside my capabilities. They are not within the capabilities of anyone I know either."
"Explain," the Taiyoukai ordered.
"Well this wound," Li Shen traced a finger around the wound that ran through her body till it exited out of her back, "pierces her lung. And this one," He tapped near the ugly gash near her abdomen, "has cut her stomach." His hands dropped back to his side. "I could heal one of course, but that wouldn't help."
A single silver brow rose in demand for further explination. Li Shen quickly complied, not wanting to irritate the already irate lord.
"If I healed her lung, it would not do much good. The healing would tax her body. Kagome-sama would need more of the appropriate nutrients to cope with the healing but her stomach would still be pierced and eventually she would die, for at the rate humans heal, her stomach would not be able to hold any food long after the time in which she would starve to death."
"And if you heal her stomach?" Sesshomaru questioned, the edges of despair leaking into his mind.
"If I heal her stomach she would be able to eat. But one cannot live long with a hole in a lung. Assuming she doesn't die of blood lose or of choking first, her lungs with shortly cease to function." Li Shen looked him straight in the eye. "I would suggest a mercy killing. Otherwise it's starvation or suffocation, unless you can pull off two miracles and a half."
The healer pulled two vials from his pocket, one a soft, clear violet color the other a thick neon green shade. He handed them both to the youkai lord. "Here, the purple one will lend Kagome-sama the strength to awaken and last for about an hour before she grows weak again. The green is a poison that will cause her heart to stop. If you chose to use it, it will not cause her any pain."
"I see," he took both vials.
Li Shen bowed. "Will that be all Sesshomaru-sama?"
He nodded and watched as the healer bound off into the portal before looking wistfully at Kagome. He would awaken Kagome and speak with her, he would allow her to say goodbye if she chose to take the poison. Sesshomaru ran a clawed hand through Kagome's hair before leaving the room.
There was much to be done before awakening Kagome.
In the hall not far from Kagome's room he ran into Ayame, after quickly explaining the situation to her, he sent the wolf princess to stay at Kagome's side.
In short order he round up and gathered all of the guests in his household in Kagome's room.
Yukina and Keiko sat on the bed next to Kagome, trying to make the dying girl as comfortable as possible. Epsilon was curled on the pillow next to her head, watching the scene with keen eyes. Shizuru stood nearby with a comforting hand on Kuwabara's shoulder. Kuwabara was on a chair, crying and trying to comfort Ayame, who was trying not to cry on the floor next to him. Souji and Hijikata stood close to the wall by the bed, their faces pale and withdrawn. Yusuke stood in a corner as close to Yukina as he dared, he didn't want to take the chance that his presence would disturb Kagome. Hiei and Kurama stood on either side of the door. Hiei's face was drawn up in its usual mask but the expression on Kurama's face gave Sesshomaru pause. Kurama, whom Sesshomaru expected had fallen in love with Kagome was watched the dying girl with a cold, burning look in his eyes. With an inward shrug he marked it off as torment over her injury.
Sesshomaru's, along with everyone else's, attention turned to Kagome when she began to cough again. Her face paling further, Yukina turned her face into a cloth that had place next to her head and opened her mouth. Again the miko coughed and more blood left her body to cling to the cloth.
The Taiyoukai pulled out the vial with the violet liquid and moved to Kagome's head. He tilted her head in a more manageable position, uncorked the vial, and carefully emptied its contents into Kagome's mouth.
For a second nothing happened, but then a glow covered Kagome's body and even as it dimmed her eyes fluttered open. Immediately they caught sight of him and latched onto his eyes. A small pale hand rose shakily and he caught it in his, trying to comfort her in any way he could think of. A second passed and Kagome's eyes cleared finally she broke the silence that hung thickly in the room.
"I'm dying, aren't I ani (elder brother)?"
Thought it caught in his throat for a second, Sesshomaru forced his voice to work as it normally would. "Yes."
She nodded slightly and observed the vial in his hand.
"How long do I have?"
"An hour at most."
She gulped and her eyes closed for a second. He knew that she was weighting her options. Finally they opened and her eyes were slightly glassy when she looked at him again.
"I would like to say my farewells in private." She took a deep breath a whispered, "but please don't bring Shippo, ani. I don't think I could… take it."
Sesshomaru nodded, knowing how it would break both her and the kit's hearts if this type of encounter occurred.
"Whom will you see first?"
"Hiei," she took another deep breath and closed her eyes. "You'll have to leave to, ani. Epsilon will stay with me."
Sesshomaru nodded and left the room, everyone else followed him out, save Hiei who moved closer to the bed where Kagome could see him without straining herself.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
Hiei watched the dying woman quietly, her eyes were still close but he knew that she knew he was besides her. Still he watched as she waited till the room was clear before she began to speak.
"I do not know you very well Hiei-san," she said, her eyes still closed.
"Why did you want t speak with me?" He asked, curious now.
"I think, Hiei-san, that if there had been time you could have been a very dear person to me."
"Really?" Skepticism was thick in his voice.
"Yes, you remind me very much of Sesshomaru when I met him." She smiled wistfully. Then her eyes opened and Hiei saw that tears were pooling there. "I would ask something of you Hiei-san."
"What do you want that someone closer to you cannot provide?"
"I would ask that you watch out for Kurama for me. I could maybe ask Souji-kun or Hijikata-san to do this, but they are not close to him, Hiei-san, they cannot inconvenience themselves because of my wishes. You work with him, I know you can keep him from harm."
Hiei was quiet for a moment but finally nodded, "I will do this for you."
"Thank you Hiei-san and sayonara. Will you ask Keiko to come in?"
Hiei nodded, paused as Kagome's eyes fluttered shut, and left.
He had the feeling that given time Kagome's thought to their closeness would have surely come true.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
Sesshomaru watched as Kagome had people brought into her room one at a time, save Yusuke whom she had go in with Yukina. After Keiko came out she had Yukina and Yusuke brought in, then Kuwabara, next went Shizuru, after that Ayame, then Hijikata, and currently Souji was coming out.
All whom had gone in came out with a thoughtful look on their faces. The women were now all dry eyed and Yukina was clinging to Yusuke like a lifeline. Sesshomaru knew that Kagome's words had wrought these effects.
Souji looked at him and dipped a small bow.
"Kagome-sama requested that you go in now, Sesshomaru-sama," he murmured before backing over to where Hijikata waited.
Sesshomaru walked into the room and sat on the bed next to his dying imouto (little sister). She had less than half an hour before Li Shen's potion wore off. After he stopped moving Kagome opened her eyes and gazed up at him affectionately. Epsilon watched him from near her head but laid back down in disinterest.
"Sesshomaru, ani, I wanted you to know how much being a part of your family has meant to me. After falling into the well there was no way I could live a normal life afterwards, having you here has made me so happy. And I wouldn't give back my time in the Sengoku Jidai (Warlord/Feudal Era) for anything. Not even to have my life back."
"Kagome you will not stay dead. I have Tenseiga (Sesshomaru's sword and twin blade of Tetsusaiga, a sword that cannot kill) if you die I can bring you back," Sesshomaru said, his voice hinting at his inner desperation.
"No ani, when I die, do not use Tenseiga. The sword has a mind of its own I do not want you to have high hope only to find out it will not work. When I die it will be my time, I wish to rest peacefully until my soul begins a new life."
"Very well," he said, not without sadness. "Kagome, have you given thought to how you wish to die? My healer gave me a potion that will stop your heart. I will not allow you to die of suffocation or starvation but if you want I will bring your death as I have to Rin today."
"Rin?"
"Yes, the scum that Naraku created brought her back but she asked me to bring her death and so I did so in the most painless manner I could think of," Sesshomaru answered.
"It must of hurt you to kill Rin but you know that she would have done it herself if you hadn't."
"Indeed, I know this."
Kagome sighed and paused before saying, "I believe I will allow Epsilon to take my life."
Both Sesshomaru and Epsilon stirred at this with surprise.
"I love you very much Sesshomaru nii-san (big brother). I do not want my death on your hand from either taking my life on your blade nor from handing me poison. But I will tell you of my decision after I speak with Kurama and Epsilon. I would ask that you tell my family what has happened to me though, after this is over of course. I also would ask that you take care of them for me, especially Shippo."
Sesshomaru kissed her brow and stood, "You know I will do this for you, imouto. I will guard your family as they are dear to you and I will take care of Shippo and ensure that he is never without someone in the world."
"Thank you Sesshomaru. Please send Kurama in. I'll see you after I speak with Epsilon."
He nodded and left.
Kurama was waiting outside the door, his face looking as if it had been engraved in rock. Sesshomaru motioned for him to go and moved back to where he had been standing before he had gone in to see Kagome.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
Kagome knew her time was coming to an end. But she also knew that she needed only a couple more minutes before she would be able to rest in peace.
She heard the door open and then close. There was also a rustle of clothing and a tap of a soft shoe on the ground, but none of the noises approached the bed.
"Are you going to stay by the door?" She asked, teasingly.
"I prefer to do so."
Kurama's voice was cold, and it confused Kagome. The redhead had never shone Kagome anything but his kind, gentle side, excusing the times he had been fighting. This was the youkai that had pieced together her ravaged heart, though she had yet to tell him as much.
Recent events put her in a difficult position however. She could either tell him now or take the secret with her to the grave. And though Kagome knew she ought to have thought this out first, she planned to play this final meeting by ear.
"Are you sure you don't want to come closer, Kurama?" She asked.
"I have no desire to be any closer to one such as you."
"Kurama why are you acting like this?" Kagome demanded, she could feel her heart breaking, a sure indication that she had loved this kitsune (fox).
"I cannot stand a person that would offer friendship at one moment and deals death to their 'friends' at another instant."
"What are you taking about?" Kagome questioned, bewildered.
"You slew Sango and Naraku, do not attempt to deny it. You attacked me in your haste to escape. I know you're the person in the cloak that has been helping us Kagome."
She heard him come closer and opened her eyes in time to see him grab her arm roughly and expose her wrist. The lacerations from his rose whip had left, light silvery scars that were barely visible.
"I'm the one that gave you this."
Kagome looked into his eyes and saw hate burning there. Her heart broke, shattering like the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of Four Souls), but she didn't make any attempt to deny his accusations. If he thought that she could betray him, or anyone else, in this manner then there was no point in trying to convince him otherwise. However, if she was to die with a broken heart she wouldn't bring any regrets with her.
Eyes filled with tears she looked into icy green eyes and whispered, "I love you Kurama. You should leave now."
Kagome closed her eyes but caught Kurama's last words to her though they were only a whisper.
"I may have loved the miko you pretended to be, but my mind will always remember you as the witch you ending up being."
He left and Kagome allowed a few of her tears to escape her. They ran down her face and absorbed into the pillowcase beneath her. Dragging herself from her self-pity, Kagome forced her tears back. She didn't have time to cry, not with death hovering as close as it was.
And speaking of death…
"I release Epsilon from his bound form," she whispered, voice cracking.
Epsilon jump off the bed and once again took on his human form. Dark red eyes peered down at the dying girl on the bed. She opened her eyes and stared into his eyes for a moment before looking at her left arm where the binding kanji had been carved.
"What will happen to you when I die, Epsilon?" She asked softly.
"If I am bound to you when your life ends, I will follow immediately afterwards."
Again her eyes closed and she fingered the binding scars lingeringly. After thinking the situation over for a moment, she sighed and opened her eyes to tell Epsilon the decision she had come to.
"I would like for you to tell me how to unbind you. I do not want you to die on account of my selfishness."
Fathomless dark red eyes watch her for a second, dissecting her words for any measure of deceit. He couldn't find what wasn't there and so he settled on the bed next to her.
"Do you wish to do this know it will cause you no small amount of pain? I have seen lesser beings die from much less that an unbinding. It has driven many a human into the abyss called insanity."
She smiled faintly and patted his hand in a comforting manner, though Epsilon would no doubt deny that it was comforting. He was very much like Sesshomaru and Hiei-san in this matter.
"I am dying Epsilon. There is nothing that will persuade me not to relieve you from the same fate." Her eyes were sad, "There is no point in drawing my life out."
He watched her for a second, his eyes unreadable, but finally asked, "You still possess that dagger that you preformed the binding with?"
Kagome pulled her dagger out from its sheath at her side. The final attack on Hakudoushi had caused the blood on the blade to be purified away. Epsilon held his hand out for it and Kagome handed it off without a second thought.
He paused to give her one last chance to change her mind.
"It will hurt you as your miko ki will reject my youki. I will also have to cut you Kagome. Try not to scream."
Kagome nodded and watch as Epsilon continued with interest.
He carefully cut the kanji for "free" into his left hand and left it to bleed freely for a moment and he situated Kagome's right arm in a comfortable yet easily accessible position. He then cut a single, straight line through the three binding kanji on her arm. Epsilon placed his bleeding hand on the cut and looked at her.
"You need to speak the reverse of the binding words you used," he explained.
Kagome considered this for a second before whispering, "Life, Discontent, Fleeting."
There was a light such as there had been when Epsilon was bound. It blinded Kagome temporarily. However, she could feel, and currently her body felt as if it was being ripped apart. A scream was building in her throat but Kagome bit her lip in an attempt to hold it in. The scream push against her mouth and Kagome bit down on her lip harder, blood filled her mouth.
Fire filled her body and pain crushed through her right arm but then the light faded and the pain left leaving only a sharp stinging where it had once ruled her body.
Red eyes looked down at her when she finally decided to open her own eyes. Faintly she smiled up at Epsilon, closing her eyes tiredly.
"Did I not scream?" She asked.
"I hadn't truly expected you to remain silent during the unbinding process."
She sighed. "Do I have much time left?"
"No, the unbinding took much long than I expected. You have less than five minutes I expect."
"I can feel it, my body will not last that long even."
"Then you should call in your elder brother."
She shrugged, "I don't know if I have even that much left in me."
"I could give your body to heal itself entirely, if you do not mind paying a certain price," Epsilon murmured unexpectedly.
"I am too tired to be sad at the moment Epsilon. If I was not dying at the moment I could guarantee that I would be lost in depression. I do not think I could pull myself back from heart break a second time," she whispered.
"You would like this price then," Epsilon purred.
"What is it?" She inquired with no curiosity and even less hope.
"Your memories."
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
With two minutes left in Kagome's hour left, Epsilon stepped out of Kagome's room. First he looked at the redhead kitsune whom stare blankly back at him. Then he turned to Sesshomaru and gave a nod, after all he was Death, he bowed to no one.
"You may go in Sesshomaru-sama but Kagome is not awake," he announced.
There was a stifled sob in the direction of the women but he didn't look to see who it was.
"Did she tell you what she chose?" Sesshomaru asked.
"She has, her choice was to live."
"How?" Keiko demanded. "And who are you anyways?"
"I am Death but those who have lived long enough call me Epsilon. And I have done what no one other than Death can do. I allowed Kagome to draw enough energy to heal herself completely. Unfortunately she will not awaken for some time and when she does there will be repercussions for her choice."
"Repercussions? What did you do to her?" Kurama demanded.
Epsilon looked at him coldly, "I would not think that you would care."
"Explain what you have done, Epsilon," Sesshomaru ordered.
"We went through and erase most of her memories of the past three years, all the way back to her fifteenth birthday when she fell into the well. She will remember that Sesshomaru-sama is her elder brother and that Shippo is her adopted son. She will not remember how these events came to be. She will know how to fight but she will not remember learning to do so. The last three years will be blank, though her feelings for some things will remain. She'll feel safe with some people and uncomfortable with others but she won't know why she feels that way," Epsilon shrugged.
Sesshomaru sent him a look and passed Epsilon to go to Kagome's side. Epsilon moved out of his way and stared at Kurama. Using powers he had long left to rust he projected some of his words into the redhead's mind.
And she won't remember you.
. : End Chapter : .
: . Author's Note . :
I haven't updated in such a long time. I so very, very sorry! This chapter is extra long so I hope that makes up for it at least somewhat. Good news is that I am out of school so there will hopefully be an update each week. Actually looking forward this story will probably be finished by the end of June.
Speaking of this chapter you are all probably hating me right now, aren't you? Sesshomaru killed Rin, Kagome was thought to die, Kurama hates Kagome, Itsuki is nowhere to be seen (personally I "heart" Itsuki), and neither is Shippo. It gets both better and worse in the next chapter, so please hang tight.
Also this is basically where this story grew from. Kurama being upset with Kagome while she was mortally wounded and someone erasing her memories so she could live. This is where this whole story came from.
Sayonara.
. : Beta's Note : .
Everybody thank her for writing this! She is taking time out of her study time for this. But now we're on summer vacation. Actually, I won't be for another two weeks, but she can still be writing without me. Poor Rin. But yeah, please send a review. It makes authors very happy, as some of you know.
Amin Vanima Mellonea
. : Next Time : .
Truth Revealed
Stay Away
Regression
Second Chance