Chapter Four: A Disagreeable Revelation
Kagome concentrated on stilling her breathing, squinting as she stared down the shaft of her arrow. I'm down to my last one. Come on, Kagome, I know you can do it, she told herself. Taking careful aim, she focused on her pulse, willing it to slow down.
Thum-thum. Thum-thum. Thum-thum.
She took a deep breath and held it, carefully counting the beats of her heart.
Thum-thum. Thum-thum. Now!
Her fingers released the arrow in the short pause between the rhythmic pulsing in her ears. It sprung out of her hands with a sharp whistle, racing towards its target. There was a muffled thud, and Kagome noted with satisfaction that the arrow had flown true, embedding itself deeply into the target on the edge of the central yellow ring. She smiled even as she heard her instructor's grunt of approval from behind her back.
"You're getting better, Miss Higurashi," she heard her teacher say behind her. "It's not often I get to see someone so young taking this sport seriously," she added. "Keep this up, and you'll be able to hit the center of that target in no time." Turning around, the teacher clapped her hands loudly, calling out to the rest of the class. "Okay, practice is over. See you next week!"
Kagome bowed slightly, flushing with the praise, and made her way towards the target to retrieve her arrows. Trotting back to her place on the range, she waved down her instructor eagerly. "Is it okay if I keep my target out for just a little longer?" she asked breathlessly.
"Kagome, you know I have to lock up now," her teacher said, pausing as she took in Kagome's comically pleading expression. "Oh, fine," she said after a moment, her eyes crinkling with amusement at her youngest student's antics. "You can stay and practice a little more if you like. Just take the whole thing home with you and be sure to bring it back next class."
Kagome smiled brightly and nodded her thanks, moving back to her position on the field. She rolled her shoulders and then busied herself with arranging her arrows in a long, impromptu fence at her feet by driving their tips into the soft earth. By the time she was done, her instructor had finished collecting the rest of the students' targets and was leaving, and she waved a short farewell to the older women. Then she picked up her bow once more and grabbed an arrow out of the ground, stringing it through the weapon. She took a deep breath and squinted, aiming carefully at the bright yellow ring in the center of the target.
Shhhh! The arrow flew out of the bow, embedding itself into the edge of the secondary red ring. Kagome's eyes narrowed in annoyance. It was almost the same shade of red as Inuyasha's fire-rat robe. She grabbed another arrow and pulled the bowstring taunt once more.
Thwack! This time the arrow landed directly into the upper center of the red ring. That idiot, she thought to herself with annoyance. It had been bad enough that they had unexpectedly run into another one of Naraku's twisted children during her last trip. As usual, the fight had been exhausting and messy, with several serious injuries on both sides but still no clear resolution at the end.
Thwack! Her next arrow strayed even further towards the edge of the red ring - this time, however, away from the center of the target. Kagome grunted, grabbing another arrow and trying to focus despite her wandering mind. Distractions happen all the time in the feudal era, she told herself as she took aim. Just like in our last battle, she thought suddenly, cursing as the stray thought ruined her concentration and sent the arrow wobbling pathetically towards the target from her faulty release. She sighed as it plonked clumsily against the wide outer blue ring and fell to the ground. I think I just managed to kill a blade of grass, she congratulated herself.
She focused on the target again and squinted at the large blue ring. That's entirely too far away from the center for comfort, she mused. "I definitely don't like blue," she declared out loud. Blue, like Kouga's eyes. Another thing I don't like. Her teeth grit in anger and she fired her next arrow quickly. Without pause she grabbed another and fired again. "I can't believe them," she hissed with indignation, feeling her temper flare as she worked. We're stuck in a life or death situation, Miroku is out cold from hell wasp poison, Sango is having a mental breakdown over Kohaku, Naraku is trying to kill all of us and the only thing those two meatheads can do is argue over who should get to save me!
Thwack-thwack-thwack! The arrows were beginning to pile up rapidly around red ring on the target, a few even landing in the yellow bull's eye. Kagome hardly noticed, however, too carried away by her fury to celebrate.
If it hadn't been for these archery classes, I might have been hit by that last… ugh… hairy-tentacle thing! "Men are so useless!" Kagome exclaimed out loud. Her anger reaching its peak, she grabbed her last arrow and fired again, and then let out squeak of mortification as it flew towards the target in a blazing comet of light. "Oh no!" she yelled, panicking. "Wait, come back, don't purify the—" She winced as there was a brilliant burst of light and then the distinct sound of something sizzling. When she squeezed open her eyes, only a few half-burned arrows and a large patch of ash in the middle of the grassy field remained. "… target," Kagome finished miserably. Great, Kagome. Rack up yet another college expense, Mama's really going to love this one, she berated herself.
Her practice being prematurely ended for the day, Kagome salvaged what was left of her arrows and began to pack away her equipment, folding up her bow and storing it in its case. She eyed the blacked metal rod that was once one of her arrows and let out another sigh. Her modern arrows were top of the line and very expensive, and Kagome had once again burned the feathers cleanly away from the shaft. At least replacing the feathers is cheaper than replacing the whole arrow, she thought with some degree of comfort. Those guys at the sporting equipment store probably think I'm a feather-eating freak by now, though. Or a pyromaniac, she noted, making a half-hearted attempt to clean the soot away from the arrow's shaft. "Well, at least they're smart enough to keep their mouths shut around their best customer," she mumbled to herself in resignation.
Modern archery equipment was something Kagome was discovering during her time at the college. It was strange; she had always been reluctant to actually practice with the traditional bow she carried with her in the feudal era. Though Kagome had at least managed to learn how to stop herself from bruising her arm on her own, her aim remained woefully incompetent for almost the entire first year of her adventuring. The second year had led to a refinement of her previous technique, which had been until then "point in the general direction of danger, say a little prayer and fire." Naraku had become deathly serious about collecting the remaining jewel shards; by then Kagome could no longer afford to ignore the usefulness of her bow if just for her own personal safety. It had always grated on her nerves, however, at the unvoiced similarity it gave her to Kikyou. Even if her own friends were too polite to mention it, she knew they were thinking it. Sometimes, she swore she could even feel Naraku echoing that sentiment when she would aim her holy arrows at him.
So it had been with some surprise that she found herself choosing to fill her physical education requirement with the archery class the college was offering. Kagome's motivations had been less than noble; as she already knew how to shoot a bow fairly competently, she had assumed the class would be a no-brainer, and with her busy schedule she needed as many of those as she could get. She had also assumed it would be a painful experience, a romantic class involving traditional dress, traditional equipment and perhaps more mental baggage than she was ready to accept. To her surprise, both of her assumptions had been proven wrong. The class was anything but traditional; for one, the students were of mixed gender and her instructor's approach to archery could best be described as scientific. Another difference was that the course was held in open air, switching to indoor weight training at the college's gymnasium only on days when the weather was too unforgiving to permit their normal practice. The students were encouraged to wear sporting clothes, preferably tight enough to prevent problems with unexpected and potentially dangerous catching in the bowstrings. For Kagome, the freedom to wear spandex or a tank-top while shooting already put a much needed distance between herself and Kikyou. On top of that, she found it was a huge relief to practice in modern clothes rather than a thick, many-layered traditional archery costume under the sweltering heat of the summer sun.
The archery equipment was also a huge surprise to Kagome; she had grown so accustomed to using her Sengoku-period wooden bow that she hadn't even recognized the folded up silvery contraption that she was given on her first day of class. She had mistakenly thought the extremely lightweight and technical-looking device was a target stand of some sort, and had been thoroughly embarrassed in front of the other students when her instructor had to unfold the fibreglass bow and string it up for her. The embarrassment had faded with the first round of shooting, however. Kagome had discovered that she would have to unlearn several of the bad habits she had managed to teach herself. But three years of life-or-death archery in the feudal era had left its mark, even on an unwilling student. Incompetent she might be with modern equipment, but when it came to hitting the target consistently, Kagome ranked comfortably among the best students in the class.
The protective arm guard and tiny finger tab provided for her had also surprised Kagome; she couldn't count the times they might have saved her fragile skin from the red whiplash of the bowstring or prevented painful blisters from forming on the tips of her fingers. It was more wishful thinking on her part, however; she no longer needed the arm guard, and while she did bring the glove back with her to the feudal era, the tips of her fingers had become so rough and calloused from use that it didn't actually offer any significant protection to her.
What surprised Kagome the most about her lessons, however, were the arrows. In the feudal era, her practice of archery always involved a scavenger's mentality, taking whatever materials she could find and shooting them haphazardly out of her (periodically replaced) wooden short bow. In her class, however, she had been surprised when her teacher had stopped her, explaining that the arrow she had carelessly chosen didn't suit the strength of her bow. A more appropriately sized smooth bamboo arrow had been placed in her hands, and then she had taken aim at the target.
Kagome had long learned in the feudal era that her aim was terrible; if she sighted her target head-on, invariably the arrow would fall more than a few centimetres below the spot she had been aiming for. She had chalked it up to her weak arms and had gotten used to automatically correcting her aim to be slightly higher than her intended goal. Following her standard practice on that day, she had dutifully targeted the bright yellow ring in the center and then shifted the point of her arrow up several notches to the large black ring near the edge. She remembered thinking that the string of her bow had felt much easier to draw back than her traditional short bow, and had privately worried that she might break it. Then she released, and had watched in surprise and fascination as her arrow sailed towards the target smoothly, whistling as it parted the air to embed itself very deeply into the black ring she had been unwittingly aiming for. Her first dazed thought was that she had shot an arrow just like Kikyou. Her second thought was that she shouldn't have waited so long to learn about archery and her third and final coherent thought was that she was going to go on a shopping spree as soon as the class was over.
Which brought Kagome back to the present day; it looked like she would have to squeeze in yet another visit to the equipment shop not only to replace her arrows, but also her target. "Great," she mumbled, feeling exhausted just thinking about it. In a way, she was grateful for everything she had learned in her class; it had quite literally managed to save her life during her latest trip to the past.
"I'm going to have to give you a name," Kagome said to the small case she was holding as she strolled down the street towards the subway. The bow she had bought for herself was very similar to the one she had first used in the class; silver, folding and much more complicated looking than its feudal brethren, it pleased her to no extent. There would be no mistaking her for Kikyou with the fibreglass bow in her hands and her thin plastic quiver of brightly-coloured carbonite arrows. In fact her friends had been just as cutely confused about the nature and function of the bow as she originally was, at least until she had demonstrated its use to them. Then Inuyasha had effectively ruined her moment of triumph, observing that her skills with the bow were getting comparable to Kikyou. That comment prompted her to tuck away her new purchase sullenly for almost two whole months. It was their run-in with Naraku in the last week that finally forced her to bring it out to see some use in the feudal era, and that had unexpectedly worked to her advantage. While Kouga and Inuyasha were bickering, Naraku had used the opportunity to strike at her, and almost reflexively, Kagome had levelled her bow in front of her. It was Naraku's hesitation and caution at the sight of the strange weapon that had bought her the few precious moments she needed to notch an arrow. By the time he decided to follow through with his attack, she was able to blast away the appendage that was aiming for her with a purifying arrow, both saving herself and snapping Inuyasha and Kouga out of their ridiculous "territorial" battle. It had been too close for comfort, though, and the argument that had ensued after the immediate danger was over left her feeling completely drained.
The bone-crushing weariness stole over her once again as she leaned against a window and waited for the subway to carry her back to the Sunset Shrine. Though she had managed to drag herself to her archery class, she could feel the tightness in her chest and shoulder warning her that she would be unbelievably sore when she woke up the next morning. The afternoon was just beginning, and Kagome groaned as she considered that she would have to return to the college again to attend her history course. "Oh heck… maybe I'll just skip it today," she mumbled to herself as she exited the subway station and trudged her way back towards her home.
The cramping in her arm was really starting to bother her, and as Kagome climbed up the steps of the shrine, she let out a depressed sigh. "Even with all the technology in the world to help me out, I still can't keep up with Kikyou," she mumbled, rolling her shoulder and wincing. "She must be made out of iron." Kagome paused, a wry smile stealing over her mouth. "Well, maybe clay." The weak joke lost its humour all too soon, and Kagome pushed her way through the house, barely managing to spare a wave at her mother before making her way to her room and collapsing face-first on the bed.
As sleep began to steal over her, something tickled at the back of Kagome's mind. I really shouldn't miss history class today. There was something important that was supposed to happen this week. What was it again? Kagome groaned slightly and squeezed her eyes shut. Ugh, the new moon, she remembered, suddenly recalling her mission to unearth Professor Michifusa's demonic secrets. She lay there lazily for several moments, wallowing in what she knew was entirely gratuitous self-pity for her situation. I should get a medal for having made it to archery practice at all after last week. Heck, I should get a full-blown vacation, she thought tiredly. The Michifusa Mystery can wait until next week. The non-existent demons of the world have been waiting for five hundred years, they can wait a little longer. Sighing, Kagome let her eyes flutter shut.
"Kagome," a gentle voice probed.
"Nuh-uh," Kagome said, turning her head into the pillows of her bed.
"Kagome, wake up," the voice said a little more firmly.
"Can't hear you," Kagome answered, curling more firmly into the mattress.
"Kagome Higurashi, if you don't get up this instant, I'm going to come in there and make you get up."
Uh-oh, that's Mama's no-nonsense tone. Groaning, Kagome sat up and winced as her stiff neck protested to the motion. Blearily peering through heavy eyelids, she pushed her messy bangs out of her face. "What is it Mama? I just got home, I was hoping to take a little nap before my next class."
Mrs. Higurashi frowned slightly and shook her head. "You've been sleeping for over an hour, honey. If you don't leave now, you're going to miss the train and be late."
"WHAT?" Kagome yelled, shooting off of her bed. Panicked, Kagome began to throw her notebook and supplies into her backpack, cursing silently at herself. "Thanks Mama!" she yelled as she sailed out of the door, pausing to plant a quick kiss on her mother's cheek.
Adrenaline was surprisingly effective at removing the sleepiness from Kagome's mind, but after she had successfully navigated through Tokyo back to the small college, both her mind and her body slowed down. Plunking herself exhaustedly into a seat, Kagome pat her cheeks rapidly in the hopes that it would keep her awake enough to follow Michifusa's lightning-fast lecture. It worked briefly, but inevitably minutes after the sting died down, her head would nod forward and her eyes would shut. Eventually, after the third attempt to keep herself awake, she yawned and looked around the auditorium. Slowly, she began to frown as she realized more was missing than her attention span. Checking her watch to be sure, she found worry keeping her awake. "He's late," she mumbled. "Michifusa is never late."
Squinting, she peered at the table at the bottom of the auditorium. Shuffling around the desk was an older, grey-haired man whom she didn't recognize. He had to clear his throat several times to get the attention of the class. "Good evening. As you might have noticed, Professor Michifusa couldn't be here today to present you with the usual lecture due to an unfortunate illness. I'll be taking his place for today…" Kagome tuned out the rest of his words, mulling over the new development. Illness my foot, she thought to herself. There is something special about the new moon, and I'm going to find out what it is. With a hum and a click, the auditorium was darkened and the weak yellow light of the projector filled the room. Yawning slightly to herself, she settled down in her chair comfortably. After this nap, she thought lazily as she let the quiet drone of the substitute teacher's lecture lull her to sleep.
- x – x – x -
Kagome looked up at the twinkling stars, which were bathing everything in a silvery glow despite the absence of the moon. "Thanks for helping," she mumbled sarcastically as she crept towards the safety of Michifusa's sparse shrubbery. This time she had come prepared, dressed in a black sweat suit and her sneakers, with a small flashlight tucked into her waistband and her digital camera hanging around her neck. She had thrown the last item in on a whim; if confronted with Michifusa's almost-demonic transformation again, she wanted to have pictures to prove it.
She frowned as she approached the window she had spied through previously; it was dark, like all of the other rooms in the house. Cautiously pulling herself up to the windowsill, Kagome peered into the darkened room, trying to catch any sign that the professor might have been there. The interior was barren and quiet, and with a sigh of frustration, Kagome carefully made her way to the next window and peeked in. Again, she met with no success and resigned herself to moving around the house, searching for any sign of her missing teacher. After circling the building completely without any further luck, she considered her options. Scaling the wall of the stark white house was out of the question; furthermore, without any trees or large shrubs around to conceal her movement or aid in the attempt, there was no way to even reach the upper floors without a climbing hook and some rope. And that's going just a little too far, even for me, Kagome noted. She did gather enough courage to turn on her flashlight and use it to aid in her search of the lower rooms, and she even probed the interior of his car, which was still parked in the driveway. Still, no clues to his whereabouts were to be found, and after about half an hour Kagome gave up with a sigh of frustration.
"It really isn't my week," she mumbled irately, clicking off the flashlight and tucking it into her belt. Tired, sweaty and generally cranky from having wasted her time both by attending the class and staking out Michifusa's empty house, she made her way out of the residential neighbourhood and towards the subway station that would bring her back home. Her footsteps slowed as she breathed in the cool night air and enjoyed the warm evening atmosphere. It was still a typical summer in Japan, humid and sticky even at night. Still, Kagome felt her mood lifting slightly as a gentle breeze brushed past her, cooling the sweat on her forehead. "It's too early to go home on a night like this," she reasoned to herself with a tiny smile. Nights in the Sengoku Jidai were undoubtedly much more beautiful than anything she could find in modern Tokyo, but the ability to take an evening walk without having to worry about thieves, bandits, rogue mercenaries or bloodthirsty demons was even more refreshing than a clear view of the night sky. "I'm in Setagaya anyway, maybe I'll just stop by the old temple while I'm here," she said, her feet picking up speed and a smile lighting her face.
The Setagaya district was located in the heart of Tokyo, and was like most residential areas crushed full of people. Even so, it had gained its fame for hosting a strangely peaceful and out-of-place trail that followed a small, forested river directly through the densely populated area; the whole Todoroki Valley was a striking contrast to the busy city that housed it. Kagome already knew this, having visited the trail herself on more than one occasion in daylight. The evening, however, had cleared the path of tourists, cloaking the valley in a serene calmness broken only by the sound of trickling water. It's almost magical, Kagome mused to herself as she stepped over the rope blocking the entrance to the trail and made her way down the secluded path. It felt like she was stepping out of modern Tokyo and back into the Sengoku Jidai, only without the aid of the well. A wide smile broke over her face.
No, not the Sengoku Jidai, Kagome corrected herself sometime later as she strolled towards the temple at the end of the trail. Not the period of the Warring States. The valley surrounding her breathed with a beauty and tranquillity that transcended the harsh realities of war. No, I've travelled to the Heian Jidai, Kagome thought to herself with satisfaction as the temple came into view. The period of Peace.
With a sigh Kagome regarded the steps that led up to the ancient shrine. "The Temple of Roaring Sound," she whispered reverently, bowing in respect to the shrine that was even more ancient than her family's own. She kept herself from climbing up the steps, not wanting to ruin the beauty of the moment. She knew she was probably breaking all sorts of rules, being alone there at night; her mother was undoubtedly worrying about her. Kagome closed her eyes and pushed those thoughts out of her mind, forcing herself to relax. "I deserve at least this much," she said out loud, feeling the cool breeze and losing herself in the sound of rushing water and rustling leaves. It was everything she needed in that moment; for once she felt as though she was herself. Here she was neither Kagome, the girl from the Future nor Kagome, the girl trapped in the Past; here she had no responsibilities: not to Inuyasha, or the Jewel of the Four Souls, or her education or even her family. Here she simply was, and for Kagome, that was enough. With a sigh she tipped her head back and allowed herself to soak in the peace and wisdom that echoed through the woods.
… pulse …
Kagome's reverie was interrupted by a small but insistent tug around her neck. Her brow wrinkled slightly, and she tried to distance herself from the feeling, holding on desperately to the serenity she had found.
… pulse …
It was like trying to ignore her own heartbeat, and a tiny sigh escaped Kagome's lips as she resigned herself to saying goodbye to her short-lived peace. Reaching for the cord at her neck, she drew out the tiny jar and looked at the jewel shards gathered there. They were glowing brightly, as if something was calling to their power. Kagome glanced at the darkened sky overhead and suddenly, she realized how very isolated the valley was, and how very alone she felt. Carefully, she tucked the jar back under her shirt and drew out her flashlight. Her finger hesitated over the button, however, and after a moment of indecision, she put it away. The flashlight might have helped both with her night vision and to ease the discomfort that pulled at the edges of her senses, but she still somehow felt like she would be violating the sanctity of the valley by daring to use it. "This place is mine," she whispered fiercely, turning away from the temple and rapidly backtracking down the dirt trail.
Halfway through the valley, the incessant pulsing of the shards hadn't stopped, and Kagome's resolve was beginning to crumble in the face of her growing uneasiness. More than once she found her fingers straying to the flashlight, only to shake her head and press onwards. The temptation to use it was great, but to admit that she needed the help of the artificial light just felt a little too much like defeat.
Turning around another corner, she stopped short as a break in the trees allowed the starlight to spill over the valley floor. Hunched over in the middle of the river was a dark figure, wet and dripping. Kagome's heart thundered in her ears, and she felt the jewel shards in her neck pulse in response. "It's the new moon," she murmured out loud, her hand flying to her chest. Even before the figure straightened and turned towards her, she knew who it was. The hairs on the back of her neck lifted, and she wondered if she was finally inheriting some version of the renowned "Holy Power Sensing Special" that was so liberally sprinkled among the monks and priestess of the feudal era. She blinked as a pair of glowing yellow eyes settled on her and held her breath. When it became clear that he was not going to make the first move, she gathered her courage and sucked in her breath. "Professor Michifusa?" she called out tersely. His head tilted, and nervously, Kagome wondered if the jewel shards had drawn him to the valley, or if he had just been following her for the entire evening. A curt bark of humourless laughter brought her attention back to the man standing in the water.
"The past should not be able to stand in the present," he said to her, his eyes still eerily reflecting what little light surrounded them. He shook his head once, then twice, and then reached up and curled his fingers into his short, dark hair, further ruffling the already wild clumps on his head. "Fact: the past is dead. Observation: the past stands before me, very much alive. Critical thinking: the barriers of time are eroding." Another short laugh escaped him. "Or perhaps the barriers of sanity. Observation." He grinned at her again, his eyes wild and unfocused.
Kagome drew in her breath sharply. The man before her was not the fastidious, rigorously controlled Michifusa of the classroom, but neither was he the near-demon that had flown at her in a rage several weeks ago. Seeing him stumble and flounder in the shallow water, she felt a sudden echo of familiarity. He's lost, she thought with surprise, her eyes recognizing his physical struggle as a dance which she was intimately familiar with. He's drowning in the past, struggling to anchor himself in time. A chill seeped through her bones despite the balmy summer evening; she shrunk away from Michifusa's mad thrashings, not wanting to go so far as to admit that she understood them.
Abruptly, he ceased moving, straightening up and turning towards Kagome once more. "Do you know why nights of the new moon are special, Higurashi?" he asked her, pushing his dripping locks of hair away from his face and breathing heavily. "They say the past and the present become one." He stared at her, and when she didn't respond, he took a ragged step towards the trail. "It is all conjecture and superstition, of course. New moons, demons, spirits and magic." Another few steps brought him out of the river and onto the path before her.
Kagome felt the jewel shards pulse again, and she tried to convince her feet to move, to carry her away from the man who was obviously losing his mind right in front of her. It wasn't fear that was telling her to run, though she would have been foolish to not admit that she wasn't at least a little bit scared. Greater than her fear, however, was her discomfort at seeing the man who prided himself so much on his appearance lose his control in front of her. She felt ashamed, as if she was witnessing something she didn't have the right to be, and wanted more than ever to run home and leave the mystery surrounding Michifusa alone.
"It is what weak fools tell themselves to explain away their fears," he grit out, coming closer. Kagome noticed that his hair was lengthening as he approached, as if an invisible hand was slowly pulling it out of his head. His skin was waxy, becoming paler by the moment, and the few places where he wasn't already soaked from the water of the river was fast being covered by a sheen of sweat.
Kagome flinched as his hands reached out and grabbed onto her arms, his fingernails digging into her skin, lengthening and sharpening into familiar claws. "Demons do not exist, Higurashi!" he hissed at her, drawing her nearer. She stared, afraid and ashamed, but unable to look away as she saw his pupils lengthening and transforming into slits before her very eyes. "Demons are not real!" he repeated, his grip becoming painful.
"What's happening to you?" she whispered as he let out what sounded like a cross between a moan and a snarl and hunched over, his fingers flexing. She let out her breath in a loud gasp as his a wave of light rippled over his hair, turning it as silvery as the cold starlight. And then, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she wondered why she hadn't realized who he was before. As with most of the unpleasant things in her life, she had somehow managed to push it to the back of her mind, ignoring the obvious problem until it became so big that it was unavoidable. It's human survival instinct, I guess, Kagome blathered to herself incoherently as the demon panted and released her arms, stumbling back a few paces. She already knew that the transformation was complete; there would be no cute, fluffy dog-ears popping out of his head, no bittersweet reunion with an older, more mature version of the boy she had grown to love, and no 'sits' to keep him under control if he didn't like what he saw. At least I don't have to worry about being related to him, Kagome noted faintly as she caught sight of the crescent blazoned across his forehead.
He shuddered for a moment, and then slowly straightened, and Kagome had to take a moment to admire his beauty. It always did bother her that a man could be more beautiful than a girl. Then she corrected her assumption automatically. A demon, not a man. I probably just made the biggest mistake of my life, she thought as he blinked and took in his surroundings. She felt the jewel shards pulse again, and instantly his gaze snapped to her. Well, the second biggest mistake of my life, she amended, her hand rising protectively over the small glass jar that hung around her neck. "Lord Sesshoumaru?" she asked nervously, using his formal title in the hopes of appeasing him and thereby keeping her head on her shoulders for just a little bit longer.
He blinked slowly, his eyes rising from her hand to study her face. They were still dull and unfocused, as though he wasn't entirely awake. He blinked again, taking in her features, and an uncomfortable silence hung between them. Then, unexpectedly, his gaze sharpened and filled with dull anger. "You!" he said, his eyes narrowing.
"Me!" Kagome repeated, her own eyes widening in response as the butterflies in her stomach turned into a full raging stampede of elephants. She wondered if Sesshoumaru would take any offence to her asking if he had some antacid pills on his person; it seemed like something Michifusa would carry around. She could picture it clearly: her last epithet was going to be a request for antacid. The morning headlines would read "Angry Demi-morphed Teacher Disembowels Student For Asking Too Much." Absently she noted that disembowelment would, effectively, take care of the stomach problem. Her rational mind decided to remind her that she was panicking, and that what she really should be doing right now was curling up on the ground and begging for her life, rather than considering what was in Sesshoumaru's pockets. Her irrational mind decided to take the idea of Sesshoumaru having pockets and run with it, and the only thing she could do was cough out a nervous giggle to break the curtain of silence that had descended over them.
Sesshoumaru growled slightly and his eyes flickered upwards, taking in the sight of the darkened sky. "The new moon," he observed. He returned his gaze back to her and looked disgusted. "This explains many things," he said finally, turning his back on her and striding back to the river.
Kagome blinked, unbalanced by his sudden and abrupt dismissal. Swallowing, she cautiously approached him, but he took no notice of her presence. Glancing surreptitiously at him from the corner of her eyes, she saw that he was looking into the river, studying the murky form of his own reflection. She took a breath and struck out tentatively. "How did you— well, I mean, what are you— umm… you're not going to kill me, are you?" she asked softly.
Sesshoumaru ripped his gaze away from the water and regarded her with the same dull anger he had before. "Possibly," he said bluntly. "You deserve to die, bitch." The words rolled off of his tongue smoothly, without a trace of emotion, but the harsh language made Kagome start. Swearing was Inuyasha's forte, not Sesshoumaru's, and she was quite certain that he had meant the word to be the insult that it was. It raised the same automatic response in her that cropped up every time Inuyasha swore at her.
"Hey! Excuse me," she said loudly. "There's no need to call me bad names just because you're going through some kind of new moon transformation thing here! Technically speaking, I'm the one who freed you anyway!" she bit out. "Would it kill you to show a little gratitude?" She snapped her mouth shut suddenly and wished she had rephrased her last request.
"The Jewel of the Four Souls has awakened me," Sesshoumaru corrected her immediately. His face turned stony. "I can sense them here, the pieces of that cursed artefact. It has been broken again?"
Again? Kagome thought faintly. "No," she answered offhandedly without bothering to explain further. Does he even know where he is and who I am? She recalled Sesshoumaru's initial expression of anger and recognition, and frowning, probed gently. "Why did you call me a bitch and say I deserved to die, anyway?"
Sesshoumaru refused to answer her, staring instead intently at his own reflection once more.
Get over yourself, she wanted to tell him, feeling a twitch of exasperation. His voice interrupted her train of thought, derailing it and sending it up in a flaming ball of fire.
"I apologize for the insult to your person," he said monotonously, turning his head slightly to regard her.
Kagome blinked. "You're sorry?" she said dumbly.
"Such insults are denigrating to both our characters. I ask your forgiveness for my lapse of control and clumsy display of manners." He paused, as if seeming to wait for something, and dully, Kagome nodded at him. His eyes remained locked on hers for a moment longer. "I have not yet decided upon the matter of your death," he reminded her, and turned his gaze back to the water.
Kagome's mouth clicked shut audibly. Polite, maybe, but so much for being nice, she thought with annoyance. And he still hasn't answered my question! Sighing, she tried again. "Do you… do you remember who you are?" she asked softly.
Sesshoumaru snorted and looked at her again, this time clearly with an expression of disbelief. She could almost hear him voicing the unspoken observation: What are you, stupid? Blushing with embarrassment, she covered quickly. "I meant if you remembered being Ieyasu Michifusa, not all that Lord of the West stuff," she explained.
The demon looked away, staring at his reflection again. His lip curled slightly, showing the tips of his pointed fangs. "This Sesshoumaru is no human," he hissed, emphasizing the last word with a clear note of disgust. "However," he added, his eyes losing their focus and his voice its intensity as he gazed into the water, "I am aware of certain things." He blinked, smoothing his face back into an expression of bored detachment.
Kagome fell silent, slowly realizing that his attachment to his reflection might actually be something other than pure narcissism. The image of Michifusa's wild thrashing through the river came to mind, and quickly she dropped her eyes to the ground before they could reflect her shame and pity at seeing him so helpless. Her eyes trailed across the water to regard the reflection of his beautiful face, and with a start, she realized that the mask of indifference which he wore made him look very much like Kikyou. She directed her attention to her own reflection, and thought about the fleeting moment of peace she had captured earlier at the temple. It was gone now, and the knowledge saddened her; she recognized Kikyou's countenance in her own reflection as well. We're all lost, she thought softly. We could be a regular company of Noh players. Hate, Sorrow and Indifference. The silence grew oppressive, and Kagome thought she might break apart under its weight if she didn't lighten the deadening atmosphere around them.
"So how did you, umm, you know…" Saying 'become human' might not be the most tactful approach right now, Kagome thought to herself, her nervousness returning. "How did you turn out… like that?" she finished meekly.
Sesshoumaru stiffened, his mouth tightening into a thin line. "You did this to us. You do not remember?" he growled lowly. He lifted an eyebrow as Kagome let out a tiny gasp of surprise, and turned to look at her. "Show me the jewel fragments," he demanded suddenly.
Without thinking, Kagome fished for the cord around her neck and drew out the tiny jar. Her breath hitched for a moment, and she kept her hand wrapped around the jar indecisively. No, she finally thought, releasing it and letting it drop against her chest. He could kill me any time he wanted anyway. If I want a truce, one of us is going to have to start somewhere. The few splinters of the jewel glowed faintly in the darkness of the night, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. She felt the weight of his eyes on her, and she knew he was judging her as he studied the metaphorical stone around her neck. Kagome blinked, tears prickling behind her eyes and looked away miserably. I hate you, she thought quietly, unsure of whether to direct the thought at the shards, the demon next to her, or herself, finally settling on sending it aimlessly into the night.
"I see," Sesshoumaru said quietly after a moment. "You will not die this night," he added, almost as an afterthought.
Kagome waited for him to continue with his explanation, but none came. She waited for a few moments longer, remembering that the Sesshoumaru she knew was not a talkative person, and hoped that her patience would pay off. Her eyebrow twitched slightly when she realized that it wouldn't. "I STILL DON'T GET IT!" she finally exploded, turning to face Sesshoumaru with a look of exasperated confusion. "Why are you speaking in riddles? What happened to you? What happened to all of the demons in Japan?"
Sesshoumaru sighed slightly. "Higurashi," he said, and she jumped in surprise, trying to reconcile her past interactions with Michifusa and her current conversation with Sesshoumaru. Michifusa was certainly more rude and colder to her than Sesshoumaru, but for some reason she hadn't expected Sesshoumaru to actually bother remembering her name, as if it would be beneath him. It was hard, trying to think of them as the same person; the small issue of humanity kept getting in the way.
Blithely unaware of her discomfort, he continued. "You cannot change the past."
Kagome frowned and twisted her hands into the fabric of her sweatpants. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked bluntly.
"It means you are destined to destroy all of the demons in this world," he answered her just as bluntly.
Kagome's mouth flew open. "What?" she said, trying to process the information. The synapses were firing, but her brain refused to create the connection. "What?" she repeated dumbly, staring into the water and seeing Inuyasha's cocky smile as his ears twitched towards her. She thought of Kouga, grabbing her hands and declaring her to be his woman in his own annoying and yet endearing way. But most of all, she thought of Shippou's wide green eyes, staring up at her with the innocence and adoration of a child. The thought of being responsible for their deaths and so many others made bile rise in her throat, and she choked helplessly. When she recovered enough to speak, she managed to gasp her denial. "No!" she whispered hotly. "You're lying! I'll never do that! I could never do that!" She felt tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes. "I don't care if you've lived through the past, you can't be right! You're just twisting the truth to suit your own purposes!" she said to him.
Sesshoumaru looked away from the girl who was rapidly dissolving into a wet, sniffling mess at his side with an expression of loathing. "It is your destiny," he repeated. "Interesting, that you seek to deny your fate. If it bothers you that greatly, perhaps I should kill you now," he mused, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully and cracking one of his claws.
Kagome's eyes shot open and her breath hitched. "Wait!" she cried out desperately. "How do I end up killing all of the demons in the world?"
With an almost imperceptible lift of his eyebrow, Sesshoumaru lowered his claw and regarded Kagome curiously. "I did not say that you killed them, Higurashi. I stated that you destroyed them. You still do not seem to understand the finer points of making a critical argument," he added, his voice reflecting a small note of smugness.
Kagome paused, her frenzied diatribe deflated by Sesshoumaru's impromptu grading of her performance. "Why you—" she began, noticing his smirk. "You do remember yourself as Michifusa!" she said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Why doesn't he remember you then?" she asked, her anger subsiding into confusion.
"Hnn," Sesshoumaru answered her, looking away. For a moment she thought he looked almost confused. The moment passed, but she noticed that he had returned to staring at his reflection once more. "It is… disorienting," he finally admitted.
Kagome grew quiet. "Do you do this every new moon?" she asked him pensively.
"No," he answered her, and she was slightly relieved to see that he had latched onto her question to draw himself out of the darkened depths of the river. "As I stated, it is the presence of the fragments which has reawakened me. This is the first time I have held the reins of control since…" he trailed off, and Kagome saw his head drifting downwards again.
"Since what?" she asked him quickly, catching onto the lifeline she had cast him and tugging for all she was worth. It didn't seem to work, for he fell silent, and his eyes narrowed. Kagome clenched her fists together, feeling the glass jar press into her palm. No, I won't make it that easy for you, she thought with a mental growl. If I have to live with myself, then so do you! "SINCE WHAT?" she demanded, glaring at him, knowing that the answer was important for both of them.
His golden gaze snapped up to meet hers, and his eyes were sharp with anger. "Since the restoration of the jewel."
AN: I know a little bit about real world archery. Every time I see Kagome depicted with her fingers holding onto the shaft of an arrow IN FRONT of the feathers, stringing it through the WRONG SIDE of her bow, it drives me nuts. No wonder she misses so much.