Protector
Mukuchi ni naruhodo suki yo yasashisa (I love you so much that I can't speak)
Doushitara mieru no (So how will you see my kindness?)
Dakishimete motto tsuyoku (Hold me tighter)
Atataka na mune wo shinjiru yo (I believe in your warm heart)
Sayonara, solitia… ashita he… (Goodbye, solitaire…. until tomorrow…)
Sayonara Solitia, by Chiba Saeko
This chapter is dedicated to kyoko super girl because she submitted half a review in Chinese. It was memorable, and rather intriguing. Also to Me (as in to the person, not myself), because she actually recognized the Chinese before I told her. Sort of.
Chapter 20: Sayonara Solitia (Goodbye, Solitaire) (Wow, it's the 20th chapter already!)
Story notes: I'm planning to give this story a whole new revamp. Summary, title and my own penname will all be changed. My new username will be windborne. The new title for this story will be 'Miko to Taiyoukai no Monogatari'. The summary will simply be 'the legend of Kagome and Sesshoumaru'. Please note this – don't come and accuse me of copying my own story.
Kagura stared at the inactive orb of energy for a few seconds, tapping her foot impatiently.
Somewhere nearby, a little worm poked his head out of the ground and was instantly snapped up by a blackbird, who rejoiced at his new meal. Upon seeing the blackbird, a hawk dove down and had it for lunch. A snake saw the hawk resting, and decided to have a fight. The hawk won, but eventually died of his wounds. His body rotted away, providing nutrients for the soil, and then another little worm appeared. This cycle of life completed itself, but the demon energy orb was still dormant.
…nah, just kidding. Kinda.
Kagura cursed a blue streak, and began to turn away. A flash of sickly green radiance caught her attention, and she spun around, eyes wide.
The orb had cracked into half, and a ray of light spilled out of the two pieces. A spider shrieked in pain as the light landed on it. It writhed in agony, as the beam moved on to the next arachnid. The power surged to each of them in turn, creating a grid of fluorescent energy.
The spiders abruptly exploded. Kagura shielded her face with her sleeve, wincing in disgust as the shattered corpses rained down overhead.
When she drew away the cloth covering her face, the barrier was gone, and Inuyasha had awoken.
"How dare you…" he growled gutturally. Kagura stared.
This was so not supposed to happen. Well… crap, I'm dead.
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Jaken trudged through the woods wearily, warty green head bowed. The toad had aged a lot since he left Sesshoumaru's company. His shoulders drooped dismally, and many shadows of bruises covered his bumpy skin.
But no matter how badly Kariyu treated him, Jaken would always come back, simply because there was no where else to go and no one else to return to.
---
"Are you the one sent by my master?" a hooded figure asked. It was past midnight, and Jaken was in a grumpy mood, as he had been for a long time.
"Yes, I am. Hurry up and report," he groused, earning a swift kick to the head.
"You'll be more polite to us next time," the other person reprimanded.
The two spies wore black coarsely-woven hooded cloaks, and all Jaken knew was that one was male and one was female.
"Sesshoumaru suspects something is up," spy number one said.
"Nevertheless, the poison attempt on the miko worked," number two grinned.
"A demon named Jun has come to try and heal her. We fear that she will be able to do so, therefore…" the female one let her sentence trail off, as Jaken tried his best not to shudder.
"I understand. Is that all you have to report?" he asked, trying not to tremble too obviously.
"We'll be draining more people of blood, because we're running low on energy. We'll be careful. Tell Kariyu-sama that our guise will continue," the male said.
With that, both spies sprung away into the darkness as Jaken blinked, somewhat bewildered.
'No matter what I do, I'll always be an insignificant toady…'
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Kagome sat up, looking around alertly. She was on a flat plain which contained only herself and thick fog, which blanketed the entire area. The dull ache in her lower stomach told her that her body was trying to pull her soul back, and that she was in Midoriko's world – the Shikon no Tama.
"Are you well, Kagome?" the long-dead miko approached Kagome out of the mist, appearing like a mirage. Her form wavered and rippled slightly before firming.
"I seem to be okay here, although I'm pretty sure that I'm poisoned in the physical realm," Kagome answered calmly. After years of arriving in Midoriko's home unannounced, she was fairly comfortable in the place where time did not seem to pass. She had long realized that what was going on in her body had no effect on how she felt in the spiritual sense.
"Yes. I've scryed in, and there is a healer who is currently working on a cure for you. She is coming very close already, there is just one ingredient that she lacks, although I'm not too sure what it is. Do you know what you were poisoned with?" Midoriko questioned, like a teacher surveying her favorite pupil.
"The Draca Cor," Kagome replied. She had seen the plant several decades ago, and had been intrigued by it. However, when she was halfway through her experiments on it, she had been summoned by yet another village in trouble. She had never bothered to go all the way back to look for the venomous plant, but now rather regretted that fact.
"That's it. You seem to be using up your power rather quickly to sustain yourself, so you'll have to pace yourself until the cure is fixed," Midoriko advised.
Kagome nodded, drawing her legs up close and resting her chin on her knees.
"Midoriko… can I ask you something?" she asked, staring down at her toes. Midoriko tilted her head to one side.
"Go ahead." She said.
"You seemed rather sad when you mentioned the entity who is currently possessing Kariyu… is there any special reason why?" Kagome asked hesitantly. (Refer to Chapter 8 for more information.)
Midoriko sighed. Her pupil had grown up to be a rather astute woman, and this was one of the times when she wished Kagome was a little less observant.
"He used to be my friend, and he used to help me exterminate demons," she answered reluctantly.
"Is that it?" Kagome prodded.
"He proposed to me after a length of time… I refused. He was angry with me, and left. I did not think that he would try to ambush me with an army of demons, and thus was not prepared for the battle. Until now, he has survived even though his hosts die one after the other. He always managed to transfer into another body before his own life force ran out." Midoriko elaborated, sighing.
Kagome bit her lip, wishing that she hadn't asked now.
"Unrequited love…" she murmured to herself.
"No, not exactly. He didn't love me. We were only friends. He wanted power, more power," Midoriko replied, sighing.
Kagome nodded in understanding, as their eyes met.
Rising to her feet, she wiped imaginary dust off her pants. "Well, I should be going now. See you," she said.
The last thing she saw was Midoriko's gentle, kind smile, before that world was jerked out from under her feet like a rug.
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Jun worked away steadily at the worn wooden desk she had taken charge of. Her hands were unfaltering as she dripped mysterious liquids and added pinches of herbs into a tiny, bubbling pot. She paused as a movement caught her eye, and she turned to see who was there.
A throwing knife whizzed past her, slashing a fine wound on her cheek. Blood trickled down her skin, bright crimson against tan.
Immediately, she screamed, eyes wide in fear. A second attempt never came, as guards outside came rushing in.
The strange thing was that no scent of a stranger was detected anywhere, within the room and without.
-----The Next Morning-----
Shiruka propped Kagome up gently on a pile of pillows, pushing her hair back from her face. Her eyes were bright with fever, although she retained her intelligence, and she was sweaty and sticky, despite Kiria and Luria's ever more frequent visits to wipe her down with damp sponges.
The curtains were opened, letting sunlight flood into the room, turning the floor a polished honey brown hue. The wind swirled in through the window and ruffled the hair and clothes of the miko and the bodyguard.
"Water… bring me water, please." Kagome rasped softly. Her throat was inflamed, and she couldn't talk loudly.
Shiruka acknowledged the request and complied right away, handing her a glass of chilled liquid and helping her hold it while she sipped daintily.
"Tell the healer that she's very close to a cure. Midoriko told me – she's only lacking one ingredient," Kagome murmured in a low tone.
Shiruka nodded, listening carefully. Demon though he was, he would have trouble hearing her if he insisted on breathing loudly or making unnecessary noise.
Kagome's eyelids drifted shut as she exhaled. Her breathing evened out as Shiruka settled her into the proper position for sleep. He drew out one of his swords and admired the sight it made as the sunlight reflected off the sharp, shining length of steel in his hand.
'With this – I can protect anyone I want to. I won't let someone else important to me die.'
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Kagura spread her fan, trembling slightly in fear, although she tried not to show it. Inuyasha advanced on her, claws extended and golden eyes literally shining in rage. She waited for him to draw the sword hanging at his hip, but he did not do so. Instead, he sprung at her as she leapt away quickly.
She backed out of the cave, panting as she dodged more of Inuyasha's lightning fast strikes. The tip of one of his claws caught on her kimono sleeve, and it ripped. She slashed her fan through the air, and sharp blades of wind rushed at the enraged half-demon, who was not hit by a single one.
Another twirl of her fan produced mini tornadoes, which grew larger and larger as they sucked up dried leaves and dirt from the ground outside the cave. Kagura released her feather as fast as she could, and floated upwards to where Inuyasha couldn't reach her.
The tornadoes barreled towards him, and he jumped away to the side, snarling.
Kagura fled immediately when he flung blades of blood at her. She was no match for him, whether or not he had the Tetsusaiga or not.
But still, one question nagged her mind. Exactly why hadn't he drawn the heirloom sword which would have guaranteed his victory?
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Midoriko gazed into the scrying mirror, brow furrowed in disbelief and surprise.
'Tetsusaiga… why won't you heed the call of your master?'
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Jun waited with bated breath, watching to see if her last solution would work. This was it, if this didn't work, she would go to Luria and tell her that she had tried her best.
Is this it?
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A/N: Thanks for all the encouraging reviews/grins/ I really love you all.
Beta-read by kibou hope.
There were so many correct answers for the last chapter that I gave up on trying to decide whether I should include a 'u' in the model answer or not. In the end, I decided to pick a random reviewer whose name I can remember without trouble. And of course, those people are kyoko super girl and Me.
From now on, since I can't be bothered to think of a question, I will just pick a lucky reviewer from those who reviewed for the chapter.