Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Recap: As he always did, Sesshoumaru let his instincts guide him and set his course. He traveled as usual; slaughtering any violent lower youkai he stumbled across if they approached him or looked to make trouble in any other way. He was busy and content to fall back into his old routine, traveling as his inner demon instructed.

He never seemed to realize that he traveled parallel to the shard hunters, staying only far enough away to avoid detecting their scents or being detected in return.

He would have been horrified had he known.


Chapter 4

Weeks passed with little change in Kagome's life. She couldn't complain of boredom because there was always plenty to do in her hectic life, but she was starting to feel a little bogged down by the routine of demon violence, shard hunting, near death experience, and endless travel. She could sense that she'd either have to make a trip home to see how her family was holding up in her absence or risk getting irritable with her friends and family. She needed a break from all the routine.

When did action and adventure become mundane? She felt spoiled.

It just seemed like she put out a lot of effort without a lot of return. They'd made progress with the jewel and were closer than ever to completing it, but it still had gone on for a long time. Most of her teenage years had been spent fighting the good fight.

Added to that, she never made any real progress with InuYasha, either.

The two had shared hugs, tenderness, and other acts of affection, but the hanyou always held back. He never gave her anything she could count on, nothing definite to comfort herself with at night. She felt like he kept her alive and waiting for scraps of affection to fall from the table, confident that she'd always be there and only give him what he wanted, without thought to her own needs. And maybe he was right; it certainly had been that way for as long as she'd known him.

He was so irregular. One minute he was on the verge of a declaration, the next he acted like the sight of her made him sick. She never knew what actions would set him off or make him awkward. He kept her at arms length at the best of times, but when he got embarrassed he would pull back even more, effectively cutting her out of his life entirely for days on end.

His sporadic attentions and possessiveness were confusing. He made sure to protect her and keep her safe from harm. When Kouga showed up he still acted like a jealous boyfriend. He hated her to leave his side and spent most of his time with her, even just to talk about their days or the things going on around them, but she never knew where she stood with him. They weren't dating, but they were more than just casual friends. She didn't feel for Miroku the way she felt for InuYasha and knew he didn't feel for Sango the way he felt for her. They had affection and care, but had no security.

It was tiring and frustrating. When she was with InuYasha she knew her body was as safe as possible, but her emotions were another story entirely. She didn't think she could take it much longer. It had been a long four years of angst and uncertainty. She didn't think love should feel like this, but had precious little to compare it to.

She was sitting with Shippou next to a nearby river. The days were getting hotter and hotter. A temporary hiatus had been called by the exhausted Miroku, Sango, and Kagome when walking felt like severe torture.

"InuYasha, if you don't let us stop for the afternoon you'll have three dead humans to lug around and no shard detector," Kagome warned when the sun reached its peak and the hanyou still showed no signs of slowing.

"Keh," he snorted without looking back, "You guys are wimps. Quit complaining and hurry up. If you spent as much time walking as complaining we'd be there by now."

"Kagome has a good point," Miroku offered, pausing to lean against his staff and wipe the sweat from his brow. "This weather is really bad to travel in. We should rest for at least the hottest part of the day and continue traveling in the evening."

"Nah," InuYasha said, dismissively. "You weaklings won't set the pace. I'm not going to stop just because you're whining about being uncomfortable. Why loose hours of traveling just because you're lazy?"

"InuYasha…" Kagome warned, thoroughly hot and tired of the whole discussion, "Remember the other day when I said your favorite three letter word? That's what you're looking at right now. We're stopping as soon as we get to water."

The hanyou's ears were pressed tight against his head in annoyance and slight fear. He knew she'd do it. He figured he was lucky she hadn't straight off. She never would have warned him in the old days.

He decided to pretend to be generous. Truth was that he'd been getting hot and sick of travel himself, but hadn't wanted to admit the weakness. This was as good an excuse as anything.

"Fine, bitch," he said, turning his nose to one side. "But you guys can find your own damn water."

Kagome smiled to herself. She'd already seen signs of runoff along the way and was pretty sure there'd be some sort of water at the bottom of the hill they were on. It looked like they'd hit a valley soon.

The group trudged on, a new purpose ahead of them. They all wanted to wash the road grime from their bodies and swim the day away.

When they reached the river Kagome turned to look smugly at the hanyou. He seemed a little put out. It was obvious he wanted them to beg and plead with him to use his superior senses to find water, but now he wasn't needed. With a muttered, 'Keh!' he turned to find something to amuse himself.

Kagome just laughed and walked into the woods to change into her suit. She called for Shippou to meet her at the water's edge and enjoyed a brief hike through the cool foliage.

She didn't think she'd gone that far in, but soon she was out of sight of the little group of friends. She wandered about, not paying strict attention to her surroundings. She didn't sense any menacing presence around, and the forest was filled with the happy noise of wildlife.

Soon, however, she came across a little clearing. There, in the middle, sitting on a log and busily humming to herself, sat Rin. Kagome recognized Sesshoumaru's little ward right away. The girl was no longer a cheerful child of five, tagging along after her demon protector with tons of carefree babble. She was now an older child of nine, gangly and all developing limbs. She still retained her aura of sunshine and happiness, but it was tempered by a maturity that hadn't always been there before. She was starting to emulate her stoic guardian, trying hard to keep her emotions in check and walk with an arrogant air.

It didn't fully work, most of the time. She still allowed almost every expression to cross her face as she felt them. Right now she was looking at Kagome with a mixture of interest and caution.

The girls had seen each other on several occasions over the years, but mainly as enemies by association. Rin knew that Kagome was nice, and Kagome thought Rin was very sweet, but that didn't fix everything. It was difficult to make fast friends when the two inu brothers fought so viciously every time they saw each other. Rin felt instantly defensive of the TaiYoukai, thinking him capable of no wrong, and Kagome worried for InuYasha, even if he seemed to instigate more fights than he should.

The girls had made strides, though, through the years. When the battles became more and more routine and it seemed the brothers mainly met to blow off steam and get exercise, they started to relax together. The past couple of times InuYasha and Sesshoumaru had met on the battle field, Kagome had gone on to set up camp with Miroku and Sango. Rin had asked to come along and had helped Kagome boil water for tea and ramen.

Now that they were face to face once more with no immediate threat of violence, the girl eyed her with friendly but wary curiosity.

"Kagome-chan, it is good to see you," she said stoically. Kagome laughed because she could see the poorly suppressed excitement flashing across her face. The girl was so cute.

"Rin-chan, it's good to see you too! What are you doing out here?" Kagome nervously looked around for any sign of the girl's guardian. She didn't want to run into Sesshoumaru if she could help it at all. She'd slowly stopped thinking about what she'd seen in the mirror, but the images had flashed through her mind. The kiss and all the trouble it had caused was forefront in her attentions.

"I was just going to swim. Sesshoumaru-sama said to wait here for the afternoon. He has to take care of some business so I'm playing," she said simply.

"Well," Kagome said with a smile, "why don't you come with me and Shippou to play? We're going to spend the afternoon in the water too."

Rin forgot her act and smiled as she clapped her hands in joy. She looked around for Jaken but the toad youkai was no where to be seen. She shrugged and followed Kagome without telling him where she was going. She knew he'd find her scent and come after her when he was done messing around, just like he always did.

They reached the water in no time at all. Shippou and Rin darted straight for the water with no hesitation. They didn't even test the temperature before jumping in with abandon.

Kagome had more reservations. It was summer in the valley, but this water probably came from mountain snow melting. It looked like it was just waiting to freeze her to death if she weren't careful.

Dipping one toe in cautiously, she discovered the river was balmy and pleasant. She canon balled in directly, splashing Rin and Shippou with a great wave.

This, naturally, led to a canon ball contest. Kagome gave it her all. She had the advantage of size and was soon disqualified by the two children. She agreed to be the judge while the two continued, with apparently inexhaustible energy. She was glad for the reprieve and sat on a sun warmed rock to the side to watch.

Shippou was slightly smaller than the human girl but made up for any lack through a lot of creativity. He wasn't afraid to keep his jumps loose, increasing his body surface. Soon it was apparent the two were pretty evenly matched, and Kagome lazily watched as they kept trying to out do each other.

Just as things were beginning to calm down Kagome felt a change in the air. There was a great aura of Jaki coming their way. Her miko senses told her that a large and angry demon was headed their way quickly, and that it meant them all harm.

"Shippou, Rin, get out of the water now! We have to go back to camp," Kagome said insistently. She was pleased when the two children did as she instructed without complaint or questioning. They could see the urgency in her face and had been around enough danger in their lives to recognize when obedience was mandatory.

Kagome grabbed towels and threw them at the two sopping children while hefting up her backpack. She scooted them on ahead of her through the trees, back on to camp, as she felt the first wave of negative energy wash over her, almost knocking her down.

She turned to face the enemy, miko powers rising, as the massivebeast broke free of the tree line.


InuYasha was bored. He hated resting. It made him feel useless. He wasn't a stupid hanyou but he knew he was made for action and motion, not for sitting around watching the world pass him by. The day was hot, though, and even he could see the sense in resting.

It didn't keep him from getting bored, however.

He sat around for an hour or so watching the breeze through the tree leaves. Sango was napping with Kirara and Miroku was meditating nearby, with his hands in his lap for once. While Kagome and Shippou were down near the river swimming there was nothing for him to do. He listened to their games lazily, the sounds of splashing and laughter reaching his sensitive ears from where they played. Nothing wrong there.

He thought his eyes would melt from his skull with boredom. Where was something to kill when you needed it?

Almost on cue, his delicate nose picked up the first hint of his half brother's scent. InuYasha sat up with an almost pleased expression on his face and began to track the scent. It was coming from the opposite direction from where Kagome and Shippou played.

With a smirk and cocky grin, InuYasha took off to pick a fight with his bastard brother.

He sped through the treetops with ease. Jumping from branch to branch felt great, and helped warm him up and get him psyched. He knew that his brother would smell him coming long before he came into sight and wanted to be ready for attack before he came upon him.

He came into a clearing to see Sesshoumaru standing impassively before him, lazily looking him up and down as if unimpressed by the sight of the hanyou in ready battle stance.

"Alright, you bastard, what do you want now? Have you come to get your ass kicked again?" InuYasha bantered, hand going to Tessaiga to draw his deadly sword.

"This Sesshoumaru doesn't explain himself to hanyou scum," the lord said coldly, expression never varying even while reaching to draw his own sword.

"Keh, I know you're just trying to get your hands on this sword again, you jerk," InuYasha said derisively, moving to attack. "Come on already so I can kill you before dinner."

"Hn," was all Sesshoumaru said as he began to move.

It was a sight worth seeing. When their swords met and they began in earnest, it was like the elements had come out to clash. Both brothers fought with power and great strength, but that was all their styles had in common. InuYasha was hot and passionately wild, swinging each blow unreservedly, never holding back any of his might. He fought from the heart, guided by instinct alone. The demon lord, on the other hand, was tightly coiled, precise, and efficient. No energy was wasted in wild swings, each move was carefully considered in the millisecond before thought turned to action. Their battle was like watching an electric firestorm, with cold currents of straight energy flowing through an inferno of heat.

Blades crashed and InuYasha's curses rang through the forest. Sesshoumaru didn't speak any words, but smirked plenty when InuYasha's lack of technique would cost him a hit point. The hanyou had improved with time but still lacked much in style. Sesshoumaru was secretly pleased. He too had been getting antsy. He wasn't sure of the cause, but ever since the encounter with the miko at the well he'd felt out of sorts. He was easily distracted and much more prone to contemplation. He needed the stress and immediacy of battle to return his mind to the present. He enjoyed the stress of muscle moving over muscle, and loved the shock through his arms as sword met unyielding sword.

It was nice that his brother was good for something after all.

InuYasha was thrilled with the fight. His muscles were cheering over the exertion. Walking with a slow bunch of humans day after day and fighting with boring demons who offered no challenge was hard on the young half demon. His brother was one of the few creatures who gave him any real difficulty. It was great, and he had a hard time keeping the grin off his face.

The brothers continued in this manner for what could have been hours, both fairly well matched. Neither gained the upper hand because neither was guided by true emotion. A casual passerby with no knowledge of the animosity between siblings would be tempted to call their battle a sparring match.

The fight came to an abrupt stop as both brothers stiffened and turned back towards the river. Both had felt the eerie calm that settled over the area before smelling the youkai that invaded the forest.

"Kagome!" InuYasha cried softly, turning his back on his brother to sprint towards the endangered miko.

Without a pause, Sesshoumaru followed suit, thinking of his little ward, unprotected in the wood.

Sesshoumaru came closer to the river in a blur of white. He could smell the old scent of his ward in the clearing where he'd left her and followed it as it joined with the miko and kitsune's scents leading towards the river. He never paused in his pursuit, single mindedly moving to come to Rin's aid and kill whatever may be threatening her. With threat to one he cared for present, his demon side took over, completely focused on the matter at hand.

He could tell his brother was distracted by his fear for the miko. He also never wavered from following her scent, but his anxiety rolled off of him, repulsive to the TaiYoukai's sensitive nose. The pup should have learned to control himself years ago.

It was apparent from the noises ahead that the lower demon would reach the three before their protectors ever could. Sesshoumaru steeled himself for the worst, expecting to find Rin and the girl injured. His eyes bled red at the thought. He growled low in his throat and vowed that the demon responsible would not have an easy death. He would use his poison, and would relish the creature's agony as it met its end slowly, melting from the inside out. His lips curled in a fierce snarl, even as he sped up towards the girls and kit.

He leapt through the trees, sword blazing, ready to kill whatever needed killing. InuYasha was one step behind him, just as ready to act with lethal intent.

What met their eyes caused both brothers to stare in surprise.

Kagome stood with Rin and Shippou clutching her back tightly. The two used her as a human shield from the monster towering all of them. Their eyes were wide as they pressed the sides of their faces into her sides, confident in the older girl's ability to protect them.

Kagome was proud and strong, determined to do her duty for the two children behind her. A light of fierce determination shone in her eyes as she stood with arms raised in front. Black hair whipped around her head like a fierce halo, crackling with the energy of her righteous fury.

She was beautiful.

Sesshoumaru found himself wanting to move to stand by the miko's side. He felt a fierce, untamed protectiveness flaring in him. His inner demon demanded he help the woman who so selflessly protected his ward with her very life. He was deeply impressed that the woman would die for a child that had no claim on her affections outside a few casual meetings. It was either sheer human sentimental folly or the sign of deepest kindness and virtue. He wasn't sure which, but both were admirable in her.

He restrained himself from going to her, however, knowing that her defenses wouldn't discriminate between friend or foe. Beside him InuYasha was checking the same urges, coming to a similar conclusion.

The demon Kagome faced was caught mid charge with her blast of purifying powers. It did not stand a chance against this miko when she was protecting her loved ones. Flesh vaporized off bone as the explosion reduced the monstrous form to ash, leaving two amazed brothers and one exhausted young woman.

Kagome slumped to the ground, worn out after her sudden energy use. She had focused her powers and directed them exactly as she'd wanted, but she hadn't used normal reservations with the amount of force behind her attack. She was completely drained.

"Kagome!" Rin yelled, kneeling over to clutch the miko fallen at her feet. Her cry caused the brothers to start into action. Both moved forward, but InuYasha reached their side first.

"Get off," InuYasha said to Rin roughly, moving over to pick Kagome up. Sesshoumaru came up behind him and walked past to check on Rin. He did not object when the girl threw her arms around his waist and hugged him fiercely. He would allow her this reassurance even if it made him slightly uncomfortable. His one hand came up to rest lightly on the girl's head and she took reassurance from the action.

"Is Kagome okay?" the little girl asked into his stomach, as the little kitsune climbed onto the miko's prone form before being knocked aside by InuYasha.

Sesshoumaru looked over to the little miko, amazed at how vulnerable such a being looked. Not seconds ago she had let loose a blast powerful enough to injure even he, and now she was reduced to an invalid. However, he could see that she was merely tired and would sustain no permanent damage.

"The miko will be fine," he told Rin emotionlessly. Rin found the intended comfort in the words, however, and seemed relieved. "It's time to go, Rin," he continued, moving to walk away from the little group. There was nothing for him to do here.

He expected Rin to follow without question, but her reply surprised him.

"No, I want to stay with Kagome-chan until she feels better," the girl insisted. She looked ready to either cry or set her heels in firmly. Possibly both. Either way she was defying him and he could not allow it. Rin needed to remember her place.

"Rin," he said firmly. One word had the desired effect. Rin looked down sadly knowing she had lost this round. She turned to Kagome and walked over to the miko, placing her hand on the girl's head.

"I have to go now, Kagome-chan," she said sadly. The weary miko managed a tired smile at the girl, nodding to show she understood.

"I'll see you soon, Rin-chan," she promised. She was surprised and a little touched, next, when Rin stooped and placed a small kiss on her forehead before walking off after an already retreating Sesshoumaru.

It wasn't long before both were lost to the forest.


That night would be one of the most frustrating in all of Sesshoumaru's life. He sat at the edge of his small camp's fire, eyes flickering in the spaces between shadow and light. He was upset because once again life steered his thoughts to the girl who so faithfully followed his brother.

She had no place in his thoughts. She was an occasional obstacle to what he wanted, nothing more. She didn't even rank amongst his enemies because she lacked the necessary importance. She was a nobody.

But she had managed to attract the attentions of his inner demon, something that hadn't happened in a long time. He didn't know anything about her. He didn't like her, wanted nothing to do with her in any way. They fought on opposite sides of his brother. She was nothing to him, and nothing in the scheme of the universe.

So why should she haunt his thoughts? Why should the image of her fierce defense of the child he'd accepted into his protection affect him so strongly? Why would his body try to betray him into acting on her behalf?

Taking all this into consideration, after seeing what he had in the heirloom mirror, left Sesshoumaru at a complete loss.

He was a cold demon of control. He had a lot of responsibilities and spent his life traveling his lands, ruling with an iron fist. He did not desire any interruptions, and resented the turn his thoughts were taking. They were frivolous and embarrassing, and he would have nothing more to do with it. He would put the miko out of his mind, and that was the end of it.

Sesshoumaru, unfortunately, never had an adolescence as a teenage girl. Thus he wasn't aware that once some wheels are set in motion, they're almost impossible to stop.

He made a rookie mistake, one that any sixteen year old girl could have told him to avoid.

He decided to confront the miko and find out everything he could, determine to see nothing but flaws and so obliterate every positive aspect that had taken root in his mind. He would find her to be the most annoying, aggravating, and normal woman he'd ever seen, and would banish her from all thought.

So thinking, the TaiYoukai decided to grant Rin's wish to check up on the miko. He told himself that really he was just ensuring himself a peaceful journey, free of a nagging and depressed human child. It had nothing to do with his own desire to see how the miko fared, and everything to do with reveling in her human weaknesses.

Poor youkai never stood a chance.


A/N: Here are some weird stats that I don't understand: This story is on 33 alert lists, 14 people's favorite lists, and has 1554 hits. Yet it only has 36 reviews total. Not that I'm complaining or fishing, but come on. People with the alerts and favorites, represent!I can't get to know you if I never hear from you.

And second consecutive chapter without a bona fide cliff hanger. Might need to fix that.