Kikyo… Was that truly her name? She didn't know right now, her mind was in such a state of disarray. Her heart beat was ragged, her breathing pained, and her tears bittersweet. She looked at the picture in her hands. The picture of her love, Seeshoumaru. He wasn't a scribe any longer, and he'd chosen someone else over her. He heart cracked with pure grief, and she'd been told time, and time again that she would get better soon, though she doubted it very much. While, she was crying, she refused to allow an expression of anything other than cold, uncaring dullness into her features. She looked down to her stomach. That was one way out. Though a Harem girl she was, it was still a killing offence to be pregnant unbidden, or unmarried. She would surely die, and she was aware of it. Who was the father, you may ask. Well, none other than the Emporer's right hand man, Koubuun. While Koubuun was not a cruel man in any way Kikyo knew, he would not protect her simply because it was his fault. That's not the way it worked. Kikyo looked down. She had already decided on a name. However she doubted the baby would have a chance to be born, since Sesshoumaru wasn't going to save her from this place, and claim the child as his own. Kikyo sighed. Kagome had been the name she'd picked, and she'd thought it was a good name. However, given the circumstances, she decided it would be best not to give her baby a name, only to loose it again in death.
…
The dreamer awoke with a start. Gasping for air, and groping for the glass of water on the nightstand InuYasha tried to make sense of his dream. The last few nights had cause nightmares of a similar nature, whereas Kagome, his charge in protecting, had been neglected in this regard. He sighed, calming down. This wasn't the sort of dream he usually associated with that kind of terror. Who were the characters? What did they mean?
Sesshoumaru.. He knew that name. After a moment of waking up he attempted to jog his memory. He laighed. How could he forget his brother? How could he forget the brother who had him transferred away from himself so that he would be allowed to remain alive. His brother, who through that cold exterior was an amiable man, as far as InuYasha could tell, as long as they were nowhere near each other. InuYasha shook his head, now attempting to remember Kikyo. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it… Wasn't that the name of some little whore that Sesshoumaru had played with a little? He was with her for what… A month that InuYasha knew about? That sounded about right. InuYasha shook his head, dribbling the fresh water from his lips down his chin. There was something unsettling about that dream; it had felt like a nightmare, but he didn't know why. The name Koubuun didn't ring any bells. The Emperor's right hand? Surely someone like that would be in the Tomes. InuYasha stood up quickly from his cot, then walked to his reference books. There was one there was was covered in much more dust than the others, so that's the one he grabbed. After looking through the thick volume for a while it occurred to him that he'd never read this one. He frowned slightly at that thought, but dove into the pages. It told of the endings of the second era war, and the re-building of the provines for a little while, but that didn't seem to be as important as what happened next. For several pages the book took to describing what the empire was like unruled, and such, which InuYasha came to believe was mostly fiction, or exsaduration. He flipped another page which began the story of the rise of Emperor Kouga about three-hundred years ago. After quite a while about his brilliant leadership skills, and hisamazing charisma, the book told briefly about a man named Koubuun, who seemed rather mundane. He was the chief advisor to Kouga, and he was considered a second Emperor to many. InuYasha turned another page eagerly. That was all there was on Koubuun, but the page still interested him. About fifteen years ago there was talk of Emperor Kouga saving the life of a small child who was born out of wedlock. The child was not described in any detail, but seemed to be a tool for making Kouga look saintly. The book also said that the child was sent to learn to work in the Palace. It then told of the rise of an Emperor of a different land. A different Emperor; Sesshoumaru. InuYasha groaned. There had been a reason he hadn't read this book; he knew the real story…
…
Kagome woke up with an urge to write, yet she knew not what to add to her paper. It had ended so… Abruptly, and she couldn't think how to continued it. It frustrated her for some time.
InuYasha walked in. At this point she was terribly aware of her dread of seeing him. She wasn't happy about him at all… Nevertheless, Kagome forced a smile on at the sight of him, which he returned absently. Then she went back to her paper, writing of Kikyo and Sesshoumaru.
It wasn't long at her desk before Miroku had come in. He'd ushered InuYasha out of the room, as he always did, then began the lesson. It went by smoothly, with little incedent until Miroku had inquired about her progress on her story. Kagome had replied sheepishly that she had, a little, but she was stuck now.
"That's all right," said Miroku smoothly. "It happens to the best of the writers every now and then," he cooed. He then read it over. He corrected some grammatical errors, and made her re-write it, then commented on a more personal level.
"Do you know who Koubuun really is?" he'd asked her. Kagome shook her head.
"No, I thought I would go for all out fiction," she responded. Miroku looked a little impressed.
"Well, Koubuun was a powerful historical figure," he said. "He was executed by Lord Kouga for giving a woman a child without offering the protection of his power. That's a little known fact." With that, Miroku launched into a detailed version of the Tomes, giving more information than Kagome had actually wanted…
