A/N: Ah yes, glitches...the wonderful part of ff . net that likes to visit us so very often.
Anyway, about my illness, I am finally back up to health and able to breathe through my nose once more. So once I am free of my cold, what do I do? Go and write fanfiction, of course! They don't call me 'Captain Fanfiction' for nothing, you know!
So, now you have all learned of my evil plan to make this really...evil. Pay close attention to the clues given in this chapter and from here on outwards. I do think this is harder to piece together than some things I have done, since the curse is more of an abstract thing in this one as opposed to the 'curse' in HoaY. And to answer many questions I know you are asking, NO, this is not a repeat of HoaY. Inuyasha is (unfortunately) not going to turn evil. Though I wish I could have slipped Youkai Inuyasha in here for old time's sake, it would not have anything to do with the story, so I declined putting mah boy in there. However, I think you'll have enough evilness by the end of this fic, so there should be enough angsting to make up for it.
Oh, my darlings, did you really think that I'll let you off easy in this fic? NEVER!
(And please stop asking about Inuyasha's whereabouts. You'll see him before the end. He's not supposed to be there now. You're SUPPOSED to wonder about it. Just relax and stop worrying about it and enjoy the fic!)
Chapter 5: The Curse of the Shikon no Tama
That was the first time I heard of the Curse of the Shikon no Tama. And even then, I felt some dread at just hearing the words. I just knew that whatever it was, it would most likely lead to something awful…
Here is the beginning of Inuyasha's and my troubles. I am willing to bet that without the curse, Inuyasha and I would still be a happy family with no hidden sorrows…no more of him going out of his way to comfort me when the pain comes.
I wish he wouldn't. It sometimes hurts even more seeing him trying to relieve my sadness rather than letting it blow over like it sometimes tends to do. I cannot stay sad for too long; I cannot let Inuko notice my depression whenever my thoughts stray near that subject.
I think that no matter what I do to hide it, Inuko notices my sadness. I cannot help it. Though I am happy in having him, and his childish laughter and antics brightens my days, sometimes it isn't enough to erase the sadness of the past. He has caught me crying on occasions, and tries to comfort me…but then, only his small form reminding me that no matter what I lost, I still have my son, my joy is enough to lift some of the sadness.
But now I am losing myself in the present when I am supposed to be talking about the past. We had first heard of the curse through Naraku's youkai puppet, and though Inuyasha just scoffed at such an idea, believing it was said in order to throw him off fighting, I could not dismiss it as so.
Though he had laughed, he would learn, and soon, that the Curse of the Shikon no Tama was no laughing matter. It was something that would determine all of our fates from now on. It was something so serious, that it meant life and death.
More particularly, the lifes or deaths of me and Inuyasha…
The thought of the Curse of the Shikon no Tama nagged at Kagome all they way they traveled back to the village. Was there really a curse? If there was, why had she never heard of it before? Out of all she knew of the Shikon no Tama, why was she just learning of this now?
Though Inuyasha wasn't worried, Kagome was chilled to the bone. Never before had words affected her like that. She knew that there was something not right about all of this…
The bad feeling she got was unlike she had ever felt before…it was a sense that this thing could end up destroying all happiness in her life if she let it. And she was sure it was more then her keen sense of intuition telling her this.
I feel like something is calling out to me…she knew this pull was not imagined. Trying to tell me something…a sense of foreboding, almost…
Inuyasha must have noticed her worry. Turning back to her and seeing the scared look on her face, he asked, "Hey, Kagome, what's wrong?"
She looked back at him, surprised he was asking about her well-being. She shook her head. "No, Inuyasha, nothing's wrong."
Though he sometimes didn't notice when something was bothering her, he did notice now. And he wouldn't let her just drop it. He came to walk next to her, instead of his position in the lead, and looked at her with genuine concern in his gorgeous amber eyes. "Kagome…" he asked softly. "What's bothering you?"
Kagome glanced up at him, glad that he was concerned about her like this, but she looked away again, asking, "Inuyasha…what do you think about this 'Curse of the Shikon no Tama'?"
His eyebrows rose. "That thing? Kagome, that stupid puppet only said that to get me worried. Don't think about it so much." he tried to assure her, but it didn't work.
"I'm trying not to, Inuyasha. But I'm getting a really bad feeling from it. I…can't explain it. It's like my heart's trying to tell me something, yet I don't know what."
As he looked back at her, Inuyasha could see how much anxiety this thought caused her. He didn't want to see her so worried and afraid over something. His heart wouldn't allow it. "Kagome…" he murmured, making her turn back to him.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" she asked, her light brown eyes expecting something…but what?
Somehow, the hanyou found the words. "Don't worry about it, Kagome." he told her, his golden eyes softening. "Even if this thing is real…I'll protect you from it. I promise. It won't hurt you."
"What about you?" she whispered, unable to stop herself.
His eyes got wider. She was worried about...him? "What about me?"
"What if it doesn't hurt me…what if it hurts you…o-or anyone of us?" she added quickly, thinking perhaps she shouldn't reveal that she was more worried for him just yet.
"I'll keep them all safe." Inuyasha replied at once, trying to set her nerves at ease. "And don't worry about me," he replied in a huff, turning away in his pride. "No puny curse is going to get me."
Nodding, Kagome answered, "Yes…I suppose your right." Yet she could not fully agree with him in her heart.
Even then, so early before the curse would have any effect on my life, I knew it was not something to be taken lightly. No one else thought of it much, except for myself, and Inuyasha had thought that the idea of a curse beating anyone, including himself, was laughable.
Oh, Inuyasha…if he knew back then what horrors the curse had reeked on me, himself…both of us, he wouldn't have even dreamed of laughing…
A few weeks and they were back in the village again, where their travels always began and ended. It was their safe point, a place where they could meet up after one journey and wait out for the next. Kagome always liked when they came back because it meant she could go home again.
Nearly the minute they reached the village, she bounded down the well, for supplies and also to get a good rest in a real, warm bed. She spent only two days there, catching up on her schoolwork and grabbing some more to take with her, just in case she wouldn't get back soon.
And given the constant way their travels usually went, she doubted it.
After saying goodbye to her family and changing out of that horribly restricting blue uniform of her high school, Kagome was back down the well again, to visit her friends and go back to the era she knew best.
Like always, Inuyasha had been waiting and anxious for her arrival once more. He could never really stand for her to be away when she jumped down the well…He knew he needed her, much more than he let on. Of course, he would never, ever admit it to her, but he knew that if she ever left him, he wouldn't be able to go on.
"I'm back!" Kagome said as she walked into Kaede's hut, greeted by all the smiles of her friends.
Shippou the kitsune jumped on her, as she hugged him, asking, "Did you bring any presents?"
Smiling, she nodded. "Yep. I wouldn't forget them. Especially not the ones for you, Shippou-chan."
The kitsune grinned as she set him down to open up the yellow backpack she always had, digging through its contents, shoving all the clothes and schoolbooks aside as she searched for the presents from her era. "Aha!" she said, as a few boxes of food emerged from inside that amazing pack.
She spoke as she handed them to her friends, "Here's pocky for you, Shippou-chan, some chips and soda for you, Sango-chan and Miroku-sama—"
"You didn't forget about me, did you?" the anxious voice of the hanyou said, greedy in anticipation.
Silence.
His face fell. "No…Kagome, you didn't forget it, did you?" She didn't reply. The suspense was killing him. "Did you?" he begged.
Sighing, Kagome decided she better put him out of his misery. "No, Inuyasha, I didn't forget you." she replied, tossing him a cup of ramen, which he grinned as he caught it, savoring the feeling of being reunited with cup noodles again. "How could I not, when you reminded me about five times when I left? There's more where that came from, but don't think I'm going to give it to you now."
The hanyou wasn't listening. He was looking around for a place to boil water required for the magical noodles.
As Kagome watched him with narrowed eyes, she thought, And Sango-chan actually thought there was a chance he loved me? I think the only thing he loves right now is in his hand…
After watching this, Miroku gave a small cough. "So, after our little journey, we need to find out what to do next. So, what have we learned?"
"Nothing," the hanyou spat, causing Kagome to look a bit surprised since she thought he was still interested in those ramen noodles. "We traveled all that way and learned nothing."
Kagome joined the conversation. "We didn't learn nothing. The puppet did mention The Curse of the Shikon no Tama."
"Curse of the Shikon no Tama?" Kaede asked, staring.
Miroku glanced at the old miko. "Yes, it mentioned something about Naraku getting his revenge with 'The Curse of the Shikon no Tama'…Do you know what he was talking about, Kaede-sama?"
The old miko shook her head. "I never heard of such a thing before."
"Perhaps, Kikyou-sama—" The monk began, but Kaede cut him off.
"Kikyou onee-sama never mentioned any such thing to me." Kaede explained. "If she knew of it, she would have explained it to me when I asked about the Shikon no Tama. I doubt she knows of it now."
Inuyasha could take it no longer. "Keh!" he snorted. "I'm telling you, this curse thing probably doesn't exist! The puppet just mentioned it to get me upset, that's all."
This time, it was Sango that reproached the hanyou. "Even so, Inuyasha, we should not take something like this lightly. If it does exist, then it is obviously a deep secret. And given the history of the Shikon no Tama, it is probable that anyone who knew of it is now dead."
"Then that leaves--" Miroku began, only to be cut off by Kagome.
"Midoriko…"
There was another silence in the hut, only broken by the crunching noise as Shippou gobbled down his pocky, before anyone spoke again. "But…how could Naraku learn something like this from Midoriko-sama?" Sango asked, her dark eyeswider in fear. "That's impossible, isn't it?"
"Not impossible, Sango," the monk assured her. "Some spirits can linger on earth for a time, if their souls are unappeased. Or others will wait between life and death, waiting for another to join them…It is possible to speak to one deceased if their soul has not been reincarnated."
"But," Kagome pulled out the bottle with the two shards from around her neck, careful that the seashell necklace was undisturbed as she did so. "Midoriko's soul is in the Shikon no Tama…How could she then…"
This time, Kaede spoke, "It has been said that when the jewel was made whole and a wish was to be placed on it, Midoriko's soul would be free of her prison and she would speak to the one wishing…Of course, this is known for a pure wish, but I am not sure as to a tainted one."
"But Naraku doesn't have a complete Shikon no Tama," Kagome pointed out. "So then, how could he--?"
"Necromancy," Miroku said at once, his violet eyes open slightly wider in realization.
Everyone turned to him, with confused faces. "What?"
With a sigh, the monk explained, "Necromancy is the skill of using souls of the departed and bending them to your will, using them to do your bidding. It is a dark magic, and one especially forbidden by the priesthood and condemned by Buddha. Using Necromancy, I suppose he could commune with the souls and be able to extract information from them against their will."
Kagome replied, "But the soul of Mirdoriko is broken up into many pieces. His jewel isn't complete—"
"I suppose that if he could not speak to her, he could obtain feelings or small amounts of information from her soul if he had mastered this art." Miroku furrowed his brow in thought, and then added, "From what I know of the art, it can be used by youkai, preferably ones with an immense amount of evil jyaki, used to take control of the soul's will…It seems to me that if Naraku bathed the Shikon no Tama in his jyaki, or more preferably, his shouki since it is more potent, he would probably be able to ask her a question and gain a small amount of information."
There was another pause after this statement. "So, are you saying that if Naraku corrupts the jewel enough, he can just chat with Midoriko whenever he wants?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes glaring in skepticism.
"If you would like to define it that way, Inuyasha, then yes," the monk answered with slight annoyance, folding his arms. "Though, only having part of her soul and not being at the place where she died would hinder the amount of information he needs. Most likely he doesn't quite know with what he is dealing with, only enough to threaten us with it."
"So now the question is, how do we learn about this curse so we can stop him before he uses it against us?" Kagome fingered the shard bottle around her neck.
After a moment of thought, the exterminator put in, "Well, maybe we can try communing with Midoriko through Kagome's shards."
"It only works with a horribly tainted jewel, Sango," Miroku reminded her. "Completely purified shards will do us no good."
Kagome pulled the bottle off her neck and grasped it in her hand. "It's worth a try though…anything's worth a try when we're dealing with Naraku…" She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on the shards, trying to find Midoriko's soul within.
Please, Midoriko…tell us about the Curse of the Shikon no Tama…we need to know in order to keep Naraku from destroying everything…please…
Suddenly, she felt something…some strange feeling within her. At first her heart soared, thinking she had done it. But she was soon disappointed when all she felt was the slightly frightened feeling she had before when thinking about the curse. She wasn't sure if it was the jewel's influence or not.
Sighing, she opened her disappointed eyes. "No good. I just got that feeling from before, that this curse is bad news."
"That's something, at least," Miroku pointed out. "But it proves that two purified shards will get us no more than that."
Kagome's face fell, but it suddenly brightened as a new thought came across her. "But what about two, not as pure shards?"
That caught everyone's interest as Sango asked, "What do you mean, Kagome-chan?"
A smile broke out on her face. "Kouga-kun!"
"That wimpy wolf?" Inuyasha roared, his eyes lit with an angry amber fire. He stormed over to her, folding his arms and giving her his worst glare. "Are you saying we should go find that stinking wolf and ask him about this?"
Shooting him an angry look in return, Kagome answered, "That's exactly what I'm saying, Inuyasha. If I find him and use his shards, I'm sure to get more than this, and possibly a lead as to what this curse is."
Miroku was quick to point out the flaws in her plan."But Kagome-sama, if you touch the shards, they'll become instantly pure, and unable to use to gather anymore information."
Turning back to the monk while they conferred, she answered simply, "That's why I won't be touching the shards. I think if I only touch his legs, I'll be able to do this again without completely purifying them."
Inuyasha burst out once more, his face red with rage, "You'll be touching his what?"
Rolling her eyes and sighing, Kagome replied, "I am only doing this because I have to, Inuyasha. We have to find out all we can about this as soon as possible."
Before the hanyou could reply again, Sango put in, "Well, I think it's a good idea. I assume we're leaving immediately?"
"Um…" Kagome slightly fidgeted as she retied the shard necklace around her neck. "Not 'we' Sango-chan. I was thinking that Inuyasha and I could handle this one alone."
Everyone stared at them. "You and Inuyasha?" Shippou asked, chocolate streaked over his face after downing the pocky.
Turning back to the clearly surprised hanyou, she replied, "Yes…I think we'll be able to handle this one alone. It's not like we're setting out to find Naraku, after all, just Kouga-kun. I think we both can handle it."
Though it looked like everyone else was ready to argue, it clicked in the exterminator's head why her friend wanted it to be like this way. Inuyasha's upset because Kagome's going to have to be touching Kouga like that…she wants to spend some time with him to let him know she doesn't like Kouga like that…
The pleading look in Kagome's eyes for Sango to understand was all the proof she needed before she began a campaign to help her in this. "I think it's a good idea, Kagome-chan," she answered, picking up the hint.
"You do?" Miroku asked, clearly surprised.
"Yes, I do, Houshi-sama," she continued. "It'll be a short trip, I think. And there's no reason for all of us to go and drag them down when it requires speed. Inuyasha will be more than enough to protect Kagome."
Sango's argument seemed to finally convince them, as the rest of the group shrugged in agreement. And if the youkai exterminator didn't know any better, she thought she saw thankfulness for her words in both Kagome and Inuyasha's eyes.
"So, now that that's been decided," Kagome turned back to the hanyou. "We're leaving now, Inuyasha?"
He didn't even pause as he replied, "Well…I guess it could wait until morning," glancing out to the darkening sky.
