This chapter is dedicated with all my love to LittleMissSugarLess for the astonishing amount of lovely reviews she left me on several of the chapters! I appreciated them all so much and I couldn't stop laughing as they just kept coming . . . Anyways, thank you! 3
Chapter 18
Inuyasha, as unruly as he may be, knew one thing for certain: the day Sesshomaru let down his guard was probably also the day the world would end.
And yet, here he stood, dangling above the ground with one hand, eyes practically bulging out of his head and mouth agape as he watched the Sessomaru willingly pull the strange woman towards himself to kiss her. As a hanyou with well-developed survival instincts, he knew that if Sesshomaru wasn't so blatantly. . . ahem . . . enjoying himself, then Inuyasha would be very dead meat for having witnessed what he did. He found himself suddenly fairly relieved that his half brother was more interested in biting Megumi's neck than passively searching for nearby onlookers.
The thought that he should probably take advantage of this moment to hoist himself back up into the branches he'd tumbled out of in surprise finally dawned on him, and it was a good thing too, because the singular hand preventing a loud tumble to the forest floor was starting to ache. Even his claws, which were firmly embedded in the wood, were starting to tingle. But no sooner had he managed to soundlessly heave himself back into his favorite seating position on the branch had he sensed the almost tangible sharpening of Sesshomaru's senses.
. . . Shit.
The hanyou risked a glance back to where Megumi and the Western Lord were. They had returned their hands to their own persons, but somehow the previous mood had vanished completely. Now, the woman looked sort of hesitant and Sesshomaru looked rather expectant. The fact that he could even guess what his brother seemed to be feeling was the first sign that Sesshomaru had yet to rebuild those constant walls that guarded himself; the second sign being that despite the wind still blowing in Inuyasha's favor, his brother had yet to notice him. Sesshomaru had a distinctively sharper sense of smell, but Inuyasha's hearing happened to be better. And in this situation it seemed to him that Sesshomaru's preoccupation, the wind's direction and the considerable distance between the two brothers was enough to keep him hidden.
He had a feeling though that it wouldn't be very wise to try and creep away, not while the silence between those two felt so fragile.
Inuyasha quite nearly fell out of the tree once Megumi's voice reached him, and with it what he knew instantly to be her secrets.
"I don't have the whole story. Some of it is hazy; like someone blurred those parts of my past. And no matter how hard I try I can't remember. But I do know, regardless of the reason or preamble that I've somehow forgotten, that I changed Toga's fate."
Inuyasha felt himself still.
What . . . the hell?
The woman was crazy. That kind of thing is impossible.
But then again, he'd seen swords that could resurrect the dead and a jewel that could erase its own existence from reality. So, maybe, this kind of thing was plausible too?
The daiyoukai's face carried such a lack of reactions that it almost felt like a reaction in and of itself. "Explain, Megumi."
Inuyasha didn't even get the chance to marvel at how familiarly Sesshomaru addressed her; the perhaps not-so-human woman had already started to comply with the request hovering in the air between them. "The spirit of the Twin Dragon of Timidity can be channeled through its hosts and be made to perform incredible acts. One particular facet of the gift is the ability to bend souls. To bind souls to one's will; in essence to control them, is one of the most dangerous gifts if used improperly. Because when an incarnate of one of the Twin Dragons learns to bend souls to their wills, they can selectively isolate the part of someone's soul not yet set in stone." Inuyasha watched completely and utterly hooked despite his lack of understanding, as Megumi hung her head - perhaps in shame. "In essence, the part of the soul representative of the future. And manipulating that part means permanently manipulating their future."
Inuyasha thought perhaps the other male's eyes narrowed, but he wasn't close enough to feel confident about having seen that correctly.
"You made a mistake, then. Training with unknown abilities tends to garner this sort of result. These things happen, Megumi."
This time, Inuyasha was absolutely positive that he saw guilt flicker across her downcast face. "It wasn't an accident."
"Then . . . "
"It was on purpose, Sesshomaru."
He didn't move, of course, but both onlookers were keenly aware of that silent thing shifting in Sesshomaru. It was that sort of mentality he assumed before a fight; the one that steels himself and prepares himself for an attack from anywhere and at any given time. The kind of shift that when applied to the current situation had him almost defensively wary about the one who brought on the change; the one who was now taking a half step back.
Inuyasha wondered if she was afraid of what her next words would do to the daiyoukai.
When Sesshomaru spoke next, any mention of the woman's name or relation to himself was absent from his voice. "Tell me what changed."
Megumi looked up again.
She, like Sesshomaru, seemed resigned to the new distance exploding between them.
Hadn't they been wrapped around each other just a minute before?
"I bent his soul to my will. With Timidity's power, I uttered these words: When his time is near, Toga of the Western Lands will rip two fangs from his mouth and forge twin swords, one for each child - the now and future one - so they will not carry spite for their sire beyond the grave. Through these blades, may his will be conveyed, and may his pack listen."
Long after her voice faded away, proud and sincere Megumi stood against the rising torrent of palpable fury rising off of the daiyoukai, and even Inuyasha felt the desire to turn and flee the scene. If what that woman was saying was true, that would make her pretty damn old. That would also make what Toga had done for them, what he once saw as gifts bestowed out of love, something done not of Toga's own volition. It would make it a gift from a woman he never knew, not something from a father attempting to express affection for his children.
And then Inuyasha knew why Sesshomaru's silent wrath was surging; for centuries his half brother had struggled with how to feel towards both the Inu no Taisho and Inuyasha, and it had ended up being those swords that brought him to find peace. It had been those swords that led him to Rin; those swords that made both of the Dog General's sons believe even for a second that perhaps, perhaps . . .
And now they both knew it was never Toga's idea.
Would he have done it regardless, had this woman not altered his literal fucking destiny in order to make him go through with it?
But something stopped Inuyasha's quick temper from rising and joining the youkai's in the air - that something being Megumi herself.
Inuyasha couldn't place it, but he felt perhaps there was more than Megumi was saying? Something in her eyes seemed to say that she hadn't expected this sort of reaction from Sesshomaru, and that made Inuyasha wonder just how malevolent her motives had been. If she had wished to rob the half brothers of a true reconciliation with their father, wouldn't she have anticipated this once the truth leaked out? Wouldn't she have wanted it, even?
It also occurred to Inuyasha that Sesshomaru was definitely not thinking clearly. Inuyasha never met his old man; Sesshomaru had spent his entire life living with him, being groomed to be him, eventually becoming him and learning quickly to rule an entire kingdom on his own amidst the slander and insult to Kimi that was Izayoi and Inuyasha. Not to mention, from everything that he'd heard of the Western Lord it seemed that Sesshomaru had never once so much as looked at someone with such passion before, much less acted on it, if even for a brief moment.
Inuyasha imagined what it would have been like to have kissed Kagome for the first time that day she destroyed the Jewel of Four Souls, only for her to pull away and tell him in a hauntingly level voice that this entire time, he'd never actually grown stronger; she'd just been feeding him her power secretly.
Ouch.
Inuyasha winced; he definitely didn't envy Sesshomaru right now.
Unfortunately it seemed like he was the only one out of the two of them that had understood Sesshomaru's reaction, which confused him. Sesshomaru's distaste for Toga was a well-known thing for at least a century all throughout Japan - where exactly had Sesshomaru found this woman if she didn't even know that?
But much like Megumi seemed unable to see or understand Sesshomaru's sudden anger, it seemed that the reverse was equally true. Even from his hiding spot in the tree he'd stopped in on his run back to the village after sulking off, Inuyasha could hear the pained inhale Megumi drew in when Sesshomaru walked past her - without so much as a glance, as coldly as one walks past a stranger - before summoning his cloud and vanishing into the sunset. Some detached part of him knew that he left for the direction of the Western Shiro, but the soft sound of Megumi sinking to her knees and crushing the flowers beneath her drew his attention back towards her.
Inuyasha wasn't exactly the best with women, so when she cupped her face in her hands and hunched her shoulders, he feared that she was liable to start crying and figured it would be best to get Kagome for this sort of thing. That woman had a talent for comforting emotionally guarded people; he'd just get her to work some magic here too.
And then perhaps Megumi would feel grateful enough to consider letting him off the hook for witnessing that whole embarrassing mess.
Megumi concluded that she had never been more confused in her life. Hadn't he kissed her seconds before? Hadn't she felt the way he had smirked against her lips? And more than that; hadn't he opened up to her? Hadn't he protected her, worried for her, held her and cared for her?
Hadn't he?
Or . . . had it all been in her head?
It wouldn't be the first time. Nakano had slow danced with her to tunes played by people she would soon murder; Nakano had said pretending for centuries was such an easy thing to do when Megumi was so easy to fool - people eager for acceptance and affection always were, apparently. It wouldn't matter if Sesshomaru had truly cared or not though. Hell, she couldn't even ask him if she wanted to - he'd taken one look at her, the kind of look that told her clearly that he didn't really recognize what he saw, and then he'd left her.
"Don't watch the sky," he'd whispered to her as he walked by.
Megumi had understood what he meant instantly, and it had felt like a new cavern was opening up inside of her, fresh and raw.
Don't watch the sky.
Don't wait for me.
I won't be coming back.
Megumi couldn't decide what was worse: the knowledge that he didn't want to see her, or that he didn't want to see her so badly that he was willing to overlook her usefulness concerning Rin. She didn't cry - how could she, when it felt like every part of her was disappearing into some bottomless cavern inside of her, scooping her empty from the inside out, leaving her like those hollow dolls she'd once seen packed away with other boxes of dry stuff on the ship?
Perhaps returning to Japan hadn't been that good of an idea after all.
Megumi became aware of the sudden sounds of approaching footsteps, far nearer than she would have liked them to be, and told herself that she would at least remain composed long enough to figure out who came to find her and why. So when she straightened, smoothing the fabric of her kimono and turning around, she wasn't exactly completely eager to know that the person who found her happened to be a young woman, with bright eyes and a kind face.
"I hoped I could find you around here," she chirped, and Megumi assigned the disembodied voice to the image of the woman now standing before her: Kagome.
Megumi bid her face to morph into something pleasant; something irreflective of how she felt. "Did you need something?"
It was the woman's eyes flickering to that vacant spot behind Megumi where Sesshomaru had once stood that betrayed what Kagome would not come out and say; and it was also then that Megumi noticed Inuyasha leaning against a tree a little ways beyond Kagome, looking for all the world like he'd rather be anywhere else.
He also looked kind of guilty.
Megumi let out a tiny sigh of defeat. Apparently, she'd had an audience before. Megumi dropped the ruse of pleasantness. "I do not think he will be returning anytime soon," she admitted, and disliked instantly how her words set what had happened firmly in stone.
Kagome's eyes filled with earnest pity. Megumi wished they hadn't. "From what Inuyasha told me, I figured that might be the case." The healer allowed her eyes to shift from the miko to the hanyou, who made a point of not looking at her in return. Megumi returned her gaze towards the woman in front of her.
"I'll be leaving too. I would not force myself into your company when the only link between you and I has decided to make an exit."
From his safe spot by the tree, Inuyasha snorted. "I suppose you don't consider the old man a link, then."
The day's events had certainly strained her, but not to the point where Megumi couldn't restrain the disapproving scowl she wanted to send his way. Though had she actually made the gesture, it would have faded away just as quickly after what he chose to follow his previous statement up with.
"Though . . . there was a reason, right?"
At first, Megumi felt too stunned to answer. "I . . . cannot remember. But I've always felt that there must have been one. I never changed his fate to hurt anyone. But I still do not know why it needed to be done at all."
Kagome's expression of pity was quick to morph into confusion, which made Megumi wonder how much had been relayed to the miko by her mate. She was grateful, at least, that he seemed to have chosen to omit some details. Nevertheless, she seemed determined to comfort Megumi, something the older woman found equally exasperating and amusing. "I would give him time," she advised, her eyes filling with soft reassurance. "Sesshomaru is a daiyoukai, after all; he certainly is hard pressed to come around to some things as quickly as humans like you and I do. Even Inuyasha sometimes takes a long time to get something hammered into his brain."
"Feh!" was the overly-eloquent reply from the white-haired man by the tree, which had Kagome grinning.
And despite yearning for that sort of connection, despite wanting to share in their effortless humor, that part of her still haunted by Tenseiga's message and those hauntingly red eyes reminded her that, Sesshomaru or not, there were still things that needed to be resolved; things that only Megumi could do.
"Thank you again for your assistance in the removal of my seal," Megumi interjected, smiling once softly. "But I cannot afford to wait here for a man who is not likely to return. The world moves on, no matter how stationary I may wish to be."
The miko's brows furrowed in puzzlement. "I don't think I understand." Inuyasha's ears flicked in her direction, but other than that the hanyou made no reaction.
Megumi found her eyes yearning to drift towards the sky; towards where she knew he would be in a few days.
What would he tell Kimi, when he returned alone?
"There is still a need for me in Japan. I've given Sesshomaru my word in that I will heal Rin - so I will seek the one I know to be responsible and end this trifling game of hers."
"Rin is sick?" There was genuine worry and concern in Kagome's voice, much like she imagined a mother might sound, and despite Megumi's aversion to the overly friendly miko she found herself wanting to give the woman comfort.
"She is fine, for now." Megumi's lips pursed lightly in that way she knew they always did when she was frustrated. She didn't know the motive behind the actions of the one who manipulated Rin, but it nagged her nevertheless, like a barely there tickle in the back of her mind warning her against overlooking any small detail. "And I will see to it personally that the source of her ailments is dealt with. There's no need to worry."
"And then?"
The simple question had come from Kagome, but Megumi found she could not look upon the woman's inquisitive face when she answered. Toga's image flashed before her eyes.
"I will go and stand before Toga once more," she confessed. "It is what Tenseiga has asked me to do, and so I will."
But first . . . first, she would need to take care of Temperament. Megumi turned towards the forest, scanning the foliage quickly before looking back towards the miko and her mate. "Where's the nearest uninhabited spot from this village?"
It was an odd, upfront and more blunt than she'd normally prefer kind of question but Megumi found she hardly cared at the moment. A goal would be a distraction from whatever the hell had happened today, and this was exactly the kind of goal she needed. Now to find somewhere completely isolated so she could do her work as the Twin Dragon of Timidity properly . . .
Inuyasha gave her a weird look as he pointed, but he at least gave her an answer. "About a three day journey on foot from here at a slow pace with reasonable time to rest."
Megumi nodded. "I'll leave at nightfall, then." She made a mental note to ask about any places where she could obtain some extra supplies before heading out again.
"So you'll stay for a meal?" Megumi eyed Kagome once before glancing in the direction that Inuyasha had spoken of, where she would be able to use, for the first time since returning to Japan, her personal favorite of all of Timidity's available powers.
But waiting long enough for a meal couldn't hurt . . .
Megumi sighed softly. "I suppose I'll take you up on that."
Kagome beamed.
Kimi, as she sipped her evening cup of tea, wondered how Sesshomaru and Megumi had been fairing lately. They'd been gone for several days now and she wished that their journey had been successful and void of problems up to this point. The improbability of such a thing as an uneventful adventure with those two reminded her that it was likely they would encounter a bump or two. Nothing grand of course; both were adept fighters and more than capable of dealing with any sort of hiccup.
She hoped.
Kimi would have allowed her thoughts to wander further had a servant not silently announced her presence outside just now. "Enter," Kimi told the newcomer, as she watched with carefully cloaked interest as to what sort of news this servant could possibly bring her at this hour. Was it about Sesshomaru and Megumi's journey, perhaps?
"Kimi-sama," the servant greeted her, bowing low. "I have news about Sesshomaru-sama's ward."
The fractional raise of Kimi's perfectly shaped brows was the only indication that her words had surprised the daiyoukai. "Of Rin, you said?"
The servant nodded. "She has not returned to the shiro since dawn today." Kimi's eyes narrowed.
"Tell me, where was she last seen?"
"She was leaving the shiro for a walk," the servant explained, but as she continued on she seemed to realize how peculiar the explanation sounded. "It was dawn, but she had things packed for lunch. She carried her Lord's kimono, as well."
How curious, indeed.
"Where is she?"
"We do not know, Kimi-sama. For some reason, no one bothered to check up on her until now."
"Find her," Kimi ordered the servant, the tiniest traces of a snarl threading itself through her voice. The Lady of the West's eyes did not leave the visage of the servant until she had exited the room fully, and even then they remained trained on the door. Kimi's keener instincts as an inu told her, without a doubt, that something was definitely wrong. It was too convenient a thing for Rin to go missing while her Lord was away; even more so for no one to inform the Lady of the West until now. And that part about Sesshomaru's kimono . . . Kimi had a feeling it was the exact same one that had been displayed carefully in Megumi's quarters.
Kimi sighed; apparently she would have a few hiccups of her own to deal with.
So I've returned . . .
This is a relatively short chapter because I had to spend most of the day rereading and double checking things to make sure the plot remained consistent. Sorry about how long it took for me to update; I've had an absolutely chaotic month and it's taken a huge mental and physical toll on me. I haven't felt like writing for awhile because of it. I hope you guys are still looking forward to the rest of the story; we're in that final leg before the climax and the resulting aftermath. I recently started a new job, so I won't have as much free time but I'll try my hardest to keep a semi-regular updating schedule. Thanks so much for your patience; please continue to support the story with your lovely reviews!
