A1969: I still don't own the show…unless, by some miracle, I suddenly had a billion dollars…
Sango: in your dreams.
A1969: you will never know what the future holds.
Miroku:
true…get on with the story!
A1969: yeah, yeah, hold your horses.
Chapter Ten: Into the Future
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"Mom! I told you a thousand times…I'm not crazy!" Clara snapped on the way back to the house. She silently pulled her haori tighter around her; it felt like dead winter inside the limo. She had a feeling that part of that cold was caused by the mounting tension between her and her mother. "And no, Kagome and I aren't high and no, we're not deluded and no, I'm not drunk!"
"Don't talk back to your mother, young woman!" Alexis snapped. "You've been gone for weeks and only God knows where you've been."
"I told you," Clara said through gritted teeth. "We were-"
"Don't give me that talk about you and Kagome being in the Feudal Era!" Alexis snapped. "You've given me a big enough headache as it is…don't you realize how much work I missed out because I've been trying to find you?"
"So that's the reason why you were relieved to see me? So that you could work again?" Clara snapped.
Alexis narrowed her eyes in warning at her daughter. "I'm taking you to a doctor," she muttered.
"I told you!" Clara argued, her patience wavering. "I'm alright!" She was afraid about her mother finding out about the stab wound that Hakudoshi had inflicted on her. Only kami knows what she'll think if she finds out, Clara thought. The moment she sees it, she'll probably think that I tried to join a gang initiation…
"You don't look alright," her mother said. "You look peaky…and filthy…who knows what's gotten into you."
"I'm fine."
"Young woman, since we've moved to Japan, you've been acting strange! Now stop this masquerade about the Sengoku Jidai," her mother ordered.
"But it's the truth!" Clara protested.
Her mother rubbed her temples. "Stop, Clara, otherwise…"
"Otherwise what?"
"I'll send you back to America," Alexis said softly.
Clara's eyes widened. "What? Mom, no!" She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay in Japan and help Kagome and the others.
"Then you will hold your tongue and stop acting foolish!" snapped Alexis.
"Oh, so I am foolish!" And it ran along the same channel as any other argument that they always had.
CoCoCoCoCoCo
Sango nudged Miroku gently in the ribs. He looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes. Sango sighed and pointed her chopsticks in a discreet manner at Kagome. They were having lunch in Kaede's hut and Inuyasha-predictably-had gone off to be with Kikyou who was resting somewhere in Inuyasha's forest.
Miroku gave a tiny nod with his head, knowing what Sango meant. Kagome had come back without Clara and explained that the young woman's mother had taken her away. They would have been genuinely concerned had it not been for the sorrowful look on Kagome's face that preoccupied their sympathy. They knew that Inuyasha was with Kikyou and they knew that Kagome knew.
"So," Kagome said, pretending to sound cheerful. "What'll we do about Clara?"
Miroku, Sango and Shippou raised their eyebrows at one another then glanced at Kagome. She was trying to hide her pain by being preoccupied with Clara. "Um…" Sango said hesitantly. "You said that her mother didn't believe her, right? Her mother also took her away?"
Kagome gave them a curt nod of the head. "But," she said. "It's possible that her mother will believe her sooner or later."
"Sooner or later?" Sango asked.
Kagome nodded again. "She and her mom…don't get along well. They're not that close and they're constantly arguing."
Sango nodded. She wanted to tell Kagome that if they were going to wait for Clara 'sooner or later' to come back, then, by that time, Kikyou might have died already but she didn't dare voice out her thoughts, knowing the effect on Kagome.
"So…she'll be back…" Miroku said.
Kagome sighed. "I'm not even sure if her mother would let her see me. I think she thinks that I'm a destructive influence on her daughter."
"Her mom sounds like one tough cookie," Sango said.
They promptly finished eating and set aside their now empty bowls. Kagome glanced hopefully at the doorway of Kaede's hut as it startled rustling, hoping that Inuyasha had come back. It was Kaede who entered, holding a bundle of herbs in her arms.
Kagome sighed and wondered what Inuyasha was up to; he was with Kikyou after all. She shook her head to clear of it any thoughts. Thinking about what Inuyasha and Kikyou were up to was torture for her.
Once more, Sango gave Miroku a gentle poke in the ribs and glanced discreetly at Kagome, who was holding Shippou on her lap. "I think you and I should talk to Inuyasha the moment he comes back," the taijiya said.
"Don't you think that it'd be best if we let them resolve their own issues?" the monk asked.
"I think we should confront Inuyasha all the same," said Sango.
"It's not like I can't hear you, you know," Kagome said indignantly, giving a slightly annoyed comical look.
"Eh…" Sango twirled a lock of her hair nervously.
"Anyway," Kagome said. "Just…let Inuyasha be…I can understand why he would spend time with Kikyou…after all…" she shook her head and bowed her head so that her eyes were shadowed.
"K-kaede-sama!!" The shrieks of the villagers made everyone in the hut forget their silent stupor.
"What' s going on?" Sango said as they ran out the hut.
They stopped in their tracks. Sesshoumaru was calmly walking towards them. The villagers had their weapons out and they masked their face to show no fear. No matter, they could see the fear in their eyes as they stepped aside so that Sesshoumaru could walk past them, not even giving them a glance.
"Sesshoumaru?!" Kagome said. "What is he doing here?"
"Who knows?" Miroku muttered. "He may be looking for Inuyasha." He stepped in front of Kagome and the others as though he meant to defend them. "What do you want, Sesshoumaru? Inuyasha isn't here."
The youkai lord stopped in his tracks then glanced at the men who surrounded him. "Tell them to fall back, otherwise, I will kill them all."
The men cringed and looked more determined than ever. "Fall back," Kaede ordered.
The men looked hesitantly at on another then, with relief showing in their eyes, dispersed, glad they were not asked to fight a demon who could have easily obliterated them. "Now, what do you want?" Miroku asked. "We told you, Inuyasha isn't here."
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at him. "Who told you that I am seeking Inuyasha? Do not assume as much, monk."
Miroku narrowed his eyes slightly. "I have come to speak with the miko," he said, looking at Kagome.
Kagome's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she wondered what Sesshoumaru wanted. "Why?" she asked, stepping beside Miroku.
"What do you know of the well?" he asked.
The miko gave him a look. "How do you…know about the well?" she asked.
"I was in pursuit of a demoness named Riyara. She is Menomaru's foolish younger sister," he said. "When she fled from me, she, it seems, jumped into the well within the forest of Inuyasha."
Kagome's eyebrows now rose so high that they had virtually disappeared into her bangs. "NANI?!" she practically shrieked at Sesshoumaru who narrowed his eyes at her. A thousand thoughts sifted through Kagome's mind. She had thought that only she and Inuyasha could go through the well. She didn't have time to wonder how another could go through. What bothered her most was the thought of what this demoness-Menomaru's younger sister at that-could do in her Era. She suddenly had a fleeting vision of buildings burned down, souls sucked out, a giant tree in the very heart of Tokyo and bodies strewn all over the place. She could almost hear the guns of the police firing in vain at the unknown demoness.
She shuddered.
She looked at Sesshoumaru. She hoped that he had-by some miraculous chance-developed a sense of humor. "Please tell me you're…actually…joking," she said. Miroku and the others gave her a look.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her. An indication that he was not-nor will he ever in a million years-joking. "Kami, kami, kami, kami, kami, kami, kami," Kagome muttered like a chant. Sesshoumaru now resented ever coming here. He had a sneaking suspicion that the miko was crazy.
"Kagome, what's wrong?" Sango asked, gently placing a hand on the miko's shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Kagome asked with stark disbelief. "A powerful demoness just jumped into the well…into my time! Think of what she could do there! Oh…And to think I've tried so hard to keep the Feudal Era a secret!" She shook her head. She looked at Sesshoumaru who was giving her a strange look. "Why did she jump into the well?"
"Did you not hear me say that I was in pursuit of her?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly, now berating himself for coming to this place.
"So it's your fault!" Kagome snapped, forgetting that the person whom she had just accused was Sesshoumaru. She blinked, remembering who she was talking to. "Kami," she muttered. "Anyway…why did you try to kill her?"
So many unnecessary questions, Sesshoumaru thought. All he wanted to do was to find Riyara and kill her. "She was searching for Midoriko's reincarnation," he said softly.
Kagome's eyes widened. "What?!" she half-shouted. "But-but…Clara is in my time as well!" She bit her lip. She'd have to go back and warn her friend. She suddenly realized that she couldn't eliminate a powerful demoness on her own. In a situation such as this, she and Inuyasha would have been off already but since Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen, she'd have to go on her own.
"Well, miko?" Sesshoumaru asked, hating what he was about to say next. "Will you show me how to get to where Riyara is?"
Kagome inwardly berated herself. Of course, she'd go with Sesshoumaru.
CoCoCoCoCoCo
"What do you mean you don't want me anymore?!" Inuyasha asked Kikyou with disbelief. The shrine maiden was resting peacefully in the low lying branches of a tree. Inuyasha had come with her, of course.
Kikyou stared at him. She had told Inuyasha they should stop being together. "I did not tell you that I do not want you anymore," she said softly. She looked down at Inuyasha. "I merely said that…we shouldn't be together anymore…" her voice trailed off.
"But why, Kikyou?" Inuyasha asked.
"Because…Inuyasha…you and I were…are never fated to be together in this life…" she said. "I am dying and…I want you to forget me."
"That will never happen! And you know it!" the hanyou declared.
"What of Kagome?" Kikyou asked. "No…you were not meant to be with me…"
"I'll stop Naraku," Inuyasha declared. "I'll kill him before the miasma completely consumes you."
"No," she said. "I do not deserve you…you…we are too different."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am dead and you are living. I am a priestess and you are…a half-demon," she said softly. She braced herself for what she would say next for she knew that it would hurt her. "You have Kagome…you can forget about me."
Inuyasha was silent, thinking. He did not deny that he had Kagome. In that instant, he weighed his feelings for both of them. Kikyou and Kagome-though both had the same soul-were too different. He wondered why he couldn't just have them both, that way it would be much easier.
He sighed. Kikyou was his past, his first love. She had died because of him. She was the first person whom he had learned to trust and yet that trust and their love was easily turned to bitter hate. Kagome made him laugh…she was the person for whom he had shed his very first tears. She made him happy, something that he didn't experience with Kikyou…
"You see?" Kikyou whispered. "You…wish to be with Kagome…do you not?"
"Kikyou…" Inuyasha approached her. "I-" He stopped and his nostrils flared. He sniffed the air. He could make out Sesshoumaru's scent in Kaede's village not far from where they were. "Sesshoumaru…" he hissed. He turned to Kikyou and without saying anything, he turned and ran off.
CoCoCoCoCoCo
"You want me to show you how to get to my world?" Kagome asked Sesshoumaru.
Sango placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't think you should go with him." She had to make her voice so low so that Sesshoumaru wouldn't hear. "Wouldn't it be best if you wait for Inuyasha?"
"No," Kagome said with a shake of her head. "Clara could be…besides, Inuyasha is…"
"Get away from Kagome, you bastard!" Inuyasha suddenly burst into the village, screaming like a wounded bull. He unsheathed the Tessaiga and aimed for Sesshoumaru. "WIND—"
"SIT!" Inuyasha crashed to the ground before he could finish his attack. The dust rose around Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru wondered how the priestess had managed to get beads of subjugation on Inuyasha. He reminded himself to be even more vigilant and alert when dealing with people who possessed spiritual powers.
"What was that for?" Inuyasha thundered as he pulled himself out of the hole, looking enraged and embarrassed since his brother witnessed him being sat by Kagome.
"Oh, will you shut up?!" Kagome snapped, finally venting the ill feelings that she had accumulated for Inuyasha. "In case you didn't notice, Sesshoumaru wasn't exactly trying to kill us!"
"Oh, so you're saying that you're siding with him?!" the hanyou snarled.
"No!"
"But you're acting like it!"
"Shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"Inuyasha! I'm warning you!"
"Silence, you fools." Sesshoumaru's cold voice cut through the air, silencing both Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Wow," said Sango upon seeing the two fall silent. "I wonder how he does it," she remarked to Miroku who nodded his head.
"Little brother," Sesshoumaru turned his amber gaze to Inuyasha. "I have no intention of harming the miko…I merely requested her aid when I normally would have acted on my own."
"You asking for help? Hah! Shows you're not all that high and mighty after all," Inuyasha said. Kagome glared at him.
Sesshoumaru turned his back on him. That remark stung, he had to admit. "Miko, if you do not hurry, your friend might be in danger," he said softly as he began walking off.
Kagome sighed then turned back to Inuyasha. She had to set aside her ill feelings towards him…for now, at least. "Are you coming?" she asked Inuyasha in a voice which sounded full of apology and sorrow.
Inuyasha sighed. He knew why Kagome was acting like this, he knew why she was angry at him. "'Course I'm coming," Inuyasha said. "After all…I'd like to see how Sesshoumaru reacts to being in a different time."
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Clara rolled over on her stomach on her bed and sighed. She and her mother had argued again and the latter had banished her to her room, virtually grounded. "Why won't you believe me, mom?" she asked aloud. "Why do you hate me so much?"
She sighed and fingered the jewel at her neck. She had swapped the miko garb for a pair of jeans and a halter. Her mother had threatened to send her back to America and she had a nasty feeling that Alexis would do just as she threatened.
She sighed and sat up. She got off the bed and walked over to the picture window that opened up to the balcony. She slid it open and stepped out into the open air. Her room faced her mother's vast garden, something which Alexis was proud of. Oh, she's proud of her plants, but not her daughter, she thought with disdain as she leaned on the railings.
She blinked. She felt a strong demonic aura nearby. Kikyou had taught her that this kind of feeling came from being able to detect the aura of demons and other such entities. She blinked again and the aura vanished. Was is just me or…did I just feel the presence of a strong demonic aura? she thought looking out at the gardens. The entire house was surrounded by a wall and she saw nothing leap over them. She shook her head. You're imagining things, Clara.
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Riyara carefully looked around the corner. After jumping into the well, she had found herself in such a strange place. The air reeked of unknown scents, the trees were virtually gone and worse, there were more humans than demons in the area.
Well, fortunately for her, that meant no competition for the Sacred jewel. Like any other demon, she could sense the power the jewel emanated but she couldn't sense its presence—only the keepers of the jewel could. But sensing its power was enough. She could follow it.
She jumped from building to building, wondering about the strange things that the humans had created. She allowed herself to marvel at the skyscraper rising like a tree at the far side of town. She knew she was safe. There was no Sesshoumaru here, no one who could go against her.
She jumped over to another rooftop and stopped to think. Midoriko's reincarnation was in possession of the jewel. Then that meant that she had to be careful, not knowing what to expect from the priestess's reincarnation. Would she be as powerful as she had been in the past?
Riyara wasn't about to take chances.
She continued to follow the power of the jewel until she reached a house. Unlike all the others, this one had a wall surrounding it. Riyara easily jumped over the wall and hid herself in the bushes just as a black car pulled up in the driveway.
She sensed the power of the jewel within it. She watched as the door open and a girl with brown hair and blue eyes stepped out. She was wearing the garb of a miko and around her neck hung the jewel. Riyara smirked. So that Midorko's reincarnation. She didn't look much but still, Riyara wasn't about to take chances. Like Sesshoumaru whom she had previously fought, this girl might have something hidden up her wide sleeves.
No, it was best to play it safe.
"Mom!" Midoriko's reincarnation was saying. "Everything I've said is the absolute truth!"
Another woman stepped out of the strange black cart. She looked at the girl and Riyara assumed that this was Midoriko's reincarnation's mother. "Hold your tongue, Clara," the woman said.
"Why won't you believe?" Clara snapped as she glared at her mother. "Am I worthless to you?"
The woman rubbed her temples. "Go to your room…I have work to go to." She got inside the car and it backed out of the driveway, leaving Clara fuming as she watched it go.
Riyara heard the girl sigh as she went into the house. She would watch the girl first, see what she could do, see if she was just as good as she was in her past life. Several moments passed before the girl stepped out onto her balcony, wearing a completely different set of clothes with the jewel still hanging around her neck.
She watched as the girl looked out at nothing in particular. Now. Now was the time to take the jewel and resurrect her father and brother. Just as she was about to step out of the bushes and kill the girl, Clara suddenly looked in her direction.
Riyara froze. The girl could sense her? She had masked her scent and aura and yet the girl sensed her? She had heard the Midorko had exceptionally fine senses and the thought of it made Riyara narrow her eyes.
How do I get the jewel without endangering my life? She thought as she continued to watch the girl who went back to staring at nothing. She made sure that Clara went back inside before coming out of her hiding place in the bushes. She jumped over the wall and out of the grounds and into the wide street.
A nasty smile crept up her lips. It was simple. She would use the girl's mother.
CoCoCoCoCoCo
Kagome gingerly climbed out of the well and looked up to see Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru silently glaring at one another. She had been surprised when Sesshoumaru managed to jump into the well and vanish in a flash of blue light.
It seemed that priestesses and powerful demons go through it.
The young miko silently heaved herself out of the well. She stood up and dusted herself off. "Will you two please stop glaring?" she asked in a tiny voice.
The two brothers looked at her as if they wanted to tell her that it was none of her business. Kagome walked past them partially slid the door of the well shrine open to see whether or not Souta or her mother was outside. She did not like having to explain to them who Sesshoumaru was.
The youkai lord sniffed the air. "Riyara has been here," he said to no one but himself.
"Anyway," Inuyasha said. "Who's this Riyara person? Your girlfriend?"
Sesshoumaru glared at him but didn't bother to respond since he knew that it would only give Inuyasha another reason to insult him. "Okay…come on," Kagome said, motioning for the two of them to join her. She now slid open the door and stepped out. Night was already falling and Kagome could already make out a few stars in the sky.
Inuyasha joined her, followed by his brother. Both of them looked at Sesshoumaru, trying to gauge his reaction. But he only gave them his raised eyebrow look. "So," Kagome said. "What should we do?"
Sesshoumaru walked past them. They had gotten him through the well and that was all he needed. As for Riyara, he would follow her scent. He didn't need Inuyasha and Kagome anymore.
"Hey!" Kagome called out. "Where are you going?"
"To look for Riyara," came Sesshoumaru's curt answer.
Kagome, to Inuyasha's horror, ran after Sesshoumaru. "No! Inuyasha and I will come with you!" she insisted. Inuyasha grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back to him, something which made her cry out. Inuyasha's grip was strong.
"Let him be," Inuyasha said.
"You don't understand, Sesshoumaru," Kagome called out. "This world is different from the one you're used to!"
Sesshoumaru turned around to face them. "I see no difference," he said, tilting his head at the shrine grounds.
"That's because my family lives here," Kagome said. "But when you step out of the shrine…it'll be different."
He continued walking on. "Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome said, grabbing the hanyou's hand.
"Wha—" Inuyasha said as Kagome began pulling him along. "You heard the bastard, he doesn't need us anymore, let him handle his own issues with his girlfriend!"
"Inuyasha," Kagme said. "I have to make sure that he doesn't let anything…slip. What if others find out what he is? How can I explain that?"
Inuyasha sighed as he and Kagome began following his brother. This is embarrassing, the hanyou thought as they left the shrine. They watched in fascination as Sesshoumaru stopped in his track as a truck zoomed by.
The youkai lord placed a hand on the hilt of Bakusaiga. "Told you it was different," Kagome said. "But don't worry…our world is safer than yours…so, no need for any swords." She added, noticing that his hand was on the hilt of Bakusaiga.
"Anyway," she said. "Do you have any idea where this Riyara is?"
"Yeah, Sesshoumaru, where's your girlfriend?" Inuyasha asked snidely. His brother glared at him.
"Cant' you sniff her out?" Kagome asked him.
"No," he said. "The smoke has blocked her scent."
Kagome paused for a moment. "Ah!" she said in a tone that all people used when they were struck with inspiration. "Didn't you say that Riyara was after Clara? Let's go to Clara, maybe we'll find Riyara that way."
He glanced at her. He had forgotten that Takeshi had told him that Clara was in the same place as Riyara. "Lead on, then, miko,' he said.
"Eh…I kinda forgot where she lives…" she said sheepishly.
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A1969: stop.
Sango: end of chapter.
Miroku: the author would like to thank all those who reviewed! Review again, please!