Here is chapter 15! I'm sorry once again for how slowly I am getting the chapters out but I just can't force it. I will not put out a chapter I am not completely satisfied with. I am sure you all understand that. Anyway, enjoy chapter 15 :)
Chapter 15.
The next day had been very quiet, when Kagome woke up breakfast was already being prepared and she looked at them all and stretched a little. They didn't really speak to each other. Everyone was deep in their own thoughts, at least until Shippo came running through the protective barrier and into the clearing. He was still slightly afraid of the mercenaries but made a bee line for Kagome but stopped and stared with wide eyes at the sight that greeted him. Kagome was sparring with Jakotsu and she was able to keep up with the feminine man. Shippo stared at Kagome and then heard a small chuckle behind him and turned on his heels and saw Bankotsu.
"Are you really that surprised, kid? She did tell you that we have been training her." Bankotsu said and Shippo stared at him for a few seconds before he took a deep breath.
"Yeah, she said that. But it is weird to see it. I have only seen her use a bow and arrows." Shippo said and Bankotsu nodded slowly.
"Yes, but now she knows how to use hand to hand combat. Something in my opinion she should've learned a long time ago when she started collecting the shards. Why is it that no one in your group thought to teach it to her?" Bankotsu asked and he could see Shippo look at him in confusion.
"I don't know. Maybe no one thought she needed it…?" Shippo said but his voice had an unsure tremble in it. Bankotsu looked at the kid and then shrugged his shoulders.
"In any case, whatever your group thought was needed or not this is something they should've taught her. I always found it strange that she was the only one in your ragtag group that didn't know how to defend herself. Something like Kagome getting hurt was bound to happen sooner or later and their neglect in teaching her what she needed made it much worse." Bankotsu said quietly.
At Bankotsu's words Shippo couldn't help but agree. After all, if someone in their group had taken the time to train Kagome then she might not have been kidnapped in the first place. And Shippo then started to wonder why no one had taken up the task to train Kagome. She had been with them, collecting the shards for three years and no one had even bothered asking her if she wanted to know how to defend herself more. He had until now not thought much about it at all but now he wished he was already an adult. Then he could've trained her or something.
"You… you are right… I don't know why none of us thought about it before" Shippo whispered as he lowered his head and stared down at the ground. Bankotsu looked down at the small demon and sighed a little.
"Whatever. She is getting the training she needs right now. Hopefully that will be enough." Bankotsu said and at Shippo's nod he looked at Kagome and Jakotsu, who now had taken a small break to drink some water and he saw that they were talking about something that med Kagome smile a little bit brighter and he couldn't help but mentally hope and pray that this young woman would be able to heal and move past what Naraku had done to her.
It wasen't until Renkotsu announced that the lunch was ready that Kagome and Jakotsu stopped their sparring and Kagome was breathing heavily while Jakotsu just looked a little out of breath.
"You are getting better, Kags. You are much faster but you need to work on the strenght to put in the strikes. Sometime you falter." Jakotsu said and smiled at Kagome and Kagome nodded slightly in thanks and agreement and then walked to the fire and sat down and took her water bottle and drank from it greedily. That was when she noticed Shippo walking up to her and she put the bottle down and looked at him with a small smile. Ever since her reiki had come out to heal her from Naraku's attack she had become even better to feel others aura so now it was very hard for anyone to sneak up on her.
"What is it Shippo?" Kagome asked gently and Shippo looked at her and then carefully crawled up into her lap and hid his face against her stomach. Kagome looked down at the small kit and then looked confused at the others. The guys only shrugged and then Jakotsu handed her two sticks of skewered meat and Kagome took them with a grateful smile and then looked down at Shippo.
"Do you want to eat some lunch, Shippo?" Kagome asked and Shippo looked up at her with a calm yet unsure stare and then nodded and took the stick Kagome offered him.
Shippo, once Kagome had ended her sparring had to follow his instincts and be near her. Kagome had been the one taking care of him since they first met and he wanted nothing more than to cry and tell her how sorry he was for not being there when she was kidnapped. No he didn't understand what Naraku did to her but he knew it had to be something very bad since Kagome didn't smile those beautiful bright smile anymore. Her smiles didn't reach her eyes fully anymore. But as Shippo took the offered food and slowly started to eat while Kagome ate her own he knew that if he told Kagome he was sorry that it probably would make her sad and also make her remember the things she obviously wanted to forget for now so he wouldn't say anything. He would wait for her to work it out herself. He just hoped it was soon since he didn't know when Inu Yasha and the others would decide to return.
(With Naraku inside ).
Naraku snarled out in anger as he had asked Kanna to once again to show him his revived mercenaries only to have Kanna's mirror only show him nothing. He could spy through the mirror on Inu Yasha's group and had seen that Kikyo had joined them to help find the younger miko. And that made Naraku even angrier. That, after all meant that Kagome was still alive somehow and now he couldn't seem to be able to see where the Band of Seven had disappeared to. He couldn't even track them through the jewel shards they had. Naraku had tried to make Kanna show him Kagome and it hadn't showed anything. Which meant that something was blocking him from seeing the younger miko but also blocking Bankotsu and the others. And so he had started to suspect that Bankotsu had betrayed him and that he and the other in the revived group had somehow been able to save Kagome. A part of him though, was very happy about that. Ever since he had taken Kagome's purity from her he hadn't been able to forget how good it had felt to be inside her. The woman was very petit after all and he had still been able to fit all of himself inside her. Naraku shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts and then gave Kanna an annoyed glare.
"Kanna show the village of Edo." He said suddenly and Kanna looked startled slightly but then nodded and the mirror then turned from only showing a white haze to show the village of Edo and Naraku then told the void demon to show him the old miko's hut and once it came into view, Naraku raised his brow slightly as he saw the young kit.
He had, of course noticed that the little brat hadn't been traveling with Inu Yasha and the others but the fact that the small child didn't seem sad of worried about the search the others did made him suspect that the little brat knew something.
"Kanna, follow the brat" Naraku said as Shippo bounded towards the forest of Inu Yasha. Kanna did what her master told her to and made sure to follow the young fox demon with her mirror but when the child reached the edge of the forest the image in the mirror started to fade out and soon it was back to be completely white again and she looked up at Naraku.
"I cannot seem to spy on the child while he is inside the forest." Kanna said in her normal unemotional voice and Naraku snarled out in anger but then calmed down. 'It seems as though the same thing that a blocking me from finding Bankotsu and his group aswell as Kagome is doing the same in that forest. That is worth investigating.' Naraku thought and then looked at Kanna.
"You can leave. Tell Kagura to come here, I have a job for her." Naraku said with a wave of his hands and Kanna immediately left and went to find her sister, Kagura.
Soon Kagura entered Naraku's quarters and she looked at him in anger but knew very well not to say anything more than necessary.
"You called, Lord Naraku?" Kagura said while she let her fan hide the sneer that was upon her lips. Naraku gave Kagura a dangerous glare as a warning before he spoke.
"Careful, Kagura. Otherwise I might just decide you are not useful to me any longer. I have a job for you and you better not fail at it. I want you to go to the forest of Inu Yasha and stay hidden while you observe what is happening there. Do not let anyone see you. However…" Naraku paused as a sinister idea came to mind and then continued.
"It is quite obvious that the miko, Kagome somehow is still alive. If you happen to come across her I want you to capture her and bring her to me alive. I want to taste her once more. I might actually keep her." Naraku said as he let out a dark chuckle that sent shivers of fear and disgust down Kagura's spine and she only nodded and then left the room and hurried to leave the castle and the mountain it resided inside of. A part of her hoped that she might run into Inu Yasha aswell as she hoped that she did not have to see the young miko. She had been outside the room when Naraku had raped Kagome and she had not liked it at all. No, Kagura didn't really like Kagome but she didn't think anyone deserved to have their first time being taken from them in that manner. As Kagura came out of the mountain she took out her feather and soon she was flying high up in the air traveling towards the village of Edo and the forest of Inu Yasha.
(With Kagome and the Band of Seven and Shippo).
Kagome sat by the well with Shippo in her lap and watched as Bankotsu and Jakotsu was sparring. As she watched the two she played with Shippo's hair and couldn't help but think about how weird Shippo had been acting since lunch. Sure the little boy had always been attached to her but now it was like he was afraid of her disappearing. She was interupted from her musings when she heard the gentle mumbling from Shippo and she looked down and noticed that he had fallen asleep and she couldn't help but smile a little at him and then she slowly took Shippo in an embrace and then slowly stood up and walked to where she had been sleeping during the night and put him down on her sleeping bag and covered him with a blanket. Once that was done she saw that Bankotsu and Jakotsu had stopped sparring and she walked up to them. She was going to ask Jakotsu about Shippo's strange behavior.
Kagome and Jakotsu had after Kagome had approached him and Bankotsu walked to just where the barrier started to have some privacy and once they sat down by a tree a few feet from the barrier Kagome asked Jakotsu about Shippo. Jakotsu looked at Kagome and listened and couldn't help but internally laugh and shake his head in how innocent Kagome still could be. Sure she still didn't feel all that safe around his brothers when alone and she became stiff if they came to close for her. He was still like that even for him but for him it only happened if he surprised her. Jakotsu looked at Kagome and then looked towards the little bump under the blanket that was Shippo sleeping peacefully and tried to think of a way to answer Kagome's questions without reopen her wounds. Renkotsu had said while Kagome had been in her time that Kagome needed some time before she could talk about the rape and that they should not try to remind her and let her herself bring it up. Jakotsu however didn't think that was good. Sure, Kagome seemed fine right now and she had talked about it with her mother from what he understood but he still thought she needed to talk about it with someone that wasen't her family and he had noticed that Kagome was the type to keep everything bottled up. She had done that until her 'time of the month' as she called if had happened. Jakotsu took a deep breath and looked at Kagome
"Well, I just think Shippo is happy you are okay and is worried that you might disappear or something. He seems to look at you as a mother figure." Jakotsu said calmly and he saw how Kagome blushed slightly and smiled a little.
"Y-you think so? You really think he sees me as his mother?" Kagome asked and Jakotsu grinned slightly.
"Yeah, you'll be a great mother someday." Jakotsu said but then frowned when Kagome's smile slowly vanished and she looked down at her hands with a sad expression.
"Kags, what's wrong?" Jakotsu asked quietly and Kagome looked up at him with a sad smile.
"I don't think I will ever have children of my own… just the thought of… a guy touching me like that… it scares me… besides, what kind of guy would want to touch me anyway after what Naraku did to me?" Kagome asked as tears slowly filled her eyes and Jakotsu looked at her in slight shock and then let out a string of curses in a low voice and then put his hands on Kagome's shoulders and looked in to her eyes.
"Listen and listen very closely to me, Kags. You will overcome this and put it behind you. Maybe not right now but you will get over this and then you will find a guy who will care for you for who you are, not for your past or anything else. Don't ever say things like that. True I did not like you at first but now I see you as something close to a sister. I have seen you slowly recover for what Naraku did but I think you need to openly talk about it to someone. Once you are ready to do that, you can come to me. I will listen, and once you have talked about it you will move on." Jakotsu said with a firm but slightly gentle voice.
Kagome stared at Jakotsu with wide eyes in shock and she slowly nodded and once Jakotsu let go of her shoulders she wiped away her tears and took a deep breath to calm herself while never letting Jakotsu out of her sight and she couldn't help but think about what he had said to her. It was true, she had told her mother a little but not much, it was no way she could tell her mother every detail after all. Did she need to talk about what happened more than she had already done? She knew that people said that you needed to confront your own memories when something bad happened but she thought she had already done that. Maybe she hadn't after all. Kagome closed her eyes slowly and took a deep breath and then opened them and looked at Jakotsu again.
"Okay, I will come and talk to you when I'm ready." Kagome spoke softly and Jakotsu nodded slowly in agreement.
A few hours later Shippo had woken up and was practically glued to Kagome's side and wouldn't leave her. Kagome couldn't help but smile at how Shippo was acting and when she noticed that Bankotsu stood up and walked to his banryuu she knew it was soon time for dinner and she looked at him.
"Be careful, Bankotsu. Naraku is probably suspecting something by now." Kagome said and Bankotsu looked at her and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, I am always on my guard." He said and then left the clearing and the safety of the barrier to go hunting. Kagome watched him leave and gave a small smile. Even though they were supposed to be enemies she had after gotten to know them realised that they were actually very fun people to be around. At least as long as they did not destroy villages. They had not done that since they saved her though and she hoped they wouldn't start doing that again. Kagome looked at Jakotsu and smiled a little and really hoped that she would be able to help them all return to their bodies in the future before Naraku or Inu Yasha find out where they were. The thought of Naraku made her shudder in disgust and fear. She was scared of him now and the thought of Inu Yasha coming and finding her scared her aswell. She didn't know why but she was afraid of seeing his and the others reaction once they found out what had happened to her. She let out a small sigh and rested her chin in her hands and looked at Suikotsu a little. She was going to remove his shard when she left after dinner. She just hoped he wasen't as blood thirsty in the future as he was now. Her musings then got interupted when Jakotsu said her name and she looked at him and giggled when he asked to sparr with her and she immediately nodded. She needed the distraction and she actually liked the training.
(With Kagura over Inu Yasha's forest).
Kagura was flying over the forest looking for the small fox kit and scowled in annoyance. She hoped she wouldn't find him. Mostly because it was a chance, albeit a very small one, that the young miko was with him and after what Naraku said about wanting to keep the miko if she was still alive made Kagura really wish that Kagome was either dead or kept herself hidden somewhere where not even her group knew where she was. Kagura sighed and was happy that Naraku hadn't let any of his saimyosho to follow her. Naraku didn't want Inu Yasha to be able to smell them in the forest named after him. Kagura looked down at the forest and made sure to use her wind to keep her scent and aura hidden from everyone and when she noticed the clearing of that weird well that seemed to mean a lot to the miko and she narrowed her eyes. She thought something was off about the clearing and the well. She couldn't put her finger on what but she thought the clearing looked too… peacefull. Kagura shrugged her shoulder. She didn't really care and Naraku didn't tell her she needed to check out anything. Just keep herself hidden and observe what she saw. That was when she noticed something and she slowly lowered her feather and her eyes widened in shock when she saw Bankotsu appear out of nowhere outside of the clearing and she knew right away what was going on. There was a barrier cast over the clearing where the well was and Bankotsu and the other of the Band of Seven was hiding inside of it. Kagura narrowed her eyes slightly in thought and wondered if perhaps the miko was inside the barrier as well and maybe even the fox kit. If that was true then Bankotsu and the others was trying to betray Naraku. 'But how can they do that? Naraku will take back the shards if they are found out. There is no way for them to go against him…' Kagura thought in confusion. She slowly landed behind a very large tree and decided to see if she could get a better look on what Bankotsu was up to. However, when she peeked from the side of the tree to see where Bankotsu where going she was met with the sharp blade of banryuu.
Bankotsu stepped out of the barrier and started to walk into the more dense part of the forest to hunt some food but as he walked he suddenly became aware of him being watched and he immediately, but discreetly looked around and noticed something moving behind a tree and he was there fast, pointing his trusted banryuu at one of Naraku's minions and his eyes narrowed.
"Kagura, why are you here? Bankotsu asked coldly. Kagura glared at Bankotsu and then sneered.
"I was order to go here and observe what the fox brat was up to. I never thought I would find you here though. What are you doing, hiding yourself from Naraku?" Kagura asked snidely though she was very curious herself. Bankotsu narrowed his eyes and glared at Kagura.
"Let's just say I have found a way to stay alive without the shards in my neck. What are you going to do about it?" Bankotsu asked as he moved his halberd so the tip was gracing Kagura's throat. Kagura's eyes widened in shock at Bankotsu's answer and she stared at him. If what the young mercenarie said was true and he had found a way to come back to life completely then Naraku would lose his foot soldiers. Something that would hurt Naraku's plans greatly. She knew however that Naraku would smell Bankotsu on her when she returned so she couldn't lie about what she found out. Which gave her two choices. Either tell Bankotsu she wanted to help him, or fight the man of and retreat back to as fast as she could. She knew how fast Bankotsu was but also knew she could get away if she used her wind abilitys.
"Is the miko with you guys aswell?" Kagura asked and when Bankotsu glare turn into a scowl she knew her answer and she narrowed her eyes.
"Fine, don't answer. Your reaction already did that for you. Let me go and I… I will give you one more day to get your full lives back. After sunset tomorrow I will return to Naraku and tell him what I have found out. I hate the bastard but he has my heart and I can't free myself from him. However, if you have the miko with you, you should know that Naraku know knows she is alive and want her back." Kagura said and Bankotsu's eyes widened in shock only to narrow in anger but before he could give Kagura an answer he was flung back by her winds and before he could attack the wind demon she was already up in the air moving away from him. Bankotsu glared up at her and then shouted.
"Why did you tell me all of this?!" when he noticed Kagura looking at him with a slightly sad expression he grabbed his banryuu in a tighter grip. Kagura looked down at Bankotsu and looked sad for a moment.
"I just don't wish for the miko to get captured by Naraku again. No one deserves what he did to her or what he want to do to her again if he gets her. If you can become free from Naraku then he will lose some advantage that he has." Kagura said and then she let her winds carry her away up high into the air until Bankotsu couldn't see her anymore and Bankotsu stood where he was for a minute and then turned sharply on his heels and hurried back towards the clearing.
Bankotsu didn't trust Kagura but it was no secret that the wind witch hated her master. Why she would keep what she knew a secret for a day he didn't know but he knew that they needed to hurry up their plans. Before they had planned with Kagome to take it slow. Now they couldn't do that. They had only to sunset the next day to get all of them back into the future. That would probably put pressure on Kagome. At that thought Bankotsu sighed. More pressure was not what the girl needed. Bankotsu shook his head and walked through the barrier and saw everyone looking at him confused as to why he had already returned. Bankotsu walked to where Kagome and Jakotsu was sitting and he noticed the worry in Kagome's eyes and mentally cringed. Once he stood infront of Jakotsu and Kagome the both of them stood up.
"What's going on, Bankotsu?" Jakotsu asked and he noticed that Suikotsu and Renkotsu also moved closer.
"We all need to return to the future before sunset tomorrow. Kagura spotted me in the forest. She said she would delay telling Naraku until then." Bankotsu said and instantly everyone in the clearing became tense.
Kagome stared at Bankotsu with wide scared eyes and she could almost feel how she got paler in the face at the knowledge that Naraku would know about Bankotsu and the others. That meant that he might find out about her being alive.
"D-does she knows about me…?" Kagome asked with her voice trembling slightly and Bankotsu met her stare with his own and slowly nodded and Kagome took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked at everyone and then felt someone gently touch her leg and looked down at saw Shippo look at her with concerned eyes. When she saw the little kit's worried eyes on her she took one more deep breath and tried to relax. 'I need to move past this, but not here where Shippo can risk hearing it.' Kagome thought and she looked at the others and her eyes got some determination in them
"Okay, then we will work faster. I didn't want to do that since it would seem like a very weird yet good coincidence if you all woke up at the very same time in the future. But now it's different. I think I should take the rest of the shards from you all today. That way I can go back home and help you all in the hospital and also put some distance between me and the risk of Naraku finding me." Kagome said and she then looked down at Shippo and smiled sadly.
"I am not ready to meet with Inu Yasha yet. Shippo when he comes back to Edo with the others can you tell him to give me some more time before he comes through the well? I don't know how much time I need but I need to be with my family and work through this without him yelling at me." Kagome asked Shippo in a small voice.
Shippo looked up at Kagome for a few seconds and then hugged her leg tightly and nodded.
"Okay, but promise me that you will come back, please?" Shippo pleaded as tears entered his eyes. Kagome looked down at the kit and smiled gently and nodded.
"I promise. I still need to restore the Shikon jewel. Now you should hurry back to Kaede. Tell her that I am sorry for not seeing her." Kagome said and Shippo nodded his agreement to that and then let go of Kagome's leg and then walked out of the clearing, though he would look back at Kagome almost at every step he took until he walked through the barrier. After that he turned completely and started to run towards the village while he held back his tears. He had been able to smell Kagome's fear when Bankotsu had said that Naraku probably knew she was alive and that was when he was sure that whatever had happen to Kagome was very, very bad and he promised he would make sure Inu Yasha gave her, her space but also that Naraku would pay for hurting her.
After Shippo had left she looked at the others and took a deep breath.
"Should we do this right now or do you want to wait?" Kagome asked but all four of them shook their head in no.
"We should do this now, that way we can be sure that Kagura is not tricking us." Jakotsu said and at that everyone agreed. Kagome nodded and then walked to her bag and started to pack it and then took it to the well and sat down on the lip and looked at them all.
"So who, wants to go first?" Kagome asked knowing that I didn't really matter since they all would be in the future soon any way.