CHAPTER 13
Rise and Fall of the False God
As she ran in the front door she tore off the boy's haori and by the time she got to the top of the stairs she had gotten the binds off as well, she tore into her room, grabbing her own clothes and then tore out again. They had not brought the wounded back to the inn, they brought them to the place that they had all first met. That was where Genrou said they would be the safest of anything, and right now she had to trust Genrou.
"Rikuo! Seto! Let us go!" She cried out as the two little hanyou scurried out of the room, Seto still rubbing his large green eyes, but Rikuo was wide eyed and waiting as always. "We have work to do. All things that can be used as bandages I need the two of you to find and bring to the meeting spot."
The two little hanyou looked at each other at Kagome flew out of the room, still tying one side of her haori as she went. Her hair was down, no makeup on, she was flat terrified. Getting hit by Sesshomaru had hurt, but nothing like the wounds that he had, and the ones he had inflicted, and some of the other Hanyou and demons they got from the pits that were on the verge of death. She stopped in front of Asyanya who was sitting in the main hall of the place picking at her long white nails.
"You! Neko!" She hissed at her. The cat's ear turned lazily forward as her red eyes focused on the Lady of the West. "You have the 'Healing Kiss'?" She asked demandingly. The albino neko simply nodded slowly. "I will pay you handsomely to attend to the needs of this lady, now, more than you will make in a day sitting here and waiting for a way to promote yourself even further."
"That is charrrming." She said coming to her feet, allowing the thing Kimono to settle into place. "And a way to get what you want. Wherrre do you need me lady Kagommme."
"Follow." She said sternly and started to walk. She could feel the neko's red eyes on her, but she did not have time to care. People could be dying right now, Sesshomaru would live, but she was not sure about Li and the others, they were hurt badly.
The albino neko moved quickly into a side room and when she came out, she was dressed in a heavier kimono, and moved over to Kagome. Together, the odd couple moving through the streets, Sesshomaru's mate and his favorite consort moved through the front roads and into the back allies.
The Lady of the House of the moon sat in the center of the room, a small crow hanyou curled up in her lap. She told one of the others that she did not know where the boy had come from, but then decided it did not matter. Asyanya sat close by in case she was needed. She was curled up against the side of the giant tiger youkai, whose rib cage steadily rising and falling brought some rhythmic comfort to the exhausted feline.
This woman, this Kagome, shocked Asyanya. She did not know really what to think of her, she had never met a human so willing to dirty themselves with youkai blood, unless they were slayers. She had never met a Miko willing to enter Shidi. She had never met a human Miko with the strength to kill Sesshomaru, but watching this woman work the feline had no doubt that Kagome could have done so, and had to do so with cause, she was too caring to have done so for no reason. Even now the feline could sense the darkness around her, the feeling of the icy spirits rose her fur sometimes, not restless spirits, but icy ones. They were emotional spirits. She hated them all, she was a cat after all.
Hours of healing, wrapping, binding, making salves, making tea, tending to children, adults, hanyou and youkai with the same tending hands, this woman still refused to rest. Asyanya yawned and watched now as she spoon fed the starving crow from a mixture of meat and milk that she had made. Amazing that the little creature could eat so much. The entire time she sat there, rocking him, singing to him. He told her that his momma used to sing to him when he was scared, and so whenever Kagome wasn't talking to him, she was humming or singing the sweetest little lullaby to the scared chick. Where did she get such endurance? Asyanya was so tired now she could barely keep her red eyes open. She knew she could sleep for ten or fifteen minutes and be fine, she was a cat after all, the term cat nap was not coined for the inu!
"Asyanya." She was roused from her dreamy thoughts when Kagome spoke to her, her white ears standing up through her white hair and her red eyes slipping open. "You need to sleep."
"A short nap." She said, her normal purr missing from her voice as she spoke, her body could not find the effort to purr.
"Then do so. Everything is fine here. You have done well," She said smiling at her.
"You are a strange creature Kagome Higurashi of the House of the Moon." The neko mused as she curled tighter against the tiger's side.
"I pride myself on it." She answered. As the boy had fallen asleep, she pulled herself up and walked over. Opening the tiger's eyes, knowing that he was too out to notice she checked the eyes.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I am making sure his eyes adjust to light." Kagome responded. "If they don't, he had a bad head wound, that could kill him if he sleeps."
Asyanya canted her head in thought, lax eyes watching. That was true, she had known people who had died from head injuries because they went to sleep and never woke up. That was true! But she did not know that the eyes could tell you that.
"You see…" Kagome said beckoning her to look at the tiger's slitted blue eyes. "When I put the candle closer, see how his eyes changes size inside." She nodded watching enthralled. "That means that he is ok because his brain is still registering his eyes. Making them work. If he were going to be in trouble, his eyes would not change when the light came closer."
"Where did you learn this?" She gasped.
"I am well educated." Kagome answered. "It is a long story Asyanya, I will share it with you some day."
"These healings… they are what Neko do…" She said. Kagome nodded. "Could you… teach me?"
"You would have to be willing to travel with us to study." Kagome said softly, leaning against the large beast breathing benieth them both. "It would make you far more valuable than the way you pawn yourself today."
The feline inclined her head in thought, nuzzling into the soft fur below her.
"Sleep now, I go to check on Maru." She said, her hand would simply run over Asyanya's head as if she were a house cat, but she was just that, an over grown house cat, so she didn't mind so much, purring slightly as she nuzzled into the tiger who claimed her in his sleep with one massive paw and she drifted away.
"Lady." The voice came to her, like the sound of silk and she knew it was Li. She stopped and turned to him. He was hanyou again. That had been a painful transformation, she had held onto him, even as she heard the metal bar he grabbed so not to claw her, bend with his strength. Maybe she trusted too much, Sesshomaru and InuYasha always told her that she had… it was the only thing they seemed to agree on. But why fear him, that will only make him fear himself, and if he fears himself, then he might hurt her, not meaning too. The way Sesshomaru had in the pits because he was afraid of himself, he pushed her away when he needed her. He did not mean to leave the giant purple bruise on her face, she knew that, but he had, because he had been afraid.
"Li?" She asked stopping and looking to him.
"A moment?" He asked. She glanced at the door of Maru's room nervously. "He is well Lady, please?"
She sighed, smiling, and walking over to him. "You know what I am thinking?" She asked. Well almost more told him than asked.
"I do." He said softly. "I know that you were worried for this… Maru you travel with." He said gently, carefully choosing his words so not to say to much where prying ears might here. She pulled out the brush and started to brush the long silky blue hair, such a dark blue, not black blue, it was, naturally… blue. She moved it around his horns and ears and sat behind him brushing. A low growl of thanks rumbled from his chest, his forked tongue licking the air for a moment before being drawn back into the cage of teeth that held it.
"Ask."
"Why are you doing this?" It was more of a test question and she knew it. Testing the waters, seeing if he had judged her motives correctly or if he was reading her wrong. She had seen many body readers to the same thing, and that is what they did with lie detectors too.
"I am trying to rewrite history." She answered thoughtfully, wondering, only vaguely and for only a moment if she had answered correctly.
"Sometimes time is a finicky friend Kagome-chan." He answered softly. It had been so long since she had been 'Kagome-chan' to someone, she had almost gotten used to 'Kagome-sama'. She snapped the barette into his hair thinking on that simple statement, and yet continued to brush that long ponytail even after it was bound in the high clip on his head.
"Sometimes it is." She responded. "But without my work here, nothing will ever change." She said softly setting the brush down on the table.
"You are a very strong woman. You have been through much." He said softly, she could contently just listen to him talk; it was somewhat discouraging that he said so little at any one time. Youkai and hanyou alike were known for thinking little of her, for not understanding her, and for not wanting too. The compliments that he gave were met with a wave of relief that he was not among the numbers that thought her nothing more than a filthy human. "No Kagome-chan. You are not a filthy human. You are anything but. One might wonder if the Shikon No Tama could ever really be human, no matter how bad it might want to be?" She stopped rocking and stared at him for a moment, had he really just said what she thought he had? She hadn't confided in anyone that the stupid jewel was not in her side, but more or less just… her. There was no bump anymore, she touched it and it was normal flesh. She simply shook her head. "Why are you not talking to me Kagome-chan? I know what you are thinking, but I would like to hear your voice, assure me I am not alone?" He said with a small chuckle.
"I am right here Li." She said, her own voice seeming almost too loud after listening to his smooth tones. He blindly reached a clawed hand back over his shoulder and fumbled to find hers, she placed her hand between his long claws and into the scaley hand as he pulled her forward in front of him.
"Kagome-chan." He said gently. "You need to find why you are here. Not for your mate, or your friends. Not for all of humanity, or all of youkai-dom but for you. What is Kagome Higurashi's reason for being here right now?"
"I have selfish reasons." She said softly, almost as if ashamed and yet grinning at the same time.
"Of course, you do." He said gently. She just smiled. Did he really understand her that well? "But you do nothing with those reasons Kagome-chan. You still do for youkai, and humans, and hanyou, and me, and them, and Maru, but you are not doing for one thing that none of us would be well to live without right now… you." He cradled her lightly pulling her in against him. Nothing expected, just holding her, those lengthy claws running over her hair and back as he sighed softly, that tongue again licking at the air before vanishing once more. "You are relaxing to me. Now how can I be relaxing to you?" He murred softly.
"Heal, be well, and live a long, prosperous and enjoyable life." She said clearly to him. He smiled, and she knew what that smile meant. Inside he was saying see, still doing for everyone but you. But she didn't care, just hearing him tell her what she felt, knowing he understood, accepted, no judgments or expectations, that was enough for her to fulfill what she wanted.
"Where I come from, your kind is not. It hurts. I don't want to hurt." She said steeling herself. "I am going to fix it for me… because I am selfish. Because I can't live in a world where you all… are not."
"Ah. I think I understand." He said gently, still stroking her back and hair with just the very tips of his long claws. "Then I will do this for you. To relax you. If it is possible dear Kagome-chan, I will be there when you go home. The dragon is eternal, as is its hanyou. Only certain things can kill me, and no one knows what those are… only I know. If I can, you will see me again, and then, you can rest sound, knowing that you are not alone there."
"I'm gonna hold you to that. So stay away from Miko, we're dangerous." She said, a smile tugging at her tired and emotionally beaten lips as she looked into the bandages where his eyes should have been.
"Good." He said smiling. "Now, go and tend to your guard Kagome."
"Thank you." She said gently, bowing to him at the waist before walking away, listening to the line that he uttered as if writing poetry in his mind: Sometimes time is a cruel friend, sometimes that's what we need.
The low and warning growl came as she opened the door. She simply slid inside in spite of the vocalizations of her mate. She then let it close and looked at him. His ribs bandaged from the cuts that Li had given him, his body pale from the blood Myouga took to rid him of the poisons running rampant in his system, his arms submerged in a gelatinous ooze of aloe gel her mother had given to her for burns, his red hair was tied up on the back of his head, she could only assume that Asyanya had done it when she had changed his bandages, because two of the feline's hair sticks were shoved into it, making him look almost comically feminine, so in her exhausted state she couldn't help but laugh at him. He greeted this reaction with a raise of the brow. She knew he was wondering when his warning growl had become deserving of a laugh, but he obviously did not understand that wasn't what she was laughing at.
"Maru, I know Sota is cute, but I didn't think you would do your hair like mine to impress him." She giggled. He growled. She laughed outright. And he… frowned.
"Get these things out please?" He said softly, looking pleadingly at her. "No one will, they come in to check on me and leave them because they are… and I quote… adorable."
She moved over, trying not to laugh again and took the pins out, setting them aside, then she would unbind the fabric down his back to release his hair and brush it, braiding it this time all the way down in a low red braid and fastening it with an elastic. Of all the ideas!
"What are you doing to my hair?" He asked.
"Making it efficient and more masculine." She answered. He nodded some and stayed still. When she was done she showed it to him, pointing out the way the hair was crisscrossed, keeping it from being in the way, and getting tangled, and then showing him how the elastic would work to hold the blade in. It was indeed efficient.
After that she removed his arms from the salve, the burns from him purifying himself were bad, and deep, but the salve had helped and she had traded some youki with him, as had Genrou, so he was able to heal enough for his arms not to be completely useless. She wrapped white bandages dunked in the ooze and wrapped them around his arm, from his elbow down and around his hands. She took out two Ace Bandages from her bag and bound them tight over the wrappings.
"Those smell odd. You used them on my ribs before." He said. Well his memory was good seeing as he had been out cold for most of that time.
"Yes." She said. "They will keep the skin from getting badly stiff and cracking and all." She explained. "It compresses the skin."
"Like a new skin?" He asked.
"The compression makes your body produce new skin with more elasticity, less scarring. But for you the pressure will aid you to heal faster and support your breathing so it doesn't hurt as much," She said smiling. She gave him the extra youkai strong pain reliving tea, and then curled up next to him.
"You need to rest Kagome-kun." He said softly, pressing a soft kiss to her temple but nothing more, it seemed that he understood now, unlike before, that in his guise she had a hard time remembering that he was Sesshomaru.
"I will." She said softly. "But…"
"But nothing." He said demandingly. "Now. The others can do without you for a few hours while you rest. I can hear and smell that things have settled out there."
"Drink the tea." She repeated. She opted to ignore the fact that Sesshomaru had made a point.
"Lay down and rest." He said stubbornly.
"I will but I have to hold the cup for you goober!" She exclaimed.
"Goober?" Sesshomaru asked perplexed.
"Oh shut up and drink the tea so I can go to sleep!" She hissed. He started slightly and complied. She curled then against his back, not wanting to hurt his ribs by curling up to his chest and settled in with him. He turned onto his back and looked at her face, the marks where he had hit her in the pits in her attempt to stop him from killing Li visible and scabbing on the side of her cheek.
"I'm sorry koibito." He said gently. She bit her lip; he had never called her that before. She grinned softly and sighed.
"You were forgiven before it happened. Now sleep." And with that they both drifted away.