NOTE: Inuyasha isn't mine but the fantastic work of Rumiko Takahashi.

A SOUL FOR A SOUL

Previously on BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA:

"What's next?" He glanced at the miko.

"The jewel will be one with you." Kagome said. The miko was looking at the jewel with a strange expression in her eyes he couldn't fathom.

Muchitsujo saw the jewel glow and float a bit then it sank in his palms. It felt warm and the glow is radiating inside his hands. As it sank deeper, Muchitsujo closed his eyes…it felt so good…it was like…it was…

~O~O~O~

Oh yes…such wonder…this is what it felt to be powerful! Muchitsujo felt tingling in his entire being. It is mine…it is….

Muchitsujo looked at the miko with panic in his eyes. Her eyebrows lifted.

"How was it, Muchitsujo?" She approached the immobile youkai stopping a few inches from his face. "Not up to your liking?"

Kagome fixed her eyes on Muchitsujo. Only his eyes were able to follow her movements as she lifted his hand.

"Do you know what the Shikon does, Muchitsujo? Do you know its origins?" Kagome's eyes fell on his hand. He could see the glowing orb inside his flesh.

"It began with a priestess named Midoriko. She was a powerful miko and the mother of the Shikon no Tama." Kagome looked at the youkai as his eyes widened slightly. She nodded.

Kagome blinked slowly after which her eyes returned to their robin blue color. Muchitsujo could clearly see the full range of emotions in their depths; but she was too calm, too serene for his liking. For some reason he was more afraid of this Kagome, the miko, than the youkai persona.

"She battled countless youkai for seven days inside a cave, imagine that. Poor girl…" The miko shook her head in wonderment. "She sealed herself inside so they cannot escape. She had no choice, her family was dying, her people were dying. They were so many, she was but one…."

~O~O~O~

They said her soul was so big…too big in fact that not even Kanna's mirror could contain it all.

Ever since Kagome was a child she had been having strange dreams. Dreams of places, events, of people and of faces…most especially the faces…they were familiar to her but she had never ever met them in her entire life. Her mother just shrugged it off as Kagome's fertile imagination. But sometimes…sometimes she would catch her mom looking at her with a strange expectant expression. It was like her mom was waiting for something…

She reached 15 and her life changed drastically, she found out she's a miko with latent power and she could travel between modern and ancient Japan thru a well. It was kind of strange when her family just accepted these things as ordinary, like an everyday part of their life and hers.

The things she does in Sengoku Jidai using her powers would astound her and her friends. It was as if there's more than instinct driving her to do the impossible, more than her ordinary human body could survive from, more pain and forgiveness than her soul could accept.

It was as if….

In a moment of absolute clarity the miko from the future understood everything….

~O~O~O~

As if magnetized, Sesshoumaru, Shippo and Rin gravitated closer and closer towards the light. The light had the impression of being alive…of sentience…of awareness. Sesshoumaru and Shippo had seen this light before when they battled Naraku.

Sesshoumaru could feel the hypnotic power of the stone and was glad that it couldn't affect him. He had been in contact with the shards many times before and for him these were no more than inert pieces of common stones. Useless.

The taiyoukai saw Shippo's eyes glaze over and knew the boy was drawn to the power but could not and cannot control it. As a youkai the boy would be more susceptible to its call. He swiftly grabbed the boy's scruff and dragged him back and the pain at the nape of Shippo's neck broke the spell's connection. The boy blinked and looked around him, confused.

The demon lord also snagged Rin under her collar and kept his hold on his ward as he took Tensaiga and jammed the blade on the floor. Immediately the blade pulsed and glowed blue its barrier formed around them shielding them from the effects of the jewel.

~O~O~O~

"She was so tired…so desperate but she could not back away from her honor, from her duty," The miko's voice trailed away, her eyes had a distant gaze as if she had forgotten Muchitsujo. She blinked whereupon her blue eyes focused on the demon of Chaos again. "They knew she was tired and dying so they attacked her so viciously. When she began to weaken she crystallized her heart and drew a part of her soul and the souls of the youkai inside it." The miko was absently caressing the glow inside Muchitsujo's hand, lost in her story.

"There was a big earthquake that was felt for hundreds of miles. The cave almost collapsed but her barrier held it up. Her body was shaking at her effort to remove her heart. She was so worried that if she died before she could expel her heart then everything will be for naught. The demons will escape and her village will be destroyed. It took all of her strength just to stay alive…just to do what is impossible…her body glowed…" Kagome wiped her tears from her cheeks.

"Midoriko cried then and with her last breath she expelled this stone from her body." She was almost whispering now, her voice sad, tears continued to slide down and patter her hands.

She looked behind her and looked straight at Sesshoumaru. Their eyes locked. She smiled at him sadly. It was the miko who broke her gaze after what seemed an eternity.

"She died alone with those monsters around her…"

"Didn't you know that their war continue inside this orb?" Kagome looked at Muchitsujo with sadness. "No?" She asked when she saw his eyes. "It does."

"No one knows. No one cares. All they see is the power that this thing could give." She sighed as if her breath alone could remove so much weight from her chest.

Kagome let her palm hover above Muchitsujo's; he felt her aura as she drew out the jewel again. It followed her like an obedient pet as she lifted it clear, floating between their palms. "This stone will never grant your wish, Muchitsujo. This is the reason why I didn't wish on it." The miko held the stone between her fingers then she let it go.

The stone floated between them.

~O~O~O~

The Western Lord was enthralled at Kagome's story. He knew the history. His castle has the complete chronicles in its extensive library. But he had never heard of this part of the story told this way. Those stories in the scrolls were succinct and to the point. It was more about locations, time, date, year, what season, and of whose taiyoukai's reign. It was as dry as the parchment it was written on.

This was different.

This was real; the story of a woman with flesh and blood, of her feelings and impressions. Her sacrifice. From behind her eyes… A part of her soul…?

Sesshoumaru's breath caught when he found his golden eyes looking and locked at Kagome's blue irises. In a matter of seconds an eternity of time was exchanged in that simple look.

Sesshoumaru understood…

A part of her soul…!

~O~O~O~

"Muchitsujo, I know that you still want the Shikon no Tama in spite of what I told you. You still want its power. You still want to rule." Muchitsujo saw the miko's eyes hardened as she looked deep into his eyes. "I will grant you your wish."

Muchitsujo was confused.

SHE will grant me my wish?

The sphere began to expand its aura….

Why would she…?

The energy came straight at him.

Oh, shit.

~}O{~