If the Roles Were Reversed

by Glon Morski

I: Until he fell down the well and 500 years into the past, Inuyasha didn't believe in legends. His beliefs were challenged when he found himself in a world in which said legends are reality. Problem? He wants to leave that world behind, while it is unwilling to let him go. And so he begins a search for a substitute for a duty, aided by Kagome, his slef-proclaimed hanyo protector.

37. The Story of the Sacred Jewel

Alright, here we are. Yes, I know, I'm terribly late. I apologize. I have no excuse, but I do have a reason: it's called Real Life. I also apologize if any of you are disappointed, but this isn't to be considered a late June-installment, it's the installment due for July, so you still have to wait about a month for the next one. But in order to make up for it, I promise the next chapter will be extra long :D Well? Think you can forgive me? I surely hope so.

On another note: we reached 600 reviews! *tears up* Thanks so much you guys :) Now let's see when I'll be worthy of 650, ne ;)

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ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS

animefan21: I'm happy to hear I'm managing to keep everyone IC thus far. And as for my cliffhangers, if they didn't work, I'd cry LOL Thanks for the review and hope you'll keep enjoying ;)

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Tracks for this chapter:

Within Temptation: Our Farewell

V6:Way of Life

Standard disclaimer, reminder and reader's key apply

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What happened last time: After saving Sango and Kohaku, the lone survivors of the group of yōkai taijiya who have run into Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippō, the group decides to head towards the slayers' village. On the way, Kohaku, plagued by immeasurable guilt and regret for killing his family (though he was possessed by a demon at the time), attempts to take his own life. Kagome stops him and manages to make him change his mind by revealing that Kohaku isn't alone in his suffering – she herself had turned full demon and killed her mother when she was three. Finding a kindred spirit in the half-demon, Kohaku finds new courage and decides to live in order to repent for his sin, and also for his sister's sake, as to not leave her alone. Once the group reaches the fort, Kohaku realizes that his decision truly saved Sango from being completely alone in the world, as the fortress that has once been their hope turns out to be nothing but ruins, because a hoard of demons had attacked and killed everyone except Kirara, a nekomata, while the best fighters were at Naraku's castle.

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Chapter 37 – The Story of the Sacred Jewel

As night fell over the village, now almost completely devoid of life, the only sound that reached Kagome's ears was the sound of the playing crickets. It was unnaturally loud to her sensitive hearing, or to anyone else's to be quite honest, but it was to be expected. With only five people present in the entire fortress, along with two young demons and one tiny demon-flea, dead silence was a given, especially if two of those people were asleep from exhaustion and more or less serious wounds.

The young half-demon didn't mind the quiet all that much, however. Contrary to her surroundings, her own thoughts were anything but quiet, racing a mile a minute instead and more than compensating for the lack of sound and life around her.

"Has something happened, Kagome-sama?" Myouga suddenly asked as he jumped from the ground onto her knee, then her shoulder, and finally onto the hand she had outstretched for him to get the tiny yōkai to her own eye-level. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden question, despite having a good idea what he was actually inquiring about. She didn't feel like thinking about it, much less telling anyone.

"What brought that on, Myouga-jii-chan?" she asked, pretending to be surprised he felt the need to ask. But she should have known Myouga, of all people (or yōkai) would not be fooled. The flea sighed.

"I am quite sure you know why I am asking, Kagome-sama. This Myouga has known you long enough to recognize that particular look in your eyes. Yet Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippō seem to be fine, so whatever happened to make Kagome-sama look quite like that, it did not involve them. Am I correct? So what could have brought that look back into your gaze, Kagome-sama?" he asked, sounding genuinely worried for the first time in a very, very long time. The young half-demon didn't blame him. She knew exactly what kind of look in her eyes Myouga was talking about and she also knew why it bothered him so much. But that didn't mean she felt like explaining anything to her should-be retainer.

"Nothing happened. You're imagining things, Myouga-jii-chan," she lied easily as she shifted to find a more comfortable position than her current, cross-legged one. Leaning more against the wall behind her, Kagome stretched one of her legs while she brought her other leg closer to her chest to rest an arm on her knee. Myouga quickly jumped from her hand to her arm, allowing her to bring the hand that supported him before behind her head. Kagome leaned her head back as well to look up at the ceiling of the hut she had chosen to stay in. The group had been divided, with Inuyasha and Miroku sharing one, the two taijiya siblings taking another and Kagome insisting to stay in one alone except for Shippō, who was sleeping soundly curled up in her fire rat jacket next to her.

"I was just thinking," she finally continued talking, trying to subtly change the subject so that Myouga didn't notice just how much she wanted to avoid his probing. "I was thinking about what you said. About how you came to this village to investigate the Jewel. Did you really think you can learn anything about it by coming here?"

One look at Myouga was enough to tell Kagome that the flea knew exactly what she was doing. Still, he dropped the previous subject, much to Kagome's relief, and answered her inquiry instead.

"If there's anywhere in the world where one might learn something about the Shikon, it would be in this village, Kagome-sama. It is, after all, the place where it had originally come from," he said, causing the hanyō to blink in surprise.

"What?" she asked almost breathlessly, although she couldn't really tell why that little information shocked her so much. Maybe because she had never really thought about the Jewel's origins, much less expected to ever find out where it had come from. It was kind of funny in a way – the Jewel had been a constant in her life for the past fifty-some years, yet she had never questioned where it had come from or why Kikyo had it. Both its existence and its locations were facts that she somehow thought should not have been questioned. But now that the matter had been addresses, she actually found herself curious. "The Jewel… originated here? What's that supposed to mean, Myouga-jii-chan?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot share more information with you at this point on this, Kagome-sama. The yōkai had attacked the village shortly after my arrival, before I could ask the leader of the slayers what I wanted to know. And he was the only person this Myouga would expect to know of this. He is, however, certainly dead at this point," the flea answered, sighing in union with the young hanyō.

"Like many others," Kagome commented calmly, a sad under-tone in her voice. Her eyes suddenly narrowed, as her rampaging thoughts changed direction yet again, and thus the topic of the conversation. "Speaking of which… while I can see why many demons would want to attack this particular village, it's weird that they chose this particular moment to attack, don't you think, Myouga-jii-chan?"

"So you think so as well, Kagome-sama." It was a statement, not a question, but Kagome still nodded.

"It's difficult not to think that way considering the circumstances," she said, a frown slowly forming on her face. "Most of the actual fighters were at saru castle during the attack. A castle where they would have most likely met their death had they not run into us, although most of them were killed anyway. Considering the castle itself was inhabited only by yōkai, this can't be a coincidence. But what I don't understand is why Naraku bothered to kill off the taijiya? What did he gain from it?" she was speaking mostly to herself at that point, repeating questions that had come to her mind earlier in the day. And as paranoid as it may sound to see Naraku's doing in every little thing, she knew the assumption was correct. Weak as it was, his stench lingered in the village, though she couldn't quite explain where it had come from. The yōkai couldn't have very well come here in person, could he? She had met him at the castle, after all…

"Naraku, Kagome-sama? Who is he?" Myouga asked, interrupting her train of thought.

"The baboon-clad yōkai you have warned me about before," she replied shortly. "The one who had given Inuyasha the cursed sword, and also the very same yōkai who tricked Kikyo into sealing me away, though that's only a few of the things he has done."

"You think he has something to do with what happened in the village?" another voice joined the conversation, one Kagome would have recognized even in her sleep by now.

"I'm pretty sure he did. But I don't understand why. He's not the kind to do anything without some twisted reason, so there has to be some explanation for it," she said as she glanced at the black haired kannushi who was standing at the door. She had to wonder how he was still awake, not to mention standing, because he looked utterly exhausted. It was understandable, however, as they had spent the better part of the afternoon burying the villagers and even Kagome felt a little tired. "I was actually thinking you could ask the taijiya woman about it," she added after a moment of silence as Inuyasha plopped down on the ground at the entrance of the hut, her words causing him to turn his head and stare at her tiredly. Kagome sighed. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Get some sleep."

"Why can't you ask her?" Inuyasha questioned, ignoring Kagome's order completely. But for once, he wasn't actually trying to prove anything to anyone. He would have loved to do as he was told and just rest. However, something was preventing him to. His mind was restless, although he was unable to tell why. There was just something in the air that didn't feel right and whatever it was, it woke a feeling of anxiousness within the priest that he just couldn't shake off, no matter how hard he tried. Which was why he came to the one hut he knew at least one occupant of wouldn't be sleeping, so that he could force his mind off of that anxiousness somehow – most likely through talking.

"We've been over this already," Kagome replied with a soft groan, knowing better than to try and persuade the future-born teen to listen to her when he obviously wanted to talk despite his overwhelming fatigue. Inuyasha snorted in response.

"Look around you. This village is in shambles and there's no one here. Not anymore, anyway. Do you really think Sango and her brother will stay here?" he asked her, though she doubted he really expected her to answer. Kagome shrugged.

"It's not certain they'll stay with us, though."

"But it's the most likely outcome," Inuyasha pressed. "Knowing that, you could at least try to show her that her mistrust is misplaced, that you mean no harm. And talking to her would be a good start," he honestly couldn't remember another time when he felt like dealing with a little child while talking to Kagome. It just wasn't something he ever expected to happen. And yet here he was, trying to explain to her what should be obvious. In the end, however, it only turned out that he had once again missed a very important point, which Kagome was not only quick to point out, but also to insist on.

"When you approach a wounded animal, the reaction you most often get is fear. It cannot defend itself in its weakened state, and is thus easy prey, so anyone approaching is a potential predator and thus danger. When you approach a wounded predator you would normally stay away from, the first impression you make on it is that you're a coward – you approach only because you know that in its weakened state, the animal won't harm you and you're safe," she said slowly. Inuyasha blinked, his tired mind unable to understand where all of that came from.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he finally asked when Kagome fell silent, apparently having said everything she wanted to say. The hanyō-girl growled in response.

"If I approach the demon slayer girl now, I can get either of those reactions, but another is unlikely. So she'll either think I'm a danger using her moment of weakness, or that I'm afraid of her and thus choose to approach when she is weakened and cannot attack. I won't have her thinking either of those," she replied, her voice dangerously low towards the end of her sentence. "I will wait 'till she heals. If she's still around then, that's when I approach. She might be capable of killing me, but I will not have her think I'm afraid of facing her in combat."

"But she already attacked you once and although you could have killed her, you haven't. Don't you think that's enough reason for her to at least give you a chance?" the black haired priest asked, unable to understand Kagome's reasoning as he knew not on what she had based it. The young half-demon sighed.

"If it were that simple, no half-demon in the world would be hated for what it is," she replied in a low tone as she looked towards one of the walls of the hut, missing Inuyasha's surprised and somewhat confused glance. Shaking those thoughts off, Kagome stood and walked towards the entrance of the hut and, de facto, Inuyasha. "I need some fresh air," she said in response to his questioning stare as she passed him. "I'll be back in a while. You should get some rest while you can," and with those words, she left the priest alone.

Sighing tiredly, Inuyasha crawled further into the hut, too tired to actually walk back to the one he and Miroku slept in and where he had left his sleeping bag. Instead, he lay down on the floor and allowed his heavy eyelids to close, hoping exhaustion would finally win over that nagging feeling of anxiousness that had kept him awake thus far. Lucky for him, he had eventually fallen asleep, although his dreams were anything but peaceful, filled with countless yōkai, battles, death, corpses, blood and one shining, majestic sword.

XxX

Although he had slept well into the morning for once, without waking up at dawn as he usually did, Inuyasha felt far from refreshed when he actually woke up. Sleeping on the floor without his soft sleeping-bag underneath had proven to be a rather bad idea, as it had left him sore and aching all over, and sleep itself had been far from rejuvenating. If anything, he felt even wearier than the night before, although his eyes no longer closed on their own. It seemed his body had gotten all the rest it needed. But his mind was another story and Kagome didn't fail to notice that.

"You look like shit," she commented lowly as she plopped down next to him on the ground. Inuyasha groaned.

"I feel like shit, too," he admitted, causing Kagome to stare it him in disbelief. If Inuyasha admitted he wasn't feeling well, then it meant he was actually feeling downright terrible. Kagome frowned.

'I hope you're not getting sick on me,' she thought worriedly as she put one hand to his forehead, and the other to her own. But aside from a small spiritual reaction, she felt no difference. 'At least he doesn't have a fever,' she thought as she swiftly drew her hand back, barely managing not to yelp as his spiritual powers prickled at her skin. It wasn't very painful, but his powers had still reacted to her, something that had never happened before, and that in itself was worrisome. She narrowed her eyes. 'Looks like Miroku-sama's prediction is coming true… only much sooner than I expected,' she thought worriedly, although something told her that wasn't the only reason why Inuyasha felt so tired. From what Miroku had told him and from what Kagome understood, his spiritual problems shouldn't have affected him physically, after all. But if that wasn't it, then what was it?

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she blinked, her golden eyes meeting his worried, violet ones. "Something wrong?"

"No. Nothing at all," she replied quickly, crossing her hands in the sleeves of her haori to hide them, despite knowing there were no burn-marks from the relatively small holy power discharge. Still, Inuyasha seemed not to have noticed the little mishap and for some reason, Kagome thought it better not to tell him. She'd still talk with Miroku about it, though.

Nodding to herself, Kagome stood up and dusted herself off, intent on looking for the monk in question. Just before leaving, however, she glanced at Inuyasha one more time.

"If you feel up to it, talk to the taijiya-girl. Maybe she has an idea if there was something in this village that a demon might have wanted to have," she requested softly before leaping off. Inuyasha nodded in response, but didn't rise to comply with her request. He leaned back until his back hit the ground, instead, hoping that a little more sleep would make him feel better.

He wasn't allowed to lie around for long, however, as he soon heard the sound of shuffling footsteps not far from where he was. Opening one eye lazily, he glanced in the direction he thought it was coming from, only to see Sango walking out of a hut and slowly walking towards the edge of the village. Frowning, Inuyasha sat up and stared after her, then stood up and shook his head in a futile attempt to shake some of his weariness off. 'She shouldn't be walking around yet. Stupid, stubborn woman,' he thought as he started following her, intent on dragging her back to the hut to rest if he had to.

That thought flew out the proverbial window, however, when he realized where Sango was going. She was headed straight for the newly-formed graveyard near the wall of the fortress. Kohaku was already there, kneeling in front of one of the graves and Sango was quick to join him.

[T]

Inuyasha froze where he stood as he watched Sango kneel next to her brother and then embracing him. The young boy was quick to accept the hug, his arms sneaking around his sister in an attempt to offer mutual comfort. Looking at them, Inuyasha felt strangely out of place and almost like an intruder, despite being nowhere near enough to be noticed by either of the siblings.

Glancing at the scene, however, he couldn't help but remember a similar scene between himself and his mother at his own father's funeral. Deep down, he knew that was nothing in comparison, though. He had only lost his father, and later his grandparents, but he still had his mother. Those two, however… those two have lost everyone they cared about in less than twenty-four hours.

Inuyasha scratched his head uncomfortably, debating with himself whether he should approach them or leave them alone in their grief. He didn't even get the chance to decide, however, as his feet carried him over to the siblings of their own accord and before he knew it, he was right next to them. He swallowed uncomfortably as he sat down on the ground, so far unnoticed by either grieving slayer. But instead of leaving it at that, he decided to make his presence known.

"You should rest some more, Sango," he said, surprised at how soft his own voice was. Slightly startled at his sudden words, the two siblings separated and turned to glance at him, the boy with a teary glance and Sango with a blank one.

"You look like you could use your own advice, kannushi-sama," Sango replied in a voice devoid of all emotion. Inuyasha sighed.

"Just Inuyasha is fine," he said calmly. "And I'm not the one wounded here. You are. The more you rest, the quicker you'll heal."

"But you are the one who made graves for everyone along with the houshi and the hanyō," Sango countered, to Inuyasha's surprise acknowledging that Kagome had helped. Kirara, who was curled up in Sango's lap, purred suddenly, as if satisfied with something, although what that was Inuyasha would never know.

Inuyasha remained silent, not quite knowing what to respond to that. He couldn't argue with her, either. He was tired, although it wasn't the 'sleepy' kind of 'tired'. He was just weary, though he wasn't really sure why. And while he was sure it was visible on his face, as first Kagome and now Sango have proved, he knew the work from the day before wasn't the actual source of his fatigue.

"Still, the sooner you heal, the sooner we can leave. I'm sure you're not exactly content to stay in this place, all things considered," he finally said, choosing his words carefully. Sango actually blinked at his words, the first real reaction he's seen from her. Kohaku seemed to perk up, too, if only for a moment, before his sister's next words caused his shoulders to slump again.

"Why wait for me to heal? Nothing holds you and your companions here… Inuyasha," Sango said, hesitating only slightly to call him by name. "You have helped us more than we could ever ask for, already. There's no need for you to stay if you are pressed for time."

"There is a need, because neither I nor Miroku or Kagome can, in good conscience, leave a wounded woman without any real care," Inuyasha couldn't help but snap in response, feeling slightly irritated that the slayer could even insinuate something like that. "Besides which, we were actually thinking that we could travel together once you're better," he added, although that wasn't entirely true. He couldn't speak for Miroku or Shippō, as he had no idea what they'd think about it, and he knew that while Kagome wouldn't object, she wouldn't be very fond of the idea at first, either. Actually, he was the only one who had considered the option, as far as he knew.

"Could we?" Kohaku suddenly spoke up, his voice curiously eager, although neither Sango nor Inuyasha had the chance to question it. "Wouldn't Kagome-sama mind? Or anyone else in your group?" he asked, causing Sango to turn her head to glance at him, most likely intrigued by his use of Kagome's name. Unaware of the boy's encounter with the half-demon on the way to the fortress, Inuyasha was equally surprised, but somehow he knew that even if he asked, he wouldn't obtain an answer. So he just shrugged, both to shake off his thoughts and to answer Kohaku's question.

"I don't see why she should," he answered calmly, trying his best to sound reassuring although he was well aware of the fact that Kagome most likely would mind for some reason he just couldn't fully understand. He figured he probably never would, either. "And it's still better than being all alone, isn't it?" he added, hoping the words didn't sound too harsh. But other than a slight wince from Kohaku and a barely-audible sigh from Sango, it seemed Inuyasha's somewhat-heartless reminder of the siblings' current situation was overlooked.

[/T]

"I am sure Kagome-sama will not mind. And if you go with them, it is far more likely that you will be able to kill the one responsible for this tragedy, as I am sure you would like to do, Sango," another voice suddenly piped in. Inuyasha blinked and tried to locate the source with little success until Kohaku smacked his nose and revealed the flea's location.

"What do you mean, Myouga-jii-san?" Sango asked, heat suddenly entering her voice as the emotionless mask slipped a tiny bit. She obviously knew the flea, as did Kohaku, which wasn't surprising considering the tiny yōkai had been in the village when they arrived and was apparently well acquainted with Sango's yōkai-cat.

"It's a suspicion he talked with Kagome about last night. She seems to agree with him that this wasn't a coincidence that those yōkai attacked the fort," Inuyasha said carefully.

"Indeed. While this is… or was… a village of demon slayers, which gave the demons enough reason to resent it and want it destroyed and slaughtered, Kagome-sama believes it is highly unlikely that the yōkai just happened to attack the fort while most of the skilled fighters were off at saru castle… which was also a death trap," Myouga elaborated, although he too chose his words carefully. The subject was expected to be still sore for the two siblings, after all. "And this Myouga agrees with Kagome-sama."

"So it was a carefully planned strategy to annihilate us," Sango summed up, her voice eerily detached though her hands clenched into tight fists. "Looking at the facts the way you do, it's hard to deny that it's quite the possibility. Do you also know who could have planned it all?" she asked, looking expectantly first at Myouga, then at Inuyasha. The priest sighed.

"Kagome-sama has shared with this Myouga a theory as to who it might have been, but she is uncertain of the 'why', actually," the little flea replied before Inuyasha could get a word in edge-wise. "The reason of just hating the taijiya doesn't seem like enough to her, although that is something this Myouga cannot say anything about."

"If it really was Naraku, then she's right, just hating taijiya is not nearly enough. He'd need more reason than that to do something so drastic. And Kagome's pretty certain that it was him. She even said she could still catch his scent nearby, faint as it was, so I'm quite sure it's safe to assume it was him. We actually hoped that maybe you might have an idea as to why he'd want to destroy your village, Sango," Inuyasha said, looking at the taijiya expectantly. But she only shook her head.

"I cannot think of anything," she replied, lowly, although from the penetrating gaze on her face, Inuyasha easily read that she wasn't being truthful. He was quick to find out why, too. "You must know quite a lot about this demon, Naraku, if you're so sure there has to be some different reason, though," she said, her unasked question more than clear. Inuyasha sighed.

"We had to deal with him a few times before, and I'm sure we'll have to deal with him again," he replied with a shrug. "He wants this, after all, so he'll come after it eventually," he said, raising the necklace around his neck between two fingers as he spoke and revealing the up until now hidden Shikon Jewel to the two taijiya.

"The Shikon Jewel," Kohaku breathed in astonishment. Sango wasn't nearly as surprised, however, having seen the pearl the day before.

"That's right. You… have Shikon Jewel," she said, sounding almost like she wanted a confirmation despite having the pearl dangling in front of her eyes for the second time already. Inuyasha nodded.

"And Naraku will come after it again?" Sango questioned, as if wanting to reassure herself. It seemed she was quite easily convinced the demon by the name Naraku was responsible for the destruction of her village, but Inuyasha couldn't be certain if it was because she had good reason to believe so, or because she simply wanted to blame someone. He nodded again. In response, Sango's features hardened and an angry glint entered her eyes. "Fine. I will go with you," she finally said, her voice an octave lower than up until now as the void left by her lacking emotions was filled with only two: anger and need for vengeance.

"I will, too," Kohaku said, although his voice sounded more scared than anything else. What exactly the boy was scared of, though, Inuyasha didn't know. He doubted it was the decision to follow his sister.

'She wants to avenge her village, no doubt about it,' Inuyasha thought as he glanced at the female slayer.

"Does it surprise you?" Sango asked, but if she thought Inuyasha would reply 'yes', she was disappointed.

"I would want revenge if I were in your shoes, too," he replied simply. Sango turned to stare at the graves with a scowl on her face.

"There's that," she admitted easily, though her voice was still angry. "And there's the fact that the Shikon was born in this village," she added.

"Right. That was the original reason I have come here. This Myouga had been hoping your father might tell me more of that rumor. Apparently, it is the truth, then," Myouga spoke up again. Sango glanced briefly at the flea, then turned to her brother. A silent understanding seemed to pass between the two and after a while, Sango rose and dusted herself off, Kohaku following suit. Inuyasha glanced at them.

"Oi, where…"

"Come," Sango interrupted him in a tone that broke no argument. "I will tell you about it. About why the Shikon no Tama was born, and why I believe this village is a hindrance for any demon who wishes to possess it," she said as the only explanation as she glanced at the black haired priest over her shoulder.

~ξ~

The exact location of where the Shikon was apparently created was not in the village itself, although it was situated within its borders. It was a cave situated at the foot of a small hill. It looked cozy enough in Kagome's eyes. Maybe not to live there permanently, but it was definitely an adequate place to find shelter for a night. It would have probably been used as such by countless demons, or maybe even made into a liar, had it not been for its location in the middle of a taijiya fortress. Ok, maybe not 'the middle' exactly, but rather the borders, but still within the protective walls. Which was why the only thing they've found there so far was stone and demon-remains – pretty old for the most part, too. Kagome doubted the cave was where the slayers deposited their kills to rot, especially since if that had been the case, she would have smelt the scent of decay in the village.

"It's at the very end of this cave," Sango said from her vantage point on Kagome's back. As much as she had wanted to walk on her own, her wounds have prevented it and she had to be carried by someone. Much like Inuyasha, Kagome didn't trust Miroku with this task without doing something perverted, and since Inuyasha used his exhaustion as an excuse to not be the carrier, the task had fallen to her. Inuyasha had even explicitly told Sango to wait by the graves to come and get her, interrupting her rather important talk with Miroku about Inuyasha's powers (not that the teen was aware they were talking about him, they've made sure of that), pretending to only come and get them so they'd be present during Sango's tale. Kagome knew better. That was Inuyasha's way of trying to get her to interact with the slayer and most likely form a sort of understanding, if nothing else. But from the way Sango was tense on her back, Kagome knew it was a futile attempt. It didn't really surprise her, though. She'd have been surprised if it wasn't. Gaining someone's trust, especially someone's who has always been taught to kill the likes of her, was never going to be easy, and Sango was no exception to that rule.

"What is?" Shippō asked curiously from his spot on Miroku's shoulder. Kohaku was the one who answered him, his tone strangely subdued.

"You'll see," was all he said, but Kagome suspected such a vague answer would only make the little kit more curious. She sighed, but instantly regretted it as a foul stench reached her nose. She barely stopped herself from covering her mouth and nose with her hand, knowing that doing so would cause the slayer on her back to fall off, and she really didn't need another reason for the woman to despise her.

"Whatever it is, it stinks of an old corpse," she said in a strangled voice, trying her best not to have too strong a reaction to the smell, her sensitive nose being a hindrance for once, instead of an aid. "An ancient corpse, actually," she corrected after a while.

"Indeed, that's what it is," Sango said calmly just as they rounded a corner and the source of the smell came into view from behind a large rock. Whatever Kagome was expecting to see, it definitely wasn't what she actually found there. And she wasn't the only one. Beside her, Inuyasha and Miroku froze mid-step, staring in surprise at the ancient corpse in question – although mummy would be a better description. Only Sango and Kohaku seemed unaffected by the sight, although then again, they have probably seen it before.

Sensing this was their destination, Kagome knelt slowly on the ground to let Sango get off her back, knowing that near a source of a stench that strong, it wasn't a good idea to let her stay on. The taijiya seemed to be quite eager to get off, too, not that it was a surprise. It was astonishing enough that she had allowed Kagome, of all people, to carry her this far, actually, despite having little to no other choice.

"Mummified yōkai?" Miroku wondered, glancing questioningly between the mummy and Sango. The taijiya girl nodded.

"Indeed. Dragons, ground-spiders, oni and so on. Before you stands a mummy of countless yōkai who merged into one and increased their power just to destroy one single human," Sango said calmly, causing everyone present to blink in surprise, except her brother.

"All to kill one human? That one over there?" Shippō asked, pointing with a clawed finger at one part of the mummy. It looked different from the rest, more like a human-skeleton than a yōkai, although several bones were missing, making the distinction between human and yōkai a little bit harder.

"Yes. And then the yōkai ate the human," Sango said in a way of continuing her story as Miroku slowly approached to get a batter look.

"A human wearing old armor," he said slowly as he stared at the remains. "An old general, maybe?" he questioned curiously.

"It's actually a woman," Kohaku corrected, though he didn't look up from the ground when everyone's eyes fell on him. Kagome tilted her head to the side in wonder, a gnawing feeling rising in her gut.

"A woman?" she repeated, but not really because she had trouble believing it. If this was a miko, then it would make perfect sense, after all. But for some reason, this story was making her very uneasy.

"A miko," Sango confirmed Kagome's suspicions. "Several hundred years ago, she was a miko."

"Makes sense. Against yōkai, one miko is as strong as about a hundred samurai. At least a miko of average strength. Stronger ones can even equal a thousand men," Kagome commented, speaking from experience. She had dealt with both, after all.

"As strong as thousand samurai?" Inuyasha repeated, hardly able to believe it. One person couldn't equal the strength of thousand people, right? It just wasn't possible. But Kagome didn't seem to be joking. And really, she wasn't.

"Quite impressive, isn't it? And just because of her holy energy," Miroku said, trying to sound nonchalant, although Kagome knew very well what the monk was getting at. Sadly, the subtle hint was lost on the kannushi it was directed at.

"She had quite the bit of it, too. She was not your average miko," Sango said with a nod. "It was in a time when nobility were still in control of Japan. There were piles of people who died in war and hunger, and since the corpses and exhausted humans were eaten, the numbers of yōkai increased in no time at all."

'It's a little hard to imagine the yōkai-population being as big as Sango makes it sound, considering they're totally extinct in my time. Even in this one, while there's sure a lot of them, it doesn't sound like there are as many as back then,' Inuyasha couldn't help but think. 'I wonder how the yōkai will die out,' he thought as his eyes wandered back to the mummy. But before they fell on the already dead yōkai, his glance fell on Kagome and his thoughts suddenly came to a screeching halt as dread suddenly rose within his stomach. 'Wait, if the yōkai will die out, that means in my time, Kagome's already…' he thought, but didn't dare to finish the sentence even in his mind. His eyes went wide and he paled considerably, barely managing to keep his breathing calm.

'In my time, there are no yōkai or hanyō. They're extinct. They're all… That means Kagome, too,' he told himself, trying to sound as if he were merely stating a fact. And while it was indeed only a fact, he found himself having a big problem with accepting it. 'But I don't want her to die. I… I want her to live. I want her to…' his thoughts broke off again, this time in surprise at what he was about to think. But he did not deny it. 'I want her to stay with me…'

That wasn't possible, though, was it. Kagome couldn't stay with him. They were from different eras and eventually, they would be separated again. She would continue living in the Feudal Era and he would return to his time. A time when she was already dead. Unless she came through the well with him and stayed there, there was no way she could ever stay with him once he got rid of the Jewel. And there was no way she'd agree to do it, either. His time wasn't her own. It was so majorly different that he was sure she would never want to stay there. It would be too loud for her demonic ears, too polluted for her demonic nose – and hell, even he could smell the difference, so there was no doubt she would, too. She would never stay there with him. Actually, she could never stay with him, period. He always knew that. He had always expected them to part ways eventually, didn't he?

So why… why did the thought of her dying make him feel like something inside him was ripped to shreds? Why did the thought of her leaving him for any reason make him feel like some part of him was dying? Just when… just when had he come to rely on her presence, to need her presence in his life so much? And why did he allow himself to?

He didn't know. He didn't know the answer to any of those questions and for the most part, he was afraid of it, too. All he knew was that he wanted something that was utterly impossible. 'I want her to stay with me… to never leave me,' he thought miserably, his shoulders sagging at the revelation. Although everyone else was too absorbed in Sango's story to really notice.

"It is said that all sorts of Buddhist priest and samurai and generals exterminated the yōkai," the female demon slayer continued, unaware of the depressing (though majorly unrelated) thoughts her story had evoked in the kannushi next to her. "But above them all was a miko called Midoriko who used an attack that drove out demon's souls and purified them. She had the power to purify ten yōkai at once, it is said."

"Ten yōkai at once," Kagome repeated, somewhat stunned herself. "I don't think Kikyo was quite that powerful. At the very least, I never saw her purifying such a number of demons in one go, and it definitely wasn't because she lacked the opportunity to do so."

"Kikyo?" Kohaku questioned, the name unfamiliar to him. From Sango's questioning gaze, she didn't know who she was, either. Kagome shrugged, trying to deem the matter as unimportant, but in her stead, Shippō was the one who took it upon himself to answer.

"Kikyo was the one who protected the Jewel before Inuyasha," he said, and would have most likely said more, had Miroku not covered his mouth when he noticed Kagome's half-panicky glance. He seemed to understand why the young half-demon wanted to keep her relationship with Kikyo secret, though, so when Sango's eyes, which seemed to ask 'you knew the miko who guarded the Shikon before Inuyasha?', landed on Kagome, the monk quickly spoke up before the slayer could voice this very question.

"How many yōkai could Kikyo-sama purify, Kagome-sama?" he asked, partly to help the half-demon out, and partly because he was truly curious. And he wasn't the only one. Inuyasha also wanted to know, but even more than that, he wondered how many demon he could purify at once. Although it didn't look very well for him, since he usually had problems with even one, he acknowledged that it was probably due to his lack of control of his reiki.

"Five," Kagome replied after a moment of thought. "With an arrow she barely notched and immediately released, that is. If she had time to infuse it with her reiki better, then seven fell to a single arrow."

"And how many demons can an average miko purify?" Shippō asked, needing something to compare both exceptionally strong miko to. Kagome narrowed her eyes in thought, her mind filing through every miko she had ever come across.

"I'd say two, maybe two and a half with a well-charged arrow," she said. "That's only a rough estimation, though."

"You seem to know a lot about the extension of a miko's abilities," Sango noted with narrowed eyes. Kagome shrugged.

"If you had to deal with them as often as I did and in the situations I dealt with them in, you'd know a whole lot, too," she replied carelessly. "But I think you're still not done with your story, are you?" she said, trying to get the conversation back to its original track. Sango gave her one last, long, penetrating stare, but got back to her story when Inuyasha suddenly spoke up, finally coming out of his thoughts.

"You said something about driving out souls?" he asked, wondering what the slayer had meant by that. Sango nodded.

"Midoriko was capable of driving out souls of anything. Be it humans, animals, plants or rocks, she could purify all four of these souls," she said, her words suddenly making one aspect of the Jewel clearer.

"Four Souls… Shikon," Miroku murmured under his breath, causing Kagome's ears to twitch on her head, before he turned to stare at everyone present, obviously intent on sharing his knowledge. "In Shinto, it is believed that 'shikon' is nigimitama, sakimitama, kushimitama and aramitama. All together, these four become one spirit and in the flesh, they live inside the heart," he said, his voice taking on that tone Kagome knew well by now. It was the same tone he always used when he shared his knowledge and wisdom with someone – and frankly, the tone he used when he behaved like an actual monk, and not the lecher he was.

"Aramitama is courage. Nigimitama is kinship. Kushimitama is wisdom. Sakimitama is to be in charge of love. Human nature is correctly maintained between them(1)," the monk continued, barely paying any attention to the fact if his audience was understanding what he was saying or not – which the little kitsune definitely did not.

"I didn't get a thing," the kit complained, sending confused looks at every person present one after another. If he was hoping to get a better explanation, though, he was disappointed as he was thoroughly ignored.

"So then…?" Kagome coaxed the monk into continuing, feeling there was more. And she was right.

"If you do evil, the Shikon's actions fall down into evil," the houshi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kagome frowned.

'And the connection between that and what you said before is?' she couldn't help but think, unable to come up with anything that made sense. So each living being's spirit was made of four souls coexisting in equilibrium, and if you do evil, all of those souls become evil? That didn't really sound right. If that was what Miroku was getting at, a human or demon was basically doomed once he became evil. And yet the Shikon Jewel, the physical manifestation of the four souls that make up a spirit, could become pure again even once it was tainted. 'Which means there must be a way for the shikon, for the four souls of a spirit to become good once it was evil. It can't be a one way… unless the only way back is through purification by a miko?'

"Stop changing things around, Miroku!" Inuyasha finally snapped. He had fared quite well up until that point in understanding all of Miroku's talk – he lived at a shrine after all. But the last thing he said just plain lost him. The monk in question sighed.

"Shall I start again?" he asked calmly, almost seeming unsurprised that most people in the cave appeared to have problems understanding his explanation. It turned out, however, that a repeat was unnecessary, as Sango found a way to express all he said in much simpler words.

"In other words, souls can become good and evil," she said in ways of explanation to everyone, some needing it more than others but everyone grateful for making it so easy and short. "Anyway, the miko called Midoriko exorcised Shikon and had much experience in using the spell to transform yōkai's power to nothing," the female slayer finally got back to her story, reminding most of the group why they were in that cave, next to that mummy to begin with. "That's why yōkai were afraid of Midoriko and started trying to take her life. Still, even if they attacked her by surprise, they were exorcised. It was almost as if it was impossible for any demon to kill Midoriko. That's why, in order to overcome Midoriko's spiritual powers, a soul of great evil was needed."

"So then the yōkai became one," Inuyasha concluded, figuring they were nearing the end of the story. "How did they do that?" he asked as he glanced at Sango, although something deep inside him told him he should know the answer. And unbeknownst to him, Kagome's gut feeling went in the same direction.

"Take a look over there," was Sango's response as she pointed towards the base of the mummy. "There should be one more."

It was quickly obvious what she was talking about. Looking closely at the stomach of the mummified yōkai, everyone could see a very non-yōkai part sticking out. A head and a pair of arms were there, although to Inuyasha's astonishment, they didn't look like a part of another body, or like some unfortunate human who was eaten and somehow managed to partially claw his way out of the demon's stomach. Instead, it looked as if he were truly part of the creature's abdomen.

"Another human. But that one's a man, I think," Kagome commented off-handedly, not disturbed by the odd sight at all. Inuyasha shot her an incredulous look, but didn't get a chance to question her as Sango continued her story.

"Indeed. The legends say that there was a man who was secretly in love with Midoriko. The demons took advantage of his weakness and possessed him. The idea was for many yōkai to merge into one. Using a human with an evil heart as an anchor was the easiest way to do that."

"Hey, isn't that…" Shippō started, but didn't even need to finish as Miroku, Kagome and Inuyasha nodded in union.

"Indeed," Miroku confirmed, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

"No doubt about it. It's just like the story of…" Inuyasha started, finally understanding why the story about Midoriko had felt so familiar. Because he had heard it before. Only with a different miko as the target.

"Naraku," Kagome finished through clenched teeth. "It's exactly the same."

"Naraku was born the same way?" Sango asked incredulously, but Kagome didn't feel like answering her for now. The story she was listening to suddenly took on a whole new meaning and its ending was suddenly far more important to the half-demon that she would have at first thought.

"Finish the story," the young half-demon commanded softly, her voice taking on a barely hearable note of desperation. In fact, she was certain no one even heard it there. "Did this miko beat the yōkai, or did she lose?"

At first, another mild and questioning glare was all she got as an answer, but finally, after what felt like eternity, Sango complied with Kagome's not-so-subtle request and finished her story.

"The battle lasted seven days and seven nights, until finally Midoriko exhausted her power and her body was eaten," she said slowly, her brown eyes rising to stare at the mummy in front of her. "It is said her soul was absorbed and that in that very moment, with the last remains of her power, Midoriko seized the yōkai's soul, causing her own to be taken in and ripped out of her body. In the end, both the yōkai and the great miko died that day, leaving only a cluster of souls behind. And that cluster of souls, that is the Shikon no Tama.

"Still, even though their bodies have been destroyed, the yōkai and Midoriko still battle within the Jewel. So in truth, depending on the soul of the person who holds the Shikon no Tama, they become better or worse. If a yōkai or an evil person possesses it, their corruption increases, and if someone with a pure soul holds it, they're cleansed.

"In the hundreds of years since, various yōkai and humans have gotten a hold of the Jewel on occasion, until our grandfather brought it back here from a centipede demon he exterminated," Sango said, her words causing Inuyasha to blink.

"Why is it always a centipede?" he muttered under his breath, remembering the first yōkai he had ever met and the one who had truly brought the Jewel back into this world by biting it out of his side – literally. Sango didn't hear his muttered words, though, and continued, unhindered.

"Our grandfather died shortly afterward from the wounds he received at the time. As for the Shikon, it was badly corrupted by then, so our father decided to give it into the hands of a miko strong enough to keep it pure," she said, and Kagome nodded, but did not interrupt.

'And the slayers chose Kikyo for that task,' she thought, easily connecting the end of Sango's story to the beginning of Kikyo's and her own.

"And now, it has returned to this village again, though in another spiritualist's hands," Sango finished, her eyes falling to Inuyasha. "You said Naraku was born from multiple yōkai merging into one using an anchor of a human who was in love with Kikyo-sama, yes? Was Naraku also the one who killed Kikyo-sama?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Inuyasha replied with a nod when Kagome failed to do so.

"It is almost terrifying how much resemblance there is between the two stories," Miroku said gravely. "Wouldn't you agree, Kagome-sama?" he asked, but the question fell on seemingly deaf ears as Kagome ignored him in favor of biting her lip nervously as her mind raced.

'It's not 'almost', but downright terrifying,' she corrected in her thoughts. In her mind, this was no mere coincidence. This was history repeating itself. The only difference between the tale of Midoriko and Kikyo was that Kikyo tried to take the Jewel with her into the underworld. But instead of staying there like it should, the Jewel had returned once again, bringing Inuyasha along with it. 'It's like the Jewel manipulates everything around it,' she thought, not for the first time considering the possibility of the pearl having a will of its own. The more she learned about it, the more probable it seemed, anyway. 'But if it plans on continuously returning things to evil, I will not allow it. Not again,' she vowed in her mind.

"In light of all this, I cannot help but recall what you once told us, Kagome-sama," Miroku finally said, turning his eyes away from the mummy to glance at the half-demon in question. "You said once it was likely that the Shikon had a mind of its own. Knowing what I do now, I cannot help agreeing with you. And it would also seem the Jewel is also manipulating the people around it – meaning us," he said gravely.

"Manipulating people?" Shippō asked in a quivering voice. Miroku nodded in response, his expression solemn.

"Think about it. First, there was Midoriko-sama and the yōkai who wanted her dead. In the end, both died, and left the Shikon behind. Then, there was Kikyo-sama, who was entrusted to guard the Jewel, and Naraku, the demon born out of countless yōkai using a human as an anchor to do so, just to kill her…"

"Only this time around, because of the way he deals with his enemies, only Kikyo died," Kagome continued, easily seeing where Miroku was going with all this and not liking it one bit. "But Kikyo tried to take the Jewel into the afterlife with her. That should be the end of it. Except that it was not," she continued, glancing meaningfully at Inuyasha. He understood what she was implying easily enough.

"Because the Jewel found a way back," he said slowly, lowering his head to stare at the ground as unpleasant thoughts and speculations started to circle in his mind. Miroku sighed.

"Indeed. The Jewel came back from… very far away, somewhere it should not have been able to come back from," the monk said, remembering in the last minute that Sango and Kohaku had yet to find out that Inuyasha had actually crossed time. "And it brought Inuyasha back with it."

"So now, there's once again a spiritualist tied to the Jewel, and a yōkai born out of many who wants that spiritualist dead and the Shikon no Tama for himself," Sango finished, finally understanding what the group had been implying all along. "It's like the Jewel wants history to repeat itself again," she noted with no small amount of anger in her voice. Anger the other people in the cave understood all too well, some better than others.

"Then, does that mean that eventually… Naraku might succeed in killing me?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ask softly, cold dread washing over him. Of course, he should have thought before that if he chose to remain in the Feudal Era, chances were one yōkai or another would manage to kill him. But he hadn't, and now that the realization was forced upon him, he felt scared of such an outcome.

Some part of him hoped his question went unnoticed, too afraid of the possible positive answer to want to hear it. But he had no such luck.

"No," Kagome replied hotly, making Inuyasha's head snap up to stare at her. It was not the answer he actually expected to hear, but he wasn't about to complain about it. Kagome wasn't looking at him, however, her eyes boring into the mummy of Midoriko, instead. Her hands were fisted at her sides with enough force to actually make her whole frame tremble slightly. "That will not happen," she said, her voice hard and practically daring anyone to contradict her in her conviction. And someone did.

"How can you be so sure?" Sango asked her doubtfully, her eyes now boring into the side of Kagome's face as well. The young half-demon barely bit back an enraged snarl.

"History repeated itself once, so far. The same story happened twice already. I will not stand for a third time," she replied as she turned her head to stare at Sango, wanting to convey her determination through her gaze alone. Whether she succeeded or not, however, would remain a mystery, as Sango's face was as blank as ever. "I will not let Naraku or anyone else kill Inuyasha and repeat that cycle again. I'll keep him alive and protect him until Naraku's dead and the Jewel out of his hands even if it costs me my own life. That, I swear to you," she said as she turned her head towards Inuyasha, directing her last sentence at him. His eyes widened slightly, his previous train of thought hitting him again full force.

'It just might… it just might cost you your life,' he thought, the truth of these words he dared not say aloud twisting something in his gut painfully. 'You're already dead in my time, so there's no denying you will die eventually. I don't know when, but I know that you will. And… it scares me,' he admitted, if only to himself, his fists clenching at his sides in angry helplessness. 'But I don't want you to die. And I want even less to be the reason you die,' he wanted to yell, but his throat refused to cooperate. He cursed softly. It was always the same. She was always promising him to make sure he was safe no matter what it meant for her own safety and wellbeing, and the worst of it was that she also kept those promises. She had even almost died twice already, too, and all to protect him.

Well, no more. He'd had enough. He wouldn't allow her to protect him like that anymore. He would not be the reason for her death, nor would he watch her die. He'd become strong, stronger than even Kagome, and then he'd protect her for a change. That was a promise he made to himself. He would not allow the half-demon to sacrifice herself for his well-being anymore. He'd done enough of that already.

"I have to admit, that is all very interesting indeed, and it gives us a whole new perspective on the Shikon no Tama. But from what Kagome-sama told me, this Myouga finds it hard to believe that a being like Naraku would bother to destroy a village only because of its history. Surely, there must be more to all that, no?" Myouga suddenly spoke, revealing to everyone present in the cave that he was actually still there, much to Kagome's astonishment. She had thought he had left already. But while he was still with them, the hanyō didn't doubt that he would indeed leave them in the dust once things got dangerous again – and they were bound to sooner or later.

"I agree," Kagome said, looking only briefly at the flea on her shoulder in warning, silently telling him he better not try to get a drink out of her. Although if he wanted that, he probably would have tried feeding on her blood by now, since he had been hidden in her hair. "As interesting as this story is, it does not explain why Naraku could possibly want your village decimated. There are still more things you want to tell us, aren't there?" she asked the demon slayer, although it sounded more like a statement than an actual question. Sango shrugged.

"Kohaku knows more about that particular part of the legend, actually," she said carefully, effectively getting everyone's attention on her brother. Kohaku had been silent for the most part of Sango's story-telling, undoubtedly having heard it several times before. Instead, he was curiously studying the mummy. Realizing everyone's eyes were on him, he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"I'm afraid your suspicions were correct, ane-ue. It's not here," he finally said quietly, his voice strangely subdued. He probably wasn't very comfortable so near yōkai remains. Or any remains at all, to be honest. Kagome sighed.

'If he wants to survive in this world, he'd better get used to it,' she thought with no small amount of bitterness. But as much as she herself despised it, she knew it was true. It was just grim reality.

"What's not here?" Miroku asked calmly as he walked closer to the boy and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kohaku didn't shrug him off, but didn't turn his head to glance at him or otherwise acknowledge the monk. Instead, his eyes were fixated on a certain part of the mummy.

"Something that should be here," was all the boy said before sighing heavily. "While Midoriko's body was devoured by the yōkai, for some reason, maybe because of her overwhelming purity, no demon who ever tasted her flesh survived. All the yōkai here are those who came to the battlefield once both miko and demon were dead, looking for a feast."

"She killed demons even after her death, huh. That's quite impressive," Miroku commented, causing Kohaku to nod.

"The particularity of it all isn't that those demons died, however. It was how they died," Sango continued when her brother remained silent once again. Questioning and confused glances were all the answer she got for that particular bit of information, but she was spared the answer as Kohaku took up the narrative again.

"Ane-ue is right. If they had just been purified, that wouldn't have been as big of a deal as it is. But that's not how they died. And even more curiously, it depended on which part of Midoriko's body they ate whether they lived or died," the boy said slowly, his voice progressively gaining confidence as he spoke. He obviously told that story many times already, and seemed even to be fascinated by it. Kagome didn't blame him, as her interest was piqued as well.

"How so?" she inquired gently, unknowingly giving Kohaku his cue to continue. It was as if he were waiting for someone to ask.

"Those who ate any part of her walked away like after any other meal for the most part. But look here," the boy said as he finally stepped away from Miroku to point at Midoriko herself. He was pointing out something so glaringly obvious one would have to be blind not to notice it, though.

"Her left arm is missing," Shippō noted dully. Kohaku nodded.

"Yes. And all the demons around you are demons who tried to eat that arm. And none walked away from here alive after the attempt.

"The curious thing is the way they died. As I said, they weren't exactly purified. Instead, each yōkai who devoured Midoriko's left arm, the arm she used to wield her sword, was pierced from within by that very arm and the weapon it held shortly thereafter," Kohaku whispered, his voice sounding both awed and disgusted at the same time. "Eventually, the yōkai stopped trying, and both the arm and the sword it held mummified along with the rest of the demons."

"But there is no sword here," Inuyasha pointed out.

"Precisely," Sango said grimly, as if that was what she had wanted to get to all along. It probably was, too.

"So you think Naraku destroyed your village just to get one ancient sword?" Kagome questioned, glancing between the siblings before finally setting her eyes on Kohaku. Something told her there was still something important they haven't been told, and that Kohaku was the one they should ask. "Why would he bother?"

"Because it is said, that only a spiritualist can manage to wrestle the sword out of Midoriko's hand," Kohaku replied, once again sounding as if he had wanted for some kind of question to be asked. "Many had already come to our village and many have tried, but none succeeded in taking it. Midoriko held on tight and refused any and all spiritualists who tried to take her sword from her."

"So while only a spiritualist can take the holy sword, it can't be just any spiritualist. It must be someone special in one way or another," Miroku easily concluded. "Tell me, Kohaku, are there any beliefs about who could possibly take this sword?" he asked, although everyone in the group had a sneaking suspicion they knew at least part of the answer. There just had to be. And Kohaku didn't disappoint them as he nodded.

"If what the legends say is true, then he who takes Midoriko's sword from her hand shall be the one who will destroy the Shikon Jewel."

The initial reaction Kohaku's words caused was dead silence. Whatever Kagome, Miroku and Inuyasha expected to hear, it definitely wasn't this. And yet, now that she had heard it, she could almost say she should have seen this coming. The young half-demon sighed.

"Makes sense," she commented shortly, but while Miroku nodded, Inuyasha and Shippō continued to stare at her blankly. Kagome stifled a groan. "Think about it. We already have the Jewel and there are two spiritualists in our group," she started, caring little about revealing they had the Jewel. Inuyasha told her Sango and Kohaku were already aware of it, anyway, so what did it matter. "We were in the vicinity of this village, too. We would have heard about this sword eventually, and knowing you both, you would have probably wanted to try it. Especially you, Inuyasha."

"Hey…" the black haired teen tried to interrupt, but Kagome paid him little attention.

"From the way Kohaku spoke, it's almost certain that you need Midoriko's sword in order to destroy the Jewel. Maybe even it's the sword itself that can do it. And if one of you happened to be able to take it, what could have stopped us from trying to destroy the gem right then and there?" she questioned rhetorically. Inuyasha, however, still didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Alright, fine, but come on, the chances of that being true are so small it's fucking ridiculous."

"Maybe, but those chances are there," Kagome said gravely. "And to someone who wants the Jewel as badly as Naraku does, it's too much of a risk to take. So, he took the sword. If no spiritualist can try to draw it again, no spiritualist will ever be known as the one destined to destroy the Shikon and Naraku has nothing to worry about, except actually getting his hands on the Jewel."

To that, Inuyasha found no answer.

~ξ~

An hour or two later, Kagome found herself sitting alone somewhere near the vicinity of the destroyed gate to the fortress that must once have been a very majestic view. Well, not entirely alone, as Kirara had decided to keep her company, as she couldn't be with her rightful owner at the moment. Sango had been once again confined to rest in the hut, so that her wounds would heal faster. Needless to say the slayer wasn't very happy about it, not that Kagome couldn't sympathize with that.

Her thoughts turned briefly to the conversation she had with Miroku before Inuyasha interrupted them. According to the monk, he couldn't do anything or teach Inuyasha anything in terms of control of his spiritual energy for two reasons. One of them was simply because Inuyasha didn't believe he needed to learn to control his powers. So long as he believed he would be fine with the spiritual skills he had now, there was nothing to be done. And the second reason was that apparently, a monk's houriki wasn't quite the same as a kannushi's reiki(2). That meant that if anyone were to teach Inuyasha anything, it'd have to be another kannushi or a miko. And even then, Inuyasha would have to admit first that he had to learn something at all. Overall, the situation looked quite rotten, but there was nothing Kagome could do about it, much to her own frustration.

Biting back a sigh, Kagome tried to clear her head. Dwelling on things she couldn't change wouldn't do her any good, anyway. But her thoughts seemed set on wandering from one unpleasant train of thought to another as they wandered into the territory of her most recent discoveries.

'So Naraku destroyed this village over one holy sword. I'm not surprised. He already killed, or planned to kill, for lesser reasons, like jealousy,' the young hanyō thought bitterly, anger bubbling within her at the mere thought of the demon… or maybe 'demons', since he had been born out of hundreds of them, if not more.

"You're thinking about what happened to this village, aren't you?" Kirara suddenly asked, raising her head slightly from where it rested on her paws to glance at Kagome. Her words, however, would have only been heard and understood as little, incoherent mewls to anyone else, maybe except Shippō, had anyone been there to listen to the conversation between the cat and the dog – or half-dog, as it were.

"I see you can read me as well as ever," Kagome commented, amusement giving her tone a light note the world hadn't heard in a much too long time. Her hand was petting Kirara lightly, the hanyō performing the act almost absentmindedly. Though it had been a very long time since Kirara had last been curled up in her lap and asked to be petted, it still feel very much natural to both parties to be in this position. And if Kirara had any intention to move from her spot, it certainly wasn't any time soon.

"It's not that hard, really. You're an open book to anyone who knows how to read it," the cat replied easily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kagome snorted.

"The 'who knows how to read it' is the key part of that sentence," she countered and in response, Kirara only pushed her head against Kagome's hand, much like a cat demanding to be petted, even if it already was. Kagome knew the gesture meant something different, however, and it warmed her heart that Kirara still worried for her as she did. "Don't worry about it. The number of such people grew since we last met. There's no need to be sad, Kirara."

"The kannushi and the houshi are part of those selected few people, aren't they," the little cat demon asked, although it sounded more like a statement than anything else. Kagome only nodded, biting her tongue in the last moment to not answer with a sarcastic comment along the lines of 'they came with me and you still doubted them until now?'. Kirara's mistrust of anyone she didn't know was only to be expected after what happened to the village she had called her home for the last hundred-and-fifty years or so.

"If the demon slayers decide to go with us, you can be sure to come across the demon responsible for it all. And if they don't, I guarantee I will avenge your village for you, Kirara," Kagome said with conviction, now being the one to read the little cat's thoughts, instead.

"I never thought you, of all people, would be pursuing anyone for revenge," the little neko answered, although her voice lacked the disapproving and disappointed note Kagome expected to hear there. She sighed.

"Revenge isn't my motivation," she replied. "But meeting and fighting the scum responsible for taking your home from you again is something I cannot avoid, anyway. He'll come after us because of the Jewel whether I like it or not. And when he does, I intend to kill him, like I do with any threat. Revenge is only a bonus, but not my main motivation."

"If it was, you'd try to track him down instead of waiting for him to strike," the nekomata responded, once again proving that she knew Kagome better than most would have expected. "But I still don't understand why he did that. So he wanted the sword, fine. Wasn't there any other way to get it? Did he have to kill everyone?" the little cat asked, reminding Kagome of how young she actually was. Though Kirara was able to transform into a larger version of herself, which signified she was by all means an adult, even if she preferred to pretend to be still a child, she was still far from old. Kagome suspected she had gained and learned to control that form only a few decades back. Skilled as she had to be in fighting, or else she wouldn't have survived the siege on the village, in her head, the little cat was still more a kitten than a grown demon-cat. And as such, she reacted to losing her loved ones like a kitten would, not like an adult. Though Kagome had to admit it was something she was actually kind of glad about. It was one thing that hadn't changed between now and before her arrow-induced sleep.

"As much as I hate to say this, I imagine he killed them because he could. That's just how Naraku is. He cares little for the life of others, especially if they're in the way of something he wants," she said softly, her petting getting more affectionate as she tried to comfort the little neko. However, Kirara wasn't entirely a child anymore, and caught on to what Kagome's words implied, despite the half-demon's attempts to keep her from knowing it.

"You speak from experience," the cat stated as she stared hardly at Kagome, her yellow fur standing on end in agitation. "You are in his way. You prevent him from getting the Jewel, so he tried to get rid of you for good, didn't he."

'And he was pretty close to succeeding, too… but I don't think it'd be good to let you know that,' Kagome thought, keeping her expression carefully neutral as she nodded in response. It wouldn't do to let Kirara know she had already almost been killed on several occasions. Not with how agitated the cat already was.

"Don't worry, you know I don't go down easy. The likes of him won't get me killed," she tried to assure the cat on her lap, although the result wasn't exactly what she wanted. Instead of calming down, Kirara only grew even more agitated, and her fur bristled as she hissed.

"He won't kill you because I won't let him! He won't take anyone else away from me! No one!" the little demon yelled, her naturally ruby eyes turning an even more angry shade of red. Kagome's eyes widened, as she hadn't expected that kind of reaction. She should have, however. If there was one thing she and Kirara had more in common than anyone gave them credit for, it was their will to protect those precious to them.

Somehow, Kagome just never considered herself to be on Kirara's list of her 'precious people', although in anyone else's point of view, it was probably obvious that she was.

"Calm down. Getting riled up won't help," was all she said, gently forcing Kirara to lay back down, as the cat had stood up in her lap in her outburst. Kirara didn't resist and eventually calmed down, soothed by Kagome's words, her presence and her ministrations on the cat's back, as she had yet to stop to pet her soothingly.

"I still promise he won't ever get the chance to kill you. And I mean it. I won't let him kill you. I won't," the little cat said, though her voice had no more bite in it as she slowly succumbed to the petting and gradually fell asleep. Kagome's eyes softened.

"I know. And I really appreciate that," Kagome said softly to the now sleeping demon-kitten. The only answer she got was a very cat-like, content purring.

"You and Kirara seem pretty close, Kagome-sama," a boy's voice suddenly interrupted the silence that fell between the two demonic beings and Kagome looked up to see Kohaku standing there. She wasn't surprised to see him, though. As absorbed as she had been in her conversation with Kirara, she had kept her senses tuned on her surroundings, and had thus heard him approach.

"It may seem that way because we've met before," the hanyō-girl replied evasively, not feeling nearly comfortable enough around the boy to reveal more of her past than she already had. And even what she had revealed had nothing to do with her being comfortable discussing it. It had just been something the boy needed to hear, so she told him and an unspoken understanding formed between them that what she had said was to remain between him and her. It had nothing to do with trust, really. "What brings you here? I would have thought you'd be with your sister?" Kagome asked, desperate for the starting conversation to move away from her and her past, although that desperation didn't show on her face or in her voice at all. She was already all too used to hiding it. Kohaku scratched the back of his head shyly and slowly approached, to finally sit in front of her. Kagome had a feeling this would be an either very long, or very important conversation… or maybe both.

[T]

"Inuyasha-sama… he suggested something earlier to ane-ue and I. He said we could go with you," the young demon slayer started slowly, glancing at Kagome from the corner of his eye, most likely to gauge her reaction. The half-demon tilted her head to the side and raised a questioning eye-brow.

"And?" she asked, wondering why Kohaku would come to her to tell her that. Why bother, after all? She would have found out soon, anyway, either because Inuyasha told her, or because the slayers actually decided to take him up on his offer. Kohaku bit his lip, obviously nervous.

"Wouldn't you… mind, Kagome-sama?" he asked slowly, both his posture and voice revealing his fear. He wasn't scared of her, however, but of the answer she'd give him, and Kagome had to wonder why that was. She snorted at his question.

"Whether I mind or not should be the least of your worries, Kohaku," she answered, and although her answer had been gruff, it seemed to calm the child's worries a little. "You don't need my permission to come along with us, you know. The choice is yours entirely. I can't stop you from joining us, nor can I stop you from leaving if that's what you want. I'm in no position to decide for someone else what they'll do with their life."

"So… if we want, we can really come along? You really wouldn't be against our joining you, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku asked, his voice strangely excited and hopeful. Kagome frowned, trying to determine why that was. She wouldn't have normally expected a demon slayer to be this excited about travelling with a hanyō, so this reaction was surprising.

But, should she really be surprised after what happened? This boy, who was but a child even by human standards, and no more than a baby from a demon's perspective, had in span of one day lost everything that was dear to him except his sister and a demon cat. Was it really that surprising that he wanted to travel along with people who so far proved capable to protect those who were dear to him when he himself could not?

When she looked at it from that point of view, it really wasn't surprising. Kohaku was just looking for a way to keep himself and his sister safe, and going with a group of strong and trustworthy people seemed like the best choice he had. Although whether his sister needed anyone to protect her or not remained up to debate.

'No, considering all that has happened to him, I really shouldn't be surprised,' Kagome thought with a sigh, freezing at her own thoughts only seconds later. 'All that has happened to him?' she repeated, eyes growing wide at the realization. Of course, it was so obvious, how could she have missed it? There was more to it than that. There was so much more to it than just protecting his sister. There was also what happened at Naraku's castle… and what Kagome had revealed to him about herself because of it.

They were alike. They shared the same experience, one that no two people should ever have to share. One that no one should have to ever go through under any circumstances. They were kindred spirits in that regard. It was understandable Kohaku would want to stay close to her in that case. She knew, because once upon a time, she had been the same. She had wanted someone there to help her, to understand her, to either help her or end her misery, since she was unable to do it herself. But she had been on her own and had the choice of picking the pieces up herself, or to give in. It had been a painful process. A very painful and long one, too. It took her well over a year. Heck, it took her just a year to even consider picking the pieces up. Had she been human, she would have died during that year. It was only her demon blood, the very blood that had gotten her into that predicament to begin with, that had also saved her life.

Unlike her, Kohaku wasn't alone. He still had his sister. But where his suffering was concerned, he might as well be on his own. As much as his sister surely wanted to help him, Kagome knew she wouldn't be able to do so. She wouldn't, because she couldn't fathom, couldn't even begin to imagine how it felt. Kagome did. And that was why Kohaku was so desperate to stay with her. He wanted her to help him, like she had once wanted someone else to help her. He wanted her to help him like she had helped herself, when she realized it was entirely up to her.

He just wanted to be with her because he knew she understood how he felt.

He just didn't want to be alone.

Kagome sighed again and her eyes softened considerably as she glanced back at Kohaku, whose enthusiasm has deflated considerably because of her prolonged silence. The young half-demon smiled reassuringly at him.

"If you and your sister decided to take Inuyasha up on his offer, then I don't mind at all. And I'll help you the best I can," she said softly, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. Really, did he think she wouldn't catch on? She had been through this before, of course she would have understood even if he tried to hide it.

Surprise was quickly replaced by gratitude, though, and in the next second, Kohaku was bowing to her so low that his forehead almost touched the ground.

"Thank you, Kagome-sama. Thank you so much," he said, thanking her more than just for allowing them to come with them. Kagome cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Come on, stop that," she said as she grabbed him by the back of his suit and forcefully lifted him back to a seated position. "None of that with me. And no keigo, either. Am I clear, Kohaku?"

"Yes, Kagome-sama," Kohaku replied, and Kagomse bit back another sigh. It seemed she'd have to put up with the honorific, the kid was too respectful to let it drop even when she told him to. She shook her head.

[/T]

"I take from that, that your decision has already been made?" she asked rhetorically, and waited for Kohaku to nod before continuing. "In that case, if you feel up to it, I can show you what you have to do to put the past behind and move on. But let me warn you: it will not be easy, nor will it be painless, in both physical and emotional sense."

Kohaku bit his lip and looked down on the ground, but nodded nonetheless. Kagome's ears lowered and her eyes softened even more in worry. It hadn't been that long since the wounds on the boy's heart were inflicted, after all. It would make doing what he had to do all the harder for him. But still, the sooner he tried to put the past behind him, the better for him, and Kagome knew from experience that this wouldn't get any easier if they waited. No, if anything, it would only get even harder.

"You remember what happened, don't you? I mean to say, you saw everything happening, though you did not control your body then, is that right?" she asked softly as she gently deposited Kirara on the ground and motioned for Kohaku to follow her. For what she had in mind, they'd have to be somewhere where no one would interrupt for any reason. She couldn't risk anyone getting accidentally hurt, after all, and she could only assure her own and Kohaku's safety with what they were about to do. Any third person would have to watch out for themselves, and that was going to be anything but easy.

"Yes," Kohaku answered in a mere whisper as he obediently followed after her. Kagome lowered her head, both as a sign of sympathy and grim acceptance.

"Then your situation and mine are as close to being the same as they can get. Meaning that in order to put the past behind, you'll have to do exactly the same thing I had to do. And it's not going to be easy," she said, her voice almost sad as she finally stopped in what once must have been a market place of some sort. Now, it was just barren ground clear of most debris with as much free space as they'd probably get. Kagome slowly turned towards Kohaku, steeling herself as she prepared to reveal to him what she wanted him, and what he needed, to do.

XxX

"Where's Kohaku?" Sango asked suddenly, leaning slightly on the frame of the door to the hut she'd been resting in to keep her balance. Inuyasha looked up from the book he was reading (he had actually brought one or two schoolbooks with him this time to study a little if he had the time, and now that he had, he was forcing himself to use it – with mixed, but overall miserable results) and turned his head to glance at the slayer, then shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure. But I think he mentioned something about talking to Kagome," he said nonchalantly before turning back to his textbook, trying to understand what he was reading before starting the chemistry exercises he knew had been his homework due a few days… or maybe even weeks back. They weren't getting any easier than they had been when he first tried to solve them, though, and it was truly starting to not only frustrate, but also scare him a little. If this kept up, his grades would surely suffer and his mother would take the brunt of it. And no matter how hard he tried, he seemed to be unable to do a single thing about it.

"He's alone with the hanyō?" Sango asked in a low tone, sounding a weird mixture of worried and apprehensive. Without another word, she started to walk in the direction she thought Kohaku had walked off in, obviously intent on finding him. Inuyasha scowled.

"She won't try to kill him, you know," he said a little irritated, but his remark fell on deaf ears as Sango purposefully stormed off. Or tried to storm off, anyway, but in the state her body was in, she merely managed a slow walk. Inuyasha briefly considered following her, but ultimately decided that chemistry was more important, especially since he had no idea when he'd get another chance to study. It wasn't like anything was going to happen, anyway.

By the time he'd realize that he should have followed Sango, it would be much too late.

XxX

"I want you to fight me," Kagome said seriously as she hardened her gaze and stared at the young boy in front of her. Kohaku visibly paled and his eyes widened in both surprise and horror at the mere suggestion. Kagome dared not to think what he'd feel when they actually got to it.

"What?" the young taijiya-boy asked, the word barely loud enough for even Kagome to hear. "What… What do you mean, Kagome-sama?" she asked, and Kagome sighed. If he hoped he had heard her wrong, he was about to be seriously disappointed.

"I mean what I said," she said sternly. "I want you to fight me. Although I will not fight back and focus on the defensive, you need to attack as if you were really planning to kill me."

"But… how do you think I… I couldn't possibly…" the young boy stammered, obviously scared out of his wits at the idea alone of a fight, even if it would be a one-sided one without any counter coming from her. Kagome sighed.

"Kohaku," she said calmly, effectively silencing his stammering as he listened to her, wide, brown eyes staring at her disbelievingly. "What you need to do is overcome your fear. What happened caused you not only to fear fighting itself, but using your weapon in general. Doing so will most likely bring the images if what happened in the castle back before your mind's eye. But even so, if you wish to put the past behind you, you need to overcome that fear, overcome the pain those memories bring. The only way to do that is to use your weapon and control it as if nothing had ever happened. And in order to do so, you need to fight, in a mock-battle if nothing else. As soon as you find control of your weapon and your emotions again, the past will no longer be able to torment you," she was speaking from experience and she knew it. So did Kohaku. But he still seemed to not be fond of the idea.

"But… I could hurt you…" he tried to protest, but Kagome only snorted in response.

"Do you think I'd tell you to fight me if I didn't believe I could keep us both from being harmed?" she asked rhetorically, and didn't even wait for Kohaku to reply. "Besides, your weapon can only reach me if you allow it to. If you control it like I know you can, because no demon possessing your body can force you to do something you're physically incapable of doing, then even in a real fight, your weapon will soar harmlessly past your allies and strike down your foes. I know it's hard, but finding that control again and overcoming the fear that stops you from doing it is the only way to pick yourself back up," she said, trying to sound convincing. When Kohaku still hesitated, she sighed and added softly: "if you wait, it will only get harder."

Those words seemed to strike something within Kohaku, because the boy nodded shakily and reached for the chain-sickle tied to his belt – the very one that had not so long ago been stained by his family's blood. Kagome squared her shoulders and took a deep breath in preparation. This was going to be hard, even for her. She expected Kohaku's control of his weapon to be close to none because of the understandable fear guiding his movements. But that would only make his weapon all the more dangerous. She would be unable to predict where it would come from and thus unable to dodge sooner than the very last possible moment. Training with the boy would demand vigilance like hardly any battle ever demanded of her since she met Kikyo (except whenever she had to fight Sesshōmaru, obviously). But Kagome knew it was something she could, and would do. She wouldn't have offered her help otherwise.

The weapon flew through the air, aiming straight at the half-demon. She ducked lightly, just enough to let it pass above her if it continued its current course. However, when Kohaku saw his weapon approaching her, he suddenly yanked on the chain, as if wanting to pull his blade back. The effect wasn't the one he intended, however, as instead, the scythe-like blade turned and flew in an arc, aiming for Kagome's throat. Without missing a beat, Kagome rolled out of the way, barely escaping unscathed from the weapon as it imbedded itself in the ground a few feet away from her.

"Control your weapon, Kohaku," she lectured calmly. "Panicked movements won't make it obey you. They'll only make your weapon move the way it wants instead of the way you want it to," she added, though she refrained from telling him that this only made his weapon all the more dangerous, even to people whom he normally wouldn't want hurt. Such comments would only fortify the wall he had hit from the beginning – the first and only wall, to be honest, and one Kagome knew could only be overcome one little step at a time.

His whole body shaking slightly, Kohaku nodded and tugged on the chain again. This time, the weapon obeyed its master and returned dutifully to his hand. He caught it with ease, then took a shaky breath before throwing it again. Kagome was ready.

Kohaku didn't try to desperately change the course of his weapon this time around, but his movements when he tried to redirect it after every dodge on Kagome's part were still jerky and clumsy, causing the sickle to fly every which way with little possibility to predict where it would turn next. Still, Kagome always managed to avoid it at the last second.

At one point, Kohaku had asked if it wouldn't be better if he started with normal target practice, like he was used to, but Kagome quickly shot that idea down. If his targets were unmoving blocks of wood, he'd only better his aim, but he wouldn't have to face the fear of hurting anyone, and thus wouldn't have any problem controlling his weapon. That fear only manifested if someone else was his target, someone he could truly hurt – and it was that fear that he had to overcome.

Kohaku seemed to accept that answer, although he obviously wasn't relieved by it. Still, he didn't complain and they continued to train. He didn't improve much, but Kagome didn't push him. She was well aware that this would take a long while and more than just one training-session.

As Kohaku threw his weapon at her again, Kagome waited before dodging in the last possible second, deciding that once the weapon implanted itself in the ground again, they would call it quits for today. They didn't get that far, however, as suddenly a female voice broke the concentration of both Kohaku and Kagome.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sango yelled unexpectedly as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Even Kagome hadn't sensed her coming, too focused on avoiding Kohaku's weapon.

Surprised by the sudden voice to his left, Kohaku turned to glance at his sister, the movement unavoidably tugging on the chain of his weapon and causing it to change course. Kagome leaned back as the weapon flew horizontally inches away from her nose, then continued on a circular course in Sango's general direction. 'Oh, crap!' Kagome thought desperately when she saw where the weapon was flying. Kohaku noticed it, too.

"NO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he desperately tugged on the chain to call the weapon back. Just as the first time he had done so, however, the weapon didn't obey him. Instead of coming back to its master, it was jerked upwards. It stopped for about half-a-second in midair before falling back down, the weight of the blade tugging on the chain and forcing it to stretch, effectively lengthening the blade's range. The end result was that the sickle flew in a graceful, vertical arc, heading straight for Sango's head and threatening to split her in half.

---

(1) This explanation is taken straight out of the manga, and is as such pretty simplified, actually. But in case anyone is curious or has a reaction like Kagome and Shippō did in the manga, here's an explanation based on the research I did to understand this all better myself.

First of all, the whole 'shikon' thing. What Miroku is referring to is the 'ichirei shikon', which means literally 'one spirit, four souls'. It's a belief that states that the spirit of anything, be it a human or kami, is made of one spirit and four souls (yes, I know, in English those two words can be considered synonyms, but the thing is, it's not the same thing here). The spirit is called 'naobi' and the four souls aramitama, nigimitama, kushimitama and sakimitama are the turbulent. Each of those four souls has its own particularity and function, but they coexist and act in a complementary fashion. The idea is that those four form some sort of equilibrium, and to aid that, one of those souls is the opposite of another (aramitama is the opposite of nigimitama), while the other two can be seen as opposites, or as two halves of one whole (from what I understood, anyway).

This is where Miroku's simplistic explanation from the manga (although it might just be a problem of the translation I got my hands on) borders on being incorrect, unless of course you consider that kinship is the opposite of courage and love is the opposite of wisdom – which I don't, although admittedly, love does make people stupid, and thus could be considered the opposite of wisdom ;) Still, with courage and kinship, it just doesn't work.

Anyway, in reality, the four souls that reside in the spirit and thus define the spirit can't be associated with just one personality-trait or emotion such as courage or love. They're much more generic than that. I'll go through them one by one.

Nigimitama is the peaceful and calming aspect of the soul. It is the alternate aspect of the soul with its counterpart aramitama – as far as I understand, while there's equilibrium between the four souls, nigimitama and aramitama can't both 'express themselves' (for lack of a batter way to put it and be understood) at once.

Aramitama is the rough, violent and ferocious side of a spirit, which considering its opposite, the peaceful and calm nigimitama, explains why a spirit can't 'express' both of them at once. Nigimitama is the one that's considered the 'natural' state of the spirit, while aramitama surfaces during times of war, natural disasters and the like. The transformation from aramitama to nigimitama happens through pacification and worship. If you think about it, it actually also explains the Jewel in the Inuyasha universe: the Jewel becomes evil when the one keeping it is evil – aramitama manifests itself – and for the Jewel to become good/pure again, it needs to be purified by a priestess – the soul becomes nigimitama again through spiritual rites.

Kushimitama is the wondrous soul. It brings out the mysterious manifestation of a human spirit through supernatural powers and is often considered to have also a medical function by curing illness and restoring people to health. Along with the fourth, Sakimitama, it is considered as a soul capable of creation/generation.

Sakimitama is the merciful soul. Along with Kushimitama, it is considered to be capable of creation/generation – though I admit to not knowing what it was able to generate.

Please note that parts of these explanation are based on my own limited understanding of what I found, so there's a great chance I actually messed something up. But I DO hope it is correct and understandable. If, by any chance, you see anything in there that doesn't seem right (or if I find such a thing myself by researching some more), please tell me and I'll be sure to correct it.

(2) Much like with the barrier thing, it has never been shown in the manga that the two kinds of spiritual energy were different. In fact, they seem to be identical in how they work. However, I noticed that not once in the entire series have they shared a name. For a monk, it was always 'houriki', and a miko had always 'reiki'. A monk's spiritual energy was never referred to as 'reiki', and neither was a miko's called 'houriki'. From this obvious distinction in names, I just decided to make the group's lives a little bit harder and create a difference in how that spiritual energy is controlled, so that Miroku could not be the one to teach Inuyasha. Yeah, I like making their lives difficult, you should know this by now ;)

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Alright, this is it. I really hope it was worth the lengthy wait, and if it was not, I hope the next, extra-long chapter will make up for it :) Hope you enjoyed ;)

Next Chapter: Of Fear And Love

See you then.