Chapter 5 – Forgotten Memories

Their journey was going well. Kirai had finally gotten a good grip on riding on Ah-Un, Rin's attitude was never better and there were no demons bothering them at all. Even Sesshomaru and Jaken seemed to be in a good mood, well as good of a mood as they could ever be.

Well, that was until night fell and they set up camp. Then, a seemingly stray demon wandered into their little camp. It was a giant ogre looking demon who seemed to be friendly... until he looked over at Kirai.

"You bitch, how dare you still be alive after all these years!" The demon yelled and began to charge at the young girl.

"Wh...What?" Kirai was freaked out and frozen as the demon came at her and Rin who was right by her side. Both girls were sitting on Ah-Un and were knocked backward by the demon. Kirai wrapped her arms around Rin, protecting her from the fall. However, with nothing protecting the other woman, she hit her head on the ground, hard.

A moment later, Sesshomaru took the demon down with little to no effort at all using his sword, Bakusaiga.

"I just want revenge for my brother that you and your damned sister murdered!" The demon called out as he disintegrated, fading away as if he was never there at all. With the demon taken care of, Jaken made his way around the dragon to see if the girls were alright.

"Kirai, wake up!" Rin called out, shaking the now unconscious Kirai. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the woman woke up and sat up dizzily.

"What the hell... My head feels all fuzzy." Kirai grumbled as she stood up a little shakily. Rin helped support her to ensure the girl didn't fall down and get even more hurt.

"Are you alright Kirai?"

"My head hurts, but I'm okay. My head feels a little scattered though."

"Stupid human," Jaken grumbled as he returned to his original position. Sesshomaru looked at Kirai for a few moments before turning around an returning to his original position. His original position was him sitting down and leaning against a tree near the fire.

"Are you sure you're okay? You hit your head pretty hard." Rin was still clearly very worried about her friend. However, Kirai did not respond. She had her hands on her head and a grimace of pain on her face.

"Ow, what the hell..." Kirai swayed and collapsed to her knees. The world around her seemed to fade as memories began to play in her mind. They were broken memories and out of order, but they were enough.

Kirai saw Safaia in her memories, but they were memories that she didn't make recently. They were memories from long ago. Along with Safaia, that demon and his brother were among the memories.

It all happened so quick, the next thing Kirai knew, Rin was shaking her again and was calling her name.

"Kirai! Kirai!?" Rin was freaking out now. Panic was rising in the girl, but thankfully Kirai looked up at the young girl and seemed to be in pain, but alright otherwise.

"I remember things. Things that I shouldn't be remembering from this world even though I'm supposedly from the world Kagome was from." Kirai explained when she found the strength to talk.

"Are you alright girl?" Sesshomaru called out, surprising both Rin and Kirai.

"Yes, I think I am. I'm just a little confused is all." Kirai was shocked but thankful for Sesshomaru's concern if that's what he was asking due to.

"Explain what is going on with you, you stupid human. Don't worry us!" Jaken snapped, looking actually concerned for once.

"I think I'm remembering my past, but my past was here in this world."

"What do you mean?" Rin questioned as she sat down next to Kirai.

"How about I sleep on it and see if any other memories come back, then I'll explain it to everyone?"

"That sounds good." Rin smiled and got out a blanket. "Come on then, it's time for bed anyway. Let's sleep against Ah-Un. He'll keep us warm especially with this blanket."

"Alright then." The two girls snuggled up against the dragon demon and got comfy under the blanket. Within minutes, the two girls were asleep.

~

That night, many more memories of Kirai's returned. She finally got the truth she was looking for.

"Alright, I think I can explain my theory on my life now." Kirai began as she ate her breakfast.

"Is it going to be a long story? I don't really like long stories." Rin muttered between bites of her breakfast.

"Oh hush child. Let the woman explain her story." Jaken snapped at the young girl. He seemed to be interested in listening to the story for some reason.

"Well, I think I actually come from this era, but I think I fell into the well at some point and was transported to the future. I might have joined with my future self or something like that, which caused my memories to become all scattered or something." Kirai began to speak after she was done with her food. "I think I'm a powerful witch and that girl, Safaia, that Rin and I met, I think she's my sister and I'm the girl she was talking about who disappeared."

"I see. So that means we need to take you back up to the mountains where Safaia is. She needs to know about your truth. She needs to know her sister is still alive and that you are her sister."

"How do you know for sure that those memories are memories and not something your brain made up?" It was Sesshomaru who finally spoke up with the question.

"Well, I think that these are actually memories. They give me a feeling of truth and not something made up. I just feel that these are my memories."

"Hmm."

"Lord Sesshomaru, can we head towards the mountains so Kirai can be reunited with her sister?" Rin questioned happily and eagerly.

"Why should we go out of our way for a human?!" Jaken snapped angrily as he waved his staff around.

"Enough, Jaken." That was all Sesshomaru said, but to Rin, it was a yes so she began to cheer.

"We'll get to see Safaia again. Isn't that great? She was so nice to us."

"I guess she was. A little scary and crazy though."

"We should find a crystal to bring her as a present. Let's go look now." With that, Rin hopped up and pulled Kirai along with her before running off into the forest.

"You two girls need to not just run off like that!" Jaken yelled after them as he got up and ran after them as well.

Looking for a rock wasn't something Kirai had wanted to deal with, so she ended up making an excuse and headed back to Sesshomaru. Once she was back at camp, she realized Sesshomaru was looking over at her.

"Is something the matter, Lord Sesshomaru?" Kirai questioned calmly, even though she was freaking out on the inside.

"Your sword. Do you wish to learn how to properly wield it?" Sesshomaru questioned as he stood up.

"I would like to. Will you teach me?"

"Who else, but I to teach you?"

"I guess you are the only one here who uses a sword, other than me."

"Draw your sword, girl. Let me see what abilities you currently have." He drew his sword as she spoke, making Kirai pick up her sword quickly and pull it out as well.

"Abilities I have currently? Well, that'll be flailing around and panicking. Somehow I don't think I'll do too well against you, but please don't kill me."

"We shall see."

With that, the two began their fight. Sesshomaru made a move first, forcing Kirai to panic and just blindly swing her sword. She managed to block a few of Sesshomaru's swings, but eventually, she couldn't block him and got knocked backward, nearly losing her balance, finally ending the match.

"You have much to learn." That was all the demon said as he turned away from Kirai.

"Will you teach me?"

"I have a feeling you already know how to use a sword, you just have forgotten."

"Oh, well I guess that's possible, but until I remember, maybe you should teach me. So I can protect myself and Rin better. That's a good idea, right?"

"Hmm." Kirai wasn't sure whether to take that as a yes or no, but for now, she'd let it go. Rin and Jaken had reappeared with a few stones in their hands, so clearly it was time for Sesshomaru to return to being silent and back to his usual self.

"What were you and Lord Sesshomaru doing?" Rin questioned as she looked around to see that Sesshomaru was standing near Kirai.

"Talking about swords." Kirai simply spoke as she sheathed her sword. Sesshomaru already had done so with Bakusaiga.

"I see..." Rin clearly wasn't interested in it at all. She just put the stones she and Jaken had in her bag and then turned back to the others. "So, we'll be heading to the mountains next, right Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Yes." Came Sesshomaru's simple response. With that, he began to walk off in the direction of the mountains where Safaia lives. Kirai and Rin quickly climbed up on Ah-Un, but before they could get situated, the ground beneath them began to shake. Kirai was thrown off the dragon demon, right into the arms of Sesshomaru. She was surprised he'd caught her but before she could get out of his arms, black smoke appeared all around the whole group.

"What's going on?" Kirai asked as Sesshomaru finally set her down on the ground.

"Witches and demons are attacking us." He sounded calm, but Kirai could tell he wasn't at all. Before anyone could do anything else, the smoke cleared. There where Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un originally were, was nothingness.