Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author's Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).
Chapter Sixteen:
Kagome's Light
"Where are you?"
Kagome's eyes snapped open and she set straight up only to find herself tied with ropes and blinded by a strip of black. She felt material around her head and assumed that a cloth was tied tightly in front of her eyes, keeping her from seeing. Her heart raced in her chest as she struggled against the ropes and fought to regain her sight.
"I'm scared," She heard her mind say over and over again as her panic set in deeper and deeper. "What happened?" She remembered the little boy Shippo, she remembered talking with him, she remembered that the Captain was behind her along with Sango, Myoga, and Miroku. She remembered offering Shippo a place on the ship, she remembered the tears in his eyes, she remembered—his 'I'm sorry.'
"Shippo," She said very quietly as she felt tears form underneath the blindfold. He had tricked her, he had used some magic on her to knock her out, and yet—she remembered his little face, it had been so genuinely happy when she had offered him the place to stay and then it had been so genuinely sad when he had told her sorry.
"Did he," She wondered to herself, "Did he regret it?" Kagome believed he did, he had regretted what had happened with all his heart. Shippo had attacked her with no will of his own, she knew that without having to even dwell on it. Briefly her mind flashed back to Hiten and Manten, the boy's Captain and First Mate, she was sure they had something to do with this.
The feel of water hitting her skin brought her out of her thoughts and Kagome shuttered.
"Where are you!"
Kagome's ears seemed to perk on the side of her head, had someone yelled? It almost sounded familiar—but the words—they were coming from her mind, weren't they?
"Fuck."
She looked around frantically even though she couldn't see, she could have sworn that she had heard someone swear just then, as if they had whispered right in her ear. Carefully, she took a deep and shaky breath as she allowed her ears to be her eyes listening for the voice that called her name.
"KA—GO—ME!"
Her ears almost twitched like the Captain's at the sound and she swore she heard someone yell her name. The voice was one she knew all too well by now, it was the voice of the man she had met on Port Royal, the voice of a man who had danced with her and kissed her hand, a man who had kissed her, a man who had betrayed her, a man who had marked her as his own, a man who had saved her life, a man who had given her a life at sea, a man who was so much more than he appeared.
She felt tears grow even more predominate in her eyes as she heard the voice again, shouting her name at the top of its lungs, frantically. It was not the sound of a man looking for his possession (like a compass or a favorite pet) it was the sound of a man looking desperately for something that was dear to him. Panicking because he couldn't find it and he desperately needed to have it.
"Captain?" She questioned the thin air quietly as she turned towards the sound, her heart beating rapidly with her longing. "I'm here!"
"I wouldn't scream if I were you."
Kagome froze as the voice hit her ears and she felt her heart drop into her stomach. She recognized the voice, she recognized it well, it was the man from the other day, the man who had collected a debt in the carpenter's shop. The younger brother of Captain Hiten, the first mate of Shippo's ship, the ugly and hideous, "Manten."
She heard the man snicker. "Awe, I'm so privileged, you remember me, Miss Dresmont."
His voice made her nauseous, the sickening sweet sound of it, and the way he seemed to roll his tongue over her name. She felt distinctly like her name had just been raped. She took a deep breath accompanied by a rather large gulp and turned slightly towards him, her ears finally picking up the sound of water being slapped or moved. She furrowed her eyebrows at the thought, concentrating on the rhythmic sound of the water moving or better yet being manipulated.
She felt a few droplets of water hit her cheek and hand, just as they had some moments before. A creak of wood caught her attention then and the sound of fabric moving, the elevated breathing of her capture; as if he was doing something that caused him great strain. The sound of wood scraping against wood, the sound of water being turned up and down, the wind that touched her skin along with the droplets of water. Kagome's breath hitched as she realized where she was.
"A boat." She breathed out loud. "I'm in a boat?"
"Good guess, the pretty 'uns aren't usually smart enough to realize that." His voice was snide as he spoke, the rate of his strokes increasing.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked harshly as she felt the boat sway lightly, the sound of oars being placed into the middle of the boat apparent to her ears now.
"No w'ere special." Manten muttered. "Just down the coast a ways."
"Why?" She gritted her teeth when she felt his hand suddenly touch her hauling her forward towards him. The blindfold was ripped from her head and her vision was filled with light. As her eyes adjusted she saw the grotesque features of his face, the way his nostrils flared as he looked at her, the way his small beady pupils looked into her own. She grimaced from the look of him, he was truly an ugly man, balding with only a pony tail hanging from the back of his head.
She turned away as the smell of him hit her, she was used to the fact that sea men often smelt, were not clean, and typically lived in romanticized squallier but the Captain had spoiled her. The Captain was a remarkably clean sea man, he had no smell to him other than a rough natural scent that lingered on him and made her dizzy, even Miroku was surprisingly a very clean man. Most of the other men on the ship Shikuro were verily dirty but in comparison to the seamen she had seen come to port back at her home in Port Royal, they were exceptionally clean—unlike Manten.
The man breathed into her face then and she felt herself nearly gag on the smell. Her eyes watered and Manten smiled showing decaying teeth, another thing the Captain did not possess.
"We're taking you for the money," He told her with a vicious smile. "A virgin is worth her weight in gold in the demon world."
Kagome felt her whole body shudder in absolute fear, all of her confidence from a moment ago completely gone. All of her life she had been taught that her virginity was her greatest treasure, something to be guarded with everything she had. If she ever lost it outside of her marriage bed, it would be utter dishonor, she would no longer be a woman—she would no longer be a person. "Please," she whispered as tears filled her eyes and went down her cheeks. "Don't do this, I—please—don't take it from me."
Manten raised an eyebrow in mild interest. "Your virginity?" He snorted and pushed her back into her spot in the boat, turning her to the dock that was still engulfed in chaos. "No one will take that," He said in a hushed whisper as he put his lips to her ear. "They want your blood, your guts, your eyes; a virgin's body has powers a tainted woman's never could give."
Kagome's eyes widened at his words, a horrid understanding seeping inside her being. They weren't going to rape her. They were going to do something far worse than rape would ever be. They were going harvest her organs, ripping her to pieces for every virgin ingredient necessary to make magic spells and mythical remedies, killing her slowly, painfully.
"It's a good thing we got you away from that fucking mutt before he rutted you." Manten threw his head back with a laugh at his own words as he placed the oars back in their holds to start out again.
Kagome felt her lip quiver, her mind unable to form a angered comeback because of her current state of complete disbelief. They were going to use her virgin body for something far worst then sex. By the time these people were done with her she would never be able to make it to any form of heaven, her soul would never be saved, they would rip it from her along with every valuable organ that she had. It was a revolting thought to know that even if they raped her she would have been better off. She closed her eyes tightly, the ropes on her arms cutting into her flesh as she thought of the atrocious things they were going to do to her.
She had heard the stories. These people would want to take her apart alive, in order to preserve her magical qualities longer. They would rip her eyes from their sockets, cut out her tongue, remove her ears from the side of her head, maybe even her lips and nose if they thought them valuable, and then they would open her chest, they would take her organs, one by one, all while she was alive and they would continue to do this until her body shut down and she took her last dying breath.
Kagome felt the tears slid down her cheeks, it was a ghastly way to die. "How bad would it have been?" She wondered if only to herself. "To have lost my innocence to the Captain instead of this?"
She remembered the way it had felt when he first looked at her. The way their eyes had held onto each other for so long. She remembered the heat that had filled her body the first time he took her ungloved hand. She remembered the absolutely amazing sensation of her stomach twisting when he had kissed her bare knuckles. She remembered the dance, the way he lifted her above his head, she remembered the swift way he had removed her glove, the brash way he had kissed her hand again, the daring way she had kissed his hand in return. She remembered the kiss in his quarters, the way he had asked her permission.
But that was the Captain of Port Royal, not the Captain of the pirate ship Shikuro. Kagome closed her eyes at the very thought, those two men although the same person in body were not the same person at all—
"Why am I lying to myself?" Kagome questioned silently as she remembered the soft smile of the eighteen year old man. "They really aren't that different, are they?"
She opened her eyes and looked at the docks, searching for the silver hair and red coat but she was too far away to see either of them. That man on the docks had caused her great pain, both physically and mentally. He had betrayed her, he had lied to her, he had said awful things and yet—that wasn't who he was—that was a man designed to be a mask, not the man who lived behind it.
Kagome's eyes drifted closed, her whole body seeming to go into a trance as she remembered the two different men she had encountered, one gentle one not. She remembered the way the pirate had grabbed her, the force of his sexual energy bleeding into her. She remembered his lips, more forceful than the Navy Captain of Port Royal but still almost tender. She remembered the way he had backed away from her, his eyes seeming gentler for only a moment as he looked into her deeply as if staring at her soul.
"I will never make you do something against your will."
Kagome felt her heart race at the memory. That man then, the one with the gentle eyes and the boyish look—that man was the Captain—wasn't it? That was the truth, wasn't it?
"Losing my virginity to that man, whoever he really is, would have been a lot better than being mutilated." She concluded silently as she ducked her head down, taking her eyes from the docks that were shrouded in chaos, closing them off to the world with a smile that quickly changed to a frown.
It was too late for that, however, now she would never know what it might have felt like, what it might have been like. Would it have been like Sango had described it or would it be like her friends had told her? Somehow, Kagome knew it would have been nice, that it would have felt good, that it would have been everything Sango said it was. Somehow she knew—that even if they didn't make love—that it would have been sensational.
She looked back at the docks, longing to catch sight of someone with a familiar look. She didn't see the red of the Captain's clothes, she didn't see Sango's trade mark hat, she didn't see Miroku's atrocious purple jacket, or Myoga's small hunched form. She was too far away, too long gone, she was lost. She was forced to a place that she was never meant to be. And she was sure the Captain wouldn't come for her, even if he had shown he was a decent man, it would be too much trouble for him to rescue her now, now that she was so far away.
"KA—GO—ME!"
Her head shot up at the sound of the panicked scream—it sounded the same as earlier, it was the voice from earlier. The Captain was still calling for her, even after all this time. He was calling for her desperately, did that mean what she thought it meant? Was this call really the sound of a man desperately trying to find something he treasures, not just owns? Was the Captain that kind of person, was he that kind of man? He had saved her, he had protected her, he had asked about her safety, he had given her a bed so she didn't have to sleep with him, he had promised to never force her into anything.
He had lied to her.
He had shared with her.
He had told her things he had never told a soul.
"What kind of man is the Captain?" The question still haunted her but, no matter what kind of man he was, she knew one thing:
"I wish he had taken me, even if I was not his bride. I just, I don't want to die." She said as tears collected on her eyelashes, unable to hold the pain inside. "I know, it would have been better to have just been his bitch truly, than to have been mutilated alive."
Manten looked at the girl in question with a raised eyebrow that soon turned his face into a twisted grin. She was facing away from him, looking at the docks but her words had been clear to his ears. He bent his head, neglecting the oars, moving his face closer to her exposed body. He licked his lips and then, inches from her flicked his tongue out and ran it along the lob of her ear.
Panicked Kagome tipped herself forward, nearly falling out of the boat before Manten put his arms around her, pulling her closer to himself, she felt something hard touch her back and she hoped, she prayed to God it was a gun.
"Become my bitch." Manten said into her ear. "And you won't die." He kissed his way down the back of her neck, his hands touching her waist but slowly raising higher, creeping closer and closer to her breast. "I can take your virginity where that dog wouldn't."
"Would it be so bad," Kagome wondered as she felt herself fill with trepidation and confusion. All of her emotions causing her mind to become cluttered and perplexed. "Would it be such a bad idea to be this man's bitch if it means living?"
That was all she wanted—she wanted to live. Her eyes opened and she looked in front of her, at the docks. She could see the place the whores had been earlier, it appeared they had run off because of Shippo's attack. At that moment Manten's left hand grazed the underside of her breast, his other hand resting on the flat of her stomach as he sucked and licked at the flesh on her neck and her ear.
"Those women," She thought, "Their hollow eyes," Manten's right hand moved to her hip, slipping in front to touch her thigh, "The way the men touched them." The hand moved closer to her sex. "Manten's touching me like that, does that make me the same?"
She remembered her conversation with Sango about the prostitutes on the docks, she had asked if they were like them, if her and Sango and the prostitutes had a similar life experience. Back then Sango had said no, she had said they were not like the women of the dock, that their life style was a choice, that they would never be forced, that they were "women allowed to live freely on a pirate's ship."
Manten moved his hand to cover her breast completely. His fingers gently massaging her through her clothes. She closed her eyes, tears leaking out from under her long lashes. "Now, I don't have a choice. I'm not free, if I want to live I must do this." She opened her eyes, the light of the sun blinding her momentarily. "I don't have a choice."
Manten slipped his hand downwards to her hips, pulling her back against himself, rubbing himself against her in a way that told her the hardness touching her back was diffidently not a gun. She felt the tears gathering on her chin, collecting their like a tax collector collects debts. She felt his hands reach in front of her, his fingers were pulling at the strings of her pants, she tensed and tried to pull away from his touch instinctively but he only grabbed her tighter.
"I have no choice." She told herself again. "This is my fate."
"You have a choice."
Kagome's eyes snapped open as Sango's words entered her head.
"The Captain would never force you into his bed."
The thought gave Kagome pause, the voice drawing her to a conclusion slowly. "He wouldn't would he?" Kagome questioned herself, her eyes lighting up.
"The Captain would never force you to do something against your will and you know it."
And she did know it, Kagome knew what Sango had said, it was true, wasn't it? It was true. "The Captain wouldn't." Kagome admitted to herself. "The Captain would never force me like this."
"Come on bitch," Manten's words were breathed on the back of her neck as his fangs brushed the spot the Captain had marked only a few days before. "You have no choice."
Kagome's mind froze at his words, her whole body went completely stiff in Manten's arms as the Captain appeared in her head, his image filling her mind, his soft gold eyes, his lips turned in a slight smile.
"What kind of man is the Captain?" She asked herself, was he a man like Manten? Was he a man who would hurt her, was he a man who had that capability? Was he a man that could rape, that could pillage, that could kill the innocent? "No."
"Miss Dresmont?" The Captain in her mind smiled at her gently, the smile he had given her in the alleyway, the smile he had given Sango and Miroku the day before, a smile full of love and sad happiness. A smile that said he was a complicated man but a man who would never ever hurt her. "Kagome—," He whispered, a soft baritone that filled her head, echoing with need and want. "I need you."
"Inuyasha." Kagome said out loud causing Manten to stop his progress to the junction between her thighs.
"What was that bitch?" The snide man said as he pulled her around, facing them to each other. Kagome didn't look at him, however, she couldn't even see him, all she saw was the Captain's face and although he had hurt her and although she felt she couldn't trust him with her heart just yet and although she didn't know if the man she had meet at Port Royal had been a fake or if the man she was getting to know was real, she knew one thing and that knowledge made her confusion for the first time in a few days, she felt perfectly calm, she felt as if she had just come to some great truth.
"I'm a better man than that." His voice echoed in her mind, touching her very soul.
Slowly, Kagome allowed herself to smile. "That's right, the Captain," She stated (if only to herself) as her eyes appeared to go blank, "Is the better man."
Her eyes deadened, the vision seeming to leave them as her body glowed a soft color, a pink color, the color of pure light. The ropes around her wrist abruptly caught on fire from the pink glow, burning instantly with a hot white flame leaving her hands in her lap freed.
Manten jumped back in utter fear as he felt his skin begin to tingle, as if it too was being burned. "What the fuck!" He screamed at her but Kagome couldn't hear his words.
She pulled her hands away from each other, bringing them up and away from their resting place. The odd pink flames slowly disappeared and Manten felt his whole body begin to shake with fear as her deadened eyes looked at him, dark and black, with not a trace of emotion.
"What's wrong with you?" He questioned, his voice shaking with absolute terror as the emotionless girl looked at him. She raised her hand slowly, bringing it to his face. "What are you doing?" He asked panicked as he moved away from her as far as he could in the tiny boat.
Her hands began to glow, the same color as the fire that had freed her of her bounds. Her unfocused eyes looked past him as the glow grew more and more intense. Manten felt every nerve in his skin scream in utter agony just from the heat behind the glowing arm. His flesh began to bubble, his demon blood trying to flee his own body as the completely pure substance began to enter him.
The light seemed to flow away from her body, catching everything in the boat in an eerie radiance. Manten seemed to catch on fire when it made contact with him, a purple substance slowly leaving him like a fog.
"Brother!" He screamed as the burning sensation melted his skin. "Brother help me!"
Kagome's blank eyes turned to look at him, the lack of color in them oddly haunting as she lifted her hand closer to his face. Manten stared at it, his whole body shaking out of fear as her fingers seemed to widen just inches from his eyes.
"What are you?" He asked as his skin prickled. "You can't be human."
Kagome didn't answer, she just released a blast of light that flowed through her fingers to his face. The concentrated amount of energy hit him full force and Manten screamed so loudly that it was certain he was dying. The screams lessened just as quickly as they had begun and Kagome lowered her hand, her blank eyes looking at all that was left of the demon Manten.
He amounted to nothing more than a small pile of ash on top of which laid two small jewel shards.
-break-
Shippo hid behind a barrel, looking out at the docks with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He said as his eyes leaked heavy tears. "I'm so sorry Miss Kagome." He covered his eyes with one arm hiccuping with each deep shuddering breath. Suddenly, without warning he felt himself pulled into the air. Shippo screeched and struggled. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me go, please don't kill me, I'm just a little kid!"
"Be quiet!"
Shippo gulped and obeyed, years of abuse causing him to go limp, he knew better than to struggle.
Miroku huffed as he held the little cabin boy. "Be glad I'm not our Captain." He muttered as he held the runt up to his face. "What did you do?" He hissed, his cool slowly disappearing as horrible thoughts ran through his head about what was happening to Miss. Dresmont. "Where is Miss Dresmont?"
Shippo cried harder and put his hands over his eyes. "They took her." The little boy admitted to Miroku as Miroku held him tightly.
"Who?" Miroku said shaking the boy just enough to instill more fear.
"My Captain and his brother!" The boy cried out his whole body shuddering with his words. "They wanted her, they wanted to use her."
"Use her?" Miroku felt himself lesson his grip slightly. Those words were dangerous words. "Use her for what?" He brought Shippo to his face, forcing the small boy to look him in the eye.
"The trade in Brazil." The boy supplied and darted his eyes away from Miroku.
Miroku dropped the boy at the words, his mind horrified with this information. All pirates knew about the trade in Brazil. It was a dangerous and horrific trade run by the most despicable of men, the human organ trade. They would steal virgins because it was rumored that virgin organs when used in medicines had amazing healing properties. They would take the organs from the girl while she was alive, removing the organs one by one until she succumbed to death. It was a horrible way to die, painful, long, grueling, and all in the name of homeopathic remedies.
On the ground Shippo continued to bawl, his eyes covered with his tiny clawed hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't wanna do it. I never want'd ta hurt Miss. Kagome."
Miroku looked at the child, unsure how to feel. He knew how cabin boys could be treated, he knew how scary a murdering demon could be to deal with. And this boy was so young, no more than five or six, it was reasonable to assume he had attacked because he didn't think he had any other option.
"I'm so sorry." The small boy repeated as he rubbed his eyes and looked at Miroku, they were blood shot and puffy. "It's all my fault. I shoulda been stronger." The boy looked down his small body trembling. "It's like Papa all over again."
"Papa?" Miroku questioned the boy softly. Little Shippo looked at him and nodded.
"They killed my Papa." He said sadly. "And I couldn't do anythin' I just stood back and watch'd."
A feeling of piety came into Miroku's heart. No matter how angry he was that the child had caused this to happen to Miss Dresmont, he knew that the child was not wholly accountable. He was small, very young, orphaned much like himself, and unafraid of the world. This child had no time to think of defying his Captain, all he could think about was trying to stay alive. Miroku couldn't blame him for that.
"What's the name of your Captain's ship?" Miroku asked as he knelt down to the child's level.
Shippo looked at him surprised, the tears lessening as he watched the man's kind face. He had never seen a man look this kind, except for his own Papa. Feeling a little better he spoke timidly, "The Thunder."
Before Miroku could respond to this new information a giant shock wave ran through the pier. He looked away from Shippo in utter disbelief as a giant light formed a short distance away from them, only a hundred maybe two hundred feet away, out on the water of the harbor.
"Did you see that?" Miroku shouted as he watched the giant beacon of light, shooting up into the sky. It was brighter than the sun and more awe-inspiring than anything he had ever really seen.
"A light?" Shippo said from his spot beside Miroku, equally confused by the sight. "Where is it coming from?"
"I don't know." Miroku replied to the rhetorical question as he stepped closer. The light appeared to grow as the moments went on becoming brighter and more predominate in the sky until the inspirational look of it was destroyed by the most haunting sound they had ever heard in their lives. It sounded like a man dying, being torn apart from the inside out by shards of glass.
Miroku gulped at the noise, terror seeping into his heart and mind at the very sound of the decapitating hollow scream. He stepped back in fear, his eyes widening as the scream grew more and more terrifying. "Who?" He wondered out loud as he watched the light become more concentrated or perhaps thicker. "Who's doin' that?"
He felt the small boy Shippo grab onto his leg in fear, his small voice crying out as he buried his head into Miroku's pants leg. "What is that?" Shippo cried as his tiny claws ripped into Miroku's cotton pants. Running up beside him Sango also grabbed onto him horrified by the noise. She briefly looked down at the boy but was too startled by the gut retching scream to ask questions about the boy. Reassuringly Miroku gave her a one armed hug as they gazed at the light Shippo still clinging to his leg.
"That sound?" Sango asked almost inaudibly as she felt her stomach turn from the noise.
"Death." Miroku told her as he pulled Sango closer to him. "That scream is death."
Sango put a hand over her mouth. "We have to find Kagome." She said as she pulled herself away from Miroku. "We have to find her, quickly!"
"She's—," Shippo said before the two could make a move. His eyes were focused on the light, his claws digging into Miroku's leg, almost drawing blood. "She's on the water."
Miroku and Sango both looked down to the boy in disbelief as he looked out with watery eyes at the source of the light, a small boat.
"She's on that boat." Shippo finished and buried his face in Miroku's leg.
Miroku and Sango both felt their bodies grow heavy with the revelation. "Kagome?" Sango whimpered as she fell down beside Miroku, a hand to her mouth. "Kagome!"
-break-
A fair distance away from them Captain Inuyasha pulled his ears to his skull at the sound of the scream. He knew that sound, he knew it all too well, it was the sound of someone dying a horrible and painful death. Snapping his head around to the noise that had now dissipated Inuyasha felt his heart stop in his chest as he took in the bright beam of light that seemed to shot all the way above their heads towards heaven's very gates. His jaw dropped opened and his pupils dilated taking in every ounce of energy that was flowing towards the sky. "What is?" He managed to think to himself as his mind went on overdrive somehow knowing and not knowing what he was seeing at the same time.
An image entered his mind then, that same light from a different time flitting in and out of his own head as he bit his lip and tried to comprehend what he was seeing. He felt his whole body shiver as the beam slowly dissipated like smoke, little remainders of the energy hovering above the water of the harbor as they one by one went out like little candle flames in the wind. An aching started to form in his head as they were slowly extinguished and he growled bringing a hand up to bury in his bangs as the aching grew worse and worse. Gasping, he fell to his knees as hundreds of images began to flood his mind.
Around his neck the gemstone began to burn and he found himself hissing as the sensation of it caused his skin to nearly bubble. Reaching up he grabbed for the gem hastily with one hand while the other kept him balanced on his knees, his fingers barely managing to grab hold of it before a image was thrown into his mind: it was a face; a beautiful face. A woman with bright black eyes and straight black hair her cheekbones high and fragile, her lashes long and luxurious, her lips plump and bright red with painted makeup that she used on her pale cheeks as well. He felt his heart hammer in his chest as a memory flashed threw his mind of that woman standing behind a bar in a tavern, a glass in her hand that she lowered as she looked up at him her eyes cool and uncaring.
"Kikyo." The name left his lips as if it had a mind of its own and he gasped as image after image was hurtled threw his mind, memory after memory of a woman he had not thought of in several decades.
He saw her at the bar glass in hand, he saw her with a little girl no smile on her face but happiness apparent in her dark eyes, he saw her at a vanity as she gently brushed her hair his reflection in its mirror, he saw her underneath him her cheeks flushed and her blouse undone, her saw her standing in a window her face expressionless yet somehow angry, he saw her frowning, her saw her with her eyebrows knitted, her saw her scowl, he saw her smile, he heard her laugh, he heard her cry, he heard her yell, and then he saw her grave.
"Kikyo!" This time he knew the name when it left him, he understood its meaning, he knew who she was and he didn't for the life of him know why. "Why now?" He panted as his mind ran away from him but then another flash of memory more recent hit his brain. He saw the light in the sky reaching upwards high above his head. "Miko." He said softly as he felt his body tremble with both fear. "That energy was a miko's energy." He told himself panicking at the repercussions of that thought. Miko's were dangerous to demons, they had powers that could easily erase a demon from his very existence. "Kikyo was a miko." He felt the words leave him just as he turned back to where the light had come from.
He took a deep breath looking out over the harbor in search of the source wondering who had produced a miko's light. He squinted when he saw a speck on the waves; it was a small shore boat, bobbing up and down in the ocean. He felt all of the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, he felt his heart race in his chest, he felt sweat trickle down his back—he knew without having to know.
"Kagome." Her name slipped from his lips just as Kikyo's had but this time something even stranger went through his mind. He could see her Kagome Dresmont with her curly black hair and her grey eyes almost standing next to Kikyo Cummings with her straight black hair and deep black eyes. So different and yet something about them was wholly the same. Their hair and eyes may be different but their cheeks, their lashes, their lips, their brows, their shoulders, their necks, their chins were identical.
Inuyasha felt his stomach hit his knees refusing to believe what seemed so obvious right now. The jewel burned against his skin as if telling him he was right to trust himself, to know it was true but somewhere in his head another voice denied it screamed of lies. It was impossible but still it made so much sense. Kagome, Kikyo—Kikyo, Kagome both woman were undeniably similar in looks but not in personality but all it took was looks. And if that was so then—
"Inuyasha!"
Her voice rang in his head (although he wasn't sure if she had really screamed) and broke through whatever stupor he had found himself. He whipped his head back up towards the area the flash of light had come from and found himself tossing aside everything as one thought ran over and over again in his mind. "It was Kagome." He told himself. "Kagome made that light." His whole body tensed up as he hastily ripped his red coat off running towards the edge of the water. He moved around Sango, Miroku, and Shippo who he didn't even spare a second glace adrenaline pushing him to do what he knew he needed to do. All three of them watched him in astonishment as he threw his coat at Miroku before tearing off his guns and boots, all while still running towards the side of the pier. His guns clattered to the ground, bullets that had been haphazardly secured scattering with little metallic clanging noises as one of his boots was dropped with a loud thud to the pavement while he hoped on one foot to get the other off.
Miroku barely had time to catch the jacket before he noticed everything the Captain was dislodging from his person without care. "Captain?" The younger man called as he struggled between gathering up the Captain's stuff and going after the man himself. "Captain!"
Inuyasha wasn't paying any attention however, as his mind focused on one thing and one things only: "Kagome."
"Captain are you going for Miss Dresmont?" Miroku yelled hoping the Captain was actually able to hear him.
Inuyasha did hear Miroku yell but ignored him as he rushed to the side of the harbor, jumping head first into the ocean, diving down. He came back up over twenty feet away from the docks, his body moving quickly in the water, swimming faster than any human could ever hope to move.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled out to him hoping the use of his name would make him listen. It didn't. Miroku growled, he would have followed but he knew he couldn't hope to swim like the Captain was, it was impossible.
Inuyasha continued to ignore Miroku as he hurriedly swam out towards the boat, his body moving with a speed he didn't know he possessed. His arms moved twice as fast as Manten's had when the other demon was rowing the boat, and his legs kicked harder than a full fledged otter demon male. Several minutes went by during which time Inuyasha felt his heart race faster and faster within his chest, he felt the pulse point in his neck move at the same pace as his arms and legs. He felt the demon blood stirring within him—it was yelling, screaming with rage, it wanted its claim back, it wanted its bitch back, it wanted Kagome back. He shook his head at the thought and pressed onwards, ignoring his blood, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
Pushing all of that aside, he decided to focus on a different issue, one that was even more startling than her face: that light. He had seen that light many times when he had been but a child but that had been on the other side of the world with women who were born with spiritual powers of the another religion. They had not been westerns and that was what was even more startling for Inuyasha. "Kikyo," Her name entered his mind again, a name he hadn't spoken or even remembered remotely in fifty years. "She had that power too, she could use it like the women in the temples."
He felt his mind start to overload so many things hitting him all at once. He remembered Kikyo using that power, remembered the way she had held the rosary before her to channel it. He remembered the demons she killed with it, that same light doing all the work as she stood back and watched with those hauntingly vacant black eyes. And now, after fifty years, he had seen that light again and remembered her again.
"I don't know what's going on." He told himself as he pushed himself harder to reach the boat that was slowly drifting out to sea. "But they—they look alike, they have the same power, the same face—and that, wh-a-a-t-t does that mean?" Vaguely in the back of his mind the answer pushed against his psyche but he quickly pushed it down not liking where it was going and what it was implying.
Hastily, Inuyasha pushed all his thoughts aside forcing them out of his psyche as if they did not exist. He glanced up out of the water and saw the boat bobbing in the sea as he approached but it appeared to be vacant. His blood pounded in his ears at the thought. He was sure, absolutely sure Kagome had been there, he was positive and yet the boat was empty. He pushed himself harder, forcing himself to get to his destination quickly. He had to get to the boat, he had to see if she was inside, maybe she was hidden, maybe she had fallen or fainted. Hopefully she had.
Within seconds he found himself alongside the vessel, he threw his arms up, catching the side and tipping the boat daringly towards himself. With the strength he had left in his arms he pushed himself up, not even bothering to be careful with his shifting weight and practically dumped himself into the craft. Hastily, he looked up from his plunge and allowed his eyes to dart in front of him, to the other end of the small ship. Laying on the floor, not two feet away from him was none other than Kagome Dresmont, her chest pressing up and down as she breathed in and out. Desperately he smelled the air for blood or other horrible things, but much to his relief she smelled the same, exactly the same, flowers and the sea.
"Thank god." Inuyasha rasped out as he allowed his head to sink down next to her own head. He felt his breath come out in pants as the force of his vigorous exertion caught up with him. He opened his eyes and looked at her gentle sleeping face, his mind going to another sleeping face without his consent. He could see her laying in her bed warn out from activities best left unsaid, her lips parted and small little puffs of air moving in and out as she breathed gently in her sleep. She had been most beautiful when she was asleep. "What the fuck." Inuyasha didn't have the energy to say the expletive out loud. "Why do they look the same?" He asked himself as he opened his eyes to take Kagome in seeing all the similarities to Kikyo that there were. "Is that?" He felt his heart clench in his chest, "Is that the reason I like her so much?" He closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip, "Could that be the only reason? I was seeing Kikyo in her?" His eyes opened even wider. "But I didn't know—why didn't I know till now, why didn't I remember till now!"
Confusion found homage in all his senses as he tried to piece together a puzzle far to complex to finish in only a matter of minutes. His breathing began to slow down as his earlier exertion's tool began to waver. He closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment in an attempt to control his panting before he gasped breathing only slightly slower. Carefully, he opened his eyes once more and turned to look at her again expecting to see the face of Kikyo before him once more. Instead, much to his surprise he wasn't met with a memory of Kikyo asleep in her bed but instead was able to see only Kagome before him.
"Wow." He whispered as her countenance filled his eyes, her short hair gorgeous as it moved slightly, the curly ends ruffling with the Caribbean breeze. Her cheeks naturally rosy red and rounded with a baby face that seemed to fit her sweet personality. Her lips were parted ever so slightly as she took in delicate breaths that he could just hear with his sensitive ears. They were plump and dark pink a color created by her instead of with any forms of paints or makeup. She was natural and beautiful and amazingly tan. She looked nothing like Kikyo in that moment, she only looked to be herself and to Inuyasha she was, "Beautiful." With that whisper he reached for her, his mind foggy as he allowed one clawed hand to gently touch her cheek. He moved closer to her, his eyes trained on her, his lips moving with a will of their own as he gently kissed her sleeping form.
As if waking from a dream, Inuyasha realized what he was doing and pulled away hastily. Pushing himself up right he brought his hands away from her and breathed in deep panting breaths.
"Shit," He muttered as he tried to calm his heart rate. With a long sigh he allowed his hands to drop to his sides.
It was then that Inuyasha felt the slight sandy texture under his fingers. Slowly he looked down at the pile of dust he was laying on. Instantaneously, he knew what it was, with disgust he jumped back from it and pulled Kagome away as well. He looked at the remains of her kidnapper and felt an odd sensation of admiration, Kagome had destroyed the abductor easily. She had literally disintegrated him. Just as Kikyo could have done. A gleam caught his eye before he could ponder the similarity as the sun came out from behind a cloud. He tilted his head to the side as his eyes caught something shinning within the pile of cremated remains. Slowly, he reached forward and uncovered the glittering object.
"What the hell?" He muttered as he caught sight of a little jewel fragment.
Reaching forward he plucked the jewel from the pile of ash and held it up to his face, studying it with curious and confused eyes. He brought his other hand up to his shirt and touched the small jewel that was hidden underneath it through the fabric. Reaching inside of the shirt he pulled it out and brought it side by side with the other piece. The two jewels glowed as they were placed near each other and suddenly before he could stop the reaction, they seemingly combined becoming one on Inuyasha's golden chain.
"What the hell!" Inuyasha practically yelled as he dropped the chain and jewels. They swung on his neck, the glow stopping now that they were combined. He looked down at them, not touching them for fear of the reaction he might get. Carefully, he reached a tentative hand up and took the now larger gem into his hands. "Are they," He reasoned out loud, "From the same jewel?"
The original jewel that had remained on the chain for almost whole life was now twice its own size and a deeper burgundy color than he remembered it being. It seemed to be getting darker with every minute and the darker it got the more lightheaded he felt.
"What's happening?" He wondered as he grew dizzier and dizzier, his mind going blank as the jewel turned a haunting purple. His eyes began to close as his head felt unreasonably light. He forced them opened over and over again but each time it became harder and harder for him to accomplish.
Finally, he realized what was happening as his face began to grow hot. This jewel was bringing out his demon side slowly, it was forcing the demon within him to awaken. His hands began to shake as the dizzy sensation overtook him, his mind going blank as his demon began to fight him for control. It pushed at his mental barriers, trying to get out and with each push he felt another trademark of his demon side break through. First he felt the marks on his cheeks, then he felt his claws begin to elongate and his fangs as well.
"No," He yelled out as he struggled, trying to maintain his human side's presence, his voice of reason. "Stop, damn it!"
His body didn't respond, simply kept transforming, as his vision became blurred and he knew his eyes had changed. He closed them tightly, trying in vain to stop the transformation.
"Inuyasha."
His eyes snapped open and he froze when he saw the gray eyes of Kagome, unafraid. They looked at him, calming and gentle as her hand reached out towards him. "Kagome don't," He tried to beg but he had already lost the ability to speak, instead he only heard himself snarl at her. "Please," He begged, but her hand kept moving towards him as his demon side snarled and whined, yipping at her in a language she didn't understand.
"Inuyasha." The girl repeated, her stormy eyes looking into him, seeing through him into his soul. "Come back."
He felt his whole body freeze at her words. The snarling ceased and so did the yips and whines. "Kago—me." He barely got out and she smiled, the smile lighting up her eyes as she reached forward towards his chest. He knitted his eyebrows in confusion until he felt and heard the chain snap around his neck.
Instantly like a rush of cold water, he felt the heat and dizziness leave him, he felt his claws shrink, he felt his fangs go back to their normal size, he saw the shift in his vision, and he felt the weight in his heart disappear. Blinking several times he focused on Kagome who was holding the golden chain with the jewel shards. She brought it to her chest without looking at him, her eyes closed as the same power he had seen before flowed throughout her body till it reached her hands. As it hit the jewel fragment it seemed to glow, blinding him in a rush of purification energy.
As quickly as it had started, however, it stopped allowing him to see the now snowy white fragment in her hand. His eyes rounded at the sight and he watched amazed as her eyes opened to look at him, the misty gray appearing tired. She tried to smile but before the look could cross her face her eyes rolled back in her head and she swayed only to fall forward within seconds, landing in his arms, oblivious to her own power.
End of Chapter
Please Review
Edited for Content 7/30/2012
Congrats to .Flip-0v3r. for being review number 250! Also everybody thank 3lue3utterfly for this chapter being posted a day early. It is her B-Day and this is my present to her! Happy Birthday and best wishes from Inuma Asahi De.
Bonus Point:
What is the significance of Hiten and Manten's ship being called the Thunder? In other words, what connection does the ship's name have with the anime?
Last Chapter's Bonus Point:
The answer was episode 4, Yura of the Demon Hair, as long as you got Yura or the episode number you get the point. Congrats to those who got it!
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Next Chapter:
Papa
See you then!
UNEDITED
POSTED 3/24/2011