The other hero
Chapter 15 – Blood
Kagome was staring at the Shikon no Tama as if she would have seen it for the first time. It was early in the morning, and she hadn't slept well the night passed. She was in her rocking chair, moving back and forth absentmindedly, while her left hand held the purple jewel in front of her eyes. The purple light from the Shikon made a strange contrast with the green stone of her ring, and Kagome smiled faintly while her eyes slipped frm one jewel to the other.
She definitely liked the green one better.
'I hope I can live up to this, they both have such high hopes, and trust me… especially him.' she thought, her eyes closing for a moment and then settling on the horizon. She put her hand on her knees, as she continued her back and forth motion with the chair. It was now more like a nervous habit for her to do that. She had a lot on her mind, and a great responsibility. The fear that she couldn't take Sesshoumaru's strength almost made her change her mind.
The only thing that motivated her was what she felt around Inuyasha. She knew she couldn't live without him, and she understood how Sesshoumaru must have felt towards losing Rin. His life after she would die could only mean loneliness and demise. He would turn back into the cold hearted demon he used to be before meeting her. He was going to die inside, but still go on living on the outside.
What could be more horrible than such a fate? So yes, she was going to do it for Sesshoumaru, even if she herself couldn't believe it, at first.
She looked at the morning sky, where the sun was barely rising, sending orange and purple rays of light across the land. Inuyasha had left somewhere again, maybe to the village to help Kaede with some medicinal plants gathering. The old woman was having more and more trouble climbing the hills to find those herbs.
Kagome again eyed the Shikon, this time feeling the sting in her heart, just like the one she used to have when a shard was nearby, only significantly more powerful. She sighed, and suddenly sprung up her eyes, to see Sesshoumaru standing not five feet from her.
"Ohayo…" she said, and he only nodded once, slowly. Kagome knew why he had come, but she was still somewhat surprised to see him so early in the morning.
"Kagome…" he started, and her eyes widened a little. He never called her by her given name; he would only say miko, or human, which she actually dreaded. But she knew why he did it, and she didn't mind anymore.
"Thank you." The exact same words he'd said to her last time he called her Kagome. When she'd healed him and gave him back his arm.
"Don't thank me yet. We still have a difficult job to do, you and I."
He frowned for a second, and deepened his gaze.
"Indeed. Rin must…" he stopped, and she saw how hard it was for him to word out whatever he wanted to say.
"She must be protected." He finally said, and Kagome thought that hadn't been his first thought. But she let it pass, seeing as it was strange enough for him to talk to her like this, in the first place.
"Yes. She does need protection. That's why I'm here, Sesshoumaru."
"That is why we are here." Kagome saw the determination in his eyes, and heard it in his deep voice. He was as unmoving as always, the taiyoukai used to having his way whatever the cost. But what if the cost would be Rin's life?
"Do you have doubts?" he asked, and Kagome wished she wouldn't be so easy to read.
She took a deep breath and shook her head lightly, biting on her bottom lip.
"No." she lied.
Sesshoumaru tilted his head and tried to look her in the eye, but the woman tuned her gaze elsewhere, standing up from the chair. He took a step back, in order to keep the proper distance between them.
"You do." He stated, and Kagome knew she had to talk to him about this. She had to, if they wanted to stand any chance to protect Rin.
"When we first fought Naraku…" she began, and Sesshoumaru immediately narrowed his eyes, focusing on her entire person, her voice and mimic, her breath and posture.
"You… I mean I… We…" he was getting impatient. But he knew it must be awkward for her to talk about it. He'd felt it too, and didn't dare to say a word to her since it had happened. The connection between them had been made at such an intimate level, back then, that they were both a little astounded by the feeling, now.
The way she simply spread inside him, how she coupled with his every muscle and every flow of blood, with his every thought and emotion, had been amazing, and scary even for the taiyoukai.
On the other side, Kagome had become aware of the enormous force he held inside both his body and his mind. When she adjusted her power to prevent purifying him, she found inside him the power to do just that. She was too weak to do it herself, so she simply… plugged on to him for lack of a better word. He had been her strength, and she saw how well he could control his blood, his body and mind, so that they would act as one, and not reject her.
"Since that day, I've had these… feelings. Regarding you." She said, not without some difficulty and embarrassment. It wasn't quite right to call them feelings, they were more like perceptions. She just sensed him in a different manner.
Sesshoumaru wanted to look more relaxed, but he simply couldn't. Relaxing just wasn't his thing.
"Not exactly feelings, but I have experienced the same thing."
"Yeah, you're right." She looked aside again, but then decided she was acting like a child. They were both adults, and she needed to have this conversation with him.
"I think we've been irreparably connected since that day."
"It would seem so." He wasn't very encouraging, Kagome thought. Did she really have to do it all by herself?
"I know how powerful you are, more than anyone could, Sesshoumaru. I've seen through your eyes, but most importantly, I've thought with your mind and felt with your heart. I know you better than anyone. And I think the same goes for you. Am I right?"
She was, and he was relieved they could finally let it out. It was awkward for him to be tied to another being like this, especially one like her. She was a human miko… The fact that she was human didn't have anything to do with it anymore, the love of his life was human too, and he still would have died for her a thousand times… But a miko… She was meant to destroy his blood! She was born for it! But now she was more inside him than anyone. And there was no undoing it.
"You are." His answers began to annoy Kagome.
'Patience, Higurashi. He's not used to talking stuff out.' She said to herself.
"I did not wish for the connection between us to be this deep. Or to exist at all, for that matter." His sincerity didn't shock her. Sesshoumaru never lied.
"However, it is. I feel you like an extension of my senses, sometimes, especially when we are close to one another." He couldn't believe he was having this conversation.
The words came out slowly, at an uneven pace, as if someone was forcing him to say them. Well, he was forcing himself to speak them…
"As awful as that might be for you, Sesshoumaru, I think it's actually a blessing in disguise. We can use that to our advantage when I'll channel your strength to Rin. I think we might have better odds because of this."
He didn't say anything, but he thought she was right. They had to use whatever they could to their advantage. He still didn't take any joy in subjecting Rin to this, but there was no way out, now. It was her wish and he had to respect that. He had decided that he would treat her as an equal, even if more often than not it was proved to be the biggest challenge of his life.
"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha's voice made Kagome flinch. Sesshoumaru didn't move, nor moved his eyes off the girl. She took a step to the side and watched as Inuyasha walked towards her, with a slightly confused look on his face. As he passed by Sesshoumaru, not even giving him a glance, Kagome realized how much the two looked like each other. Those eyes which could burn your heart out, the heavy silvery hair flowing around them, the smooth skin and their features, they were so alike… and yet…
Inuyasha eyed her awkwardly.
"You okay?" he asked, slightly bending over to her, and stoking her hair.
"Yeah. Just nervous." She answered, and Inuyasha remembered to be polite with his brother. He wanted to mend their relationship. He couldn't believe it, but he actually cared about the bastard.
As he turned to face Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha heard him say the most unbelievable of things.
"I appreciate your aid, otouto-san." Not half-breed, not mutt, in that condescending tone, not even Inuyasha!
Sesshoumaru felt something stinging at his throat. He frowned at the unexpected feeling, and just stared at his brother's stunned face.
"It's not really my choice, but if it were…" Inuyasha didn't need to finish. The slight show of gratitude from Sesshoumaru meant a lot to him. Kagome looked from one to the other, thinking: 'Thank you, God. This is the best thing that's happened to them in 7 years!' She felt an overwhelming feeling of peace flood her, and she breathed easy, just as Sesshoumaru walked to his little brother.
Inuyasha had an instinctive reaction when his brother came too close and backed a little. But Sesshoumaru slowly raised his left arm and put his hand on the hanyou's right shoulder, staring into his gold eyes. They were the same as his. He searched Inuyasha's face for the human filth he used to see there, for the weakness that he always thought his human blood brought, but failed to see them anymore.
He blinked, and denied what he'd just felt. His brother was just that: his brother. The only blood relative, the only family he had left. But he had never had a family at all, Sesshoumaru thought, and this brought him to realize that he and his brother were more alike than any of them would have admitted.
"We will change fate, otouto."
"A-aniki…" Inuyasha mumbled, but his brain ceased t function for a second or so. Then, Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome, who was having trouble keeping her mouth shut.
"We will come later this morning. Is it alright for you?" Kagome nodded, and watched as he departed. As soon as Sesshoumaru was out of sight, she darted her eyes to Inuyasha, who had a confused look to him. He was staring at the place he last saw his brother, and couldn't believe he'd just called him aniki. The word just popped out of him when he heard Sesshoumaru's otouto. He's actually felt him as his brother, in that moment.
Now, he was just confused.
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Rin was reading. She had her legs crossed under her, and she was reading.
'This girl is amazing.' He thought, as he looked at her from the distance. Her forehead was covered with strands of raven hair falling heavily over her face, and her hands rested on the pages. As she turned the page, she frowned and stretched her neck a little, completely taken by the plot, as it would seem. He shook his head a little, finding it hard to believe that she would read at a time like this. She could be dead by dusk! But Rin knew she wouldn't die. She just knew, as opposed to everyone else, who hoped she wouldn't.
He stopped just before her, and Rin didn't even look up as she said.
"Almost done, wait a bit." He raised his left eyebrow in a gesture of both amusement and surprise. She was the only person who could take him so lightly. When she reached a gap in the writing, marked by a painted flower, she tapped her finger on the book, and placed the bookmark between the pages, then closed the book carefully. She looked up in expectance.
"Finished?" he asked, seriously, and raised both his eyebrows this time. Rin smiled, amused by his awkward humor. Or the way humor fit him, more like it.
"Uh-huh." She mumbled, in that completely uneducated manner she knew he so much dreaded. Sesshoumaru tilted his head.
"You will never learn."
"Nope." She answered promptly, and gave him a childish smile. She simply glowed, in his gold eyes, and Sesshoumaru felt like he could never live like this again, in her absence. The level he felt life at right now, the intensity of his every emotion was indescribably higher since he'd discovered her, really discovered her. He'd been numb until she loved him.
"Is it time?" Rin became serious and stood up, leaving the book on the small bench. Wind blew her hair about her face, and she secured a strand behind her ear. Sesshoumaru frowned and imitated her movement.
"Yes." She nodded, and moved towards him. She put her arms over his shoulders, reaching up and standing on the tips of her toes.
"You're so tall." She said, and he felt like he could laugh at her sudden remark.
Instead, he bent his shoulders and lifted her from the ground, closing his arms tightly around her thighs. Rin gave a surprised cry, and smiled down at him.
"Much better." She smiled, and passed her fingers softly over the crescent moon on his skin. Sesshoumaru eyed her intensely, and she felt like she would have been lit from the inside. Like he could see everything inside her. She bent her head and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead, taking his head in her small hands. Then she rested her head against his and took a fast breath. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and didn't say a word.
"Let's go." She whispered into his face a moment later. He opened his eyes.
"We will." He placed her back on the ground and looked at her in that inexpressive way he used to a long time ago. Or so it seemed to her, like a long time, because for him it was merely a second ago.
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"You stand there." Kaede instructed Sesshoumaru, and for maybe the first time in his life, he didn't argue with being given an order.
"You stand here." Kaede dragged Rin by the hand to stand in front of the taiyoukai.
"Kagome." She took Kagome's hand, and led her between the two.
"Closer." The old woman said, and the three closed in on one another. They could almost touch each other.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, stretch out your hand, palm down. You will be the one giving blood, since you are the stronger party." Sesshoumaru complied without a word. Inuyasha stood ten feet from them, staring Kagome wide eyed.
"Rin, do the same, only with your palm down. You will receive blood, since your is weaker. Do not touch him." Rin did just what Kaede said, her eyes not leaving Sesshoumaru's. She had such confidence… Sesshoumaru could barely understand her.
"Kagome, close the jewel between your hands and put them between their hands. Kagome placed her closed hands between Sesshoumaru's and Rin's.
"You have to touch them both." The two closed the distance and each rested their palm on Kagome's.
The miko felt a strange tickle in her arms, like chills passing through her veins. It was cold and hot at the same time, and she looked at Sesshoumaru with surprise.
He nodded.
"I feel it too." Kaede narrowed her eyes and looked up at the blue sky. No cloud could be seen, and the sun was reigning above them. The wind was still, and every bit of nature seemed to wait for them.
Kaede pulled out two thin stings, and tied a knot on the end of the first, then two on the end of the second.
"One tie to give life, two ties to receive life. Two become one." She said and tied the first string on to Sesshoumaru's wrist, then the second to Rin's wrist.
"You have to put down your defense, Sesshoumaru-sama. I will cut you. Don't oppose it." He nodded, but his eyes didn't move from Rin's.
Kaede looked at Kagome.
"Be prepared to hold your ground, and whatever you do, don't allow the Shikon to purify his blood. Only restrain his strength. This will be difficult, you will fight alone, since Rin's blood in not present at the moment." Kagome nodded once, and looked at her hands.
Kaede pulled from the string, and Sesshoumaru felt it cut through his skin. He didn't even blink as his blood began to trail down Kagome's hand.
Kagome closed her eyes and felt the warm crimson liquid as it spilled over her skin. Immediately, her instincts rushed to purify it, but she tensed and kept back the urge. She clenched her teeth, and allowed the blood to slip between her fingers. It was an awkward sensation, as Sesshoumaru's blood stained her skin, she could swear she felt him inside her somehow.
When the first drop of his blood fell on the Shikon, Kagome got a powerful shiver, and then the acute feeling of danger. Her purple aura flared around her body, and she whimpered as she fought to keep her power locked inside. The jewel pulled at her senses, urging her to release it, to allow it to do its job and purify the youkai blood.
'No. NO.' she thought, and tightened her grip on the jewel. Sesshoumaru frowned and could clearly feel the woman's struggle. It was like an extension of his own feelings.
Kaede waited for Kagome to balance the power inside the jewel, and then pulled by Rin's string, cutting the girl's wrist. Kagome didn't realize she wasn't allowing Sesshoumaru's blood to pass beyond her other hand.
"Let go of the blood, Kagome." Kaede said, and she felt like if she would have done that, she would lose control. But she had to.
Rin's blood began to form trails on the back of her wrist, and soon enough it stained the grass under her hand.
The moment Kagome parted her fingers, and Sesshoumaru's blood connected to Rin's, Kagome could feel the upward flow of the young girl's blood. It was simply defying gravity and flowing up to meet Sesshoumaru's.
Rin opened her eyes even wider, and stared at Sesshoumaru. She felt an immense pain spear her entire body and thought she would collapse. Her vision blurred, and a huge weight dropped on her chest preventing her from breathing. She opened her mouth, unable to breathe, and sketched a cough. Her skin lost color, and her dark eyes rolled back helpless.
"Kagome!" Sesshoumaru shouted, so loud that the young miko almost jumped.
She gave Rin a terrified look, and fought against her entire body screaming to protect the human from the demon. To the Shikon, Rin was being attacked. It was meant to protect the human, but now the human blood was mixed with youkai one, so the jewel simply devoured both.
Kagome searched for strength, as her every muscle tensed, and clearly heard a voice inside her head.
'She needs me.'
Her eyes shot up at Sesshoumaru, but he wasn't looking at her. His gold eyes were stuck on Rin, and Kagome wondered where the voice had come from.
She felt two strong arms grab her waist, and in the same second Kaede's old voice shouting desperately:
"Inuyasha don't touch her!"
It was too late. Inuyasha saw Kagome's pained face and her struggle, he saw the color fade from her cheeks and lips, and he couldn't think straight anymore. He jumped towards her, and grabbed her waist just as she had when he'd used she Shikon on Tessaiga, all those years ago. He had to do something!
Kagome screamed as Inuyasha closed his arms around her and purple lightning sprung out from her body, hitting both Sesshoumaru and his brother straight in the chest. They both cried out in pain, but neither moved from their spots. Inuyasha's eyes flashed red a few times, and then went completely red and his fangs began to grow, as well as his claws.
"Inuyasha' let her go! You'll only make it harder on her!" Kaede shouted, as Kagome fought to keep the purple flashes as harmless as possible. Still they sprung out of her at random intervals, directed towards the brothers. Rin was shuddering and barely holding her ground. Kagome focused on the girl, and tried to balance her blood. She could actually see the blood's path inside Rin, and became one with it.
Just as she though she got it right, she felt like she hit a hard wall, which projected her back. Then, pain spread in her entire body, like it would have been her own blood. She began to get dizzy, and her legs were threatening not to hold her weight anymore. Behind her, Inuyasha let out a raged howl as he pressed his chest against her back, and forced his youkai blood out of the way.
Tessaiga pulsed violently, and the hanyou's eyes cleared into a pure golden color.
Rin felt warmth invade her body, and mixing with her own, and felt Sesshoumaru's love flood her inside. Tears trailed down her face as she felt something deep within her shift and change shape. It was indescribable, as if someone had twisted her very being, even if she was still herself.
Kagome detensed and felt her power slip from her, felt the violence of her defense calm down and the jewel accepting the union. She settled her quiver and shot open her eyes.
She first looked back at Inuyasha, and saw his golden eyes half open. He still had his arms around her, and smiled at her gently. Kagome smiled back as she saw the purple marks on his cheeks. She felt tired. Turning to see Sesshoumaru, the look in his eyes scared her. He let go of her hand and passed by her in speed.
Kagome followed him with her gaze, and was shocked by the sight.
Sesshoumaru held an unconscious Rin in his arms. The girl's hair was completely white, and her skin significantly lighter in color. Her features were mostly the same as always, only softer and less… human. She had long sharp claws instead of nails, and her body seemed better defined now. Her eyelids were purple and her pale cheeks each held a single magenta stripe across them
However, Sesshoumaru didn't seem to notice any of these things. His eyes were hopelessly stuck on the girl's face, as he tried to make out her pulse with one hand. He was stiff and Kagome held her breath at the sight of his scared face. She'd never seen him like that before. In a second, the world spun around, and went dark as she fell limp into Inuyasha's arms.
"Kagome!" his startled voice was the last thing she heard.
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AN: Oh, God, I'm in trouble. A week! Do you absolutely hate me? Please don't, cuz here I have the chappy, and I hope it's any good… Well anyway thanks for the Reviews as always, and see ya next one. Kissez… lots of them! Thanks for being patient.
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