The Library
By Anonymous Malink
Disclaimer, I do no own any Inuyasha like subjects in copyrighted form.
Part Sixteen – The Semi-Wedding One
The graveyard was a small one, enclosed in a three acre area which contained numerous stones but more unused ground than graves. The moon in the sky was the only light, with stars glinting in the sky but providing no assistance down below. Clouds filled the air, making sure to loose even more light by occasionally falling between the earth and its orbital moon. A veil of constant despair seemed to simply float around the enclosed space, making the already gloomy status of a graveyard seem even worse, as the gravestones had no names on them.
All of them were broken, chipped, and had moss growing everywhere possible. The dirt was rocky and broken, and patches of grass were scarce. There was only one real green area, and that was the memorial garden as you walked into the graveyard, which had a plaque, commemorating the donors to the graveyard, of which obviously did not donate enough. Trees grew in various locations, sprouting leaves of abundant color, most of which had fallen off already, seeing as it was late autumn. The wind took the leaves with them, making an eerie rustling sound as they brushed across the dirt, dragging ever so slightly across the cold damp ground.
It was cold. It was damp. It was eerie. It was disturbing. It was late. It was windy. It was not nice in general, yet Inuyasha was standing in the midst of it all, lost in his own problems, trying to locate Kikyo's grave. He didn't care about the cold, or the wetness of the ground beneath him. The spookiness of the graves around him did not shake him, and he was not tired. However, it was windy, and that was the one thing that was making him unnerved.
The wind made dragged dirt into his eyes as he kneeled at the ground, and pulled his shirt up from under him. Leaves blew around him in circles, making little wheels in the air. He covered his eyes and looked at the leaves, growling slightly and swiped at them angrily, snatching a few in his hands. "Shut the hell up," he gnarled through his teeth, throwing them to the ground in front of him. Surprisingly, they never reached the ground and the wind simply blew them back in his face.
He fell backwards in surprise, muddying up his shirt even more. He reached for the leaves but ended up slapping his face as the wind blew them off as quickly as they came. He shook in anger, sitting there for a moment before getting up and just stopped, his head hanging low.
Kikyo was the source of his problem right now, and yet it seemed like he could never anger at her, even in death. She was just an innocent person, who died for no reason… he would probably never know why. All he would ever remember is that moment, right then when she died.
She said never to forget her, but to be happy. Which would come first? Was it possible to do both? His head panged in throbs as he tried to think of a solution. None of this would have happened had she never died; it wasn't her fault… but whose fault was it?!
Perhaps it wasn't Naraku's fault either… He loved her; she was his daughter. He was jumping to conclusions just because he was a psychopath… which was not a bad reason to jump the conclusions, but still doesn't make it right. He put Naraku in the hot seat and the poor man was already dead… He had a long way to go.
He sighed and remembered the promise, clearly in his mind. But suddenly… something else came to mind.
"Life is like a funeral; in the end you're left with nothing, or you leave someone with nothing."
The wind returned with silent fury, blowing at his back. Leaves circled his body once more, but he ignored them with ease. "If life truly is… like a funeral, that would explain why I always feel like crying."
"Don't worry, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha jumped and looked around. It sounded scratchy, and he wondered if Sesshoumaru was talking at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"You made a promise… but… as long as you remember me, as a person… you won't be breaking it."
He knew at this point it was a figment of his imagination, coming to him as the wind blew, stretching his view in reality… however he wasn't sure it was entirely him. It all made sense, and it wasn't quite like him to come together in time of crisis… no, there was definitely something extra working in the graveyard… and now he knew.
'Life is a funeral… but it doesn't have to be sad!' Inuyasha blinked and looked up, a bit more content with his discovery then ever before. 'I… think I understand what he meant.' His face didn't shed a smile, but he was happier nonetheless. His eyes didn't shed a tear, but he was ready to cry.
He looked at the memorial garden and watched the wind blow the leaves happily, leaving him alone completely. The rest of the leaves garnered on the trees fell swiftly onto the ground and nestled themselves in the dirt, happily settled in their new home. They didn't whine or complain about the change, they accepted it. Of course… they were leaves.
There was a long pause in everything before Inuyasha heard the hissing of a car's exhaust in the background. He was ready to attend the wedding, something he realized he wouldn't have been ready for unless Sesshoumaru had been so kind to bring him there again. He was ready to change some things… some things that could have been better. He was ready to make things right, but most of all… He was ready to change.
He stood a while in deep thought, right before the memorial garden. His eyes glinted with total success as his memories of Kikyo didn't disappear, but simply shifted, making room for other priorities in his life.
He looked back at the car and saw Sesshoumaru just sitting there, staring out into the space in front of him, which usually meant he had zoned out into a philosophical mode. It would probably be best not to interrupt him while he was in that state, but they were way out of the Wedding's region, and it was nearing 1 o'clock in the morning. The wedding was at 9, which left them eight hours to get back to Izayoi's house, change into more appropriate attire, and get to the ceremony, which both of them were entirely crucial to.
With a staggering step, he skid his way down a hill, a shortcut to the makeshift car lot, and took the rest of his time walking slowly toward the car. There was no reason to rush, at least not… yet.
He opened the car door and immediately Sesshoumaru snapped out his trance. He looked at Inuyasha for only a brief second, but that was all it took to figure out exactly where his state of mind was; at peace. He nodded solemnly towards his younger brother, and then pulled out of the parking lot, toward the dirt road leading out of the graveyard.
"Only a short time now," Izayoi excitedly said as she tapped around the room in the Takashimo home, making Rin feel a bit uncomfortable. "What bliss, we're so happy for you two." The 'we,' of course, referred to Inutaisho, whom of course could not make it to the ceremony in physical form.
Rin smiled and nodded. It was common for people to not be able to sleep the night before their wedding; however this was brought to a whole new level. Rin stayed asleep through most of the day the previous day, and was awake now through her fulfillment of sleep and caffeine. Izayoi was solely running on the mustered energy that the magic cocoa bean provided her, giving her enough energy to kill a cow however in short bursts.
"Yes… Yes…" Rin said, acknowledging this for the fourth time. She stood before a very large mirror in Izayoi's bedroom and sighed resentfully, twisting the fabric of her long and elegant white dress. "I know its 'bad luck' or something for the groom to see the bride on the wedding day, but… he literally made sure he didn't."
"Sesshoumaru doesn't do things on a whim. He's probably been planning this for a while," Izayoi said, flattening out the dress in the back.
The younger woman nodded and let go of the dress forcefully, spinning slowly around the mirror. "I'm glad you're here with me Izayoi. I have plenty of male influence, but without any motherly or sisterly influence I've become a bit of a… a…" She ran a hand through her hair shakily, "A mess." With a tinge of suppressed happiness, Izayoi put a hand on her soon to be daughter-in-law's shoulder in attempts to comfort her.
"All these things have a way of working out," Izayoi explained. "This faintly reminds me of our wedding." Rin wondered what she meant and then for the umpteenth time remembered her hidden companion.
"Don't worry hun," Izayoi said with a smile. "It'll all be fine."
Rin nodded and looked at herself one last time, smiling through a façade. 'I hope so…'
"Superstitions my ass. God, this is personal!" Sesshoumaru growled and hit his head against the car horn furiously. Three dead tires in the middle of the night, off the side of the road. They had run over some tacks or something, because there were multiple small holes in the front left tired and the back ones. Inuyasha mumbled something incoherently as both brothers simultaneously got out of the car
Checking the damage, they scanned the car over a few times, seeing only the tires as being torn. They both sighed at the same time and slinked against the left side of the car, sliding down the asphalt. With his hands covering his face, Sesshoumaru rubbed his eyes sore.
No lights could be seen in either direction in the desolately flat surface. Mountains could be seen in the distance in most directions, and the grass bristled with morning dew, occasionally humidifying the wind to a noticeable point. Sesshoumaru muttered something and got up. "I'm going to get this car moving. That ok with you?"
"With flats?"
Sesshoumaru threw a glare at him. "It'll be bumpy. Live with it."
Inuyasha shrugged and pulled himself off the ground, rubbing his shoulders tenuously. "So this is what stress is…"
"Oh shut up."
They both got to their doors and pulled the handle, but like the world would have guessed, Sesshoumaru had more important things on his mind when he left his keys in the car, and had the doors locked on the inside.
"This is why we need flying cars," Inuyasha muttered, hitting his head against the window.
Sesshoumaru reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "And…" A growl emanated from his lips and snarled visibly, breaking his stoic appearance. "…unlimited batteries would be NICE!" He chucked the cell phone across the asphalt, landing it on the grass surprisingly in one piece even after the long distance skid.
"I'm… sorry?"
"Don't be…"
Sesshoumaru took a few short deep breaths and then one elongated one. He backed up into the car and blinked twice, frowning. Inuyasha looked at his reflection in the rear view mirror and shook his head, trying not to believe what was happening.
"I'm not exactly angry, as I am frustrated," Sesshoumaru explained, weighing a few options in his hands. He counted something in his fingers, presumably his choices. Inuyasha walked around to him and watched him.
"W-…"
"I think I'm going to go with walking down the road."
"That's what you were thinking about?"
Sesshoumaru shot him a glare and took a few steps away from the car. "It's an old car anyway. I could get someone to pick it up later…"
"Don't have to tell me twice."
The two brothers set off down the long and aggravatingly straight road, devoid of life or light. The asphalt seemed to pave on forever, never letting up for even a moment. They walked for a very long time. Yes, in fact if you read the story up this point again, twice, they would still have been walking. They did not tire, nor did they stop for a break, for they had a deadline they needed to make.
The hours passed, drudging on as the soles of their feet began to burn with unwanted use. Their heads drooped were exhaustion and their entire bodies rigid with the icy wind.
"Where are we," Inuyasha questioned, looking around at the immensely similar landscape.
"Probably… soon to be…" Sesshoumaru pretended to do some math in the air and then looked at Inuyasha with an intimidating stare, "Nowhere near where we should have been."
Inuyasha took a deep breath and continued walking aimlessly forward. "When are we?"
And like a gift from the gods above, the sun began to rise to their left over a lake.
"Somewhere around seven fift-…"
"The Lake!"
Inuyasha smiled and pointed frantically at it. "It's the lake! I remember passing it on the way to Isarugi's house!" Sesshoumaru barely remembered any such thing, but the connection between Isarugi's house and Tokyo was good enough.
"That means were almost in Tokyo city," he said, through a bare smile.
"We could go to Isarugi's house and get a ride to the wedding!"
Sesshoumaru eyed him carefully, stopping their movement. "Ah… no."
"What?"
Sesshoumaru pointed forward down the road. "We continue on for less than an hour and we'll reach Tokyo ci- CAR!"
They both dodged out of the way of a speeding car heading in the direction of Tokyo. Inuyasha held a finger in the air warningly. "Or we can avoid oncoming traffic by trying to get a car which is less than ten minutes away and could get us to the chapel by 8, which would be nice to chang-…"
Sesshoumaru held his head in his hands. "Yes… the tuxes are in the car."
Inuyasha closed his eyes for nearly ten seconds and then opened them, hoping to awake from a dream, but sadly was still standing on a desolate road near a small lake, arguing with his brother about how they had to choose between to equally bad options. "Alright Sesshoumaru, it is official. I finally agree. Your life freakin' sucks!"
"Damn straight."
Sesshoumaru shook his head, bewildered at the situation and finally gave in. "We'll go to Isarugi's house. She probably has extra suits there anyway. It's only twenty minutes out of the way." The last part had slight sarcasm tinged in the voice. Inuyasha took it anyway, and the led the way around the lake.
"Kagome, you feeling ok?" In a suburban Kyoto prefecture, around 360 kilometers away from Tokyo, lay a small townhouse that was more like a shrine then a home. The shrine was two stories tall, had wooden floors, and sliding screen doors. There, in the shrine, lived the Higurashi family, exiled from their beautiful house across from a huge nice school and a near perfect library because of one young man whom half the family didn't hold anything against, one fourth of the family hated, and the last fourth didn't remember.
"Kagome, I'm coming in."
Koga opened the door to the small room and looked inside, noticing no one there. The piles of work on the desk with writing scrawled in perfect penmanship seemed to be the most organized in the world, and nowhere in the room was the floor invisible, not even under the bed. Koga looked around slowly, trying to find his sister. "What… Kagome where are you?"
"Koga, she's down here!" He heard his mother shout from the downstairs. Knowing her, she had forgotten Kagome was outside or something and sent him upstairs for no reason. He left the room, and stampeded his way down the stairs. When he reached the ground floor he grabbed his suit jacket on the coat hanger and slid it on.
"Are we leaving soon?" he asked as he opened the sliding door into the kitchen, where he saw his mother and Kagome were standing around the counter. Both of them were dressed nicely, however Kagome's outfit seemed to be designed solely to catch attention. It was a grayish-silvery sequenced dress that was basically the plainest thing available; however in being plain… it was perfect. He was almost positive that no matter where she would go, she would own the room.
"Yes Koga, we're leaving now," Ms. Higurashi said. She walked toward the door following Koga out, turning back briefly to call "Come Kagome" to her only daughter. Kagome smiled and nodded, following her mother out the door.
"Like I would miss the chance to meet this couple, they seem like such perfect people," she said, sounding kind of rehearsed, however it wasn't in the least. All of Kagome's actions were much more refined lately, seeing as she was trying to escape from being hurt again.
Koga held the door open for his family as they left the house. He watched with a smile on his face as Kagome skipped happily out the front door, happier than she had been lately. He was unused to this, but he was also very glad about it. His sister needed somewhere else to be other than school, she needed a real friend.
And as he walked out the door, he tried to control his thoughts of Inuyasha being that only real friend…
Sesshoumaru reached out and knocked on the door of Isarugi's house. Inuyasha sat on the porch swing, casually swinging back and forth. Sesshoumaru fisted his hand and knocked again. The porch swing creaked with every swing. Inuyasha got up and let the swing sway back and forth more freely and walked into the garden in front of the house's front wall. He looked into the window seeing no lights on in the house. He reached into the open window and turned on a lamp light to look at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, which read seven thirty-four.
"No one's home," Sesshoumaru stated blankly, turning to look at the abandoned porch swing. He turned and saw him before the window from the porch and walked over to him but was separated by a white rickety railing which didn't allow intruders into the garden. He easily jumped it and pushed Inuyasha away from the open window. "Wow…" He looked up into the sky, thanking god in a short concise 'prayer' of sorts, and then slithered through the window. Inuyasha watched him as he did his breaking and entering routine, and wondered whether or not he should follow. When he saw two cars rushing by the long highway which was next to Isarugi's house, he quickly made up his mind and jumped through the window after his older, but definitely after this not wiser, brother.
"It's a lot darker than usual," Inuyasha commented. To this Sesshoumaru gave him a 'you're stupid' look and flipped on the light switch. Inuyasha shut the window behind them, and began to look around the now familiar room.
"Look for some keys," Sesshoumaru requested as he began to walk up the staircase, "She has an extra car in the garage."
"I wonder why," Inuyasha speculated allowed. He looked around the small living room and saw a desk with various accoutrements; a lamp, papers, some pictures in frames, and… keys. "Found them!"
He heard Sesshoumaru bang his head on something and then curse very loudly.
Inuyasha smiled, knowing that everything at this point was beginning to look up. He sighed contentedly and sat down at the desk, looking at the content for entertainment. As much as he knew Sesshoumaru would yell at him for looking at a psychologist's things, he was curious. Relaxed in knowing everything was going to be fine, he pulled out the file that said 'Takashimo" on it, and pulled it out.
He opened the folder and there, in plain sight, was not him… but his brother…
He began to read the file, lost in himself as he read the analyzing of his brother's personality and problems. He felt a serious connection to his brother as he read, slowly looking at what Sesshoumaru was like at… at sixteen?
"Inuyasha, there's a suit your size but I'm out of lu…"
Sesshoumaru stopped halfway down the stairs, looking at Inuyasha as he stared at the folder in his hands in front of him. Sesshoumaru took one more step down the stairs and allowed Inuyasha to realize his presence. Sesshoumaru loosened his grip on the plastic covered suit, and closed his eyes momentarily. "Inuyasha…""Inuyasha."
"Sesshoumaru… this i-…"
"Get dressed."
He walked the remainder of the way down the stairs and turned toward him. "Now."
Inuyasha shuffled the papers into the folder and shut it quickly. "Sesshoumaru i-…"
"Inu…yasha…get dressed now."
Inuyasha nodded without another word and got up. He took only the suit from Sesshoumaru as he left the room to change. Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and looked down at the folder, not daring to look at who it was. "…stupid kid." He placed the folder back in the stack near the bottom where it belonged, and then sat down at the chair, severely disappointed and his guard way up.
Sesshoumaru grunted as he spun in the chair mindlessly, watching as the stairs came into view, then the hall, then the fireplace, window, desk, stairs, hall, fireplace, window, desk, stairs, Inuyasha, fireplace, desk, Inuyasha, desk, Inuyasha.
"Hey umm, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha mumbled, looking, how Sesshoumaru would describe it, 'snazzy' in a tuxedo. "Sorry 'bout before." Honestly, he was regretful now, but would soon learn that the little sneak peak he took into… took into… "Who's that in the picture?"
Sesshoumaru squinted his eyes and turned around hopefully. "That… is…"
Inuyasha had taken a ripe interest in a photo of a man sitting on Isarugi's desk. He was very strangely familiar… too familiar. "Is that… Naraku?"
A.N.// Alright, I guess that settles it. This is a long one, right? Right? Yea... thought so. Anyway, Next part should be up on schedule, if not Monday.
Just remember: "Theres a hole in the sky, through which things can fly >!"
Anon Out...