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The History Book
Chapter Four – Nightmares from the Past
Last Time:
"So that's the famous hanyou Inuyasha and the miko Kagome." A dark figure spoke, hiding its face behind the shadows.
"It seems that my search has just been cut short." The figure smirked evilly, retreating back once more into the dark.
That night, together, Kagome and Inuyasha explained what they discovered from the history book. At first, Miroku and Sango couldn't believe that such documents would be recorded in such great detail…so who could have written the book? At that thought, Kagome checked throughout the book, but there was no name except for two initials…
K.T. And I.T.
Those initials could be anyone, and the gang listed names off the top of their head, but none that matched the initials. Assumptions of the book's accuracy were still not determined, since the major events have yet to come.
Until today…
"Kagome, hide in here and don't come out." The sound of his strong voice spoke calmly just above an audible whisper.
"What's wrong? Why are you hiding me in your closet?" A very young and confused Kagome questioned as she positioned herself on the carpet floor. She knew what his true voice sounded like behind his soft, calm kindness, and he was all but hiding it.
Her once strong and leading post was crumbling before her eyes.
He wouldn't answer her, and Kagome couldn't understand why. He just stared at her with love in his eyes right before he suddenly kissed her on the cheek.
A rush of warmth reached Kagome's skin, and she just felt so beautiful the way it was with him kissing her on the cheek in such tender loving care. Before Kagome could answer herself the question, "why is this happening now?" His rough voice took on a more serious tone as he caressed her soft cheek, his hands felt calloused to the touch as he said the three words that told all, "I love you."
Kagome's eyes suddenly widened. Never in her five years, has this man before her ever shown her affection. All the past events of them living together, he has never once shown more love for her than her mother…until today.
So why is this happening now?
Why was this man before her suddenly showing her the affection and love she yearned for, after these years of living? As a five year old, few would think these thoughts, but Kagome was different. As life went on for her, these were the questions and thoughts she pondered at night.
Before Kagome could comprehend and respond to his confession, a loud crash and a couple of screams were heard not too far from outside the closet door. Screams chanting the name, "Itaki! Itaki!"
And suddenly, she became frightened.
"Don't be afraid," he said with confidence in his voice, as if he read her thoughts. Then he suddenly stood up and faced the closet door…he was leaving her.
Just before Kagome could call for him to stay, to protect her, he gave her one last glance and said solemnly and yet with confidence, "I promise. I'll come back for you."
And he left.
He silently closed the door behind him…and Kagome was left in the dark once again.
"NO! DON'T LEAVE ME PAPA!"
Behind the shadows, a lone figure smirked. From outside the small hut, the figure could hear an audible cry for help, a plea for a father.
From behind, a rustling of the bushes caused the person to lose concentration, but only for a moment before it realized whom it was.
"What is it you want Li?"
"I just wanted to inform you that everything is in place. Your many years of search are finally going to be rewarded, but why must you torture the One right away?" A man that took a familiar image of Bankotsu revealed himself from the shadows. He carried two sleek swords crossed behind his back. The feature may be the same, but it was not Bankotsu.
"I'm not torturing her. I'm simply reminding her of the past before I reveal myself." It spoke, as it resumed to casting the spell.
Li smirked, understanding his master's wishes. "Do as you please."
Rustling nearby suddenly disturbed the sleeping hanyou. With his sensitive ears, it was difficult to sleep with the others in the cramped hut. Ever so slowly and unwillingly, he opened his eyes, and instantly knew it was still the middle of the night as the full moon hung in the sky.
He needed sleep.
It had been a long day, of course. He dragged Kagome back to her era and then discovered new information about the history book. Though, things weren't going too well with the disturbance and he needed as much rest as he could possibly get.
As Inuyasha got up from his sitting position to go sleep in his forest, he suddenly felt uneasy. Unconsciously, his eyes gazed at Kagome's sleeping form…out of habit he assured himself.
Concern hit him at full force.
The disturbance in the middle of the night was Kagome's rough breathing and silent calls. Possibly from a dream, but never has this happened to her before.
Inuyasha instantly, but quietly went to the ill girl. Kagome's head was covered with beads of sweat, and her breathing was rasp and heavy, as if there wasn't enough air in the room for her. 'What's wrong with her? I hope she didn't catch a cold like last time. Or maybe it could be just a dream.' His ears suddenly perked onto what she was whispering in her sleep, and he listened carefully.
"Papa…papa…don't…leave me," Kagome's cried softly in her sleep, taking deep, heavy gasps of air as she spoke.
'Papa? Her father? She never spoke of her father. Now that I think about it, I never met her father before.'
Inuyasha realized it was just a dream, and was just about to leave, but he stopped and felt a pull from his heart that told him to stay…to protect her.
'Protect her from what?' He asked himself. After all it was just a dream.
'Protect her from what ever is hurting her, stupid,' his other conscious responded.
'She's just having a bad dream.'
'Just be there for her you fool.'
After a few minutes of arguing with his conscious, Inuyasha lost against himself and decided to just sit down next to Kagome. He was already wide awake, and if he was internally worried about Kagome's welfare, then there was no point going to sleep.
So instead, he just watched and listened to the heavy breathing and rasp cries of Kagome's nightmare.
He was taking too long. He said he would come back. He promised her. He promised his own daughter.
So why wasn't he here with her already?
Kagome couldn't take it any longer. Ignoring her father's command, she crept out of the closet to search for him. Her parents' room still looked the same, and nothing was out of place.
Ever so slowly, Kagome started to creep out of the room, and rounded the corner down the upstairs corridor. She knew her father was downstairs, she could hear the voices down there. One was the voice of her father, and the other voice she couldn't recognize, but her heart told her that she should know who the other voice belonged to. Curious as she was, Kagome headed near the steps that would lead towards the main floor.
Before Kagome could begin to take her descend down the wooden steps, a loud, angry shout was heard from below.
"You fucking bastard! How could you betray me like this?! You're excuses are meaningless now that you have a bastard child with that bitch!"
Tears were now streaming down Kagome's eyes. Those curses were directed towards Kagome's newborn baby brother and her parents. To have someone she was sure she didn't know, curse at them, brought fear and anger all at once into her heart.
Kagome suddenly heard a loud scream and she instantly recognized her father's voice. She started running down the stairs to aid her hurting father, but she missed a step in the sudden rush and started rolling down the stairs painfully.
Kagome's body was aching with each impact of the hard steps. When she stopped rolling, she realized she was at the bottom step and slowly she tried to get up, but her body protested. The pain was unbearable, especially her left shoulder. It was useless now that it was dislocated.
As she started to turn her head to look up, she screamed in terror at the sight before her.
"NO! PAPA!"
Her father was on the floor, breathing heavily as blood pooled over his stomach…and standing above him was a figure with a katana in its hand. Blood stained this evil person's shirt as well as the sword.
Kagome never knew there was such a person as evil as this one and looking at her fathers' pale face, she couldn't understand why this person would do such a thing.
She ran towards her panting father, and threw herself on his stomach, covering herself in his blood and she began to weep. The tears wouldn't stop coming. Her father was dying in her arms.
Without warning, her father's suffering ended when she felt movement of something being thrust into her father's chest…just above her own ears where her head lay on his stomach. Kagome slowly turned her head towards her father's face, and more tears started to fall when she saw his lifeless eyes. A pair of black, unseeing eyes.
Her daddy was leaving her…and he's never coming back.
"No! Papa! Papa, come back! Come back!" Kagome screamed between tears. She continued to shake her father, hoping that she could wake him back to life.
From behind, she heard laughter. A woman's voice.
Kagome instinctively turned herself around, hoping to catch the face of her father's killer. The woman looked young with dark blue make-up around her eyes, to enhance the evil look of her brown eyes. Her hair was wavy and flowed freely off her shoulders, and the only weapon she carried was the katana in her right hand. All in all, Kagome felt fire around this person…and she swore she would hate this person for all of eternity for taking her father away from her.
Kagome forced herself to stop weeping, act strong, and face this person, but she couldn't do anything. She just sat on the floor beside her bloodied father.
The evil woman smirked and let out a small chuckle. "You've grown so much." Suddenly her eyes turned dark. "Just remember. You're father brought me through hell…and he should consider himself lucky for his death."
Kagome wanted to retort. To questionwhy. Why would you kill my father so brutally? What grudge do you hold against him? What has my father done to you, to make you hate him so much? Why? Why?
But Kagome couldn't do anything, because before she could answer, the woman's scabbard forcefully smashed against Kagome's head…and knocked her unconscious.
"Remember me…Kishami."
"Kishami…Kishami…I'll…kill you," Kagome rasped between clenched teeth.
Inuyasha was watching Kagome this whole time as she slept and heard nothing except for small cries for her father and the name Kishami.
Who was Kishami?
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard an ear piercing scream and a sudden jolt of movement beside him.
Kagome sat up on her futon awake, but something was still wrong with her. She was still sweating…and her rasp breathing hasn't softened.
"Kagome what's wrong?" Inuyasha questioned, his concern taking over him.
No answer.
Kagome's eyes were staring into space, as if not hearing Inuyasha's calls. She continued her heavy breathing…and beads of sweat kept forming on her face. She kept recalling the dream, and it kept making her feel sick. Really sick.
Inuyasha was tired of being ignored and suddenly shook Kagome's arms roughly to get her attention. Kagome slowly but surely turned her head towards his direction, but her eyes were still downcast and shadowed so he couldn't look into her eyes and read them.
"Kagome what's wrong!" Inuyasha yelled as he continued to shake her to face him.
By now, Miroku, Sango, Kaede, Shippou and Kirara were fully awake and were now listening into there conversation.
"Inuyasha, what's wrong with Kagome. She looks so pale," Miroku asked as he got up from his place on the floor.
Kagome began to look into her friends faces, but still ignoring Inuyasha's stressed look. Her face was pale as a ghost, and her eyes were red and slightly puffy from the tears. Her breathing was starting to slow down, but her face turned to a slightly green colour and Kagome suddenly had the urge to cover her mouth as her stomach did a back flip.
"Kagome?" Sango questioned when she saw the look on her face.
Kagome ignored her friends, quickly stood up and bolted out of Kaede's hut. She kept running and running until she found a bush. It was then that she began to dispose her supper.
She could hear the running footsteps of her friends; they were coming to check up on her of course. But no one could take away the pain she was feeling right then.
As if the dream wasn't bad enough. Nothing could compare to what Kagome was going to endure next.
"Kagome are you alright? You look really sick," Shippou commented when he saw her throwing up.
In the distance the gang heard a sharp laugh over the hill. Everyone turned to look and see who it could be.
In the shadows, the gang could only see the silhouette of the person, but then it started to speak.
"It seems that your stomach couldn't handle it." The figure continued to laugh evilly, with its sharp womanly voice.
It sounded too familiar to Kagome. Memories kept flooding back into Kagome's mind, and she wanted to hurl again, but forced herself to stay strong.
The figure began to take small steps towards the moons light. Revealing her face.
Kagome recognized the face instantly. How could one forget a person that brought hate and feared all at once?
"Kishami," she whispered.
'Kishami? Wasn't that the person Kagome was dreaming about?' Inuyasha thought.
She began to smirk at the remembrance, as her sword glittered under the moons light.
"Yes, it's been a long time Kagome…my daughter."
Katana– A shorter length sword.
Scabbard – The handle part of a sword or katana