Chapter 10:

Escape

"I want to run. To do what I always do, have always done, for the last five years of my life. Escape, flee into the shadows. But this time, I stand my ground. I'm tired of running."

-Marie Lu, Prodigy

Kagome swallowed hard, her eyes never leaving Ryura's; even when they narrowed into blood-red slit, Kagome didn't look away. If she was going to die, she was going to stare it in the face. She squared her shoulders and attempted to mentally prepare herself. Obviously she had done something to upset Ryura even further, and when she reached the Kami, she would beg for his life. If she didn't want to die, she shouldn't have come to him and made him angry. She knew what she was getting into. Poking at an angry Daiyoukai was like poking at a sleeping dragon, no pun intended, and they always said to let sleeping dragons lie.

She watched his hand snake out towards her, and needless to say, Kagome was surprised when instead of ripping out her throat like she thought he was going to, he put a thumb on her lip and gently removed it from between her teeth. Kagome could feel warm blood, his blood, left behind.

"Stop doing that. You're going to chew your lip raw even more than you already have," he grumbled out.

His hand now back to his side, Kagome could only stare dumbly, forgetting all about his blood on her mouth, as he moved away from her to begin pacing in a wide circle. She noticed when his back was to her that his swords were still throwing a fit, and she laughed softly. Kagome had seen this only a few times before, but she had an idea, one she voiced.

"Ryura, could you let me see your swords? You don't have to draw them or anything."

Her question startled him, and he stopped his pacing to look at her over his shoulder and eye her critically. He gave it some thought before nodding. The action was stiff as it was before, showing Kagome he hadn't calmed down at all.

Ryura moved back over to her and turned his back on her. Kagome only realized then how tall he was, when she should have known better. After all, he stood eye to eye with Sesshoumaru, and the Inu Daiyoukai was by no means short. Huffing, Kagome stood on her toes, hands reaching up and trying to touch the hilts of Raijinga and Fujinga. Noticing her efforts, Ryura lowered himself, squatting, until she could reach the hilts.

And when she could, she instantly grabbed a hold of the swords. The movements ceased quickly and they rumbled with a thankful pulse of energy. She bit her lower lip again out of worry, an action that would have made Ryura twitch if he saw it. Kagome barely noticed the tingling in her mouth.

"You two should behave," Kagome murmured to the swords, not caring if Ryura thought her crazy. "He's your master. He's my friend. You shouldn't do things just to aggravate him."

The swords pulsed again and this time the energy almost felt...apologetic, throwing Ryura for a loop. Never before had his swords reacted to anyone except his father and himself. Just what in the world was going on? She wasn't kidding when she said they grew on her.

The swords finally calmed and Kagome giggled. "There, see? It's not so bad, is it?"

This time the swords didn't respond, and Kagome took the silence as a statement that she was right. Ryura rose to his full height and slowly turned so he could look at her face, which was stained with a blush.

"Sorry if that seemed stupid. They acted up sometimes when I had them, and I calmed them down just like that," she murmured.

Ryura's brow shot to disappear into his bangs. "What else have they done when in your possession?"

"Nothing, really. Well, if you don't count eerily showing up when I didn't have them," she paused then clapped her hands together. "Oh! Also, whenever I was stressed or in a battle, they'd kind of pulsed like they did before. It always seemed to calm me down."

"Huh..." Ryura grunted questioningly. Perhaps the old man, Totosai, would know what was going on? He had forged the blasted things after all, though he didn't think Totosai let that little bit of information be known to Inuyasha and his pack.

He raised a hand to stroke his chin, leaving yet more blood on his face. Yes, that would be exactly what he would do; visit Totosai. Later. For now, however...

His gaze returned to Kagome and he gave her a firm glare, "You should be resting, woman."

Kagome stuttered, "I was-was worried!"

"Don't be. It was a fucking puppet. That son of a bitch..." he felt his rage returning.

"What did he do, besides his whole puppetry act?" Kagome asked carefully. She could feel his aura spike with anger. That new ability was apparently good for more than simply finding auras. She could feel them, too, if the person was allowing them to be felt.

Ryura looked back to her, grinding his teeth. "He somehow managed to infect you with some disease while we were camped, and attacked Inuyasha and myself on our way to take you to your era."

"M-my era?" Kagome paled. Oh, Kami, no... had someone...?

"Yes, your era. Inuyasha blurted out you're from the future; five hundred years in fact. I wouldn't allow him to take you at first. I can move far faster than he can; I can move even faster than Sesshoumaru if I need to – he disagreed, saying he was the only one who could pass through the well." Ryura's voice was a low growl again, thinking back on how the hanyou denied him his request.

Kagome sighed. "Damnit, Inuyasha..." she released in a frustrated manner. It was rare for her to curse, but when she did, it was usually for good reason.

"Do not blame him too much, Kagome. He was in distress because of your condition," Ryura admitted honestly. It was a very large secret, and Inuyasha had just blabbed it for all listening in to hear. If that information fell into the wrong hands, Kagome would be in danger of being taken for her knowledge of future events. He could understand her anger, but given the circumstances, he hoped she would let it slide.

"Either way, the knowledge will not pass my lips unless I am sure I am speaking to you or your pack, and only your pack." He had calmed down enough now that his voice was slowly returning back its normal octave.

Kagome was just about to thank him profusely, but she stopped when she noticed his body was slightly see-through.

"Ryura! You-!" Kagome gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in order to cover them.

Ryura followed her gaze to look down at his chest. His eyes widened then flicked to his hands. They were ethereal as well.

"What in the layers of Hell is happ-," he wasn't allowed to finish. He disappeared right before Kagome's eyes with no fanfare. No magical pop, no sparks of light. He simply was...gone.

"Ryura?" she asked as she looked around frantically. Nothing was left behind, not even his swords. "Ryura!"

She took one step forward and another wave of dizziness caused her to fall to her knees. "Ryura!" She yelled, her voice cracking due to panic and her illness.

The Kami hadn't taken him, had they?

"No! Lord Touga, Kami-sama! Please, listen to me! I am the Miko of the Shikon no Tama! You are the parents of my soul, please listen to me!" She yelled at the sky, not caring if it felt like her throat was ripping apart. "Don't take him, not yet! He was fighting Naraku! Even Inuyasha's gone on a rampage when he's disappeared. Please, no, it's not fair-," she was cut short.

Her blue eyes rolled back into her head and she fell towards the earth, landing with a dull thump on the grass.

Where Ryura had gone, she would never find him. Even if the Kami had heard her plea, they made no movement to show it, and so Kagome went into a fitful slumber, unaware of Ryura's fate.

Ryura looked around and frowned. He was back inside the void. Dread gripped his heart and a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't feel anything, but at least he could breathe. It was a small sign of hope. At least he wasn't the void itself again.

"Ryura the Dragon," Touga's voice came from behind him. As he turned to face the Daiyoukai turned Kami, the same bright golden light as before filled the void. "Do not fear, pup. I only wish to speak."

Ryura felt himself calm and he let out a sigh of relief. "What is it, Lord Touga? And pup, honestly?" his voice was deadpan.

Touga let out a throaty chuckle and a true smile came to his face. "I am your god-father, Ryura. I believe that gives me the right to call you what I wish."

Ryura grumbled. "Fine, fine."

Walking forward, Touga entered Ryura's personal space and leaned down slightly. He wasn't much taller than Ryura, but he was enough he needed to bend down to look him in the eyes. What Ryura saw within those eyes, however, scared the living hell out of him. A calm, collected sense of anger was pooling within Touga's golden eyes. Never before in Ryura's life while Touga had been alive had he seen him look as angry as he did at that very moment.

"Kagome," he said. It was the only thing he said, and that single name did absolutely nothing to ease Ryura's fear.

"Kagome...?" he questioningly croaked out.

Touga gave a swift nod. "Yes, Kagome. I have been protecting her since she entered this era. I was the one who opened the portal between the times, knowing it had to be done in order to rid the world of the Shikon no Tama forever. I was the one who put the idea into her head to release Inuyasha from his imprisonment on the Sacred Tree near the Bone-Eater's well." He paused, but only for a short moment.

"I am the one who allowed her to pull Tessaiga from its place inside of my grave, and I am the one who guarded her through Tessaiga against Sesshoumaru's poison when he attempted to kill her in his rage of being denied the sword. I have watched over her for every step of her journey; protected her in ways Inuyasha can't. I made it rain to hide her tears when Inuyasha yet again broke her heart by choosing an undead Miko made of fucking clay over her," he spit out the words, leaving Ryura even further stunned that the great Inu no Taisho actually cursed in such a way.

As he was about to unload a bombardment of questions on Touga, his air supply was cut off by Touga's large and clawed hand wrapping around his throat. "If you harm one single hair on her head or break her heart, I will personally torture you for eternity in Hell. Kami I may be, but Daiyoukai I remain in spirit. I have no issue casting myself into Hell in order to watch you suffer, Ryura. Do you understand?"

Ryura did the only thing he could, nod slightly. He was starting to turn blue as his hair, he could feel it.

Touga roughly let go of him at his nod, "And I don't mean some argument or lover's spat – if you hurt her in any way as Inuyasha has, I will have no mercy."

Rubbing at his raw and tender throat, Ryura frowned. "Why?"

The Kami sighed then and ran a hand through his bangs. "Upon ascending my soul was taken out of the reincarnation cycle, and I was allowed to remember every former and future life I ever had, all the way to Kagome's time and past that. Tsuyoshi was correct in his explanation of how Kami view time – do not ask how or why, your brain may explode."

He murmured something soft enough not even Ryura could hear it, and the Dragon Daiyoukai watched as Touga lifted his head to stare upwards at the golden light surrounding them. "One life I had, my name was Hikaru Higurashi. I was born human, in a time far from your own. I met and married a woman named Hitomi, and started a family. My eldest child was a girl who was born with the Shikon no Tama inside of her body, not that we knew that. We named her Kagome."

Ryura's eyes were now wide as saucers. His look of astonishment didn't stop Touga from talking.

"I watched her grow up; watched her take her first steps, speak her first words, go to her first day of school. And then, Hitomi became pregnant again, this time with a boy we named Souta. On the day he was born, I gave Kagome a bracelet made of platinum and had engraved the words, 'My daughter, my world. My moon and stars. I will always protect you.' I gave it to her and a few weeks later, I went out to buy a present for Hitomi. On my way back, I wasn't paying attention. I was distracted, there were people everywhere and it had started raining. I didn't know what happened. All I remember is this blinding pain unlike anything I had ever felt before." Touga was now slipping into more modern speech, sounding more and more like Kagome with each passing second.

When he looked at Ryura, he noticed that Touga's eyes had changed. They were now blue and a perfect mirror image of Kagome's.

"I was hit by a car. A car is a large, heavy, chunk of metal made for transporting humans around. Think of a horse drawn carriage without the horse, but with some holding the ability travel faster than any youkai known to exist. I died shortly after that. I left Kagome alone. I left Souta behind, just as I left Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru behind. I'm grateful I ascended, because I don't know if I could bear living with this curse I have where I always seem to die and leave my children behind when they need me the most, Ryura. It's happened so many times in so many of my lives that I've lost count, but for some reason Kagome's life is the only one I can interfere with. She will be protected." Touga finished, breathing heavily as he tried to regain his legendary control.

"I understand now, Touga." Ryura said, dropping any hint of a title or honorific. He was speaking to Touga, his god-father, not Touga the Kami. "But I do not think you will have to fear me breaking her heart. Kagome and I aren't courting."

"Things happen, Ryura. Everything is possible, nothing is forbidden. The heart is fickle, but when it finds its mate, the one it is meant to be with, it never waivers." He looked at Ryura for a long moment then said, "And you, boy, need to learn to control yourself. Kagome begged for you to be spared when she realized you fought that many youkai, and she begged us to spare you when you disappeared. You need to find a release, and you need to do so quickly – you cannot run away anymore."

Touga paused and looked Ryura directly in the eyes, "If she pleads for your life and you are simply an acquaintance of hers, imagine what she would do for you if she comes to love you – this is why you must not break her heart, else I will destroy you for you will destroy her. If you wish to have nothing to do with her, then I suggest you leave her now before she becomes more attached to you than she already has."

Touga rumbled out a gruff farewell and with that, he was gone.

Before Ryura could properly react, he felt himself being ripped away from the void, and reappeared in the exact spot he left, and again with no fanfare or magical sparks. He faded into existence just had he had faded before Touga pulled him away to talk to him. At his feet, he saw Kagome laying on the ground.

He knelt down close to her and reached out his hand, placing the back of it against her forehead. Satisfied she wasn't feverish, Ryura gathered her in his arms, tucked her against his armor covered chest, and began to walk in the direction of Kaede's village that he passed over numerous times during his search for Naraku.

All the while his mind was repeating his conversation with Touga like a mantra, the last part specifically. "If you wish to have nothing to do with her, then I suggest you leave her now..."

Sighing, Ryura looked down to the woman in his arms. He, like most youkai with a coherent mind, found it difficult to express how he truly felt, even to himself in the dark corners of his mind. They let their instincts guide them and show them the proper path to take. Ones who did not, ended up like he used to be while leading the Four War Gods – a dark, twisted creature with no light left within their souls.

He could feel the light returning to his soul. The process was slow, of course, and he had many times mentally berated himself for some of his thoughts. Touga was correct in his statement that he needed to find a release. He needed to find some way to help him control himself, else he was going to die. Permanently.