Chapter Two: A Tempting Offer
A letter from Myoga arrived two weeks after Sango's birthday. Like her acceptance letter to the educational program, it was sent in a nice printed envelope. The letter itself was handwritten. Kagome opened it at the kitchen table, while her mom snuck curious glances and put away groceries.
Myoga's handwriting was neat and angular, and his small lettering evenly filled up two pages. The letter read:
My dear Lady,
I do regret the events that preceded the shutdown of the IOEP. I wish the program had not come to such an end, and that your life had not been so greatly displaced. As the demon responsible for your safety and the safety of your classmates, I extend my deepest apologies for my failings. I hope you can forgive me. I write now for three primary reasons.
First, I want to update you on the condition of Master Inuyasha. He made a swift and full recovery from your battle with Naraku, although he has now been brought into the public eye within the Sector and can no longer hide his half-human heritage. Despite the change, he seems to be as hardy as he ever was.
Second, I want to describe the changes that have occurred in the Floating City since your departure. Among our population there has been a stark divide in reaction to the events of last year. This divide reaches through all ranks of us, up through to the old families that steer our proverbial ship. On one side demons refuse to consider any further integration efforts. They hold this instance up as proof of the incompatibility between humans and Youkai. They wish to cut all ties with humans, from this point turning inwards and living only among our kind. The other side maintains we must pursue integration further, reinvigorate the IOEP and start new programs to bring our peoples together. These two sides clash at every interaction, with no progress either way.
As you may suspect, I am for integration. I must be frank here, though I do not wish to make you uncomfortable. Demons are a dying species. Since we sealed ourselves up in this prison, our numbers have dwindled and few new Youkai have been born to replace those who pass. Even worse, we live long and are stubborn in our ways. New ideas do not thrive here because our people cannot see the value in them. Survival has always been the demon way.
And yet, Naraku's death has brought out those of us who can see a different way. We can learn from humans, you who constantly change and adapt. You who seek out what can be, not contented with what is. More than ever before, those who were silenced by tradition are voicing their desire to move beyond simple survival.
This brings me to my third reason for contacting you: I need your help. We need someone to convince our most powerful Youkai families that integration is possible and necessary. You, the Shikon Priestess, Spider Slayer, are the only one who can do that. Though some give it begrudgingly, you have the respect of all here in the Sector. Our nature is to flock towards power, and you have shown exactly that. You are a human who has defeated a demon no other could slay, and if anyone can convince demons to give the human way a chance, it is you.
Therefore I invite you back to the Sector, as my personal guest, in hopes you will sway opinions here to integration efforts. Furthermore, I wish to make you the primary representative of demons to the human world.
If you do not wish to do this, I understand. You are not of demon blood, and you owe me nothing. I do not think that is your way, though.
I look forward to your reply, and I hope it is favorable.
Best regards, Myoga.
P.S. Your friend Ms. Karin is quite strong willed. Please give her my thanks.
Karin. Of course. Kagome sighed, putting the letter down. Her mother watched her from across the kitchen, now sipping a cup of tea.
"What does he say?" Mama Higurashi asked. Kagome folded the letter and slid it back into the envelope.
"He's invited me back to the Sector," she said. Her mother gripped her teacup a little tighter, but waited for Kagome to continue.
"He wants me to help convince other demons that integration is a good idea." Her mother put the cup of tea down on the counter and let her hand linger on the surface.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" she asked. Kagome could tell she wanted to hear a 'no'.
"I don't think it's a bad idea, even with everything that happened last year," she replied. Mama Higurashi wasn't happy with the answer, the crease between her brows was evidence enough. She seemed to choose her next words very carefully, and Kagome suspected she was trying not to be angry.
"School starts soon. It's your junior year, that's an important time." That was true, and Myoga had terrible timing. And yet...
"So I can't go back to the Sector," Kagome said. It wasn't a question, she was just trying to confirm her mom's decision.
Mama Higurashi pursed her lips and looked her daughter up and down. She was still having trouble coming to terms with what happened in the Youkai Sector, that place she had never been and couldn't even imagine. When Kagome told her about the battle with Naraku, all she could think about was that poor boy all covered in blood. She'd only met him briefly, but the mental image shook her. Even worse was the thought of Kagome, bloodied and bruised. And poor Sango with her leg.
"Kagome," she said, "I don't want you to go back. I just want you to be safe."
Kagome nodded. She thought she would feel disappointed, and she was, but there was also a surprising relief.
"I understand, Mama," she said. Her mom smiled, then picked up her tea again.
"What do you want for dinner tonight?" she asked, returning them to an easy, mundane decision.
Kagome didn't write Myoga back right away. Instead, she read his letter a few times over, lingering on his few lines about Inuyasha. Too few lines. She wondered if Inuyasha felt like she did, like some sort of carnival attraction. Did demons line up to see the last hanyou?
One night, Kagome walked past her mom's room and saw Mama Higurashi sitting on the bed with a piece of paper held delicately in her hands. She was silent, but tears slid down her cheeks as she read the letter in her lap. Kagome stopped, immediately thrown by the sight of her mother crying.
"Mama?" she asked. Her mother looked up, startled, and quickly folded the paper back up. Then Kagome realized what she was reading. It was the letter from Kagome's dad, the one she'd found in his box.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked softly. Her mother wiped her face and stood, nodding.
"I'm fine," she said. She walked over to Kagome and pulled her into a hug. Kagome felt suddenly strange. She wasn't sure if her mom was comforting her or asking to be consoled. The latter had never happened before. She rubbed her mom's back, a gesture her mom had often done to calm her in times of stress. After a prolonged embrace, her mom released her.
Mama Higurashi raised a hand to Kagome's face and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Your father would be so proud of you," she said.
"I don't know," Kagome answered quickly. Mama Higurashi shook her head.
"He would, he would be so proud. You've grown up so much," she insisted. Kagome didn't feel so grown up. If she were grown, she wouldn't feel so confused about absolutely everything.
Her mom sighed contentedly.
"We should both get some sleep, I think," she said. Kagome nodded.
An hour later, Kagome was laying in bed with the lights off, turning the Shikon Jewel over and over in her hands. Its smooth surface brought some satisfying comfort to her unsettled mind, she found. Feeling the warm weight in her hand, she wondered if Kikyo's lost part of her soul knew she was so close. She was-
Some soft sound distracted her. She'd lived in the same house for her entire life, and this was an unfamiliar sound, although she couldn't quite place what it was. Kagome sat up in bed and listened closely. She heard the tick of her bedside clock, and then the air flowing through the vent above her door. Outside, cicadas provided a constant buzz of background noise. But there it was again, that unfamiliar sound. It was high and tinkling, like a disturbed chandelier.
Kagome sat straight up in bed. Glass. The sound was someone breaking glass in the house. She moved carefully from her bed, putting her feet quietly to the floor and rising. She walked silently to her bedroom door, and opened it to peek into the hall beyond. From her room she could see shadows cast up the stairs from the kitchen. Multiple people spoke in hushed tones below, though their voices were none Kagome could recognize. They sounded like a group of men, but she couldn't be sure.
She shut the door, careful to keep the knob from making noise as it closed. She then turned to her room and looked for some sort of weapon. If there were burglars below, they had chosen the wrong house to rob. She was the Shikon priestess, she could handle a couple of human criminals. She spotted the metal letter opener her grandfather had given her for her last birthday. It wasn't quite a knife, but it could pass for one. Glowing pink with spiritual energy it would be threatening to anyone. She plucked it from the desk and returned to the door, slipping out into the hallway.
The men shifted around the kitchen on heavy feet. They made more than enough noise to mask Kagome's barefoot steps on the carpet. At the end of the hall, Souta's door opened and her brother peeked out. Upon seeing her he opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome's frantic head shaking silenced him. She put a finger to her lips and shooed him back into his room. 'Hide' she mouthed. She hoped he understood as he ducked back into his room and shut the door.
Kagome creeped down the stairs silently, straining her ears to make out how many men were below. But her hearing was only human, and the sounds all jumbled together in her brain. She reached the bottom landing, and peered around the wall separating her from the kitchen. Three men, in dark clothes and masks, argued in the kitchen quietly. One was gesturing at the ceiling angrily, towards where her mother and grandfather slept unawares. This threat steeled Kagome's nerves, and she stepped into the small kitchen.
"Hey!" she said, channeling Inuyasha's brazen courage. The three men jumped and turned to face her, surprise clear even through their ski masks. Kagome brandished her letter opener, making it glow pink with spiritual power.
"Get out of my house," she demanded, hoping she sounded fierce and not childish. The men glanced at each other, plans clearly thrown to the wind now that they'd been discovered. Then they scattered. One man, scrawny and tense, dove for the back door. He reached the handle but was yanked back by his friend.
"Get your ass back here!" the friend yelled, his voice muffled by fabric. The third man stepped towards Kagome, pulling out a knife of his own.
"Give me the Jewel," he growled. Kagome shook her head, hand cupping the pouch hanging from her neck.
"No way," she said. The knife-bearing man lunged towards her, but he put out his empty hand and not the knife. Mistake. Kagome lashed out with the letter opener and split the skin between his thumb and forefinger. He yelped, dropping his knife and clutching his hand.
Kagome tucked the Jewel back in her shirt, then extended her hand and summoned a pink flame into her palm. Not that it could actually hurt humans, but what did these guys know?
"I told you, get out of my house," she demanded again, this time sure she was threatening. The injured man stumbled back, but his friend (not the scrawny one) stepped forward and picked up his knife. He lunged forward, this time knife first.
Kagome threw her arms up, blocking the knife with her letter opener. The harder weapon bit into her trinket, and she was forced to drop it and back away. The man advanced, watching her pink fire warily. From behind him, the small guy yelled:
"She can't hurt us with the jewel! She's a priestess!" Kagome couldn't help shooting a glare at him. Way to ruin her bluff. She extinguished the flame, now a pointless ruse. The scrawny man took that opportunity to duck out the back door of the house, followed by the injured guy. The man that now had the knife didn't seem to care anymore.
"Come on honey," he said, "Don't make this hard. Just give us the Jewel and we'll let you go." A sound upstairs caught Kagome's attention, and she glanced upwards to see Souta standing on the staircase with a bat. She looked back to the man and started to step backwards into the living room.
"I can't give it to you," she said, stalling. Just as she hoped, the man stepped forward towards her. As he followed her into the living room, he didn't see Souta sneak down the stairs behind him.
"Bullshit, just hand it over!" the man snapped. Kagome shook her head and stopped in the middle of the living room. She smiled. The man stopped short, confused at her expression. Behind him, Souta swung the bat.
The wooden bat hit the man's head with a loud thunk, and his head bobbled back and forth before he fell to the ground. Kagome didn't see any blood seeping from his mask, but she wouldn't be surprised if he had a cracked skull after that. Serves him right, she thought with sick satisfaction. It was the kind of petty thought she hadn't allowed herself to indulge in in quite some time.
Souta stood over the man with a shocked expression, mouth making a small 'o' as he stared down. Kagome, after pausing to make sure the man was really down, rushed forward and took the bat from him.
"Souta, go get mom," she said, pushing him away from the man and towards the stairs again. In a daze, he went, but Mama and Grandpa were already at the top of the steps.
"What's going on?" Mama asked frantically. Souta pointed towards the man, unable to make words.
"It's okay Mama, we should call the police," Kagome said. She leaned over the man and pulled his mask off. He wasn't someone she knew, but she hadn't expected him to be. A middle aged man, he looked a little worse for wear-and not just because of the bat. She shook him a little, but he was out cold. She hadn't realized Souta was so strong. Maybe baseball practice was paying off.
"Is he dead?" Grandpa asked, leaning over the man as well. Kagome shook her head, and Grandpa hmm'd.
"What a shame," he muttered sarcastically. He was half joking, but Souta still looked at him in horror. The thought of killing someone clearly didn't sit well with him, something Kagome was actually glad to see.
Mama Higurashi was already on the phone with the police, giving them all the details she could.
"There are two more," she said into the phone after Kagome told her, "They got out the back door." Then she nodded, and nodded again.
She was instructed to stay on the phone until the police got there, and so it was up to Kagome to take Souta upstairs and away from the chaos. He was shaking a little as she herded him back to his bed and made him sit down. She fetched a glass of water from the bathroom and put it in his hands. He held onto it in front of him, staring off into space, so she pushed the glass to his lips and prompted him to drink. He downed the whole glass in one long chug. She took the glass from him and put it on his nightstand, then sat next to him on the bed.
"You were really brave down there," she said, "You saved my life." Souta looked at her, wide-eyed.
"Is that guy gonna be okay?" he asked. Kagome nodded, although she had no way of knowing.
"The police will take care of him," she said. Souta looked down at his feet, brow furrowed as if he were thinking very hard. Kagome suspected that stringing together even basic thoughts was hard in that moment. She had some experience in crisis moments, but her brother was completely new to the adrenaline rush.
"You had to fight in the Sector?" he said, "And Inuyasha fought too?"
"Yeah, why?" Kagome asked. Souta bit his lip.
"I don't like it," he said, "I thought I might...It's not what I thought it would be." Kagome raised a hand, putting it on his head. She wasn't sure if it would help, but it felt like the right thing to do. She answered him very seriously, feeling way more adult than she had in months.
"Good," she said, "It's not fun, or a game."
"I don't ever want to do that again," Souta said. A pang of guilt hit Kagome. She was supposed to protect Souta, not the other way around. He was her little brother, and she brought these people into their house. She couldn't let this happen again, and so long as she had the Jewel there was a chance it would.
"You won't have to, I promise," she answered. She stood then, and went back downstairs to her mother and grandfather. As she appeared at the steps, her mother turned to her with a look of dread. As if she knew what Kagome was going to say.
"I'm going back to the Sector," Kagome said. Her family looked at her, Grandpa stunned and Mama resigned. Neither argued.
Dear Myoga,
I'm sorry I didn't write you back right away. Things are complicated, but you know that. I'm accepting your invitation to return to the Sector, and I'd like to get there as soon as possible. You're right, the only way forward is for humans and demons to work together.
Thank you,
Kagome