The two were outside immediately, finding Inuyasha in front of the shrine house, completely pissed. Kagome sighed, knowing this would only end badly.
"The hanyou possesses a shard to gain access to the well," Sesshomaru said, mostly to himself.
"No, the moron can get through on his own, like me." Kagome sighed again.
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, and made note to ask her about that detail later. For now, there was an irritating presence to deal with. "Inuyasha, if you wish to be defeated, why do you not go to Naraku?"
Inuyasha growled. "It's not like you've beaten him either! Besides, I'm here for you. I want Kagome back, now."
There was a pause.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome stepped closer. "I thought you hated me."
Inuyasha shook his head with a solemn look, ready to confess everything. "I never did, Kagome. It was horrible to lose you, and the fact that I had Kikyo didn't make it any better. I dealt with it by getting angry and blaming it all on you. I felt like I betrayed you when I chose her, but I didn't feel like I had a choice. I loved Kikyo first, and there were some things I had to make right with her. I'm sorry." His ears hung low in shame. "I never intended to come off like I hated you. It was just easier to cope that way."
Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. Two years of thinking she had lost her best friend and first love, and the entire time he was agonized because he'd been forced to choose between two people that he didn't want to give up.
But that didn't dissipate her anger.
"You insulted me," she said. "You were cruel and insensitive, and you broke my heart every time I saw you with Kikyo. You could have told me that you wanted some distance." It didn't occur to her that she knew Inuyasha wasn't the type to talk about what he wanted. "And now you think you can ask for me back? What about Kikyo?"
Inuyasha looked away, the rashness of this idea dawning on him. "She's gone. I . . . I accidentally killed her."
Another pause.
"You killed her?" Kagome was horrified. "But you said you loved her, Inuyasha. Why in the world . . . ?"
"It was an accident!" He shook his head, guilt flooding him again. "I didn't mean to, my youkai half took over! I'm the worst person in the world, all right? I scorned the girl I loved and killed the woman I adored. Happy!"
"This is pointless. Leave," Sesshomaru commanded.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Kagome put a hand up. "Don't order him around, and if you start fighting, I swear, I'll zap you both with my miko powers. Stay, and be a good boy."
Sesshomaru growled, baring his teeth, but Kagome paid him no mind. She walked up to Inuyasha, angry with herself for losing her cool and yelling at him. He was clearly very upset. She placed a hand on his cheek.
"I guess I shouldn't have done that," she said. "I got mad and jumped to conclusions. I was just hurt, that's all. And I'm sorry about Kikyo."
Sesshomaru would not watch his future mate sympathize with and comfort his brother, regardless of whether or not he actually liked her. He rushed forward, yanking Kagome back and growling at the hanyou.
"Sesshomaru!" Kagome wrenched herself from his grip, surprising both men, and reminding Sesshomaru that he had to stop forgetting that she was an inu youkai now. "I told you to stay put and not to fight! Inuyasha is having a difficult time, and all you can think about is showing him how tough you are." She scowled. "Leave him alone."
"You do not order this Sesshomaru around." He grabbed her wrist again. "I will submit to no one, least of all you, and simply because my brother has made a fool of himself with women does not mean I will allow you to fawn all over him."
Kagome frowned. He wouldn't let her visit her family, he wouldn't let her comfort Inuyasha, and he refused to treat her as an equal thus far. It might be time to show him that she wasn't just some girl messing around, she was serious.
Sesshomaru leaped back, his hand full of searing pain. He rumbled with anger, glaring at the miko. A blue residue glowed on her hand briefly before dissipating. She smirked. "I told you I would use my powers if you didn't listen. I don't want to hurt you, but suppressing my independence is something I will not tolerate."
"Heh, you tell him," Inuyasha snorted, pleasure at seeing his brother hurt overwhelming the guilt. He would have much rather done it himself, but the singe of a miko attack would last longer than a punch from him.
Sesshomaru whirled around. "Do not talk, hanyou."
"Cut it out!" Kagome shoved herself between them, her hands glowing again. "I still don't know why you guys have to fight all the time! Sesshomaru, leave Inuyasha alone. You told me yourself that you don't want to waste time with pointless things. Well, this is pretty pointless to me. Quit it before I have to shock you again. And Inuyasha," she said, turning to him, "I'm very sorry for your loss. Kikyo meant well. But I can't go back to you just because Kikyo is gone."
She lowered her hands, sighing. "The Hana no Shukumei has been clear enough about who my mate is supposed to be. I don't have to like it, I just have to live with it. I was hoping to get to know Sesshomaru better, maybe see a different side of him." She glanced at the inu. "But he's been obvious about how much he dislikes me."
"Do not speak as if I am not here-"
Kagome held up her hand in silent threat, and continued, "Still, it's my duty to stay with him, for some unknown purpose. I want to be friends, Inuyasha, but I don't think we can be more than that, even if the Hana wasn't involved. You've hurt me too much."
Inuyasha looked to the ground, unsure of what to say. Eventually, an "I'm sorry," escaped his lips. "I guess I should have known you wouldn't take me back."
"I'm sorry too." This whole event had flipped Kagome back and forth several times, and she wanted a rest.
"I kinda decided to do this when I was drunk on sake. Real smart. I'll leave." Quick as lightning, Inuyasha went back into the shrine and down the well, without so much as an insult towards Sesshomaru, which was a great show of self-control for him.
Kagome faced Sesshomaru, prepared for a verbal bashing on her actions toward him. But instead she received only an annoyed look.
"Finish your visit, and return swiftly, or I will be forced to pull you back myself."
Sesshomaru left as quickly as Inuyasha had.
Kagome stood there, wondering if Sesshomaru would continue to surprise her in the future.
()
The Lord of the West landed gracefully at the well's bottom, springing up into the feudal era. His ensemble was there, the kids playing games while Jaken and Ah-Un sat watching them.
"Lord Sesshomaru! Did you get Kagome back?" Rin asked, putting Shippo's toy down. He'd brought the many gifts from Kagome out to show her, but his lordship was more interesting to her.
"She will be here momentarily." Sesshomaru had too much on his mind to deal with the children. Inuyasha's scent lingered, but the hanyou was nowhere to be found, and Sesshomaru did not bother to concern himself with finding him. Kagome's words were too distracting.
I was hoping to get to know Sesshomaru better, maybe see a different side of him.
Did she truly think that she could see a different side of him? He had no other side. And why she would want to know him better was beyond him.
Maybe she wants to get to know you because she knows she's tied to you for life, and she might as well figure out how cruel you are, so she's prepared for it.
His inner youkai. As if he needed its input.
Kagome is not the type to indirectly insult someone. She is simply fool enough to believe that I have a kinder side to me.
And how would you know what type she is?
"Sesshomaru."
He was pulled from his thoughts by a female voice. It was not Kagome, but a tiger hanyou, judging by the scent. She wore a blazing red kimono to match her hair, golden eyes looking to him accusingly.
"Do not address me by a casual title," he ordered, glaring.
"Very well, Lord Sesshomaru." Her stance remained confident despite his intimidating appearance. "I just wanted to inform you that your brother seems a decent man to me, and from the way he talks about you, you have missed an opportunity for a good relationship with him."
She was telling him off.
"I have no desire to associate with hanyou, including you. Jaken, Ah-Un, we are departing. Kagome will catch up with us by scent when she returns." Sesshomaru turned on his heel.
The hanyou woman snorted. "Your loss, my lord. Inuyasha has his heart in the right place." And she was gone, leaping among the trees in the same fashion Inuyasha did.
Sesshomaru shrugged off her sudden and unwanted comments. It was far too late to hope for a good relationship with Inuyasha, even if he felt he desired something so useless.
"Lord Sesshomaru, you called Miss Kagome by her name!" Rin said, smiling sweetly. "Are you finally warming up to her?"
He had not noticed that. It was typical of Rin to pick up on such a small change. While it was true that he referred to her as Kagome in his head occasionally, saying it out loud was out of character, especially when he was meticulous about what he said.
You're warming up to her! His inner youkai practically bounced with delight. Sesshomaru squashed it and kept walking.
()
Kikyo sat gently on the tree branch, watching Inuyasha discuss his life with another hanyou, a woman. The girl was friendly, with a warm, mahogany aura floating around her. Kikyo felt comforted that Inuyasha would have someone to talk to, at least for a short while.
She wasn't angry with him. In fact, she was relieved. Being trapped in that clay body instead of staying naturally dead was a torture that she was forced to hide almost every moment. Once out, it felt as if a great pressure were taken off.
But she had not gone to the afterlife, or even gone back into Kagome's body where she belonged. Instead she was sitting in a tree, a lifeless apparition with no body to cling to. Kikyo was well aware that ghosts existed only to resolve issues left before death, but she could not figure out what her unfinished issue was.
She guessed it had something to do with Inuyasha, who had run off after Kagome, only to come back empty handed and frustrated. The hanyou woman found him again, talking him through the second loss of a woman he cared for. Kagome was gone for good this time, and he knew it. Kikyo wished she could comfort him, but her hands would leave only cold in their wake.
Knowing she could not do anything for Inuyasha, and not wishing to stay and watch his agony, she decided to wander the physical earth until whatever spirit in charge of rounding up the dead came to gather her into the afterlife. Any spirit allowed to wander for too long could gain the powers of this earth, become something not spirit and not physical creature. An in between that would seek vengeance for wrongs done to it.
That had been her persona when she was first revived, Kikyo mused. Half a spirit in a clay body that wanted to attack Inuyasha for supposedly destroying her. After learning about Naraku and forgiving Inuyasha, the vengeful hatred had gone. But she remained a half creature with a fraction of her miko powers. Losing her physical cage had been a blessing.
She meandered along in the woods, following a vague direction that part of her was aware she should head toward. She had no idea where she was going, but at this point, she didn't care much either way. Anywhere different was fine.
Hours that felt like seconds to her ghostly form passed her by, and without quite realizing it, she continued to circle around the same patch of land. When this dawned on her, Kikyo turned and went to the center of what she circled, for there was most definitely a reason that her spirit was drawn to it.
The reason was apparent the moment she saw the small campsite. Kagome was there, holding the rest of her fractured spirit inside that powerful body. Kikyo remembered being surprised when she saw the extent of the girl's purification powers some time ago. Becoming that strong with only part of your whole soul was a challenge.
She was talking with her adopted son, the fox kit. The selfless act of adopting a youkai child had surprised Kikyo. Although Kagome was now a youkai as well, thanks to the Hana no Shukumei. Kikyo knew of its powers, and that it was never wrong about those it paired together. She also knew that Inuyasha's mother had been given her own mate because of the Hana. No one could forget the day the infamous Inu no Taishou took a human mate. Even the humans, who normally stayed away from issues of youkai politics, were in a frenzy about one of their princesses leaving for a youkai because of some flower.
Kikyo would have never guessed that she would fall in love with the Taishou's son. Or that she would be killed by him in such a gruesome manner. And even in death, she was dealing with another Taishou son. The Lord of the West sat some distance from the others, brooding. Kikyo moved near him, wondering if the most powerful youkai alive would be able to sense her presence.
He did not. Kikyo moved closer, pondering a myth she had heard about ghosts some time back. Reaching with a wavering hand, hoping her form would keep, Kikyo touched his forehead, and probed him with her mind.
"I must find Naraku soon, before he gains the upper hand."
His thoughts were typical. Most people she'd met on her journeys were after Naraku. Inuyasha and his band had gained quite the number of allies over the years, many of them just as eager as Inuyasha was to catch Naraku. Sesshomaru was no different.
"But if that miko continues to insist on family visits to that strange land, it will slow us down immensely." Anger, frustration, annoyance. Kikyo sensed the emotions in his thoughts, and the disdain for Kagome's company. That didn't bode well for the two future mates.
"She would be a more tolerable presence if you got to know her. Remember how much Rin used to annoy you?"
A second voice made Kikyo jump, her connection on his mind lost. The voice was gruffer, less human sounding, and after a moment's thought, Kikyo realized it was his inner youkai. Much like a human has a conscience that acts as another voice, inu youkai were famous for their inner sides, the instinctive parts of them that brought out hidden opinions that the inu's conscious mind would either not recognize or refuse to acknowledge. Sesshomaru's inner youkai was most likely the side that talked of kinder actions and varying sides of an issue, judging on how cruel and one track minded Sesshomaru was. Kikyo steadied herself, and reached into his thoughts again.
"Kagome could become a person to admire for her strength, if nothing else."
The inner youkai was presenting a rational argument for not hating Kagome. Kikyo liked it already, smirking as she heard Sesshomaru's conscious mind scoff at it.
"It is true that she possesses strength, but I have met many strong youkai that I did not like. I am not going to like Kagome. Drop it."
Kikyo pulled away, having heard enough. Along with words, the feelings behind the thoughts were easily detectable. His inner youkai knew Sesshomaru was stuck with Kagome, trying to make the best of it and possibly come around to not despising her. Sesshomaru himself wanted nothing to do with a former human, and saw her as little more than extra baggage.
She had been drawn to this campsite while wandering. Kikyo wondered if her spirit was merely trying to go back to Kagome, to the rest of her soul, or if there was some other reason for her being there. Kikyo turned to Kagome, watching her play with the children, and glance at the powerful youkai ignoring her.
Perhaps she could help, but even if she could not, Kikyo wanted to watch the cautious mating dance between the one who could not stand a miko, and the one who was curious but wary of a cruel youkai.
()
Finally! This chapter took a damn long time, mostly because I've been so busy with summer school work (stupid advanced classes). I hope you guys enjoyed it.
Kagome kicks Fluffy ass! Her miko powers are not to be messed with. I realize her emotions are wishy-washy in this chapter, but she's confused right now. I would be, too, if the guy I loved suddenly declared that he didn't hate me and that he wanted me back. The news about Kikyo shook her as well.
Kyoko is doing her best to comfort her new friend, but trying to let Sesshomaru know how nice she thinks Inuyasha is won't really help, ha ha. I want her to be a confident character, but she'll be a little like Inuyasha in that she doesn't respect authority figures much.
And Kikyo is back from the grave! Or back from the clay body, as it were. Those of you who read the original story might remember that little tidbit. I'm planning on having fun with her mind reading abilities (smirk).
I have to go now, but I hope you guys liked this update. And, as alwasy, please review! Reviews are food for my motivation!
Ja ne!