Chapter 5: Confession Time
Kagome groaned as she regain consciousness, her head pounding. God, she hadn't been knocked out like that since she'd got back from Sengoku Jidai. She sat up, wincing when the pounding in her head intensified. Carefully, she walked out of the room and made for the kitchen, wishing for nothing more than a cup of tea. Thankfully, the boys were out, leaving her to recover on her own. The last thing she need now was an interrogation - which was what was sure to happen as soon as they found out she was awake. Half way through her cup of tea, and feeling a lot better, she received a text.
What happened? MH. She smiled. She did like it when Mycroft showed that he was worried.
A threat that is soon to be neutralised - no need to worry. KH. Her phone pinged again almost immediately.
Sherlock and John? MH. Her thoughts darkened as she realised what he was asking.
I made a promise, Mycroft, one I intend to keep. KH. There was a pause as Mycroft noticeably debated on what was the safest thing to say.
That was for John. Sherlock? MH. She sighed.
John is mine. Sherlock is mine by default as he is John's closest friend. KH. Mycroft seemed to let this sink in before replying. She didn't blame him. She was aware that talking with her was somewhat like navigating a mine field without a map. You never knew whether you had said something wrong, so care was essential.
I see. MH. A wry smile touched her lips, but she didn't reply, letting herself finish her tea.
Two hours later, Sherlock and John came back in, evidently back from Scotland Yard, a smile on both their faces. Kagome's heart twinged painfully, but she ignored it.
"Hello, boys." She called, relaxing on the couch and feeling the last remnants of her headache recede. She watched them share a look, and sighed mentally. Smiling grimly, she continued, "I think it's about time I told you two what is going on." John immediately sobered. Sherlock took off his coat and scarf, eyes still bright.
"What do you mean?" They both sat down in their respective chairs. Kagome sighed outwardly this time.
"As you have no doubt noticed, Sherlock, I am not what anyone else would call normal. Due to that, I have problems and cases where I have to do things my way." She paused for a moment, eyeing Sherlock carefully. "My abilities are rather rare in this day and age, and, as a result, I have a lot to do. However, I have decided to stay in London indefinitely. Recently I have not been myself, as I am sure John has noticed. Clumsiness is something I grew out of four years ago."
"So why have you been so clumsy?" John asked.
"It seems that you two have attracted a spirit, one that has… unfinished business. In the extreme. Sherlock, you do remember when I pulled you towards me at the crime scene?" Narrowed eyes, and a slow nod. "He was there then, so I had to warn him off. Luckily he was not nearly strong enough to do anything that would affect the mortal world, but he is more than powerful enough to affect the spiritual one." She smiled bitterly. "He has not been pleasant to deal with in the least." Her voice and expression darkened. "But he won't last long. I will be rid of him soon enough." Sherlock raised an eyebrow.
"And you expect me to believe this? That you are some kind of…" He waved a hand eloquently, as he wasn't quite sure what she was, but that she was either mentally unstable or telling the truth.
"Miko." John said, leaning back in his seat. "She calls herself a miko. The equivalent of a priestess." Sherlock sighed, irritated.
"I am well aware of what a miko is. I went to Japan once. But those women never claimed to be able to what? See and destroy spirits?" Kagome scoffed.
"As if any of those woman are actually mikos. No, I am a real miko. Reiki and all. Power granted to us by the Gods." Now Sherlock rolled his eyes. Offended, Kagome narrowed her eyes. "Fine, don't believe me?" She said no more, merely letting her power flow through her body, glowing through her eyes and radiating around her body in a purple swirl. John, seemingly forgotten, closed his eyes and felt her power. It had been a long time since he'd last felt it, over four months. Sherlock looked at her closely.
"Interesting." He muttered. "She's either drugged me or this is real." Hissing and thoroughly insulted, Kagome pulled her reiki back into herself.
"How dare you? As if I would drug you, that goes completely against my promise." She looked at him haughtily. "I am the most powerful miko for five hundred years, and perhaps longer. I am equally or more powerful than the creator of the Shikon no Tama herself. Tell me how mentally unstable I am, Sherlock Holmes, with all that you see now." Sherlock huffed, reluctantly believing her.
"Fine, assuming I actually believe all of this, why tell me now? Why not hide it indefinitely? Why not tell me before?" Kagome sighed.
"Because there is a very real threat, not fully manifested, and something that you worked so hard to rid your life of. The apple… was a warning and a symbol both." She looked away awkwardly, not sure if she should say anything anymore.
"Kagome, for God's sake, just tell us." Kagome looked at John, who somehow managed to look a mixture of worried, exasperated and fond all at once. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Moriarty is our threat." She blurted before she could stop herself again. The response would have been funny if the situation weren't so serious. Sherlock's mouth actually fell open and John blinked once, twice before he cursed quietly. John recovered quicker than Sherlock.
"And how does he actually pose a threat? You said it yourself. Moriarty is only strong enough to affect the spiritual world." Sherlock snapped out of himself at that and looked at her curiously. She raised an eyebrow in a 'were-you-listening-to-me-at-all?' look.
"As I said before. While he is not yet powerful enough to display any real presence in this realm, he most definitely can affect the spiritual one and, in direct coloration, me." She frowned. "If he can get me out of the way, then he has no one to stop him from doing his unfinished business." Sherlock and John waited for any elaboration. When none was forthcoming, John cleared his throat pointedly.
"And that is?" Kagome closed her eyes.
"I asked him what he wanted and do you know what he said? I quote, 'I want Sherlock to complete my fairytale. I want Sherlock dead, his name dragged down by the media, Big Brother ruined, Sherlock's pet useless and grieving. And the DI's career over.'" Her eyes opened halfway, her expression perfectly serious. She looked at them both and then changed personalities. A dark smirk tugged at one side of her mouth, threatening to turn into a smile. A short laugh barked out of her throat. "As if I would let that happen." Her reiki came to the surface, swirling her aura around her threateningly, dark purple - as it always is what she allows her darker side free reign. Sherlock leaned back, impressed.
"And what is that all about?" Kagome's eyes went half lidded in an inviting way.
"What is what all about?" She asked softly, voice still hinting danger.
"That. That… change you go though. So far I've seen it twice. Once at the crime scene and now. You seem to just change personalities." Kagome licked her lips and grinned viciously. John rolled his eyes.
"Yes. You see, due to my past, it was necessary to be able to kill with a fairly clear conscious and there could be no hesitation. Because I have far too much compassion and caring, I decided to develop a darker side to myself." She paused for a second and thought. "It was a lot easier than I expected it to be and it took only a few months to make certain it was there. Controlling it was a different matter entirely. It took me another four months to make sure she didn't get a bit too bloodthirsty. Now, though, she's just like me, except a lot more possessive and with next to no remorse for her actions. What she sees as hers is protected." Her tone darkened. "No matter what." She smiled cheerily. "Luckily for you, you belong to me." Sherlock's mouth twitched into a frown. John huffed a laugh.
"Kagome, you've got to stop saying that. People take offence." Kagome rose her eyebrows in a mock surprised fashion.
"They don't like that I protect them?" She smirked. "Well, if it offends people that much…" John rolled his eyes.
"The bit where you say that they belong to you. It makes them sound like possessions. People don't like it." She looked at him thoughtfully.
"Is that why you protested with Hayato?" John nodded. "Oh. Well then," She turned back to Sherlock. "I guess I should apologise. What I meant was, I protect you. Because you're mine." John groaned.
"Kagome! That's just as bad!" Kagome snickered.
"I know." Sherlock cleared his throat.
"So, why am I being protected by you? I have done nothing for you and we only met a week ago." She rolled her eyes and huffed.
"I was protecting John long before that - just three days after we met, actually. And I'm protecting you because I promised that I'd protect John." Sherlock frowned in confusion.
"That makes no sense. How are you protecting John by protecting me?" Kagome gave him the 'you-must-be-an-idiot' look.
"John is mine." She said slowly. "You are his best friend and vice-versa, correct?" Sherlock opened his mouth to reply, but Kagome didn't wait. "Therefore, you are his. If something happened to you, do you actually think John would be happy? I protect everything I can. That includes the heart and happiness." She made a 'duh' face afterwards that Sherlock took personal offence to, but he didn't bother flinging an insult towards her. He nodded in understanding instead. A thought popped into his head.
"So what else can you do?" Kagome blinked, completely thrown.
"What?" He waved his hand.
"Your reiki thing. What can you do with it?" Kagome mouthed 'thing' in a partly insulted manner. She exchanged a look with John and thought about all the things she could do - but decided that perhaps the power the Kami had given to her in repayment for her mission would be best left unsaid, only used in emergencies.
"Well, I can create barriers with different properties -" She continued on for several hours, explaining what her reiki could do and constantly getting interrupted by Sherlock's questions. It would have taken a quarter of the time if he didn't ask questions. Kagome, exhausted by the amount of talking, went to bed earlier than usual, leaving John and Sherlock talking.
Unfortunately, sleeping wasn't what she was able to do, thanks to a certain dead consulting criminal. She'd just laid down, ready to have a nice relaxing sleep, when he'd appeared.
"Go away." She moaned, pulling the covers over her head. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you." He tutted in response.
"You're never in the mood, my dear." Kagome felt a stab of pain in her stomach and head. She flinched and pulled the covers back down, glaring at the smirking spirit just meters away.
"Is this really necessary? Honestly?" Moriarty smiled serenely.
"Of course. You said it yourself. I want you out of the way and I'm powerful enough to affect the spiritual world, but not the physical one. I'm getting there though. So yes, it is necessary." Kagome grit her teeth as the pain intensified. Her hands didn't quite know what to do, which part of her body to grip, so they just clenched at the covers.
"What was the point of the whole dropping things and the dizziness though? That wasn't really all that effective in getting rid of me, was it?" He racked up the pain a notch before replying, watching her eyes widen before closing.
"Oh that was just for fun." He chortled. "This is so much more fun than being alive." Kagome swallowed harshly, wanting to speak but unable to, wanting bring her reiki to the surface. She tried, and her eyes shot open as made the horrible realisation that he was somehow blocking her access. She watched at him, scared and confused, as he noticed that she now knew about her reiki and grinned madly. She closed her eyes again, not wishing to look at him anymore.
He tortured her for a while, sometimes upping the amount of pain she was feeling, sometimes bringing all the way down until it was just a dull ache, but always making sure she knew he was there. She hissed and moaned and groaned, wishing for it to stop. She didn't know exactly how long he was doing that for, but she eventually heard John coming up the stairs. She whimpered in protest.
"Don't worry, I'll let you talk to your lover. Though I wouldn't say that I'm at fault for this if I were you." Shuddering, Kagome thought that she'd never heard him sound so very menacing. But she still sighed in relief, ignoring the way he laughed, when the pain lessened. It still hurt a lot, but at least she could muster up the strength to talk. It also allowed her mind to recognise certain things, like how she was curled up into a fetal ball. Unfortunately, John came into the room before she had the chance to unfurl herself. The door opened and John saw that she was awake and obviously uncomfortable. Immediately concerned, he put a hand to her forehead to see if she had a fever or anything of the like.
"Jesus, Kagome, what's wrong?" She licked her dry lips.
"I'm fine. I just couldn't get to sleep. Carry on." Unconvinced, but willing to play along, he nodded and continued with his nightly routine. Moriarty snickered in the corner and decided to see how long she could last before she alerted John of her problem, upping the pain gradually. Kagome, who had closed her eyes and was obviously trying to relax enough to sleep, shuddered. She sighed mentally. She should have known by his laugh that he was going to try something like this. Her fingers clenched again in the covers and she bit her lip, forcing herself to keep quiet. Suddenly, the pain receded completely and she sighed, unable to stop herself. She hoped that that was the last of it. John lay down next to her and Kagome straightened out, definitely ready to sleep. A few minutes later, just as she was dozing off, the height of what she'd already experienced slammed into her stomach, her head surprisingly pain-free. No doubt, she thought darkly, so I can talk. But even with that knowledge, it didn't stop her from whimpering sharply and curling into her stomach.
"Kagome?" John sounded sleepy, barely awake.
"John." She whimpered, hating the way Moriarty seemed to know just how to push her limits. "Oh God, John." He was up immediately, and hovered over her worriedly for a few seconds before pulling her into his lap.
"Shh." He said, stroking her hair. "It's fine, it's all fine. Where does it hurt?" Stupid question, her mind snapped, irritated beyond measure with the horrible spirit who was smirking happily.
"Doesn't matter." Kagome gasped. "I'm fine."
"Bullshit." He replied sharply before softening his tone. "Is this to do with Moriarty?" Said spirit cranked up the pain as a warning, reiterating what he said earlier.
"No!" She cried. "No, it's not." She trembled as Moriarty didn't lessen the pain at all, only laughed as she desperately tried to avert John from suspicion. She opened her eyes momentarily, wondered idly when she closed them, to see John's skeptic expression. "I swear, I promise, that it isn't Moriarty. Believe me." She hissed intensely, gripping his tee-shirt in her fist. "For God's sake, believe me!"
"Okay, okay." He soothed. "I believe you." He didn't say anymore, and she knew that he did, in fact, believe her. He knew that she never broke a promise. Distantly, she felt terribly guilty, but for the moment all she could feel was relief that the pain was slowly dissipating. Looking at Moriarty from the corner of her eye, she saw that he was amused and even a little bit impressed.
"How well do you have him trained, I wonder?" He mused, seemingly to himself, but loud enough that she could hear him. He smirked when she hissed in outrage and then disappeared.
A/N: Okay, worst scene ever! Like John would believe Kagome when she says something like that! Good God, I think I'm going to re-write this whole thing, tweak it a little bit. Review if you can. If you can't, review anyway.
BP
