Chapter 17

Ree-san: It's kinda complicated. You know how in most stories or movies, the best friend finds out that their friend's boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on them, but they don't tell their friend because their friend is happy with that person or they don't want to ruin it? Well, that's sorta what's happening here. Kikyo is the only person Hikaru has left of his family, and if he told him that he thinks Kikyo is lying about what really happened with Naraku and that she may have had something to do with it, well it could possibly send him into a down spiral. Kikyo already doesn't interact with Hikaru and InuTaisho doesn't want to be the one to ruin it even more. And it is not Sesshomaru's place to say anything at all.

They had left the battle scene a few minutes after Kikyo had stormed off. Hikaru still wasn't sure what had happened, and when he asked InuTaisho, he was told that it was better off left alone. Normally, Hikaru would demand to know what was going on with his daughter, but he felt that he had more important things to worry about.

The battle area had no clues what so ever, but while InuYasha was searching around the perimeter of the area, he had found a pink shard on the ground. He brought it to Hikaru and InuTaisho, and when he set it down in Hikaru's hand, it immediately turned a deep purple, like it was tainted. They realized that it was a shard of the Shikon Jewel, and now they knew what those beams of pink and white light that Kikyo had described was. Even a single shard of the Shikon Jewel was powerful in the hands of a demon, or even a human, so this was extremely bad news. It meant that the jewel had shattered and was now scattered across Sengoku Jidai. They immediately went back to the castle. Sesshomaru and InuYasha went to their rooms to wait for lunch to be served and InuTaisho and Hikaru went to the study to once again talk.

"This is extremely bad." Hikaru said. InuTaisho nodded.

"With the jewel shattered and scattered all across the lands, demons everywhere will be getting more powerful and there will be an increase in the amount of kills." InuTaisho said.

"There is also the fact that there is no way to collect the shards as there is no one who is pure of heart that can sense them and purify them." Hikaru added, sighing. He set the shard down on his desk, its purple taint glittering in the light of the sun that was spilling through the window.

"Naraku can sense the shards as well, and according to Kikyo, it seemed that was what he was after in the first place. If he collects all the jewel shards, our lands will be in great danger." InuTaisho said, sitting down in a chair across from Hikaru. Hikaru nodded. He was about to speak when there was an abrupt knock on his door. The door immediately opened to reveal Kikyo. Hikaru perked up.

"Kikyo? I though you were in your room, what are you doing here?" He asked her. She looked at him, confusion in her eyes.

"I- I don't know. I felt this sort of... pulling at my... my soul." She said. InuTaisho and Hikaru raised their eyebrows.

"What do you mean a 'pulling at your soul'?" InuTaisho asked. She shrugged.

"I'm not sure." She looked around at the room and a glint in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked at the shard on Hikaru's desk and began to walk towards it.

"Kikyo, what are you doing?" Hikaru asked. Kikyo ignored him and stopped in front of his desk, looking down at the jewel shard. She lifted her hand and picked up the shard, and they watched in amazement as it turned back to its original bright pink color.

"Is- is this a shard of the Shikon Jewel?" She asked, shocked. Hikaru nodded.

"Yes." He said.

"But how did I..." She trailed off.

"How did you purify it?" InuTaisho finished her sentence for her. She nodded. Hikaru sat in silence, not knowing the answer himself, until he spoke up.

"It doesn't matter how." He said. InuTaisho looked at him, both eyebrows raised.

"It doesn't" He asked. Hikaru shook his head no.

"What matters is that she can do it." He said. They both looked at him, urging him to elaborate.

"Kikyo. you can collect the jewel shards." He said. Kikyo and InuTaisho's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" They both asked simultaneously.

"Well, Kikyo, you can purify the jewel shards. So if it has already become tainted, you can purify it. And the pulling at your soul, maybe it is just that you can sense the shards." He said. InuTaisho nodded.

"It does make sense." He said.

"Kikyo, you have to collect the jewel shards, for the safety of the lands." Hikaru told her. Kikyo was hesitant. Suddenly having this great, and seemingly impossible task thrust upon her? Sure, she was a demon with miko powers, but even she had her limits. She shook her head.

"I don't think so father." She said, backing up slightly and putting the shard back down on the desk. Hikaru sighed.

"I had a feeling that I was asking too much of you. You are still just a young one, after all." Kikyo mentally rolled her eyes. She was practically grown now.

Hikaru picked up the jewel shard again, it turning purple at his touch. He grabbed Kikyo's hand, his fingers rubbing softly against the back of her hand. It had been so long since he had touched his daughter, and he forgot how smooth her skin was. As for Kikyo, she had realized that her father's skin was just the same as since the last time they had touched, tough yet smooth. He set the shard down in her palm, and it turned pink again.

"Well, can you at least protect this? Do whatever you must, but make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands. It may be small, but it can change a lot." He said. It was true, the shard was incredibly small, that no one could sense it. Kikyo could barely sense it herself when she was in her room, but as she got closer, she could tell something was there. She looked down at the shard in her palm and looked back up at her father.

For once since that abomination got here, father has entrusted me with something. I may yet again get the life I so dearly want back. She thought. She nodded her head.

"Of course father." She said. Hikaru smiled brightly, a smile that hadn't been directed at her in a long time.

"Thank you Kikyo. You may go now. We have a lot more to discuss." He said, gesturing to InuTaisho. Kikyo nodded and left.

As she left the room, she wondered how she would really hide the shard from evil, then she smiled as she got a great idea. She had taught herself this before her mother died. She wanted to surprise her, but that surprise never came, because the day she wanted to show her mother the surprise, her mother had gone into labor. She had never used the trick since then.

Well, things change. I thought I would never have to use this again, but I was wrong. She thought as she closed the door to her room, a faint smile on her face and glow in her hands.