A/N: Hello everyone! I do realise it's been almost a year since I last updated this story, and I apologise for the delay. I unfortunately didn't have the motivation needed to do some actual writing - the story is almost complete in my head, I just need to write it down. And receiving two rather not-so-nice comments didn't help, either... But, the positive comments outweigh the negative ones by far, so I would like to use this opportunity to thank all those people that left me such nice reviews. You are the best.
Timeline-wise, we've now caught up with the anime/manga, and are sometime after Mt. Hakurei and the Band of Seven. Anything I did not mention in my story happened as described in the original story. For reference, the group has been hunting shards for roughly two years, and Kagome is now 17 years old.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I will not waste my time - and bore my readers - by responding to guest reviews here. If you want me to reply to your comment, log into your account so I can see who you are, especially if you are a flamer/troll/idiot. Otherwise, you're just being a coward. You have been informed.
This chapter has 22 pages, so make sure you bring enough time to read it ^^
Chapter 18
A Roadside Encounter
The sun was shining, the sky cloudless and of a dark blue, in short, it was a wonderful day in early summer. However, Higurashi Kagome didn't care for that at all right now. Her eyes were fixed on a small tornado that was approaching them, and fast.
The young miko heaved a sigh. She knew what would come next: Koga would once again declare his undying feelings, ask her to come with him, maybe insult InuYasha (or InuYasha would insult him first), and they might even get into a fight. Seeing how they still hadn't found all of the jewel shards, Kagome really didn't want to waste her time like this.
It wasn't that she didn't like Koga, or didn't want him around, but she most definitely didn't like him like that. Unfortunately, Koga didn't realise that – or maybe he was just in denial – and so he kept coming back. And Kagome was reluctant to hurt him, he was her friend, after all.
Next to her, InuYasha ground his teeth as he noticed the approaching wolf, and Sango sighed quietly.
"InuYasha, come over here", Miroku said, grabbing the hanyou by his arm and pulling him away from Kagome.
"What the – Miroku, teme! Let go of me, dammit!"
Koga arrived soon after, and Kagome could spot his two aides, Ginta and Hakkaku, along with several wolves, in the distance. They were obviously trying to catch up to their leader.
Koga reached out for Kagome's hands, grinning at her.
"Kagome! How's my woman today!"
"Uh, hi, Koga-kun, it's nice to see you!", she replied, though a little hesitantly.
"Kagome, when are you going to come with me?", he asked in all earnesty. "I want you to become my mate as soon as possible – we could go hunt for the remaining shards together, we'd find them in no time – my nose is at least one hundred times better than that mutt's, after all."
"Oi!", InuYasha snapped.
Miroku and Sango did their best to restrain him, and Kagome decided she needed to get rid of Koga, fast.
"Um, listen, Koga-kun, I can't, I promised InuYasha - "
"Kagome, I can't wait any longer, I love you, and I need you by my side!"
InuYasha retched.
"Koga-kun, listen - "
It happened so fast, Kagome was momentarily disorientated. She hadn't sensed anyone approaching, nor had she heard or seen anything, so she almost jumped out of her skin when someone placed a hand on her shoulder and addressed Koga. His grip was firm, but not painfully so, the kind of grip that told you to hold still and be quiet.
"Ookami", a deep voice spoke. "This female does not want you. Back off."
Koga's reaction to the newcomer was somewhat unsettling. He instantly shifted into a defensive stance, his eyes narrowed, his arms lifted to defend – or attack.
"What do you know, mutt-face? Kagome's my woman, so take your filthy claws off her!", he all but snarled at the man behind her.
Kagome risked a glance at her left shoulder, and almost gasped. True enough, there were claws – and they appeared to be perfectly manicured, too.
"Your woman? Please, do not make me laugh, wolf. This female is just as much your woman as I am your brother. I hate repeating myself, but just in case you didn't pay attention before, I will say it once more: she does not want you."
"Kagome never refused me!", Koga growled.
Behind him, Ginta and Hakkaku arrived, panting for breath. Their eyes went wide when they saw the youkai, and Kagome guessed he had to look rather impressive.
"Maybe she has not refused you in words, but your superiour youkai-senses should tell you she is not interested. I can tell, and I have only just met her. Then again, maybe you are an idiot, or you just don't want to accept it... It is hard to say which would be worse."
"Excuse me?!", Koga snapped. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I cannot stand idiots", the stranger replied calmly. "They usually give me a headache. As for the other matter – among inu, a male that cannot handle rejection in a dignified manner is just pathetic. Seeing as how you are a canine as well, I can imagine this would be regarded in a similar manner by your kind. Although, you clearly have no sense of fashion – what's with what you're wearing, anyway? And you smell. Bad."
"Why you - "
"I wasn't done yet, ookami, so be quiet", the inu-youkai growled. "Since we have now established that this female does not want you, it would be best for all people involved if you were to back off. Now."
"Why? What's it to you? Wait, do you want Kagome for yourself?"
"Please. I do not even know her, why would I want her? I do not believe in love at first sight. And, just like my father, I intend to wait for the right person, and that is not her. Be that as it may, she is still not going to become yours. Her resolve seems pretty strong – I highly doubt you will be able to sway her."
"I can always make her mine", Koga growled.
Kagome stared at him. She wasn't sure if Koga really meant that, or if he was saying it just to provoke the inu.
The inu let out a threatening, feral snarl at that.
"You cannot be serious!", he snapped, his hold on Kagome's shoulder tightening.
There was a swell of youki as someone else joined the conversation, not bothering to hide his – or in this case her – aura.
"What are you doing, Sole? We are not supposed to pick fights!", she scolded.
"I am not picking a fight, I am helping out a damsel in distress."
"Really? Neat. Okay, go ahead and beat up the bad guy, I'll stay here and watch. This is gonna be good."
"Excuse me", Kagome said, speaking up for the first time ever since the first inu had arrived. "Did you just call me a 'damsel in distress'?"
The male fixed his attention on her.
"You are obviously in distress, seeing as how you are unable to handle this situation on your own. That, per definition, makes you a damsel in distress."
"I'll have you know that I am a powerful miko, and that I could purify your ass", Kagome growled.
"A miko, are you? I would not have guessed – you do not look like a miko. While I do not intend to doubt your prowess, I hardly think you would purify him – you care too much for his well-being, which, in this case, is a weakness. Therefore, you are in distress."
Kagome opened her mouth to argue, but the female cut across her.
"Just be quiet and let him handle this, okay? He's being nice for a chance, so you'd better enjoy it. He's usually a jerk."
Kagome fell silent, while praying in her mind that the male wouldn't rip Koga to pieces. No matter how annoying and infuriating he could be at times, he didn't deserve that.
"Stay with Luna", the male ordered, before brushing past Kagome.
As he walked by, she shot a quick glance at his face. Since he was staring at Koga, she could only see the right half of it. He appeared to be handsome, his skin was of the same complexion as Sesshomaru's, and he even had twin-stripes on his cheeks that looked a lot like his – though Kagome couldn't be so sure about it, she had never paid Sesshomaru's markings much attention whenever he was near her – since he was usually busy trying to kill her, or InuYasha.
This male – Sole – had dark blue eyes that stood in an eerie contrast to his golden hair – golden, not blond. His hair looked as if someone had coated every single strand with gold.
Now that his hand was no longer on her shoulder, Kagome dared to move – and caught sight of the female, who flashed her a fanged grin. They didn't look anything alike – her hair was silver, but just as silky as his. While his was tied into a high ponytail, she wore hers tied into two ponytails, and, unlike him, she had bangs that partly covered the blue crescent moon on her forehead. Her eyes were golden and reminded Kagome of InuYasha.
"Don't worry", the girl said, winking at her. "Sole does know how to behave himself. And should he go too far, I'll stop him."
"Er – thanks."
Sole had, in the meantime, closed in on Koga, who had started to back away – partly probably because Sole was taller than him.
"Since apparently no-one has ever seen fit to educate you on this matter, I will gladly do so", Sole stated calmly. "Are you aware of the dangers of mating with an unwilling female?"
"What are you going on about? Could you stop talking in such an infuriating manner?"
"I could, but that would be no fun at all. Pay attention, you idiot wolf: would you mate with a demoness who does not want you?"
"I could hardly do that, could I? She'd fight me off."
"Precisely. If you were strong enough, you could overpower and bind her to yourself, I suppose, but that would be foolish, seeing as how she'd fight you every step along the way. Now, with humans it is a different case. They are, for most part, weak, and a human female could not stop you from claiming her. However, during the mating ritual, you would empower her with your youki – and eventually, she would become strong enough to oppose you. Which would, most likely, cause you a lot of grief – she could, for example, take your pups and flee, or run away even before you had a chance to have offspring. You would spend the rest of forever chasing after her, for you could not mate with another female. Therefore, when courting a human, you have to be extra careful – humans are not as instinct-driven as us, and mistakes in communication happen often. For how long have you been attempting to court her?"
"Little over a year, I guess – I wasn't really paying attention", Koga admitted.
"That's some commitment you got there", Sole sneered. "If you really cared about her, you would stay close, and you would not allow another male near her – and here she is, travelling with two. Both could, in theory, be a threat to you in this regard – the hanyou, in fact, seems pretty displeased with your presence here. If you wanted her to be your mate, you would have to keep her close, make sure everyone understands who she belongs to. But you failed to do this – how do you intend to make her fall for you, if you are nowhere near her? This cannot work, surely you must have realised this."
"I did ask her to come with me on almost every occasion", Koga growled. "She didn't want to leave the mutt."
"Is he some kind of an idiot?", Luna asked in disbelief.
"I believe so", Sole replied. "She outright told him she'd rather stay with the hanyou than go with him, and he still keeps coming back – this is the highest level of idiocy I have witnessed in my entire life."
"I've just had enough of you, you pompous brat", Koga spat, baring his fangs.
"Bring it on, ookami", Sole replied calmly, while shifting into a fighting stance and cracking his knuckles ominously. "I haven't had a real fight in quite a while. Fighting Luna got boring after a century or two."
Kagome shot Luna a panicked glance, but the demoness was busy glaring at the two males – whether she was angry with Sole for his comment concerning her, or wanted him to beat up Koga, Kagome didn't know. However, she had the terrible feeling that this was getting out of hand.
Koga and Sole were now barking insults at one another, quickly working themselves into a frenzy, and Kagome just knew this would turn into a very ugly fight. She desperately racked her brain for anything she might do – InuYasha surely wouldn't interfere, since he hated Koga like a plague, Miroku would be unable to do anything, and Sango looked hesitant – probably fearing she would have to take on both inu, should the situation get out of hand.
Kagome decided she would try to encase Koga in a barrier so no-one would get hurt, and started to call upon her powers. However, something was wrong here – she felt a terrible sense of foreboding, and the next moment, youki erupted around them, fierce and powerful.
"Cease this at once!"
Both males froze, for this voice carried an unmistakable amount of command, and anger. Turning to look up a the cliffs to her left, Kagome saw the silhouette of the woman who had issued the command, black against the light of the setting sun. Kagome couldn't make up many details, but she appeared to be carrying something that looked like the carcass of a deer or something similar.
Dropping her prey to the ground, the youkai lightly leapt off the cliff and landed in a crouch, immediately rising to her full height. Sole backed away from Koga, his eyes fixed on the newcomer, who was glaring at him. He sketched a quick bow.
"Haha-ue", he murmured in a subdued voice.
"Care to explain yourselves to me?", the female demanded. "I believe I told you to wait for my return at the campsite, and to not go looking for trouble. And what do I find upon my return? You squaring off with some random youkai. Explain yourselves, both of you."
"Actually, we were not looking for trouble", Luna said hurriedly. "I was just doing a round of the perimeter when Sole just up and left. When I followed him, I found him here, along with those people. He and the wolf seemed about to get into an argument, and I reminded him that we were not supposed to pick fights – Sole then replied he had wanted to help this female there" - she jabbed a finger in Kagome's direction - "with getting rid of an unwanted suitor. Since I couldn't see anything wrong with that, I decided to watch. That's basically it."
Her mother frowned slightly.
"Sole? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I heard sounds of a commotion, and decided to have a look", the young inu replied. "I was not planning on picking a fight, but the ookami's behaviour was unacceptable in my eyes."
"Did the female in question reject him?"
"Repeatedly. Yet, he keeps coming back, aggravating her companions. I felt it best to act on her behalf."
"Hm."
The newcomer turned to face Koga, who looked even more apprehensive now.
"You had best cease your antics, ookami", she said calmly. "You cannot make a female who does not want you yours."
Koga let out a displeased snarl.
"Who the hell are you, and how dare you interfere with my business?"
The female smirked.
"Glad you asked. I am Lillia, an advisor to Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands. Picking a fight with me means picking a fight with him, so you might wanna think twice about this. Oh, and just in case you didn't know, InuYasha over there is Sesshomaru's brother, so I do consider this my business."
"You work for that mutt?", Koga asked in disbelief.
In the blink of an eye, Lillia had him by the throat, and lifted him off the ground – in a matter very similar to how Sesshomaru had treated InuYasha, when Kagome had first met him.
"Watch your tone of voice", Lillia growled. "I will not tolerate insults to my alpha. Know your place."
Koga – who seemed to realise that he was outmatched – didn't even struggle, but hung limply in her grip. Apparently appeased by his reaction – or lack thereof, Lillia dropped him to the ground.
"I'm glad we sorted that out. Now, if your business here is concluded, I suggest you leave – and don't come back with the sole intent of wooing this here human. You got that?"
"H-hai", Koga managed.
He looked embarrassed, humiliated and angry, but luckily wasn't foolish enough to try and go against her – Kagome had the distinctive feeling Lillia would apply more force if needed to have her way. From the amount of power she let out, the miko knew she was easily the strongest person around, and she had powerful backup. It would be better (and healthier) for Koga to just leave. Especially since, for some reason Kagome couldn't understand, the inu felt that InuYasha's relation to her lord was a deciding factor here. Granted, Sesshomaru had so far been the only inu-youkai she had ever met, but she had assumed that the rest of them wouldn't feel any different about the hanyou.
Then again, this might have just been a ruse on Lillia's side to justify her involvement, but Kagome couldn't really fathom why she would need any justification at all.
"C'mon guys, let's get out of here!", Koga called to Ginta and Hakkaku before disappearing in a whirlwind.
Groaning and complaining, his two lackeys tried to catch up to him, their four-legged friends in tow. Lillia huffed.
"How come he can run like that? This definitely isn't normal."
"He's got jewel shards in his legs", Kagome explained.
"Shards as in shards of the infamous Shikon no Tama I've been warned about?", Lillia asked, turning to face Kagome.
"That's the one."
It was only now that she realised that Lillia had different-coloured eyes – one blue, one gold, and no markings on her face. Also, upon closer inspection, she noticed that her hair had three different colours – gold, silver and brown. Also, it was styled in an interesting way – part of it had been braided around her head, making it look like a crown, and ended in a thick plait. The lower part of her hair fell down her back in big, silky curls. And, even though her white haori seemed plain at first sight, Kagome could see that a flowery pattern had been woven into it – namely lilies. Inspecting the twins' clothes, she found that Luna's haori had crescent moons stitched onto it, Sole's had blazing suns. They were also wearing different-coloured hakama – Lillia's were blue, Sole's gold and Luna's silver. Also, all of them were carrying swords – Lillia even had two.
Lillia hummed in a non-commenting way.
"Who warned you about the jewel, Lillia-sama?", Miroku asked.
"Sesshomaru did", Lillia replied. "He told me that it drives people crazy, and that I should stay away from it.
"Wise advice", the monk replied.
InuYasha had, in the meantime, edged closer to Kagome so he could whisper in her ear.
"Oi, Kagome, don't you think something about her is familiar?"
The miko frowned.
"Now that you mention it – her youki does feel familiar."
Lillia, who had heard their whispered conversation, raised an eyebrow at them.
"Sorry", Kagome said, smiling sheepishly. "But it's just that – did we meet somewhere before?"
"I don't think so", Lillia replied. "I'm fairly certain that I would have remembered meeting you. Your clothes do stand out, you know."
Her frown deepened and she looked as if she wanted to say something else, but Kagome was faster.
"But your youki is really familiar, as is your voice – I've heard it before, not long ago..."
Kagome racked her brain, trying to figure out where she could have possibly come across this particular youkai...
"Takayama!", she blurted out. "That's where we met!"
Lillia blinked.
"I haven't been to that place in over two centuries."
"Could you flare your youki?", InuYasha asked. "Like if you wanted to scare someone who had gotten on your nerves."
Lillia gave him a strange look, but released her power nonetheless. Because of the nearness, Kagome was almost knocked to the ground. Seeing the discomfort she was causing her, Lillia reined her powers back in.
"Definitely the same", InuYasha said with a nod, placing his hands in his sleeves. "We did meet you at Takayama, a couple of weeks ago."
"Impossible", Lillia replied.
"No, wait", Kagome gasped. "Of course you wouldn't remember – for you, this hasn't happened yet! We met your future self, the one you will be in 500 years!"
"Oh, right, we were in your time then", InuYasha agreed.
Lillia looked confused.
"Hang on a second!"
Kagome dropped to the ground and started rummaging in her rucksack, until she found the article she was still carrying around.
"You were waiting for us at that place – will be waiting, I mean, and - "
Kagome froze as she glanced at the picture of Lillia in the newspaper, then looked up at the Lillia standing in front of her.
Kami. This can't be.
Her hands shaking, she held the paper out to the youkai before her.
"Lillia-sama, do you know this woman?"
Lillia snatched the paper from her hands and stared at the picture before quickly scanning the text. The twins moved closer and craned their necks to get a better view.
"Do I know this woman?", Lillia asked quietly, holding the picture next to her face.
Kagome gasped.
"It's you! So this is were you vanished to! Why the trail simply ended! It all makes sense now!"
"How long ago did this happen?", Lillia asked, tapping the article with a claw.
"About a month ago."
"A month... and nobody knows what happened to me, correct?"
"Yes... InuYasha and I went looking for you, since I feared a youkai might have been involved, but we couldn't find any traces – and, well, your future self told us to stop looking, since we couldn't do anything anyway. But it still bugged me..."
"Is that you, haha-ue?", Sole asked.
"Yes, that is what I used to look like – 200 years ago. Before I became like this."
"So you mean to say that you're human?", InuYasha asked in disbelief.
"Essentially, yes. However, my body has changed due to the fact that I mated with a youkai – I am more like a hanyou, in fact. I have both human and youkai instincts. Can be quite maddening at times. Especially when all of your kids are just like you."
"And Sesshomaru is okay with you?", Shippo asked in disbelief.
"Trust me, he wasn't, at first", Lillia replied with a laugh. "But I as sure as hell didn't care about his opinion – it was, after all, his father who included me into the household. He found me that day I vanished, and when I realised I had been sent through time, he took me in and tried to find a way for me to get back – well, we all now how that ended."
Lillia glanced at the article, then back at Kagome.
"Where did you get this? And your clothes – isn't that a school uniform?"
"Yes, it is – I'm from the future, just like you."
Lillia's eyes widened a fraction.
"So you're stuck here, as well?"
"Stuck? Oh, no. I travel through the Bone Eater's Well."
"The what?"
"It's a portal to my time. I go home every once in a while."
"A portal! Take me there!"
"I don't think you will be able to use it, Lillia-sama!", Kagome replied hurriedly. "Only InuYasha and I can."
"But I still have to try! If there's a chance that I might see my family again – they must be so worried... If I don't try, I'll keep wondering for the next 500 years if it would have worked. I have to try."
"Very well", Kagome relented. "Then I'll use the chance to visit my family and catch up on my school work."
"What? No way!", InuYasha protested. "Just in case you've forgotten, Naraku is still out there, collecting shards, and you two want to waste time going all the way to Edo? Out of the question!"
Before Kagome had a chance to "sit" InuYasha, Lillia had already rounded on him.
"I haven't seen my family in over 200 years", she snarled, fangs bared, her eyes tinged red. "They don't even know if I am still alive, or what happened to me in the first place. I am finally presented with an opportunity to see them again – and you say a 'waste of time'? What would you do, if you had a chance to see your mother again?"
She flared her youki threateningly, and InuYasha backed away, his ears flattened against his head. Lillia stopped in mid-stride and cocked her head to the side.
"You don't know how to react properly, do you? Your human half keeps interfering... forget about it. Let the dog handle those things. Trust me, it's better that way."
InuYasha looked utterly confused. Lillia chuckled.
"It seemed very strange to me at first, too, seeing as how I'd been human all my life. But, if you like, I could teach you our ways while we head to the well – that way, it won't be a complete waste of time, at least not for you."
Her eyes were shining, and Kagome had a feeling that InuYasha was going to accept her offer. She wouldn't allow him to refuse.
"Keh. If you insist, woman", InuYasha huffed, stuffing his arms into his sleeves.
Lillia chuckled.
"I see you two are brothers, after all. It'll be dark soon, and we've already set up camp – feel free to join us."
"Gladly", Kagome replied. "But how do we get up there?"
She eyed the cliff dubiously.
"Like this", Lillia said, waving her hand.
Out of thin air, a stairway was formed. Kagome gawked.
Without waiting for them, Luna bounded up the stairs, her silver hair streaming behind her. Sole grinned his fangs at Kagome.
"After you", he said, bowing at her in a way you could only describe western, and reminded her strongly of a waiter at a noble restaurant.
Apparently, Lillia had taught her children a few things.
InuYasha rather gingerly stepped onto the first step, apparently not sure if it would actually hold, but it did. The others followed with Sole bringing up the rear, while Lillia kicked off hard and jumped all the way to the top.
Kagome hadn't been paying as much attention to Miroku as she ought have, for he had discreetly made his way over to the beautiful silver-haired inu and, before Kagome could do anything to stop him, had grabbed her clawed hand and was gazing into her eyes, a sickening grin plastered to his face.
"Would you do me the honour to bear my children?"
Lillia's eyebrows shot up, Sole let out a threatening growl and Sango readied Hiraikotsu.
Luna smiled.
"Tell me, monk, do you wish to have children at all? If you do, then I suggest you remove yourself from my person this instant, before I remove something off you."
Miroku paled considerably as he let go of her hand as if he'd been burned. Lillia barked out a laugh while Sole shook his head in obvious disbelief.
"You perverted monk!", Sango screeched, hitting Miroku so hard on the head he passed out.
"I'm sorry", Kagome said to the inu. "He's always been like that, though he did improve over time... he hasn't done this in a while now."
Luna huffed.
"He should be glad my father didn't witness this – he'd be dead otherwise."
Sango had, in the meantime, grabbed Miroku by the ankle and was now dragging him over to a tree where she left him. Lillia watched her with an amused smile on her face, before turning to address her children.
"Why don't you two kids run along and find more food? If InuYasha's appetite is anything like his father's, we're gonna need a lot of food."
"Hey!", InuYasha protested, but the twins had already left.
"I think that was supposed to be a compliment", Kagome said.
"Keh. Whatever."
Lillia sauntered over to where she'd left the carcass of the deer she'd killed earlier, and Kagome spotted a rather enormous yumi lying on the ground next to it, along with a quiver filled with arrows.
"Is that yours?", she asked Lillia, pointing at the longbow.
"Yes. I asked Taro for fighting lessons back then, because I needed something to do with my time. I got lessons in archery, sword-fighting and hand-to-hand combat. Of course, after my transformation, I had to learn how to control my youkai powers as well... that was quite a challenge."
"I see. Say... would you mind practising with me as we travel? I've never had any real training, since we've been on the road most of the time..."
"I do not mind at all. Just be warned, I am a strict teacher."
"Fine by me."
While Kagome started unpacking her supplies, Lillia dropped down next to the carcass and started skinning and gutting it, using her claws. The innards she tossed into the woods before beginning to slice the meat into small bits. Sango had, in the meantime, made skewers, and the two of them set about putting them into the fire pit. Once they were done, Lillia meticulously licked her fingers clean before spitting the blood back out.
Sango lifted a brow.
"You don't like the taste of blood?"
"No, what do you think I am, a mosquito? We don't live off blood, you know. It's just an unwanted extra. Besides, I'm still human inside. Do you want to know how long it took me until I was able to kill, skin, gut and eat something? I was actually pretty squeamish back then."
Luna and Sole were back soon enough, and Kagome was beginning to look forward to dinner a lot – it smelled divine, Lillia had brought some seasoning along, and she managed to be a creative cook even with limited supplies. However, they would have to wait for a while until the meat was done.
"I think I'm going to take a bath now, there's a hot spring nearby", Lillia announced, getting to her feet. "Would you like to join me, Kagome?"
"Sure", the miko replied, realising this wasn't really a question.
She figured Lillia probably wanted to talk to her, or maybe ask her more questions, and she had no objections to that.
Kagome started when Lillia threw up a barrier once they were in the water, and looked at the other woman questioningly.
"It's to block sound", the quasi-inu explained. "I don't want anyone eavesdropping."
"Okay, now you sound serious – I figured you wanted to talk about something, but..."
"Anyone with half a brain should have been able to figure that out", she replied with a half-smile. "But yes, there is something I would like to talk about – namely InuYasha. Could you tell me something about him – about his life?"
"Well", Kagome said, frowning slightly, "I don't really know all that much. InuYasha doesn't like to talk about his past, or his feelings, or anything, really. Getting any information from him at all is tricky, since he'll close up and refuse to talk as soon as he realises what's up. I guess he still has trust issues to some degree..."
"Hm. Then again, males usually don't like to talk about their feelings. Inu especially let their actions speak for themselves rather than use words. It might be a family trait, too – Sesshomaru's awfully tight-lipped, you know. When I was still human, interacting with him was really difficult – because I never knew what was going on inside that head of his."
"Was their father like this, too?"
"Oh, no. Taro would tell you exactly what he felt or thought, whether you liked it or not. He was very straightforward, blunt even. I honestly have no idea how Sesshomaru turned out the way he did..."
"So his mother wasn't like this, either?"
"Not at all."
"I see... anyway, like I've said, I don't really know that much – I mean, I know that his mother died a long time ago, and that he was on his own ever since..."
"Well, we know that, too."
"And he got sealed to a tree."
"That, too."
"How about you tell me what it is that you know, and I fill in any information that I might have?"
"Sounds like a plan. So, what we know is that after InuYasha's mother died, his relatives chased him away – he had nowhere to go after that, and we have no idea how he managed to stay alive – inu-youkai-pups are not considered adults until they reach about 200 years of age – meaning InuYasha and the twins are young adults now. First time I heard from him was when Sesshomaru told me he had been pinned to a tree – apparently, Sesshomaru had tracked InuYasha down and went to see him – just that he arrived too late."
"Sesshomaru wanted to visit InuYasha? But why? I thought he hated him, wanted nothing to do with him..."
"Based on what information do you claim to know that?"
"Well, first time I met him, he got a youkai to impersonate his mother in order to trick him into revealing the location of their father's tomb", Kagome replied angrily. "What kind of loving older brother does that? And he was spiteful about it, too. Not to mention that ugly toad, Jaken."
"He did what?", Lillia asked, shocked, her eyes widening. "He conveniently forgot to mention that part. He only told me he did find the way, and that you pulled the fang out – he was quite put out by that."
"You bet. He tried to melt me."
"That did not surprise me. You opposed him – he doesn't like being opposed. I only ever got away with it because I had his father's protection... though he got pretty close to piercing my neck once."
Kagome looked shocked, but Lillia waved a hand dismissively.
"We got over it."
"Right. But anyway, that's how I got the impression that Sesshomaru hates InuYasha."
Lillia heaved a sigh.
"Trust me, it's a lot more complicated than that... I guess it would be best if I just told you the whole story, or at least, our part in it, as I can't speak for InuYasha, or Izayoi..."
"Who's Izayoi?"
"His mother. Did he never mention her name?"
"No. He didn't like to talk about her, remember?"
"Oh. Right. Anyway, it all started when Taro met Izayoi. How exactly that happened I never found out, for at the time, I was already heavily pregnant – because of the strain and stress, my mate and I had left court, you know. So, when I heard that Taro had found his ideal mate, and named her his consort, I went to see them."
Kagome frowned.
"What about Sesshomaru's mother? Did she die?"
"No. She had left court just a short while ago, since she felt that she wasn't needed anymore – Sesshomaru was all grown up, and hers and Taro's mating had been one of convenience. I honestly don't think she ever cared about Taro and Izayoi being together, though I never asked her, either. Be that as it may – Izayoi and I got along just fine at first, I tried to help her settle in – it was much more difficult for her, as her world had been much smaller than mine... Unfortunately, our good relationship didn't last... you see, I unexpectedly went into labour several weeks too early – I guess it happened because I was carrying twins. Anyway, Izayoi was there, and apparently, humans at the time thought that twins were a bad omen – they might still do that, actually... anyway, Izayoi assumed we were going to kill Luna, or leave her to die. I didn't like the idea at all."
Kagome looked horrified.
"How could she even say something like that?"
"It seemed perfectly normal and reasonable to her", Lillia replied with a shrug.
"How can you be so calm about this?!"
"It's been 200 years. But trust me when I tell you that I wasn't that calm back then – had my mate and I not been holding our pups, I swear to you, we would have killed her. What you must understand is that to inu, pack and family are the most important things in the world. We would die to protect them. Anyway, things never were the same after that – my mate scared Izayoi so thoroughly, she never attempted to come near me or the twins again, and I didn't want to make the situation worse by trying to reconcile with her, either... we left court again, and only returned after Taro fell in battle. Izayoi had just become a mother herself, and was mad with grief – and fear, as well. She thought that we would seek to harm her, or her son, because of what she had done two years ago. I honestly just wanted to help her... but she wouldn't let me. Sesshomaru bluntly told her she was not to leave – she wanted to return to her family, you know. He left me in charge of the palace and then went to battle the dragons – and avenge his father. However, things got worse with Izayoi – and I made a decision. Whether it was the right one is debatable, but I felt that it made no sense to keep Izayoi with us – I let her go. I gave her an escort, and told her to contact us, should she ever need help... she never did. We learned of her death by accident, her relatives didn't even see fit to notify us. It was then decided that InuYasha was going to stay with us, and I had planned on raising him along with the twins – he would have been my pup, and I would have cared for him like he was my own... but I was too late!"
Kagome was startled to see angry tears in Lillia's eyes.
"By the time I arrived, they'd already chased him away. Tried lying to me, too, once they realised what I wanted. I nearly lost it then. I made them confess all their crimes before leaving to try and track down InuYasha."
"You – didn't kill them?"
"Time was of the essence. While dispatching them would have only cost me moments, I didn't want their blood on my hands, either... Sesshomaru took great pleasure in destroying them, and their home. He spared the mothers, and the young – everyone else he found he killed. And then he tore the castle apart, brick by brick."
"Because they had mistreated InuYasha?"
"Yes. He was a Prince of the West, after all – actions against him could not be tolerated."
"Let me guess – you didn't manage to find InuYasha."
"No. I was not very skilled at tracking at the time, and I lost him at a river. The soldiers that tracked me down told me he'd either drowned, or been borne away by the current. They urged me to return – I was in a terrible state, to be honest, and my prolonged absence had caused many people no small amount of concern – besides, my own pups needed me. I was too exhausted to argue... Search parties went out to look for InuYasha, but none ever found a trace of him... I have no idea how Sesshomaru found out that he was actually still alive, or how long he'd known before he told me – and now we get to the actual problem: why the relationship between InuYasha and Sesshomaru is what you've seen. You see, the war with the dragons had been devastating, and much of our military strength had diminished. Others sought to take advantage of that, and attacked our lands. This time, I took to the field myself, and I tell you, it wasn't pretty. Sesshomaru wasn't the military leader his father had been – he lacked several centuries of experience, especially on the field of battle – and, fearing heavy losses if not defeat, he sought for a way to end the fighting quickly. And this is where InuYasha came in – or rather, his inheritance, the Tetsuaiga."
Kagome gasped.
"He already wanted it back then?"
"Not for himself. The plan was go get InuYasha to help us – that's why Sesshomaru sought him out. He travelled all the way to Edo only to find out that his brother had been sealed to a tree by a miko... do you have any idea of the consequences this little fact had for us?"
"No", Kagome replied in a small voice.
"We won. Barely. The losses were terrible, I lost many a comrade, a friend – men and women I had practised with, who had taught me many things... Sesshomaru felt that he was responsible for all the deaths. He hadn't done enough, hadn't been strong or clever enough. In his anger and pain, he also blamed InuYasha – had he not gotten involved with that miko, this would have never happened, we would have had him with the Tetsuaiga on our side, and we wouldn't have sustained such terrible losses."
"But you can't know that", Kagome carefully pointed out.
"Oh, I know that. But Sesshomaru didn't care – he needed an outlet for all his anger. That's when he became obsessed with power, too – he desperately wanted to become stronger, fast, so that he would never again fail his people like he had fifty years ago... you have no idea how those events changed him.
He left the palace to search for the Tetsuaiga, but in vain – it had been too well hidden. So, my guess is that when he learned that InuYasha had been unsealed, he went to find him so he could obtain the Tetsuaiga with his help. His chosen method was probably meant as a form of revenge... while I still don't approve, and InuYasha totally wasn't at fault for what had happened, I believe this is what might have driven Sesshomaru to act the way he did."
"I see... what a mess. But, you know, it's really all Naraku's fault. He tricked InuYasha and Kikyo into attacking each other..."
"Kikyo was the one that sealed him?"
"Yes."
"Ah. Sesshomaru never told me her name – he might not have know it himself. But he did tell me you were her reincarnation – is that true?"
Kagome shifted a little uncomfortably before nodding.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up anything unpleasant, it's just that I find this rather paradox – she seals him, you unseal him..."
"Well, that was a rather spontaneous thing. I was under attack, and hoping he would help me... it worked out in the long run, I guess."
"So I guess Kikyo's a touchy subject because you're her reincarnation?"
"Yes", Kagome replied quietly. "You see, they were in love, and then InuYasha thought she'd betrayed him... whenever he looked at me, he'd see her. It got even worse when she was resurrected..."
"Wait – what? That's possible?"
"Yes. There was a witch who made clay dolls – similar to golems, I suppose. She had wanted to use Kikyo's powers for her own ends, but because her soul had already been reborn inside a new body – mine – this didn't work out just as she had planned. She tried extracting the soul from my body, but only partially succeeded. Kikyo was revived with that part of my soul she managed to steal – Kikyo had to prey on the souls of others in order to keep her body moving.
After her resurrection, things just got worse – InuYasha was torn between the promise he'd made to me, and his love and the feelings of guilt towards Kikyo... and Kikyo used that to her advantage. She tried to kill me, kill InuYasha, stole jewel shards from me and gave them to Naraku, even joined up with him for a while... I don't know why she did all that she did, but I know that she wanted to destroy Naraku. It was him that killed her a second time – and it wasn't long ago, either. I think InuYasha is still mourning her... and more determined than ever to destroy Naraku."
"Well, Naraku has managed to piss off a lot of people – myself and Sesshomaru included. Sesshomaru came back to the fortress to tell me about Naraku – and that he was hunting him. He warned me about the Shikon no Tama, too, and to keep my distance from it – though it looks innocent enough", she added, eyeing the phial Kagome was wearing around her neck.
"Don't be deceived by that", Kagome warned.
"Don't worry, I can sense its power. That's not a kind of power I want, mind you. What I wanted to say was that Sesshomaru and InuYasha have a common enemy and a common objective – and yet, instead of doing the sensible thing and finally joining forces with InuYasha, he tries to kill him... I mean, how stupid is that?"
"Are you here to forge an alliance?"
"Do you think it would work?"
"No. InuYasha's far too stubborn, he wouldn't trust Sesshomaru if his life depended on it. And, if you start talking about an alliance he'd probably think you're trying to trick him... besides, none of us trust Sesshomaru. You might know a side of him that we don't, but normally, whenever we meet him, he tries to kill someone from our group. That's not exactly a good foundation to build an alliance on."
"I totally agree. Which is why I am not here to advocate an alliance."
"Then, why are you here? After everything you've told me, I don't think we just ran into you by accident."
"Correct. We were looking for you – mainly to gather information. I still believe that the brothers should join forces – but getting everyone to participate in my scheme won't be easy. I would have to do a lot of convincing on both sides, and right now, I have no idea how I should do that... So, my current objective is to reach that well of yours and find out if it works for me. I'll decide what to do next after that... But remember this, Kagome: we are not your enemies, regardless of what has happened between you guys and Sesshomaru. And I would appreciate it if you could keep our conversation to yourself."
"All right. I don't get any bad vibes from you, for all I can tell you're being honest with me, so I'll trust you – for now."
"It is not in our nature to lie – because we know the moment someone is not being truthful. To most youkai, this is perfectly normal – they'll only seek to trick others if they know they cannot smell a lie themselves... So, the average youkai – at least inu-youkai – wouldn't even try to deceive you."
"I see. That's interesting."
"Mhm. But totally maddening when you're a human who suddenly has to interact with people who know whenever you're being dishonest – that was quite a challenge. Of course, withholding information is possible, but in that case, you have to be very careful how you phrase your sentences..."
"Sounds tough."
"Believe me, it is."
Apparently deciding time for serious talk was over, Lillia reached for the soap, and Kagome's gaze came to rest on the mark on her neck again. She had noticed it earlier, but had not found an opportunity to bring it up yet...
"Is something the matter?", Lillia asked, arching a brow.
"Oh, ah – I was just wondering about that mark."
"The one on my neck?"
"Yeah. Luna has the same one – are those moon-shapes very common?"
"Hm, I can't really say... You see, not all youkai have marks on their faces, some – like mine – are hidden beneath their clothes. Therefore, I can't say if it's common or not."
"I see. I don't really know anything about inu-youkai – Sesshomaru's the only one we've ever met, and I don't think he'd be willing to answer questions..."
Lillia laughed at the idea.
"No, I shouldn't think so... but you can ask me anything you like. I promise I won't bite."
"What a relief", Kagome replied with a smile.
Allowing Lillia and her kids to join up with them proved in hindsight to be one of the best decisions they had ever made – even though InuYasha had been very sceptical at first, especially since Lillia seemed awfully close to the bastard he called brother. Well, half-brother.
Lillia and Kagome had become friends fast – the age-difference didn't seem to matter, either, as Lillia could switch from responsible and composed mother to giggling girl within a matter of seconds. And Kagome befriended anything she met anyway, so InuYasha hadn't been too surprised she was willing to trust her so quickly.
The inu-youkai had made good on her promise, and every evening, after they had set up camp, she would practise archery with Kagome. Neither of her kids were interested in that art – they preferred swords, and, if they needed long-ranged attacks, used their youki with deathly precision. Also, InuYasha had a feeling that Luna lacked the patience needed for that.
However, archery was not the only subject Kagome received tutelage in – Lillia would also help her study. Her fortes were history, obviously, and English, a language Kagome was studying, and sometimes struggling with. Lillia had informed her that English had been her second language out of six, and that she had learned five of them while still human. Japanese she'd only mastered after becoming a youkai. She'd correct Kagome's homework and quiz her on what she'd learned, she also gave her lots of advice on how to learn in a more easy, fun way.
As it turned out, Lillia never missed an opportunity to turn anything into a lesson – mostly for the twins, who, even though they had received a formal and thorough education, had never been travelling in this manner before. InuYasha had never thought that he'd meet anyone who was more obsessed with studying than Kagome. Well, Lillia was. Also, she was immensely curious – she even managed to persuade Kagome to use her reiki on her, simply because she wanted to know what it felt like. Kagome had been very worried she'd end up hurting her, and had refused at first. Lillia had bluntly told her that, if she managed to apply her youki in a way that was not harmful to others, Kagome should be able to do the same with her reiki. Kagome had finally given it a try, and nothing bad had happened – Lillia had described Kagome's reiki as a very tickling sensation.
She had not forgotten her promise to InuYasha, either, and, whenever they had the chance, taught him about using his instincts, and his youkai-abilities. She would sometimes pit him against one of the twins to see how he actually utilised this new information. At first, InuYasha was very annoyed by the fact that they seemed much stronger than him, but Lillia told him the fault for that was with his parents – or rather, the connection they didn't have.
"Your mother was a pure-blooded human", she'd told him. "She didn't receive any youkai-powers, as she was not your father's mate, whereas I am mated to the father of my pups. I had youkai of my own that I could pass on to them. Granted, it was not nearly as powerful as my mate's, but still. However, you are still a son of the Great Dog General, and nowhere close to reaching your full potential. Now, get back to training."
Following Lillia's instructions, InuYasha gradually became better at reading people – and quickly figured out that Lillia or the pups were never lying or being dishonest. Whenever they told him something, it was the absolute truth – or what they perceived to be true, for Lillia had told him that some things were only true when people believed them to be. He now knew for a fact that they meant them no harm, and that was a relief. He had at first been rather certain that, being a retainer of Sesshomaru's, Lillia would have a hidden agenda – well, maybe she did, for she sometimes refused to talk about certain things and changed the topic, or took great care when formulating her answer so she wouldn't outright lie. But, whatever those things were, InuYasha had decided they wouldn't be harmful to his own pack.
And then there had been the battles. Any somewhat intelligent youkai had steered clear of the group, only low-life had been stupid enough to go after the shards. All three inu were extremely skilled fighters, and InuYasha got a first taste of what being pack really meant when one rather ugly maggot had managed to injure Sole during a fight. Lillia had literally seen red, and torn the low-life apart with her bare hands. It hadn't been pretty, and her fury had been far from gone – she melted it until only a sizzling pool of goo remained, and then went and chopped down some trees and rocks until she had calmed herself. InuYasha had sworn to himself that very day that he would never make her angry.
Sango and Miroku were of little interest to the three inu – while they did interact with them, and sometimes sparred with Sango, they clearly focused their attention on Kagome and InuYasha. Shippo they ignored altogether – but for a very specific reason. Inu and kitsune apparently were natural enemies, and Shippo had been very apprehensive of them as a result. By ignoring him, they gave him the chance to observe them, and judge for himself what they were. The kit eventually calmed down, and hesitantly approached them – only to find out that Lillia didn't mind mothering him, too. She also advised Kagome to find him a kitsune teacher eventually, as the differences between inu and kitsune were too big for her to be a good teacher, and he would have to learn how to utilise his youkai-abilities. Kagome, being human, wasn't really cut out to raise a youkai pup on her own – even though she had done an amazing job so far.
Kagome hadn't liked the idea much, but realised that Lillia was right. However, she absolutely refused to part with "her" kit as long as Naraku was still somewhere out there.
InuYasha sighed softly as he hugged the Tetsuaiga closer to this chest. It was the night of the new moon again, and that always had him on edge. He hated losing his sense of smell in particular, as it was the one he relied on the most. Human senses were so awfully dull, and he really couldn't understand how Kagome, Miroku and Sango could live with them.
Normally, they would spend that night at a human settlement, if possible, where InuYasha could hide in a room and blend in with the human populace – scent-wise, that is. Or, if no human settlement was available, any other cave would do. This time was different, however. Because Lillia and the twins were with them, Kagome had persuaded him to keep travelling – the inu's presence would be enough to keep any dangers away – and they were very unlikely to give away InuYasha's secret to anyone else, seeing as how the twins were hanyou themselves – even though they didn't look the part.
That very moment, Sole came striding back into camp after having finished his round of the perimeter – they always established a border that screamed "keep out or face my wrath" at anything out there. He cast a quick look around, as if he was looking for something, before his usually calm face morphed into a frown.
"Where is InuYasha?"
"Um – he's sitting right over there", Kagome replied, obviously confused, pointing at InuYasha, who was resting a the base of a tree.
Sole's gaze snapped to his, and his eyes widened briefly before he briskly made his way over.
"Your scent is completely different, that's why I couldn't place it", he explained as he elegantly lowered himself to the ground next to the hanyou. "You smell – human. You even look like one – why?"
"You don't know?", InuYasha asked in disbelief.
Sole blinked slowly, indicating InuYasha was stupid for asking such a question.
"Um – that's what happens to hanyou once every month? For me, it's the night of the new moon."
"Ah – I didn't know that."
"Wait – does that mean this thing doesn't happen to you? Or your sister?"
"No. We always look like this – mother explained to us once that we appear to be youkai as a manner of protection – because youkai outside of our pack might attempt to harm us, or our mother. It's the reason human mates get infused with youki in the first place – so they're strong enough to survive among youkai. As a result, it wouldn't make much sense for us to become human once every month – it would blow our cover. I believe this transformation of yours is a side-effect of the incomplete bond between your parents."
"Keh. So that is the reason for all the hardships hanyou have to go through?"
"Unions between youkai and ningen are rare – neither my grandfather nor my father had known or heard of anyone who had done this. As you surely know, humans fear us and regard us with mistrust and hatred. Forming a bond with one under such conditions is difficult – I honestly don't know how your parents managed to do it – your mother wasn't exactly open-minded about our ways, from what I've heard."
"Say – did something happen between my mother and yours? She doesn't mind telling me stuff about my old man, but becomes rather tight-lipped whenever I bring up her..."
Sole bit his lip as he considered his answer.
"I only know the story from hearsay, as I was too little to remember it happening... and I do not believe it is my place to tell you. Maybe one day, my mother will feel like opening up about it – but my guess is that she doesn't want to tarnish your memory of her – because, no matter what she may have done, she's still your mother – the only parent you ever had – and you love her."
"So – my mother did do something – something bad?"
"In a way."
"Gah! You're so frustrating. Why can't you give me a straight answer? I can see why Koga got pissed."
One corner of Sole's mouth curled upwards.
"Like I said, it's not my place to tell you. But let me say this, InuYasha – my mother does not withhold this information in an attempt to torment you. Trouble with parents is – they always think what they're doing is the right thing, and sometimes, it actually is. My mother is very wise, so trust in her judgement."
InuYasha blinked.
"Wow, you do hold her in very high regard, don't you."
"Of course I do", the golden-haired male huffed. "I'm just not very good at showing it. And if you ever tell anyone I said that, I'll kill you."
InuYasha grinned.
"All right."
As soon as Lillia and Luna returned from their little hunting trip, Sole shared his newly-obtained knowledge with them. Lillia took one look at InuYasha and promptly cursed fate for being a jerk. InuYasha was mildly surprised by that.
"Why does this upset you so much?", he asked.
"Because your parents were the perfect match. They should have been together – then again, had they met at an earlier point, Sesshomaru wouldn't have been born..."
"Not sure that would be a bad thing", InuYasha muttered.
"Hey!", Luna protested, hitting him over the head with her sheathed katana. "Don't say such things about your alpha!"
"He's not my alpha!", InuYasha snapped. "I'm not part of his pack."
"But you should be! You're his brother, goddammit!"
"I don't want anything to do with that jerk!", InuYasha growled angrily – as best as he could while human.
Luna opened her mouth to retort, but her mother cut across her.
"Leave it, Luna. InuYasha is entitled to his own opinion, just as you are to yours. And we all know the relationship between and his brother - "
"Half-brother", InuYasha growled.
" - isn't exactly a good one", Lillia finished, as if she hadn't heard him.
Luna grumbled something before dropping to the ground in a rather un-ladylike heap.
They didn't talk much after that, except about meaningless things – everyone had something on their minds. However, when they finally went to sleep, the three inu settled down around InuYasha, as if to emphasise that they would watch over him in his vulnerable state. It made him feel marginally better.
It was a bright, warm summer day, and Kaede was busy bundling up herbs to dry them behind her house, when someone in the distance yelled, "Youkai!"
Kaede grabbed her bow and sprinted towards the source of the commotion as fast as her old bones would allow only to find herself face-to-face with two youkai, one silver-haired and one golden-haired, who had just sprinted into the village, kicking up a cloud of dust as they went.
"You cheated!", the female accused the male hotly.
"It is hardly my fault that you are unobservant", he replied, aloof.
Kaede seized the opportunity and aimed an arrow at the male – who was closer to her – and started calling upon her reiki.
"Youkai! Ye are not welcome here!", she bellowed.
The male slowly turned his head and fixed his eerie, electric-blue eyes on her.
"Are you aiming an arrow at me, human?", he asked in a low, threatening tone.
The female rolled her eyes.
"Yes she is, you idiot. It's pretty obvious."
He ignored her and kept his eyes fixed on Kaede – he wasn't even blinking.
"Tell me, miko, do you have a deathwish?"
"Ye are not welcome here", Kaede replied. "This is my final warning. Leave now, or else."
His eyes narrowed and he shifted into a fighting stance, his left arm moving towards the sword strapped to his right hip. Kaede was somewhat confused by that – she had never seen a warrior use his left arm for fighting...
"You will live to regret this", he promised. "Though not very long."
Narrowing her remaining eye, Kaede prepared to loose the arrow – and almost jumped out of her skin when the female appeared next to her in the blink of an eye and plucked the arrow from the string.
"I'll be taking this, thank you very much – before someone gets hurt."
Kaede yelped in fright and slapped at the youkai's hand with her now empty right hand, channelling reiki into the strike. The female let out a high-pitched, pained whine and dropped the arrow, backing out of Kaede's range while nursing her wrist.
"Ow! That hurt, you! What did you do that for, you stupid bitch?!"
"Luna, calm yourself!", the male demanded.
"It hurts, all right? You jerk!"
"Seriously, how old are you – fifty?"
"Shut. Up."
It was only then that Kaede realised something strange – so far, none of the two had actually attempted to attack – sure, the male had threatened her, and the female had taken her arrow, but no-one had been harmed in the process...
There was a terrifying swell of youki suddenly coming from the same direction the two youkai had come from, and Kaede decided it better to back away a little as she reached for another arrow. Moments later, another youkai-female came racing into the village, coming to an abrupt stop next to the other two.
"Why is it that you two can't go anywhere without getting yourselves into trouble?", she barked angrily.
"She started it", the younger female whined, pointing an accusing finger at Kaede. "She hurt me, and it's not healing!"
Kaede found herself immediately the focus of an eerily mismatched pair of eyes, before the newcomer turned to inspect the wound.
"She infused your wound with reiki. A hostile miko – just what we needed. She forgot to mention this, too..."
"It's not healing!", the silver-haired one repeated. "I don't want to die!"
"People don't die of flesh wounds", the other one replied, rolling her eyes. "Even humans wouldn't die of something like that.
"It still hurts!"
"Deal with it."
There was shouting in the distance, and a little while later, InuYasha appeared, carrying Kagome on his back.
"Oi!", he barked at the female with the different-coloured eyes. "You weren't tearing apart the village, were ya?"
"No. Not yet. I am still considering it, though."
"What happened?", Kagome asked, sliding off InuYasha's back.
"You forgot to mention the miko", the female replied.
"Oh, that's just Kaede-baachan."
"'Just Kaede-baachan' harmed my daughter", the youkai replied with a ferocious growl. "Damn it, Kagome, if she wasn't a friend of yours, I would have laid waste to this entire village!"
"Are you suicidal, Kaede-babaa?", InuYasha asked, shocked. "Do you want to know what happened the last time someone hurt one of her kids? Damn it, you don't go messing with inu-youkai of her caliber!"
Kaede blanched slightly at that. She had heard that inu-youkai were extremely protective of their young, but she hadn't realised she was dealing with inu, and neither had she known that their mother was around...
Luna was, in the meantime, shaking her wrist, as if she was hoping the pain would go away that way. Her mother now turned on Kagome.
"You kinda forgot to mention this village had a miko", she growled.
"I didn't think it would be a problem!", Kagome replied defensively.
"Had we known, we wouldn't have charged into this village like we did! Fix her."
"Wh-what? But, Lillia, I don't know if I can - "
"The miko's reiki is keeping the wound from healing. It is your fault Luna was injured. Fix it."
Her aura had turned menacing, and from the amount of power she now let out, Kaede guessed that she would have never survived an attack by any of them...
Kagome made her way over to Luna to take a look at the wound. Luna was still whining softly, and, now that the situation had calmed down somewhat, Kaede could sense just how agitated the male was – he had just been very good at hiding it.
By now, the villagers had gathered around them, apparently curious, but not brave enough to come any closer. Sango and Miroku had to make their way through the crowd in order to reach them.
Lillia was literally breathing down Kagome's neck as she attempted to heal Luna's wound, while the male was still watching Kaede closely. She had a very distinctive feeling he would attack her if she moved an inch. So, she remained perfectly still.
After some more minutes, Kagome announced that she had managed to extract Kaede's reiki from the wound. Lillia immediately snatched her daughter's wrist and began to lick the wound, sealing it shut instantly. Kagome backed away, heaving a weary sigh.
"Oi, wench, you okay?", InuYasha asked gruffly.
"Yeah. Just a little exhausted – that was really difficult, you know. I've never done anything like this before..."
"But now you know that you can do it", he replied. "Might come in handy in the future."
Satisfied that the wound was no more, Lillia released Luna and turned to face Kagome.
"Thanks, Kagome. Sorry for the way I acted, but I couldn't help it – instincts. They drive me crazy on occasion."
"It's okay, and it was kinda my fault. But everything's fine now, ne?"
"Hm. Though your Kaede-baachan'd better hope my mate doesn't find out about this – he won't care she's a friend of yours, I can promise you that."
"Well, I surely won't be telling him about it", Kagome replied with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, I think introductions are overdue – Kaede-baachan, put the bow away, please, you won't need it."
Kaede slowly lowered her bow, never taking her eye off the three inu.
"So Kaede here is the village miko of Edo, and also Kikyo's younger sister. Kaede, those are Lillia and her kids – pups, Luna and Sole. They're members of Sesshomaru's court, and Lillia knew InuYasha's parents, they've been travelling with us for a while."
Kaede's eye widened slightly.
"Sesshomaru as in the Lord of the Western Lands?", she asked.
"The very same", Lillia replied. "Have you met him?"
"Aye, he came here fifty years ago in search of his brother."
"Half-brother", InuYasha grumbled.
"Of course", Lillia replied. "If you're Kikyo's sister, then it makes sense... He didn't harm you, or anyone else in the village?"
"No, though he was mightily displeased with what he found..."
"Well, go figure. I wouldn't be happy if someone pinned my brother to a tree with a magic arrow, especially when I had wanted to see him..."
"Wait, what? The bastard wanted to see me? That's the first I've ever heard about this", InuYasha cut in. "What the hell did he want?"
"That question is for Sesshomaru to answer", Lillia replied.
"Keh. Like he'd ever tell me. He's usually to busy trying to kill me, so we ain't really got time for small talk."
"I know. But, if you want answers, you'll have to make him listen."
"No thanks. I'd like to keep my life – and my sword."
Lillia sighed.
"Let's just leave it at that, okay? I won't tell you, no matter what you may try. Now, Kagome, show me this well of yours."
Kaede watched, puzzled, as Kagome led the way towards the Bone Eater's Well, the others trailing behind her.
Did that Lillia come all the way here just to see the well? What a strange person.
Kagome stopped as they reached the well and turned around to face Lillia.
"Well, this is it. The Bone Eater's Well. I use it to go home."
"So the well would take me to the future?"
"Yes. Assuming it'll work, that is. So far, it hasn't worked for anyone except InuYasha and me."
"So you've said. I still want to give it a try. Anything in particular I need to watch out for?"
"No, you just jump in. If it works, you'll end up in the well house of my family's shrine. And if it doesn't – well, you'd better brace yourself for impact."
"Got it. Well then, I'll give it a try."
Lillia leapt onto the rim of the well and stared down into the shaft.
"Does that mean we'll finally get to meet the human side of our family?", Sole asked, sounding actually eager.
"If it works", Lillia replied. "And I intend to find out now. Stay put."
She stepped into the abyss without hesitation. Kagome ran over to the well and peered into the dark, curious to see whether it had worked. A rather frustrated-looking Lillia was staring back at her.
"Well, that was a failure", she observed cynically. "Stand back, Kagome."
With a burst of youki, she came rocketing out of the well.
"Damn it."
"I'm sorry, haha-ue", Luna said softly, reaching out for her mother's arm.
"What do we do now?", Sole asked.
"Well, the well obviously doesn't work for me", Lillia replied. "But maybe, we can find another way... especially now that we know that travelling through time isn't quite as outlandish as I had thought. There might be something out there..."
"But how do we find it?"
"We have all the time in the world", Lillia replied. "And, if I don't manage to find a quick way back, I can always wait for the next 500 years to pass. It's not that long, really."
"Does that mean you're leaving?", Kagome asked.
"Yeah. I came to see the well, well, I've seen it. So I don't really have a reason to stick around. Besides, perhaps I can find something out about Naraku's plans and maybe thwart them – you keep looking for the shards in the meantime. It's more effective that way."
"Are we ever going to see you again?"
"Who knows? We can't foresee the future, you know. But we might meet again. Until then, stay safe, all of you."
She stepped forward and enveloped Kagome in a hug.
"Please don't fight me, I don't want to get purified..."
The next moment, Kagome found herself enveloped in a thick blanket of youki – it seemed comforting and protective. The feeling was amazing.
"Erm – what did you do?", Kagome asked after Lillia had released her.
"I've imprinted you with my aura, with my youki. It won't last forever, but for a while it'll keep weak youkai away. Just don't spend too much time in your era, as I can imagine all the smells there would overpower my scent..."
"I will. Thanks, Lillia."
About a week had passed since Lillia and her kids had left the group. Kagome had used the first couple of days to catch up on school work – like she'd said she would – and visiting her friends as well as spending some time with her family, after that, they had set out again.
Kagome had sensed a jewel shard shortly after they'd left Edo, and their collection had grown a little. However, Naraku still held most of the jewel – partly thanks to Kikyo's interference – and the odds were definitely stacked against them.
Still, the group was in a relatively good mood as they set up camp near a river. While Kagome began unpacking her supplies, Sango and Miroku started gathering wood to start a fire. InuYasha left to do a round of the perimeter, just as Lillia had taught him and Shippo, not wanting to feel totally useless, grabbed the bucket and headed for the river.
InuYasha had just returned to camp when Shippo's cry startled them all.
"Kagome! Kagome! Come quickly!"
The kit came bursting through the brush on all fours, the bucket nowhere in sight.
"Shippo! What happened?"
"There's a girl in the water! Quickly!"
Kagome dropped her stuff and raced after Shippo, the others behind her. The little fox led her to the riverbank, where a small figure was floating in the shallow water. Letting out a gasp, Kagome jumped into the water and grabbed the small body, pulling the girl out. Praising the heavens for taking a first-aid class at school when it had been offered, she started doing CPR, and after a while the little girl started breathing again.
"Thank the gods", Kagome whispered, as soon as the girl's heart was beating at a steady rhythm.
"Oi", InuYasha said. "Isn't that the little girl Sesshomaru keeps around?"
"Now that you mention it, it is", Miroku said.
"I wonder what happened?", Kagome wondered. "I got the impression that he took her safety very seriously..."
"Maybe she got caught in the currents when she was trying to bathe", Sango replied. "Or maybe she fell in... We'd better ask her once she wakes up."
"Right."
InuYasha lifted Rin into his arms and they made their way back to camp. Kagome and Sango undressed her and wrapped her in a blanket before placing her into Kagome's sleeping bag so she could get warm. Her kimono they hung up near the fire to dry.
They didn't have to wait long for her to come round – the smell of the food probably helped, too. Rin's brown eyes cracked open, and she regarded then with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Hello, Rin-chan", Kagome said in a friendly manner. "How are you feeling?"
The little girl deliberated for a moment before replying, "Hungry. And a little cold."
"Come sit with us, then", the miko replied, "but keep the blanket, your kimono is still wet."
Kagome handed Rin some ramen, and she started eating hungrily. Once she was done, she looked at the group questioningly.
"Where are we?"
"Somewhere in a forest near a river", Kagome replied lightly. "We don't know any better than that."
"Oh. Where's Sesshomaru-sama?"
"We haven't seen him in a while, Rin-chan... do you remember what happened?"
The little girl frowned.
"I went fishing, and Jaken-sama had been ordered to look after me – Sesshomaru-sama will be mad..."
"How did you end up in the river? Did you trip?"
"There was a big fish, and Rin – I wanted to catch it. Suddenly, water was everywhere!"
The girl's eyes widened comically.
"Well, you're all right now. We'll look after you until we run into Sesshomaru, okay?"
"Hai!"
"Won't be long, I bet", InuYasha muttered. "We haven't seen him in a while, so he's bound to pop up again to remind us of his annoying existence..."
Kagome hit InuYasha's arm.
"Mind your language in front of Rin! She doesn't need to hear this."
InuYasha had been right – it didn't take Sesshomaru long to find them. Whether he'd been looking for them, or Rin, Kagome couldn't say – but he couldn't have known that she was with them. Since she had been in the water for a while, he would have been unable to follow her trail, either.
Rin's face lit up as soon as she spotted the inu, however, before anyone could say or do anything, InuYasha had jumped in between them, ready to draw Tetsuaiga.
"What do you want now, you bastard?", he growled, apparently itching for a fight.
"InuYasha! Osuwari!"
With a loud crash, the hanyou was dragged several feet underground. One of Sesshomaru's eyebrows rose at that.
"What did I tell you about swearing in front of the kids? Besides, did you forget we still have Rin with us? I bet he just came to pick her up, no need to get all defensive, baka!"
InuYasha grumbled something intelligible from his crater. Kagome ignored him and addressed Sesshomaru.
"I'm sorry about that, Sesshomaru-sama. Sometimes, he forgets to use his head..."
The other eyebrow rose.
"Sometimes? This Sesshomaru would be very surprised if he ever used his head at all."
Kagome stared at him. Had he just made a joke?
"A very handy trick", the inu continued. "How does it work?"
"Ah – a miko named Kaede put a spell on the beads he's wearing – I only activate it."
"Hn. This one thinks you should use it more often."
Now he had definitely made a joke – apparently, Sesshomaru didn't mind having fun at InuYasha's expense.
"So I take it you're here for Rin?", Kagome asked.
"Hn. How come she is with you?"
"Shippo found her at a river – she wasn't breathing, but I managed to restart her heart. She told us she'd been fishing when she tripped and the current bore her away..."
"Jaken."
"H-hai, Sesshomaru-sama?"
"This one told you to look after Rin."
Sesshomaru kicked Jaken into a tree. The kappa immediately began apologising, prostrat ing himself in front of his lord, but Sesshomaru simply ignored him.
"You have saved this Sesshomaru's ward, miko. This one is indebted to you."
"Ah, no, it was nothing. I just did what anyone would have done."
"You give people too much credit. Not anyone would have cared if a pup that was not their own was in trouble."
Suddenly, his eyes snapped to Kagome's, and before she had a chance to react, he was right in front of her, his nostrils flaring slightly as he took in her scent.
"You smell of Lillia."
"Ah – yes. We met her and the pups a while ago, and she imprinted me with her aura to keep me safe..."
Sesshomaru frowned slightly – it was the first time Kagome had seen an emotion other than fury on his face.
"This one remembers very distinctively ordering her to remain at the fortress."
Jaken jumped to his feet and started waving his staff around in agitation.
"That stupid wench! How dare she ignore Sesshomaru-sama's orders! She always does as she pleases, she has no regard for my lord's high standing - "
His tirade was interrupted as Sesshomaru kicked him into another tree.
"Jaken. You will not speak that way about Lillia behind her back."
"H-hai, Sesshomaru-sama."
"Why was Lillia with you?", Sesshomaru asked, focusing the full intensity of his icy stare on Kagome.
"Ah, well, you see..." Kagome trailed off to give herself time to think. She couldn't lie to Sesshomaru, but at the same time, she had to keep Lillia's motives a secret from him – and InuYasha. "She wanted to see the old well near Edo, and I offered to take her", she finally said.
That wasn't a lie per se, she just had left out a lot of other information. The others – including InuYasha, who had in the meantime risen from his crater – wisely decided to keep their mouths shut.
Sesshomaru kept staring at her for a while before deciding that she had indeed told him the truth, and wasn't going to tell him anything else. Surprisingly enough, he just left it at that – and Kagome seriously hoped Lillia wouldn't get into trouble the next time she met him.
"This Sesshomaru will not forget his debt to you, miko", the stoic lord finally said before turning away. "Rin. We are leaving."
"Hai, Sesshomaru-sama! Sayonara, Kagome-neechan!"
The girl waved at her cheerfully before running after her lord, who had already left. Jaken scrambled to his feet and followed them, muttering things under his breath.
A/N: I've started practising Kyudo (kyo = bow, do = way, making kyudo "the way of the bow") in May, and as such now know a few things about Japanese archery. The bows we use are called "yumi", though I don't know if that refers to longbows, or any kind of bow, so I'll just use it to discribe longbows. If you are interested in learning more, you can PM me and I'll tell you anything you want to know ;) Both bows and arrows are made from bamboo, the bows often get painted in different colours. One bow costs about € 200,-