Hello my lovelies! First off I'd like to apologize for how long this update has taken me. I've alluded to it a few times, but I fell ill for awhile and have been on the slow road to recovery ever since. Lately I have been doing much better, though.
I'm also amazed (and stupefied and awed and so very, very grateful) to say that this story has reached over one thousand reviews! The amount of support and time you've all given to this story over the years is truly awesome and I can't begin to thank you all enough for it. One way that I intend to try, though, is by finishing up the story. Since I put the last chapter out I've sat down and done some serious brain-storming, and I am relatively certain that I will be wrapping the story up at 35 chapters. Yes, that means we've only got 8 chapters left to go (including this one), but I'm almost certain I can get it done!
Also, with the end of this story looming in the not-too-distant future, I've got a few other story ideas that I'm considering working on after it is finished. I'm still playing around with them for now, so I'll reveal more once I've got a more solid idea of which one I really plan on pursuing. I'm just not ready for my time here to be finished yet, I guess.
Another idea I've been toying around with for some time is a series of pieces based off of BtSS but written in the perspectives of other characters (Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Kikyou, etc.). I like the idea of doing this after I've finished the story because as the story has progressed I've come to realize more and more how limited Kagome's perspective is (there are certain situations that we can only learn about second-hand through her, as it's just not plausible that she would actually be present to witness them). I'd love to be able to fill in the gaps, so to speak, by doing this, but I wanted to put it out there and see how people liked the idea. Although, knowing myself as I do, I might just end up doing it for my own peace of mind, whether or not the idea is well-received.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. On with the story!
Our mini-history lesson for today will be provided at the end of the chapter to avoid spoilers, so please look there if you have any questions!
Now on with the story!
"Do not stray far from her. If she dies you must be ready to take possession of the body immediately. I do not care if it means exposing yourself or others, so long as the corpse comes into my hands."
"And if she lives, Naraku-sama?" a voice answered, a faint hint of challenge in it. "What would you have me do then?"
The first party was silent for a beat, the hint of insolence in the response not missing its mark.
"Then you will proceed as I planned originally," the first voice replied, cooler than before. "That the guard got close enough to do even as much damage as he did only proves the idiocy of the girl. She thought herself safe enough in the court not to bother with a guard any longer. Needless to say the half-breed will see that she has one once more if she lives. Her death is the preferable outcome, but if she lives it will still be to my benefit."
"I see. Then I will tell Kanna to proceed as before and remain close in case she does pass."
"Mmmm," the first voice made a noncommittal sound of agreement.
Several moments of silence passed and it seemed the conversation might have reached a close.
"Then, Naraku-sama, I will-"
"Kagura?" the first voice interrupted.
"…Yes, Naraku-sama?"
There was a short pause, then a gasp. A pained yelp followed. The sound grew quickly into a scream, punctuated by gasping sobs. The sound seemed to stretch on forever.
"Consider this a reminder, Kagura," the first voice spoke when the noise died down to shuddering gasps. "Mind your mouth when you speak to me. You think I have not seen the pounding of this treacherous heart of late? You think I am ignorant of the cause of it? You would do well to remember that you are mine, Kagura, body and soul, until I see fit to release you. Otherwise you will only make things unpleasant for us both, and neither of us wants that, do we?"
Silence was the answer. The grin that stretched across the man's face was nearly audible.
"Good girl."
It was peaceful.
The glade was small, ringed closely by a dense mass of trees that grew so close together they seemed as one. A sea of grass grew high, swaying gently as if touched by a faint breeze. Here and there flowers stretched up above the grass, petals reaching towards the warmth of a sun that seemed to sit directly overhead in the sky.
She had no idea where this place was. She could not recall how she might have gotten here. She could not recall much of anything, for that matter, but she found that none of this troubled her in the least.
Kagome lay back, enjoying the gentle brush of the grass against her bare limbs. She glanced up at the tops of the stalks of grass and the flowers above her, feeling that she would be glad to let it swallow her.
The sun caught her eyes, blinding her for a moment. She blinked hard, bright spots dancing behind her closed lids.
The warmth on her face seemed to increase suddenly. She slanted her eyes open against the light.
A woman was there, leaning over her. She smiled, her skin as pale and as bright as sunlight. A strand of her long, dark hair slipped over her shoulder to brush Kagome's face. It was warm, the sensation akin to holding one's hands near the glowing embers of a fire.
"Hello, my daughter," the woman said, and Kagome knew her.
"Hello, Amaterasu-sama," she replied.
The kami's smile widened.
"I am glad to meet you at last," she spoke. "You have proven to be one of the more interesting ones to watch. Though the meeting has come sooner than I had thought it would."
"Am I passing, then?" Kagome asked, strangely untroubled by the thought.
The kami's head tilted slightly as she considered this.
"Possibly," she answered after a moment.
"Possibly?" Kagome echoed.
Amaterasu nodded.
"You are one of the rare ones, my daughter," she said. "The wound was not so grave as to be instantly fatal, but not so slight as to be easily mended. What happens from here will be a matter of choice."
"Wound?" Kagome said, a faint frown beginning to crease her brow.
"You cannot recall it?" Amaterasu asked. "You are further along than I suspected, then. Look at your hands, Kagome."
Kagome blinked slowly, uncomprehending for a moment. With great effort she managed to raise her hands, bringing them up between herself and the kami.
"Can you see them?" Amaterasu asked.
Kagome nodded, though it was not her hands to which the woman referred. It was the strings.
There was one attached to the smallest finger of her right hand, a bright red thread stretching off somewhere beyond the line of her sight. A second thread, black and thicker than the red one, was wrapped about her left wrist.
Even as she looked on she could see both threads beginning to fray.
"What's happening?" Kagome asked. "What are they?"
"I think that 'fate' is the word that I hear most of you throwing about," Amaterasu said, reaching down to run one slender finger along the length of the red thread. "But I do not think that quite fits. 'Bond' might be better. The connections you have to the world. The connections that tug at you, that might be woven into a future if not severed or unraveled."
She paused, eyes the color of molten amber shifting to the black thread. She considered it for a long moment.
"Another rarity," she murmured, reaching to pluck at it. "To have formed such a strong connection without either meaning to. This one will be hard to escape…"
"They're fraying," Kagome said, a thrill of panic running through her. She was tempted to pull her hands away from the kami to keep her from touching and damaging them any further.
"Yes," Amaterasu answered simply. "Eventually they will be broken entirely, if you so choose."
"And what happens then?" Kagome asked, turning her eyes to meet the woman's blazing gaze.
Amaterasu smiled. She shook her head.
"Nothing," she replied. "You stay here and you rest until the time comes when you can start anew. That is all. I can stay with you, if you like."
"But I will be dead?" Kagome asked.
"Yes."
"Isn't that…bad?"
"Is it?"
Kagome was not sure. There was some inkling in her mind that it should be, some faint instinct that dying was not something that was desirable. But her mind was largely blank. She could not come up with any logical reason to support the notion. All she knew for certain was that this place was comfortable and the fraying of the threads filled her with vague unease.
"I can't…Can't you tell me?" Kagome said, turning a pleading look on the kami. "You must know. Can't you tell me what I should do?"
But Amaterasu was already shaking her head.
"This choice has to be your own," she said. "Anything else would be meaningless."
Kagome frowned, eyes sliding down to her hands. She could not think. Her mind was empty.
This place was comfortable, though. She felt safe and she could rest here. She would even have a kami to accompany her. There was no telling what things she could learn if she were to stay.
There was a tug.
Kagome jerked slightly, gaze jumping to her finger. It was the red string. It had suddenly gone taut, tugging insistently at the finger to which it was affixed.
"Ah," Amaterasu said, eyeing the string. "It seems someone is not quite ready to release you."
Kagome was scarcely listening. She could not remove her gaze from the thread, eyes widening as the tugging began to fray the connection more rapidly.
It was him. She remembered him.
"I need to go back," she said, the words leaving her before she had even thought to speak them.
Amaterasu turned her impossibly bright eyes back to Kagome's face.
"Are you certain?" she asked. "This decision is not one to be made lightly or with haste, my daughter."
Kagome's gaze darted from woman's face to the string and back again. She remembered him. But she was also beginning to remember the rest of it. Kikyou and the Taira and the knife and the spider.
Coming back would be painful. She had been stabbed, after all, and she still could not recall exactly how much damage might have been done to her body. And returning would mean having to deal with this new mess, having to sort out exactly what had gone on with Kikyou. And that was to say nothing of the rest of it.
She was weary. It would be so much easier to simply remain here.
She met Amaterasu's eye. There was no judgment, no expectation of any sort in the otherworldly fineness of her features. Whatever she chose, the kami would accept it.
"…I need to go back," she repeated softly. "He wouldn't leave me alone if he had a choice. I won't leave him on his own."
Amaterasu smiled.
"I confess that I am glad to hear it," she said. "I want very much to see what you will do with the things that are coming together. And do not worry. Peace will find you again soon. I will see you again soon. And in the meantime, I will give you a small gift."
Something was strange.
Kagome awoke, abruptly and clearly, to this sensation. She found herself staring at the roof above her for several long moments, confused and yet strangely clear-headed.
A glance told her almost nothing about where she was, save that the room was vaguely familiar. Still, it might have been any room that she had ever seen in the Heian-kyō for its complete lack of any distinctive features.
Midoriko knelt just to the left of the futon she was tucked into, her head bowed low over her lap. She appeared to have nodded off. Kagome wondered exactly how long the older woman had been watching over her.
She wriggled one arm free of the blanket and reached out, intending to wake the elder miko and relieve her of her watch. Surely she would hurt her back if she continued to sleep in that position, and she was feeling fine so there was no need for the older woman to-
Kagome froze.
She felt fine.
She looked incredulously to the arm she had lifted to touch the woman, certain that it was the arm that had been injured in the attack. Moving it should have been agony.
Kagome lowered the arm slowly, curious. There was not a twinge of pain as she brought it back down to rest at her side. She raised her other arm, bringing it across her body. She hesitated, fingers hovering just over her shoulder.
Biting her lip, she pressed down.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Kagome blinked slowly. She pressed once more, digging in harder with her nails this time. Still there was nothing more than the ordinary pinch of discomfort.
Had all of it been some horrible delusion?
She sat up in the futon, scarcely registering the astonished gasps of the other attendants around her. She reached down, pushing the heavy blankets down her legs and fumbling for a moment until she was able to loosen the tie that held the sleeping yukata she wore closed. She tugged until the garment was loose enough for her to shrug her left shoulder free of the material.
Another round of gasps went up. Someone nearly shrieked. Then silence, complete and total, descended upon the room.
Her shoulder should have been a mess. It should have been a grotesque sight, flesh and muscle rent by the dagger's blade.
It was none of those things.
Instead there was a sun, its rays stretching across her collarbone and down as far as the slight swell of her breast. It was slightly darker in color than the flesh surrounding it, but somehow still appeared to have a radiance to it as if it were shining.
"By the kami…"
Midoriko's breathless gasp told her that the woman was awake. A quick glance told her that the rest of the attendants in the room had frozen, their eyes fixed on her bare shoulder.
Her concern for them was fleeting, though. The sun on her shoulder consumed her thoughts even as it sent her mind reeling.
It had been real. The field had been real. Amaterasu-sama…
Kagome bolted up from her bed in a tangle of blankets and clothing, abruptly enough that several of the attendants jumped. They moved hurriedly out of her way as she went to the shoji, sliding it open with an unceremonious clatter. Behind her she heard Midoriko call out, but there was not room enough in her mind to heed it.
In a confused blur of moments she reached the entryway of the building which she absently realized was the Chūgū's residence and then was outside. Several guards stood stationed there, their looks confused as they caught sight of her disheveled figure. Kagome moved past them without so much as blinking and they did not stop her, but stood astonished in her wake.
Feet bare, hair a tangle falling wildly down her back, and clothed only in a light sleeping yukata, Kagome made her way out of the Dairi and determinedly down the avenues of the court. After a few moments the guards caught up with her, trying to gain her attention to no avail. A few reached out as if to physically restrain her, but balked before ever their hands touched her flesh. The sight the lot of them made was a bizarre enough one that they soon had a crowd trailing after them, the murmurs of the incredulous courtiers filling the streets.
On some level Kagome was aware of the impropriety of what she was doing, but she could not bring herself to care. Something was tugging at her, drawing her forward. She had to keep moving.
By the time she reached the steps of the Chūwain the crowd behind her had grown considerably, the spectacle drawing many courtiers out. No one could understand it. Nearly the entire court had witnessed her attack. Rumors had been circulating for days that she was on her deathbed, scarcely a thread left to hold her to the world. Now she walked, almost ran, before them without the slightest hint of a wound obstructing her movements.
The steps which normally took some effort to get up seemed to fly by beneath her feet. With a sudden flash of insight Kagome understood exactly where she was going. Only moments later she was there, standing before it.
The statue of Amaterasu-sama that Midoriko-sama had once led her to so long ago gazed down benevolently upon her, the same expressiveness in the stone face that had struck her the first time she had seen it. But it was different now. There was real life in the face, real warmth in the eyes that looked down upon her.
Amaterasu-sama was there.
Entranced, Kagome reached out her hand. Amaterasu's hand stretched out, the tips of warm fingers meeting her own.
For a moment she knew complete peace, a happiness and certainty so deep that every moment of her life came together in her mind as a series of steps that had led her to this moment. Everything had had a reason. Everything had been beautiful, even the pain. Everything would be alright.
The mark of the sun on her shoulder flared with sudden brightness and she blinked hard against the blinding light. The hand withdrew and she stood once more beside a stone statue, its face kind but vacant. Her hand fell slowly back to her side, a chill rippling over her skin as she came back to herself.
A faint murmuring sounded behind her and she turned her head slightly. From the corner of her eye she could just see the throng of courtiers ringing the small pagoda in which the statue was housed, though their expressions were difficult to make out.
Their silence, however, said much, and the chill on her skin increased with realization that she wore nothing more than a thin sleeping yukata, her previously injured shoulder entirely bared to their eyes. She reached up hurriedly, pulling the material up over her shoulder as best she could as her mind raced in an effort to explain what had just happened to them.
She was saved the trouble of an explanation, red and gold filling her peripheral vision for a moment before a swath of red fabric was draped over her shoulders. Clawed hands tugged at the material, pulling it closed around her, and she could feel the warmth of his body though she could not bring herself to look at his face.
"Shut up," he said, lowly enough that only she could hear. "Not a word until we're out of here, alright?"
Kagome gave a faint nod to indicate her understanding. As long as she did not have to try and explain what had just gone on.
She choked back a gasp as she was lifted, the haori pulled more tightly around her as he tucked her against his chest. He turned to face the dumbstrck crowd, the cradle of his arms largely shielding her from their sight.
"If there was any question of the...the former Empress's actions being a sign of the disapproval of the kami, it is now settled," he said, voice low. "Return to your residences. It will be a few days before the Miko will see anyone."
Kagome kept her eyes on his face as he spoke, partly because the way that he held her prevented her from seeing much else. She could see the line of his jaw tighten as he spoke, the tension she could feel in his arms echoing it.
No one spoke. They hardly so much as blinked, the crowd parting wordlessly to allow them passage. The hanyou kept his steps measured, unhurried even as the courtiers trailed after them, but she could feel the strain in his muscles. She wondered if he was angry with her.
If he was, how should she explain herself? She scarcely understood what had just happened. She could hardly even recall how she had gotten to the statue, what had driven her from her room without even a thought to her appearance. She had acted like one possessed, and she must have looked it, too.
What had they seen as they watched her? Could it be the same as what she thought she had seen? Or was even her own mind no longer to be trusted? She felt uncertain, off balance. She had only just woken up and already she had caused a mess.
She blinked, realizing suddenly that they were no longer moving. They had arrived back at her sick chamber within the Chūgū's residence. Inuyasha must have sent the others out of the room because they seemed to be the only two there.
The hanyou stooped, setting her down carefully atop the mussed blankets of the futon. Kagome raised her eyes hesitantly to meet his own, but she scarcely had a moment to catch her breath before his arms were around her once more.
His face was pressed against the crook of her miraculously uninjured shoulder, his hold so tight she feared he might crush her. In the absolute silence of the room she could hear the uneven rattle of his breath, her own heart stuttering in her chest as if to keep pace.
"You," he snarled, the word cracking faintly. "You-!"
"I'm sorry," she responded without thinking. "I'm so sorry."
"Moron," he breathed. "Don't apologize."
"I'm sorry," she said again, her own voice breaking.
He choked on a laugh, the sound a hollow bark as he pressed his face more closely to her shoulder. Her arms came up around him and she found that she was shaking.
"I knew you wouldn't…" he choked on the last word, unable to get it out. "I knew you were too damn stubborn to go."
"I'm fine," she said, needing to reassure him as much as herself. "I told you I wasn't going anywhere, didn't I?"
It was beginning to dawn on her, though, how close she had come to losing everything. To losing him.
He managed somehow to loosen the band of his arms, pulling back enough to meet her eyes. Kagome swallowed, still shaking and wanting nothing more in that moment than to lean in and press her lips to his. She leaned forward.
His gaze shifted to her shoulder, breaking the spell. He reached for the edge of her yukata, tugging just enough to reveal the edges of the sun scar. He tugged again, baring her shoulder and revealing the rest. He reached out tentatively, pressing his fingers to the scar as if to assure himself that it was real. Kagome flushed faintly.
He shook his head, coming back to himself. He met her eyes, thumb tracing an absent line over the scar.
"What happened? With that statue and this…"
"What did you see?" Kagome said. "Back there, I mean. Did it…did it look like Amaterasu-sama was…there? Was she…?"
"Alive?" he finished for her when she hesitated. "It looked like it. For a moment anyway. And this thing was glowing."
He indicated the scar with a nod of his head. Kagome breathed a small sigh, relieved to hear it.
"It was real, then," she said.
Inuyasha frowned.
"I saw her," Kagome explained softly. "When I was…well, I am not sure where I was, to be honest. I think…I think I might have been dying."
Inuyasha flinched.
"Amaterasu-sama was there, though," Kagome hurried on. "She was talking to me, telling me I had a choice. That it was mine to decide what I wanted to do. I told her I wanted to come back and…"
She gestured vaguely to her shoulder. Inuyasha waited, his eyes on her face.
"What do you think it means?" she said after a moment. "I mean, it seems like…like Amaterasu-sama has some sort of plan. She was pleased when I said I would return. And then the statue…doesn't it seem like she must have some sort of plan?"
Inuyasha scowled.
"If you getting stabbed was a part of her plan, then it's a fucking stupid plan and I hope she leaves you alone from now on," he said with real venom.
Kagome gasped.
"Inuyasha!"
He huffed, unrepentant.
"The only good thing to come out of it is that whatever just happened will give the court something else to gossip about for awhile," he said. "Kami knows they needed something to distract them."
Kagome paused at this, something tugging faintly at the back of her mind. A chill went through her.
"Distract them from what?" she forced herself to ask.
Inuyasha's eyes met hers for a moment before sliding away.
"That should be obvious," he said.
"But it's not," Kagome persisted. "So explain it to me."
She could see Inuyasha's jaw tighten for a moment.
"…I took care of the guard right away," he said after a long moment. "He was dead before he hit the ground. He deserved it. And that one guard, Hobo or whatever his name is, confirmed that he was one of her head guards while I was away. For some reason she left him behind when she went. Her clan seal was found on the corpse, though."
Kagome felt the blood drain from her face. Inuyasha's hand dropped from its resting place on her scar.
"So I had to make something up to tell the court. I told them she'd panicked after our wedding and begged to return home for awhile. That she'd…she'd misunderstood things between us and that this…that she made a mistake."
"Bastards were quick to call for her head. She might be one of their own, but she didn't have many friends in the court after she lost her clan. By the laws, the punishment for anyone making an attempt on a servant of the Tennō is death."
"You can't be serious," Kagome spoke through lips gone numb.
Inuyasha shot her a glare.
"You think I like this?" he snapped, eyes flashing. "You think I wanted things to turn out like this? Dammit, Kagome, if I'd have known-!"
He cut himself off, his gaze dropping once more.
"I never should've left her alone again," he resumed lowly. "I knew she was struggling and I…I ran off anyway. It's my fault, all of it. But how do I forgive her for this?"
"You can't just kill her!" Kagome said, her mind spinning. "Whatever might have happened, she's still your wife! She's still-!"
"The marriage is going to be declared void," Inuyasha broke in flatly. "And I've already declared a punishment. Exile from the court and confinement to the outside Fujiwara residence. The courtiers were pushing for worse. This…this is the only way I can protect her now."
Kagome blinked, her mind still reeling.
"Wait," she said faintly, pressing a hand to her temple as if that might still the rioting of her thoughts. "Just wait. We need to think this through. You can't possibly believe that-"
She cut herself short at the look on his face.
"I can believe it," he said quietly. "And maybe that's the worst thing."
Kagome bit her tongue. Silence fell between them.
"Lay down," Inuyasha commanded after several moments, not meeting her eyes. "You need to rest."
"I don't-"
"Lay down," Inuyasha repeated more forcefully. "I need to go deal with them."
He rose, moving towards the shoji. He paused there, hand on the wooden frame.
"I won't talk about this with you again," he said. "She made her choice, and now I have to live with mine. And I'll be sure to order the guards to hold you here, so don't even think about getting up."
And then he was gone, the shoji slamming shut behind him.
Dazedly Kagome lay back, not a doubt in her mind about him giving those exact orders to the guards. That and she suddenly felt incredibly tired.
Slowly the attendants began to trickle back into the room, moving slowly as if to keep from waking her. They need not have worried. Sleep was a long time in coming.
Her confinement to the Chūgū's residence turned out to be a matter of more than a day. Normally Inuyasha's heavy-handedness would have put her at her wit's end, but Kagome found herself grateful for it. It seemed that everything had changed within the space of several moments and she appreciated the silence and the room that his confinement allowed her to try and sort through it all. Besides which she found that despite her miraculous recovery, she had not entirely regained her usual energy. Even overlong walks tended to tire her.
She knew this because, thankfully, Inuyasha widened her confinement enough to include the entirety of the inner palace, provided that a guard hand-selected by him shadowed her every move. It was a little obnoxious, but not enough so to cause her to forget what had transpired. She would take the inconvenience over the anxiety that being alone now often evoked in her.
The majority of Inuyasha's days were taken up with dealing with the court. He made the excuse for her that she was resting and meditating on what had occurred, but he needed to be among them as much as possible with things as unstable as they were. A reminder, he said, that he was there to keep order. He wore his sword sheathed at his hip at all times.
He made sure to visit her at night before bed, though. He relayed to her the gist of what was going on among the courtiers, though she was certain he held back a great deal no matter how she pried. His visits were far more for the sake of checking in on her condition than keeping her informed, as he made obvious when he spent the majority of his time speaking to Midoriko rather than to her. The elder miko had spent nearly every day since the incident monitoring her and thus was more than used to giving the Tennō frequent updates on her condition.
He could not stay the night with her. Even if he were to dismiss all of the attendants-which would have been suspicious enough in and of itself- he would still have the guards to explain his comings and goings to in the middle of the night as he was entirely unwilling to even entertain the thought of dismissing them. Thus his visits were short, lasting no more than the time it took for him to speak briefly with her and Midoriko before he ordered her to bed and went off to his own chambers.
Kagome was more than a bit surprised to discover how lonely her room felt without him there. When she awoke in the night, strangled by darkness and the feeling of slipping slowly from her own body she reached for him and found emptiness. She could only curl in on herself tightly, reminding herself that she had managed on her own before and could do so again now.
He had been faithful to his word in never speaking about Kikyou with her again. Any time she attempted to broach the subject he rebuffed her so quickly it was enough to make her head spin. After a handful of attempts she gave up altogether, deciding to wait to try the subject until it was a bit less fresh for him.
She continued to think on the matter on her own, though. It was difficult, beyond difficult, for her to believe that Kikyou had truly intended to have her killed. It simply did not match with the image of the woman that she had in her mind.
Still, she also knew how much Inuyasha meant to Kikyou. If she had truly thought that he had abandoned her for another woman, would she be capable of this? She had lost nearly everything else in the world that she loved. Would that final loss have been too great to bear?
The evidence was against her, as well. She had gotten a moment to speak to Hojo when he had come on shift among her guard and he had verified what Inuyasha had told her. The guard had been among Kikyou's own and her clan seal had been discovered on his body after the fact.
She did not want to believe it. The Kikyou she had known might not have always been kind, but she had been fair. She had been strong. Kagome needed to see her, to look into her eyes and find the truth for herself. Somehow she needed to find a chance to visit the Fujiwara residence and speak to her. If the woman had truly desired her death, she was sure she would know it.
All of this she kept quiet, of course. Inuyasha refused to entertain the notion of letting her out of the Dairi, let alone the Heian-kyō. Nor did she have any particular desire to prod the wound for him. Even though his visits were short she often saw the guilt of what had happened darken his features, though it was hard to know if he was troubled more by what had befallen her or Kikyou.
On the fourth day after waking she decided to make a trip to Inuyasha's quarters. It was early in the day and she was almost entirely certain that the hanyou would not be there, but she found that she could not shake the whim once it had gotten hold of her.
She justified it to herself as wanting to see if she could perchance find something within his chambers that might hint at the goings on in the court, considering that Inuyasha himself had been vague at best in relating things to her. She chose to ignore the part of her that thrilled at the idea of returning to that too-familiar place.
And so after the morning meal she set out, a small guard trailing along at her heels. After her many walks she had grown accustomed to their constant presence, had even become friendly with a few. It was hard not to when it was generally the same several men assigned to her.
She was certain Inuyasha kept the pool small for the sake of her safety. The fewer people involved, after all, the less the risk that one might be assigned whose loyalties were not as secure as might be hoped. Kagome found herself grateful for Inuyasha's caution in the matter.
Familiar though she was with them, Kagome made no attempt at conversation as they went. She was not particularly eager to share the destination of this stroll with them, nor did she relish the idea of coming up with an explanation as to why she was making the trip. Thankfully the guards were content to be silent escorts so long as she remained within their line of sight.
The days were growing warmer, and Kagome paused on the walkway leading into Inuyasha's chambers to admire the light reflecting off the waters beneath. The last traces of frost had disappeared from the pond and when she looked closely Kagome could see flashes of the koi gliding about beneath the still waters.
She moved to cross the remainder of the walkway, only to jerk herself to a stop halfway through the motion. The guard following closest behind her nearly ran into her at the abrupt stop, shifting in an instant to a defensive stance at her side.
"O-Miko-sama?" the man said, hand hovering just above the sword at his waist.
The guards had insisted on using this new form of address with her ever since she had woken. For the moment Kagome ignored the title, lifting a hand to ease the guard back. She peered around him.
"Hold on," she murmured, her eyes scanning the water for the thing that had stopped her in her tracks.
She could feel the remainder of her guard drawing up tight around herself and the first guard. She ignored them, frowning as her eyes roved the still waters. She could have sworn…
There! Kagome slid forward to the railing, leaning over to get a better view of the water. A hand clamped down on her elbow, steadying her while at the same time attempting to pull her back. She shrugged the gesture off, eyes intent on the ripple she could see building along the surface of the water not far from the walkway.
The feel of youki prickled down the length of her spine as she watched the column of golden scales writhing just beneath the surface of the water. It was far too large to be one of the koi, though the fish did not scatter as it moved among them. Nor could she sense any malice in the feel of its youki as it glided slowly up to the walkway.
The hand on her arm tugged her back away from the railing as the water bubbled up, a dark mass emerging slowly. Two of the men moved as if to draw their swords and Kagome pushed forward to grab at them.
"Wait a moment," she said. "Just wait a moment. It is not dangerous."
"Please stand back, O-Miko-sama," one of the men spoke. "We are under strict orders from his Majesty to take no chances where your safety is concerned."
"Please, at least move enough that I can see," Kagome huffed, pushing with her shoulder and wriggling until they made enough room that she could get a look at the creature between them.
Large, liquid eyes, doleful and dark, peered up at her from beneath a curtain of straight, ink black hair. The face appeared female, pale and delicately boned. The ridge of her brow was scaled and scales climbed the column of her throat, trailing down the length of her bare human torso. It was difficult to see past her waist with the rest of her body still submerged, but Kagome could just make out a lengthy golden-scaled tail gliding beneath the water.
A ningyō.
The youkai blinked at the sight of her, shifting forward. She lifted a hand, gesturing for her to come closer. Kagome could just make out the fine film of the webbing between her fingers. Kagome attempted to move forward, but quickly found herself thwarted by her guard. The ningyō's frown matched her own.
"I need to speak to the miko," she said softly, her voice low and cool like the sound of water rolling over smooth stones.
"We are the O-Miko-sama's guard," one man spoke. "If you wish an audience with her, you will have it in our presence."
The girl's frown deepened, her eyes shifting to Kagome's face.
"How did you get here?" Kagome asked, resigned to the idea that the guards would not be allowing her any privacy. "How do you know me?"
The ningyō cocked her head to one side, considering this.
"All the waters are his waters," she said slowly. "He sent me to these waters to bring a message to you."
Kagome frowned, her brows drawing together.
"He?" she said. "Who?"
She had learned from her studies under Kaede-sama that ningyō were able to move through any body of water, even ones that were seemingly unconnected. But who could this 'he' be? And how would he have known where to find her?
"Suijin-sama, of course," the girl replied, as if it should have been obvious. "He has been watching you, waiting to repay the debt he owes you for your kindness on the beach."
Kagome's eyes widened. She heard a murmur go up among the guards.
"Suijin-sama…?"
"Suijin-sama? The kami Suijin-sama?"
"How…? What…?" Kagome said, struggling to gather her thoughts amidst the chatter.
A memory surfaced. The children and the turtle on the beach. The turtle slipping away into the waves. Kagome gasped.
There was no way...
"The turtle?" she said, looking to the youkai.
The girl merely blinked, lifting her shoulders in what might have been a shrug.
"Suijin-sama takes what form he will. It is not for me to know," she replied. "He merely said that I should deliver something to the miko Kagome-sama."
She lifted a hand from the water, extending it towards her. Clutched in it were two objects that were difficult to make out, and a guard reached out to take hold of them before Kagome could get near enough. The ningyō frowned faintly.
"Those belong to Kagome-sama," she said. "One is from the ship. The other is a token of my people. Suijin-sama has put us at your disposal should you need us, though I would urge you to be prudent in calling upon us. Even our loyalties to Suijin-sama only extend so far."
Kagome saw a brief flash of fangs as she spoke the last, her limpid eyes sharpening for a moment.
Kagome nodded in acknowledgement, though the surreal quality of the moment prevented her from absorbing fully what was being said. Abruptly the woman dove, her back an arch of pale scales followed by the long golden line of her tail slipping back beneath the water behind her. A flick of translucent fins was the last thing Kagome saw before she disappeared entirely from sight.
Kagome leaned forward, eyes scanning the water for the glint of golden scales. She was gone as quickly as she had come, though, the koi now the only sign of life within the waters. She turned to the guard who had taken the objects from the girl, extending her hand. The man handed the objects over, apparently satisfied that they were no danger to her.
One of the two things was nothing more than a tiny scale, perfectly golden in color. Kagome knew enough of youkai not to take it lightly, though. The flesh of a ningyō was nothing to be trifled with, and men had killed for less. She guessed that this was what the girl had meant when she had spoken of a token of her people.
The second object was a bit more puzzling. At first it seemed to be nothing more than a damp roll of rough black cloth. Kagome took the scale in her free hand, tucking it away safely in the front of her robes in order to examine the black cloth. She had to use both hands to unroll and unfold the length of it, her nose wrinkling a bit at the strong smell of brine that had soaked into the fabric.
There was a symbol embroidered into one side of the cloth, darkened by long exposure to water. Kagome frowned at it for a long moment, struggling to make it out. Her eyes went wide as the image suddenly clicked, resonating with another one in her memory.
"What is it, O-Miko-sama?" asked the guard nearest to her, and she jolted in surprise.
She refolded the cloth so hastily she nearly dropped it, shoving it into the front of her robes and cringing at the feel of the damp fabric against her skin.
"I will need to speak to his Majesty before I can say anything for certain," she said. "Have you any idea when his Majesty intends to return to his chambers tonight?"
The man shook his head.
"His Majesty has never made a habit of keeping the guards well informed as to his Majesty's movements," he replied. "Though if the past several days are any indication, his Majesty will likely not return until late."
Kagome nodded, having figured as much.
"Then I will await his Majesty in his chambers," she said.
She swept across the remainder of the walkway, giving a nod of acknowledgement to the guards posted in front of Inuyasha's chambers. By the bemused looks written across their faces as they greeted her she could tell that they had been able to see some of what had just happened. She left it to her guard to explain things to them as they took up their own places in front of the chambers.
The entryway hanging fell closed behind her, leaving her in the characteristic dimness of the hanyou's chambers. Kagome halted where she stood, surprised at the sudden wave of relief that swept over her.
She took a few steps forward before flopping down gracelessly onto one of the many cushions scattered across the floor, allowing herself a moment to simply look about. There was something so familiar about the room, something so soothing about the feeling of being there, that for several long moments she merely sat and thought of nothing at all. Absently it occurred to her that the whole room smelled of him.
She forced herself into action once more, reaching into her robes and cringing as she peeled the black fabric away from her skin. She unfolded it once more, examining the embroidered symbol as if it might have changed in the last few moments. It was the same, and she was left with the same feeling of unease.
Kagome wracked her brain, scouring her thoughts for every last bit of what the ningyō has imparted to her. She had unwittingly done a kami a favor and in return he had allowed her this, which meant that it must be intended to serve as some sort of boon. The ningyō had also mentioned something about a ship, meaning that she must have retrieved it when it had fallen overboard.
Ship as in one. But could there be more? And where? The ningyō could inhabit any waters of the world. Was the ship close-just off the coast? Or was it somewhere far out to sea?
Instinctively Kagome doubted the latter. The symbol and the fact that the cloth had been brought at all suggested otherwise. Still, she thought it best not to rule anything out until she had at least spoken to Inuyasha.
And it might well be some time before she could do that. Kagome sighed, resigning herself to a long wait.
She stood and made her way over to his large futon, noting the pristine appearance of it. It did not appear to have been slept in for some time. Still, she reasoned to herself, she might as well be as comfortable as possible while she waited.
She lay down, gathering a few pillows together to prop herself up and shifting until she was comfortable. Mentally she began to run through the encounter again, trying to parse out any small detail she might have overlooked before.
And then it was dark, quiet, but she could feel the awareness of someone watching her prickle along her skin. Slowly her eyes slid open, and she blinked blearily at the hanyou leaning over her side as she realized that she had fallen asleep at some point. Inuyasha withdrew his hand from her as quickly as if he had been burned.
"Wha-?"
"You reek like fish," he said.
Kagome blinked.
"I-"
"Your guards said you've been waiting here all day," Inuyasha broke in once more. "You could've waited in your own room. I went there first, anyway, and you're obviously still tired."
"You never stay there long," Kagome returned after a beat. "And I am not tired. And this is what 'reeks', not me."
She proffered to him the black cloth that she had fallen asleep clutching, wrinkling her nose slightly at the scent of brine. Inuyasha's expression mirrored her own as he took the cloth gingerly between two clawed fingers, holding it as far from his nose as he could keep it.
"Kami, how in the seven hells did you manage to find something that smells like it's been stewing in a tide pool for weeks?"
"How could I have gotten to a tide pool when I haven't been allowed beyond the outer wall of the Dairi in days?" Kagome countered.
Inuyasha glanced at her.
"A youkai brought it," Kagome continued. "That was why I wanted to wait and see you."
Inuyasha tensed.
"Nothing happened," Kagome hastened to assure him. "The guards were right there. There was no danger."
He scarcely seemed to hear her, eyes darting back toward the entryway as if he might make for the guards there. Kagome reached out to place a restraining arm on the hand that held the cloth. She was surprised to see the hanyou nearly flinch, realizing abruptly that the last time they had touched had been right after she had woken.
Inuyasha pulled his arm away. Kagome slowly allowed her hand to drop.
"It was a ningyō," Kagome said after a beat of silence. "It came up in the waters just out there. It said it had been looking for me and gave me that."
She gestured to the cloth he still held.
"Looking for you?" Inuyasha echoed.
"There was a turtle…" Kagome began, cutting herself off as she realized how odd it sounded. "Nevermind. Suffice it to say that Suijin-sama felt he owed me a favor."
Inuyasha's brow furrowed.
"Suijin?" he said. "You mean-?"
"Exactly who you're thinking," Kagome said. "Though I cannot say that I particularly understand it either. The ningyō said that she had been sent to me on his errand, though. She gave me that cloth and a scale so that I could summon her back."
Inuyasha looked at her for a long moment as if attempting to formulate some response to this. At length he shook his head.
"I don't even…" he muttered to himself. "You…Nevermind. Just…what was so important about this shitty smelling thing that you had to crawl into my bed?"
Kagome drew back, nettled by his tone. A moment's study showed her that the glow of anger that lit his eyes was turned entirely inward, his gaze fixed on the cloth in his hand.
"Look at the symbol on it," she said.
Inuyasha unfolded it across his lap, turning it over to the side on which the symbol was visible. His eyes widened.
"She said it came from a ship," Kagome said softly.
"One ship?" Inuyasha echoed her earlier thoughts with surprising accuracy.
"I'm not sure," Kagome replied. "She wasn't clear."
"But the kami wanted you to have this," Inuyasha reasoned. "He sent this to you on purpose. It's gotta be a warning."
Kagome's stomach sank to hear her fears confirmed.
"It is," Kagome murmured, certainty settling over her like a shroud.
They both fell silent, gazing at the symbol of the roughly stitched, hooded dragon that filled the black space of the cloth. The hidden symbol of the Taira clan. The symbol that meant they already had the kami only knew how many ships in position off the coast.
They were surrounded.
Mini- history lesson:
-Suijin-sama: The god of all waters in Shintō belief.
-A note from long ago: kame/kami: Kame means turtle and kami means god. I was doing some Romaji wordplay. I'm relatively certain in Japanese the two Kanji look nothing alike, but the words at least have similar pronunciations. Not the most clever of literary devices, but I like to have fun of my own.
-ningyō: Literally "human fish" in Japanese, but often translated as mermaid in English. There are a variety of descriptions of these creatures in Japanese folklore, but one common trait is that the flesh of a mermaid has the ability to give immortality to anyone who consumes it. See Rumiko Takahashi's other work Mermaid Forest for more on that.
Okay, so I originally intended to include a lot more in this chapter, but I figured since it had already taken me so long to just get this much done I would just go ahead and publish it by way of an apology to all you amazing readers. I'll get to work on the second half right away. Sorry for the lack of…well, eventfulness in the chapter.
I hope you're all doing well. I am greatly recovered myself and cannot thank you all
enough for the support you showed when I made it known that I was ill. Hopefully from here on out it will be smoother sailing.