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ABC Thought

Chapter 61

Kagome's house.

This morning I come over for a little bit of chitchat.

"Nee-san, come on in!"

Cheerful as always, Kagome greets me.

"Please take a seat. I'm almost done."

While waiting for Kagome to put away the cosmetics into her drawer, I notice a cute piece of scallop shell, which has a tiny red bow tie decoration at its beak, lying inside.

"Is that a shell compact?"

Curious, I ask her.

"Yes, it is."

Without hesitation, Kagome shows the compact to me.

It stores some kind of red thick cosmetic cream inside. Said to be a gift from Inuyasha, and originally belong to his mother, who deceased many years ago.

"Despite rarely talking about her, I know that he loves his mother a lot."

While recalling to Inuyasha's past, she holds the shell compact close to her heart.

"Now that I think about it, Sesshomaru doesn't mention much about his mother either."

More like never, actually. Up till now I don't even know his mother name or face, where she lives and whether she's alive or not...

At home.

"Ever since living here, I have yet to see your mother. Is she doing well?"

At our dinner table, I ask him about his mother. And Sesshomaru stares at me for a bit before answering.

"You met her."

That's strange. How come I have no memory of ever seeing her?

"Really? Since when?"

Therefore I was told that it happened after their final battle against Konohana. Resulting in her death while I was left in deep coma state. At his last resort to save my life, Sesshomaru had taken me to his mother to ask for her aid.

So you could say that we had met each other, in a way.

"Was that also the last time you see her?"

And I take his odd silence as a yes.

Sesshomaru doesn't greet his mother personally unless there's a reason for it. So it's quite normal for them to not see each other in years.

"You don't miss your mother, at all? And same goes for her, too?"

In response, he nods. To them, sentimental attachment is redundant.

Yet I feel that there's something more to that. Surely, deep down she cares for her son as much as any mother does.

"Can we pay her a visit someday?"

Being her daughter-in-law, it'll be very rude of me if introduce myself to his mother properly. Plus, I want to see her in person, talking to her face-to-face at least once.

"It's fine."

He says that it'll be unnecessary since his mother doesn't care about human's etiquette. Still, Sesshomaru promises to fulfill my request in the near future.

Sesshomaru's mother... Somehow I have a feeling that she's going to be an interesting person.

I mean, she's the one who gave birth and raised our infamous Sesshomaru, after all.

Let's just hope that his mother won't get angry at us for getting married without informing her.

Meanwhile my parents don't even know about my relationship with Sesshomaru, the weird looking guy that they often see wandering around their house searching for their daughter.

Dad even tried to call the cops on him once. Luckily I was there to stop him just in time...

And I can't even imagine what kind of face they will make when knowing that he's a youkai in flesh.

Sigh... Mom, dad, Megumi... I wonder how they are right now. Is everyone doing okay?

The memories of them smiling to me during the good old days appear vividly inside my mind. Enough to make my tears fall uncontrollably.

"Do you regret it?"

Seems to have realized the reason of my sorrow, Sesshomaru wipes the tears away with his hand and asks me.

It's true that even now, I still miss my family and want to see them again more than ever. Not to mention that I haven't forgiven Megumi for pushing me down the well back then.

"Not at all. Because you are here with me."

But I was grateful that she did. Because if she didn't, I would not have been able to see him again. And whether there's one regret, it's that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my family properly.

In one night.

Usually at times like these, Jaken can be found sitting at the balcony by himself and staring at the bright moon up on the beautiful starry sky. Enjoying the cool summer night breeze brushing against his skin. How the gentle wind and leaves rustling can combine so well into a solemn lullaby.

Drowsiness starts kicking in and his eyes become heavier. He's about to fall asleep, if not for a sound of something moving coming from the living room a few steps away that startles him.

"Huh?! What was that?!"

Jaken's instinct's telling him that something is wrong so he makes his way toward to the living room to have a look.

"Hmm..."

The whole place is completely dark, then Jaken notices that there's an unfamiliar shadowy figure moving around inside. And they seem to be searching for something on the floor.

A thief?!

There are only him and Shiomi staying at home at the moment. If this is Shiomi, there is no reason for her not to turn the light on to find her stuff.

"How dare you step your dirty feet into our place! Prepare yourself, fool!"

Without hesitation, Jaken slides the door wide open and jumps inside. With Nintoujou ready in hands, he'll turn anyone into dust if they try to do anything suspicious.

"Ack!"

Alerted by his presence, the shadowy figure rushes out of the room and pushes him aside. Everything happened so fast that Jaken didn't have a chance to dodge the hit and fell on the floor.

"Stop right there, you lowly thief!"

Quickly, Jaken gets back on his feet and chases after that thief toward to their backyard, where their pet dragon is currently guarding.

Seeing them being stopped by Ah-Un, he smirks. For his victory is coming near.

"Heh! You are so dead!"

Instead of begging to be spared, the thief whispers something to Ah-Un then jumps onto its back and flies away right before his own two eyes.

"W-What the hell?! Ah-Un, you stupid dragon! What the heck are you even doing?! Get back here right now!"

From the ground, Jaken desperately yelling for Ah-Un to stop but to no avail, they keep flying further away and eventually disappear into the night sky above.

"Jaken!"

Shortly after Shiomi appears by the scene. But Jaken's too shocked to answer her calls so she has to grab his shoulders to gain his attention.

"Jaken! the Amenonuhoko... It disappeared!"

Only then, he snaps back to reality and starts screaming. His panic voice's so loud that it pierces through the night and wakes the whole forest up within a mere second.

Turned out, Jaken was too focus on catching the thief to realize what was being carried in their hands for the whole time...

Next morning.

"What?! Amenonuhoko was stolen?!"

Waiting till the sun raises to be safe, Jaken and I go to Kagome's house to tell them about what happened last night. Needless to say, they are utterly shocked.

"Did Sesshomaru know?"

Inuyasha asks me if Sesshomaru has already caught the culprit. Usually when it comes to hunting, he's the fastest and deadliest.

"Right now, I think he is still tracing down the thief through Ah-Un."

After returning home and being informed about the incident, Sesshomaru left right away. And we haven't heard of him since.

"Without Amenonuhoko's power activated, how could a human detect its whereabouts?"

Kagome's confused, since Amenonuhoko was sealed and buried deep under the ground in the middle of our house. No one knows about its existence or location beside us.

And as far as I know, none of us has gone around telling anyone about it either.

"Maybe that one isn't human. Did you recognize anything strange from that guy?"

Inuyasha voices his doubt, then he asks Jaken whether he has seen the thief's face.

"It's impossible. Last night, everything's pit black and that thief covered themself with multiple layers of clothes."

Hearing so, we all let out a long sigh. Much to Jaken's annoyance.

"Then... Can you sense where it is?"

Kagome turns to me. Thinking that if Amenonuhoko and I are linked, there's a chance that I will be able to detect it's location through our private telepathy and stuff.

Except that damned Amenonuhoko is in deep sleep right now, it's not going to wake up no matter how much I scream for it.

"Perhaps... if I break the seal?"

However, it doesn't worth the risk. Since none of us can guarantee that it will actually work.

"Still, I barely see Ah-Un interact with strangers. Talk about helping one out of nowhere."

This is one point of Jaken's story that I'm confused the most.

Ah-Un is shy around people that it doesn't know and wants to avoid them as much as possible. It's hard to believe that Ah-Un didn't burn that thief to the ground when they tried to approach it with bad intentions in the middle of the night.

"Perhaps Ah-Un was controlled?"

Kagome suggests that thief might have put some kind of spell on Ah-Un.

"Say, can dragon be hypnotized?"

Therefore Jaken explains to us that dragon's resistance is strong. Not anybody can control one even if they want to. Unless that person possesses great powers.

"Hmm... This is getting complicated."

And we continue discussing the matter until noon. When Sesshomaru appears at the door with Ah-Un by his side. Yet, Amenonuhoko is nowhere in sight.

"The scent disappeared."

When being asked about what happened, Sesshomaru calmly states.

According to his story, Ah-Un was seen standing by itself near the river when he found it. No one else was around by that time and there was no other leads at the spot.

"Hmm... Nothing out of ordinary."

Curious, Inuyasha approaches Ah-Un to take a sniff. But cannot smell anything suspicious either.

"Aww... If only Ah-Un can talk. It will tell us who the culprit is."

Rin pats Ah-Un's head. The dragon's behavior is quite normal as well. No sign of being hypnotized or cursed.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

For the whole time, Sesshomaru's been staring at me.

"It's nothing."

He claims and walks away.

"Please keep us informed if you learn something new. We'll try our best to help."

Therefore Kagome reminds me to be extra careful, since we have yet to know what that thief is planning with that dangerous weapon in their hands.

At home.

For some reasons, Sesshomaru's been staying quiet. Way too quiet that it's starting to get suspicious.

He must still be bothered by the thief's disappearance... But is there something more to it that he hasn't told us?

Therefore I find Jaken to ask him about his master's odd behavior. It's also a good way to confirm whether I'm actually being overly dramatic.

"Hey, do you think that Sesshomaru's acting kind of weird?"

Hearing so, Jaken glances at Sesshomaru to make sure that he's not listening before nodding to me.

"Usually Sesshomaru-sama won't allow his prey to get away that easily..."

Turns out, we both are sharing the same thought.

If Amenonuhoko is involved, he'd be roaming all over the place looking for clues right now. Instead of staying home and patiently waiting for something to happen.

Maybe Sesshomaru worried about me?

Back then, when Amenonuhoko's only half-awaken but still managed to be a pain in the neck. Sesshomaru had stayed by my side to make sure that I wouldn't lose control and went on rampage again. But it's different this time.

"I'm the only one who can break the seal and make Amenonuhoko live again. Even if it's now in their possession, they won't be able to achieve anything with it."

I take a seat by his side and convince him that everything will be fine.

"..."

In response to my concern however, Sesshomaru simply stares at me and stroke my face.

Sometimes, I find it so difficult to understand what he is thinking...

The next day.

To be honest, I'd never expect the thief to return this early.

"Wait... Are you the one from that night?!"

Being covered up in thick clothes that even in daylight, I can barely distinguish whether that is a man or woman. Human or Youkai.

More importantly, they just has to pick the exact time when Sesshomaru is away from home. While Ah-Un is staying at Rin's house to play with her...

"How dare you show your face to us again! Are you asking for a death wish?!"

Needless to say, Jaken's mad as heck.

"Do you need money? It'll be tough to sell that old Naginata for a high price. How about I trade you something more valuable for it?"

I try to make a deal with the thief, in hope that they will spare us the Amenonuhoko in peace. However, they don't say anything and keep staring at us.

"What are you even thinking trying to negotiate with a thief?! Give that thing back to us or else!"

Cannot stand my stupid suggestion, Jaken jumps at the thief in order to regain Amenonuhoko from their hands but no avail, as they shove him flying away with ease.

Such strength, that thief is definitely not normal!

The red seal is still attached on Amenonuhoko's hilt, indicating that this thief has yet to be able to borrow its power. Just who in the world is this person?!

"I'm going to burn you to ash! Ninto-!"

Before Jaken can finish casting his spell however, the thief approaches and snatches his staff away. "H-Hey!"

"Why are you here? What do you want from us?!"

Instead of answering our questions, they swiftly swing their blade at us. Missing our faces simply by an inch but enough to send chill down our spines.

"Stop standing there and run already!"

Not wanting to be killed, Jaken immediately pushing me to escape into the forest behind us.

"Huff... Huff...!"

And we keep on going forward, taking turns in between in hope to get away from the enemy as fast as possible. Only to end up being cornered at the nearby hill.

"What should we do?! There's no other way!"

One step further and we both will fall into the deep abyss.

"..."

With Amenonuhoko in hands and heavy killing intent, they're getting closer to where we are standing.

"Hurry up and get out of here!"

At his last resort, Jaken sacrifices himself by jumping at the thief to hold them down. Opening up a route for me to escape. However, his head's caught in their hands and they throw him away.

Straight into the abyss up ahead. Much to our horror.

"Jaken!"

Without thinking, I chase after Jaken and stretch my arms to catch his body. End up falling down with him.

"Ahhhhh!"

Like a deja vu, Jaken starts crying and screaming with all his might into my ear, which really help easing up my utterly chaotic mind right now.

At this ridiculous height, we are definitely screwed and there is nothing we can do but to accept our death.

Oh, What the hell?! We can't just die like this!

Within that moment, I feel something lies at the depth of my soul snap into pieces. Then the next thing we know, we are standing on top of one of the trees around us.

"W-What have you done?! You broke the seal, you idiot!"

Instantly figures out what is going on, Jaken yells at me.

"That was a do-or-die situation! What else do you want me to do?!"

In annoyance, I shout back.

"Anyway, let's go home and wait for Sesshomaru. I'm sure he will figure out a way to deal with this."

Once finally cool off from adrenaline, we both look up to find the thief. But they've already disappeared...

Somewhere secluded, far away.

"Stop faking your sleep, I know that you can hear me."

In response to that voice, Amenonuhoko snickers. "How fascinating, indeed."

"I did exactly what you asked for. Now it's your turn to do the same."

Once gaining its attention, the person reminds Amenonuhoko about their last contract.

"Unfortunately. I do not recall striking any deal with you."

Yet it refuses to do as told.

"Bastard! If you lie to me again, I'll destroy you!"

In annoyance, that person yells.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Suddenly they hear a familiar voice and turn around. Standing before them is a very displeased Sesshomaru. His hand's resting on the sword's hilt and prepares to strike in any moment.

Sesshomaru comes for them soon after knowing about the incident. Just as expected.

"No need to get angry. She's fine, isn't she? No harm done."

They turn away, keeping their distance from him.

"Why are you working with Amenonuhoko?"

"Because I had no choice."

"This is too dangerous."

"If you have a better idea, then I'm willing to listen."

Instead, what they gain from him is total silence. How typical.

"... I need more time."

Letting out a sigh, they say. "And I definitely cannot do this alone."

Cannot allow their plan to be ruined so early, they ask Sesshomaru to cover for them again. Similar to how he has done back then, removing their traces on Ah-Un before bringing it home.

"You trust me, don't you?"

Hearing so, his brows furrowed. Clearly dissatisfied with their vague motive.

"It's settled, then."

Despite not receiving any answer from him, they know that Sesshomaru will have to play their game unless he wants everything to end in bloodshed.

With his assistance... even just for a while, it should be enough.

A sudden gust passes by and they disappear from their spot. Leaving mixed feelings pilling up further within his heart.