Fire and Ice;
Part II
He tumbled out of sleep to Kagome's scent surrounding
him, but didn't dare to open his eyes or move at all. He'd smelled
her before when she wasn't really there, especially when she'd been in close
quarters for an extended period of time. Her warm familiar scent
would take up residence in his brain, working itself in until he couldn't
ever forget her.
He lay still, eyes closed, enjoying the possible fantasy
for all it might be worth when something, someone, stirred beside him, and
a head tucked itself more firmly under his chin, the scent washing over him
a hundred times more powerfully. And as he felt the demon in
him start to simmer in his blood with the sunrise, he became aware of a heartbeat,
of breathing, of her soft skin under his hands. He cracked one eye
and saw a bizarre mix of colored lines, crossing every which way. And
the heat was positively stifling.
Inu-Yasha lifted a hand, the one not attached to Kagome's
warm back, and pushed at the sleeping bag, letting in a rush of cool early
morning air. The scent of Kagome was joined by that of normal house
life, and he picked out the other occupants and his daughter gathered around
the fire on the other side of the screen. Quiet conversation pricked
his ears, but he didn't bother to follow it.
He let his free hand drop back, tracing the smooth skin
of Kagome's neck. Voices whispered in his blood to bend to that neck,
to bite and mark her as his, but he fought them back. When he explained
it, when she accepted, then he'd do it gladly. And the whiney Wolf
could take that back to his mountain and chew on it. But she would
never forgive him if he took the choice from her. And he didn't ever
want to risk hurting her again.
She stirred again, rolling away from him onto her back,
and he stole his arm back quickly, propping himself up on his side to watch
as she woke.
Eyes still closed, Kagome stretched, luxuriating in the
feeling of being well-rested, despite the small amount of sleep she'd actually
gotten. She smiled to herself, thinking, Inu-Yasha and I certainly
made good use of my first night back. The thought had come out
of no where, and it led her to wonder if she was planning to spend more nights
in the Sengoku Jidai. Of course, there was no way for her and
Tetsuko to return to their time while the well was not functioning, and Naraku's
sudden reappearance demanded her attention. She was a miko, after
all. She had a responsibility to protect people.
She spent some time examining these thoughts, legs moving
idly under the covers, until her foot bumped up against a set of clawed toes,
and her eyes flew open.
Inu-Yasha's golden eyes were staring down at her, tendrils
of white hair just brushing her face.
"You're still here," he said quietly.
It was such a simple statement, but she could hear the
quiet amazement under the calm words. She wondered, just for a moment,
how badly she would have hurt ten years ago if he'd been gone before she
woke, unreachable, with no way to know if he was living or dead. The
grief and uncertainly would surely have broken her. And yet he was
still here, still strong. Still willing to try.
She reached up, twining a silvery-white lock through her
fingers. "Yes. I'm still here. Inu-Yasha…" She placed
a finger on his lips when he started to interrupt. "No, let me finish.
It didn't occur to me until last night how much I had hurt you, hurt everyone,
by running away. So I'm telling you now, it's not going to happen again.
No matter how angry or sad I am, I'm not going to lock you out of my life
again. I need you too much to do that."
He kissed the pad of her finger before pulling her hand
away. "So how is this going to work? I don't want to lose you
again, but…"
"We sort of live in different worlds, don't we?"
Kagome sighed. "I don't know right now. For the moment, Tetsuko
and I can't go anywhere. And I don't know that I should go as long
as Naraku's still a threat." She sat up a little, leaning on an elbow.
"And I don't know if anyone's thought of this, but if Naraku's still out
there, Kikyo could be as well."
"Kuso," Inu-Yasha muttered, and she knew it was
the first time the idea had hit him. "She'll have even more reason
to hate you now if she is. Promise me that if she is, you'll let me
deal with her."
"Inu-Yasha…"
"No, Kagome. She's my problem. If she's back,
she'll be stealing souls again, and those have to be released. I'll
deal with it."
Kagome was opening her mouth to protest when a ball of
red and black threw itself around the edge of the screen.
"Mama!" Tetsuko landed on the pile of blankets.
Her gaze flew from Kagome, who had thrown herself flat on her back and dragged
the sheet to her chin to Inu-Yasha, who remained where he was, smirking.
"Tetsu-chan! Um, give me a couple of minutes to
get put together, honey."
Inu-Yasha ruffled a hand through her hair. "Go play
with the boys for a while, kid."
The girl looked from one to the other, Kagome's face as
red as the haori. "Aren't you guys up yet? Oh, well.
I'm gonna go play." She scrambled over Kagome's supine form and scurried
back around the screen.
Kagome sat up again, holding on to the sheet this time.
"I guess we've run out of time for lying around in bed."
"Too bad." Inu-Yasha pushed the blankets back from
his side and stood, stretching.
Kagome watched with an appreciative eye until she realized
that if she kept it up, neither of them would be able to get anything done
that day. She crawled out of the futon herself and retrieved her yukata
from the night before and shrugged into it. Then she crawled to
her pack and pulled out fresh clothing for Tetsuko and herself. "I'm
going out back for a minute," she told him, falling back into the habit of
using the code phrase for the communal privy.
"Uh-huh."
She stared at his back for another moment, then turned
to leave. As she reached the edge of the screen, he caught her wrist
and spun her back into his embrace, kissing her soundly. "Bet you thought
I forgot," he said when he pulled back. "Ohayo."
She laughed and kissed him back. "I was wondering.
Ohayo gozaimashita. Now let me go outside before it's too late."
He freed her with a grin and dragged on his own yukata,
following. "I'll watch the hot spring later if you want a bath."
"We'll see," she replied, closing the door to the little
bamboo hut.
Back in her own clothes, hands and face washed, Kagome
felt more like herself. But the news of Naraku's return and his attack
the previous day made breakfast as somber a meal as supper had been the night
before.
"So did you two come up with anything last night?"
Kagome choked on her tea as her cheeks flushed red, and
she heard Inu-Yasha growl a warning to Miroku.
"He meant, did you come to any conclusions about a plan
of action for the Jewel?" Sango clarified, smacking the former letch fondly.
"Umm, well, ahh…" Kagome couldn't quite bring herself
to lift her eyes from her rice bowl.
"Subject didn't come up," Inu-Yasha said from where he
sat against the wall. He leaned back against it, one leg bent, the
other stretched out in front it him. Whether by accident or design,
he'd settled himself so that his extended foot could just brush Kagome's
leg, allowing him to be in contact with her while still watching the door.
Tetsuko sat next to him, still wrapped in the borrowed haori, consciously
imitating him, and he smiled down at her. "Whaddya think, Tetsu-chan?"
She schooled her features to match his bland amusement.
"The baka's dangerous, right?"
Kagome was horrified. "Tetsuko!"
"Don't pick up your old man's foul mouth, kid. I
got better things to teach you than that." He mock-growled at her,
and she snarled playfully back.
Inu-Yasha ruffled her wild hair. "Keep practicing.
So we're gonna try to send the Jewel through, right?"
"If I can get the well open. But if I can't…" Kagome
began doubtfully.
He jumped to his feet. “We’ll worry about that later.
You’ll watch her?” he asked Sango and Miroku.
The monk nodded. “She’ll be safe here. The
wards are strong.”
Inu-Yasha nodded reluctantly, then crouched in front of
Tetsuko. “I’m gonna need that back now,” he said, fingering the red
haori.
She clutched it tighter, lip trembling a little.
“I don’t want you to go.”
“I know.”
Kagome watched from where she was repacking her bag around
bites of rice, determined not to interfere. The only acceptable resolution
in her mind involved Inu-Yasha spending time regularly with them, or they
with him, and she had no intention of undermining his fledgling authority
with Tetsuko.
He slipped the prayer-bead rosary out of his inner robe,
pressing them into Tetsuko’s hand. “These kept me out of trouble for
a long time. I want you to hang onto them for me, until I get back,
okay?” he asked, sliding the armor from around her shoulders and shrugging
into it himself.
“You’ll come back for them?” she asked uncertainly.
“I’ll come back for you. Be good, okay?”
“Hai, Otou-san.”
He honestly hadn’t expected her to call him ‘father,’
and could only hug her tightly for a long moment. Then he rose and
handed her off to Kagome, taking the pack in exchange.
She held her daughter close for a long minute. “Aishiteru,
Tetsu-chan.”
“Aishiteru, Mama. Come back soon, okay?”
“Soon as we can. Mind Sango-san and Miroku-san.”
“I will. Ja mata.”
“See you soon,” Kagome agreed. With a quick hug
for Miroku and Sango, she headed out the door after Inu-Yasha.
Outside, he helped her on with the lightened pack, then
waited as she climbed onto his back. Once she was settled, he gripped
her legs and they were off.
“Just like old times,” Kagome muttered, leaning over his
shoulder.
“A little too much like old times. Why can’t we
have a normal reunion?” The paddies sped by underneath them.
“What’s normal?” Kagome laughed mirthlessly. “I’m
glad you’re here, though. I wouldn’t want to do this without you.”
“Where else would I be?” They were flitting between
the trees, skimming over branches by mere inches.
“I thought maybe you’d use the Jewel, become full youkai,
pester Sesshomaru.”
“I still do that, whenever our paths cross.” He
leapt from a branch and they sailed into the center of the well. “You
did bring the Jewel, right?”
“This is a fine time to ask. It would serve you
right if I said no.” She pulled the Shikon no Tama out from
under her shirt. The chain slid easily over her head and she wrapped
it around her hands, focusing her will on opening the well.
For a long minute, there was silence, then the well shook,
and from the earth beneath their feet, thick beams of wood erupted.
“Close it, Kagome!” Inu-Yasha shouted. “Close it!
Close it!”
She froze the change, leaving the ends of several beams
poking up from the ground. Littered around them were small boxes labeled
“authentic Shikon no Tama replica.” A few were open, their contents
glowing in the dark of the well.
“Oh, no,” Kagome exclaimed, looking around.
“Nani? Nan desu ka?”
She picked up one of the ‘Jewels.’ “These were stored
in the rafters of the shrine. Jii-chan always had plenty around.
Oh, gods, Inu-Yasha. The Shrine’s fallen in.”
Inu-Yasha sniffed, taking in the scent that had come through
with the beams. The air in the well was redolent now with the stink
of the foul things from Kagome's modern age, and the ground was refusing
to open for them. "I think you're right. Come on. We'll
get back to the village and figure-" He broke off suddenly, waving
her to silence when she started to ask what was wrong. Then he scooped
her up without warning and jumped, pushing off from the edge of the well
once they reached the top, racing for the other side of the clearing.
"You're going the wrong way," Kagome shouted, looking
back over his shoulder. "The village is the other way."
"So's Naraku," he said, dropping her carefully to the
ground and turning back to face the clearing. Tetsusaiga came alive
in his grasp. "C'me on, temee. Let's try this again, now
that I'm ready for you."
Kagome dropped to one knee, bow out and armed. "Where?"
"In the trees," he told her. "Between us and the
village."
“Do we circle around and head back?” She studied
the tree-line across the wide clearing, looking for motion; the faint ripple
of wind through a white baboon pelt.
“No. Chikuso, where is he? I can smell
the bakayaro. He’s out there. Shoot, Kagome. Flush
him out.”
She arched an arrow across the meadow, and it exploded
in a shower of light against a curved barrier, illuminating it.
“Perfect!” he crowed, and Kagome ducked back as flickering
tongues of wind started to swirl around the massive blade of Inu-Yasha’s
sword. “Eat this, kono yaro. Kaze no Kizu!”
The Cutting Wind whipped out, racing across the clearing and pile-driving
into the barrier. It battered against it for several long moments,
then the eldrich-light blew apart, revealing an empty blackened area.
Inu-Yasha sheathed the sword and scooped Kagome onto his
back. “We’ve got his attention. Let’s hope we can keep it.”
He ran a few steps then jumped, powerful muscles carrying them high into
the canopy.
He ran for hours, stopping by a fast-moving river late
in the afternoon. “Get a drink quick if you want one. We’re not
going to hang out here long.”
“What are we going to do?” Kagome asked, filling her canteen
and dropping in a purifier tablet.
“Keep traveling until full dark,” Inu-Yasha replied, looking
back the way they had come. “Find a place to hole up for the night.
Move on in the morning. Leave enough of a trail to keep that bakayaro
interested in us.”
“What?” Kagome exclaimed. “But why?”
He looked over to her, hands folded in the sleeves of
his haori. “Because everyday he’s after us, he ain’t around
Tetsuko.”
She shook the canteen and took a quick sip. “You’re
a good dad,” she said, replacing the cap and shoving it back into her pack.
He snorted, but the sound held none of the venom it had
in the past. “Feh. Let's go. Don’t want the baka catching
up before we’re ready for him.” Kagome climbed back on, and they were
off again.
“Hole up” was exactly what they did. Inu-Yasha kept
them moving until the sky was an even star-speckled black, then picked out
a cave for the night. He set Kagome and her pack down just inside the
opening and sniffed the air. “Not too deep, fresh water somewhere nearby,
no one else home. Perfect.” He pulled free Kagome’s bow and handed
it to her. “I’m going to wood. Shoot anyone else who comes in.
We ain’t lookin’ to pick up strays this trip.” He reached out and brushed
a lock of hair back from her face. “I’ll be right back.”
Her eyes were wide in the darkness, but she nodded, pulling
out an arrow and setting it in the bow. There was a brief flicker at
the cave entrance, and he was gone.
Kagome set her back to the wall, eyes on the barely-perceptible
entrance, and bow half-drawn in front of her. Even with all her time
in the Sengoku Jidai, she still hated being alone in the dark.
Certainly, it hadn’t happened often. Inu-Yasha was rarely far from
her when they traveled, and when they had gone out in a group, there had
been the conversation with Shippo and Sango to distract her, and the constant
guard necessary to keep Miroku’s wandering hands at bay. Even the cowardly
Myoga would be welcome, even if it was just to have someone along to share
her fears. And the old flea-demon was always willing to tell some story
or another about the taiyoukai, Inu-Yasha’s father.
She tried to think back, to remember the last night she’d
been alone like this. But there was nothing. Someone, usually
Inu-Yasha, had always been there.
“He’ll be back,” she told herself, her voice sounding
strange, tight in the dark. “He just went for wood, We need a
fire, after all. Camp stove’s great for heating water, but it won’t
keep the predators away. Not that any normal predator’s dumb enough
to take on a demon. Which leaves other demons, who really aren’t going
to be scared off by a little camp fire.”
There was a noise just outside, and she jumped, nearly
releasing the arrow she’d been drawing as she talked to herself. Then
Inu-Yasha’s presence was sliding against her sixth sense, and she let out
a sigh of relief. “You scared me,” she said to the figure coming into
the cave.
“Feh, don’t know how. I heard you babbling the whole
time.” There was a rustling near her feet, and she felt her hands,
still on the taut bow, pushed away. “Watch where you point that thing.
Did you bring the fire-lighter?”
She loosened her grip on the string, letting the arrow
slide loosely through her fingers. “Yeah. It’s in one of the
outside pockets. Set the wood up. I’ll get it.” She set
her weapon aside and felt for the bag.
“What were you babbling about with the wood?” Inu-Yasha
asked.
She shrugged. “Just keeping myself company.
It’s so dark here. No street lights. No traffic-lights.
No lights at all, really.”
“So you were yammering about the fire? You could
have just lit the fire-lighter yourself.”
“It wasn’t the light. I just... wanted to talk about
something.” She found the lighter and held onto it. “I’ve got
the lighter.”
His hand closed around hers, warm and comforting, even
if only for a moment. “So talk about something else, then.”
“Like what?”
There was a rasping sound, and the small cave was suddenly
illuminated. The twigs and grass at the bottom of the pile caught fast,
and he handed the lighter back to her. “Talk about Tetsuko. Tell
me something I don’t know about her.”
Kagome sat back against the wall, arms around her bent
knees. “She’s like you. Incredibly brave, stubborn, a little
fool-hardy. She almost never thinks before she acts, but when she does
plan, it’s scary. She’s faster than most of her class; she loves to
run. She climbs the Goshin-boku like it’s a ladder....
I don’t know what else there is to tell you.”
He settled in next to her. “Tell me about when she
was born.”
Kagome closed her eyes a moment, remembering. “I
told you she was late. It was the night of the new moon, ten months
after...”
“After you left,” he supplied.
“Yes. I think that was the first time I really regretted
sealing the well. Regretted it enough that if I could have walked,
I would have been down there going after you. It was so hard, it hurt
so much I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. But just before the sun
rose, she was there. And she was perfect. Just a little dark
fuzz on her head, big eyes...” She reached out, dragging the pack closer.
“Hang on. I might have...” She rooted around a moment, then pulled
out a small book. “Here. This is the day she was born.”
He’d seen photographs in her time, and studied the image
hungrily. Kagome looked tired and rumpled in her bed, a tiny bundle
in her arms. Then there were more pictures of the bundle, a red-faced
infant with a thin fringe of dark hair on her head. He flipped through
the pages, seeing the red, wrinkled face give was to pale smooth cheeks and
a pout that clearly belonged to her mother. Then he flipped to a page,
and froze. “Oh...”
Kagome looked over to see what had struck him so hard.
“Yeah. That was a shock. But I don’t know now why I was surprised.”
The picture, still of Tetsuko, revealed her secret.
Dark ears peeked out of her hair, gold eyes stared out of the page, and her
tiny nails had grown into miniature claws. There were no fangs in her
snarling mouth, but she had been scarcely two weeks old.
“I didn’t tell her it was anything strange for a while.
I didn’t want her to feel different. Now she knows that other kids
don’t change, and that they might tease her if she talks about it.
But Mom and Sota have always been careful to treat her just the same.
And I think seeing you helped her understand a lot, too.”
“She’s hanyou,” Inu-Yasha breathed, still entranced
by the picture.
“More like yo-bun no-ichi youkai. You were
human that night, but I guess some of it carried over...” This had
been her biggest doubt, that Tetsuko’s transformations would upset him.
“She’s beautiful.”
Tetsuko picked at the rice in her bowl.
“What’s wrong, Tetso-chan? Aren’t you hungry?” Sango
asked. The girl who had been an endless stream of questions and comments
the day before was now silent and withdrawn, and it worried the former demon
hunter.
“Okaa-san and Otou-san aren’t back yet.”
She picked up a few grains of rice a dutifully swallowed them. “It
didn’t take very long yesterday to get from here to the well.”
“Tetsuko-chan, if the man you encountered yesterday was
there, Inu-Yasha and Kagome-san may not be able to return right away,” Miroku
said gently. “They would not wish to put you in any danger.”
Kirara curled up in the girl’s lap, and she stroked the
silky fur. “I never been away from home without my mom very long.
What if she doesn’t come back?” the little girl sniffed.
“Your parents will come back for you, Tetsu-chan,” Sango
said firmly. “In fact, if they aren’t back in a few days, we’ll go
out and look for them.”
Miroku glanced to his wife, and the look he got back from
her suggested that if he valued his delicate parts, he would remain silent,
at least in front of Tetsuko.
Miroku was a smart man. He kept his mouth shut for
the time being.
He waited until the children were asleep and Sango was
unfolding their futons to bring it back up.
“Were you serious about going out to look for them?”
She handed him his yukata. “They would do
the same for us.”
He pulled off his customary robes and donned the kimono.
“They asked to look after their daughter. Our responsibility lies in
protecting her.”
“So we’ll take her with us. I wasn’t planning to
leave her here.’ She finished with the bedding and changed into her
own night clothes.
“That’s exactly what they didn’t want,” Miroku protested.
“If Naraku got his hands on Tetsuko, Inu-Yasha and Kagome-san would have
to turn over the Jewel, and then Naraku would probably kill them all, simply
for having caused him so much trouble. We have to let them deal with
Naraku themselves.”
“The four of us together were never able to finish Naraku
off. On their own, they don’t have a prayer,” Sango protested.
“Sango...”
“You’re not going to change my mind on this, houshi-sama,”
she interrupted, sliding under the covers. “Anyway, they’ll probably
be back in the morning.”
Miroku sighed. “You’re probably right,” he agreed
sliding in after her.
The pair didn’t return in the morning, however.
Or the morning after. By the fourth morning, Tetsuko was near-hysterical,
and could only be calmed by the promise of a trip to the next village to
ask if Inu-Yasha had been seen lately. There, they happened on a traveler
that had seen a couple fitting the description of the wandering parents,
three days to the south, and moving further away. As a casual
aside, he mentioned as well seeing a traveler in a white animal pelt heading
in the same direction perhaps a day behind them.
That news satisfied the girl only long enough for them
to return home. Once there, Tetsuko set about methodically stacking
the clothing her mother had left in a pile on a square of fabric and tying
the corners together into a pack. “I’m ready,” she announced, rising.
“Ready for what?” Miroku asked.
She offered them a look reminiscent of Kagome at the end
of her rope. “To go find them, of course.”
He was about to protest when Sango entered, fastening
the last of the catches at the neck of her demon exterminating clothing.
“Coming, houshi-sama?” she asked, tying her hair high on her head.
“What about the boys?”
“Staying with their friends until we return.” She
led the little girl outside to where Kirara was waiting. “Let’s go,
Kirara.”
Flame surged around the cat-demon as she grew to impressive
size, and Sango helped Tetsuko up then jumped on. “Come on, Miroku.
You never had a better chance to get in a few good grabs before.”
The monk sighed and jumped aboard, wrapping his arms securely
around his wife’s waist. “I’d hoped our days of wandering the countryside
were over.”
“No such luck,” Sango replied as Kirara rose into the
air.
“So when does it happen?”
“When does what happen?” Kagome asked over the rush of
the wind. Inu-Yasha had gained greatly in strength and speed while
she’d been gone.
“Tetsuko. When does she change?”
“When she gets very angry. Out-for-blood angry.
The first time, she was hungry and I was stuck out of the house without a
bottle. She started screaming, and wham, out came the ears and claws.
I tossed a blanket over her head and got home.”
“So it’s like when I go full-youkai?”
“Without the Tetsusaiga, yeah. Only not so out of
control. More like you, when I first broke the seal. Very full
of herself, more so than normal.”
He laughed. “Now I know what you really think of
me, wench.” The invective was delivered entirely without venom.
“Yeah, you better.” She pressed her face closer
to his neck and felt a strange urge to nip at him, just a little. She
kissed him, then bit gently, just behind his jaw, below where his human ears
appeared in the dark of the moon.
Inu-Yasha shuddered in mid-flight, only just catching
himself before they both crashed to the ground. He landed and ran a
few awkward steps before stopping and hauling her around to face him.
“Kagome! What the hell do you think your doing?” There was heat
in his eyes, but she was learning more everyday about reading his moods,
and it wasn’t anger she was seeing.
“I-I don’t know, really. I just suddenly... wanted
to. I didn’t think it would hurt...”
“It didn’t. If you want to bite, woman, that’s fine,
but save it for sometime when I’m not likely to drop you 30 feet to the ground.”
She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. “Fine.”
She tried to slip out of his grasp, but he wrapped an arm around her waist,
stopping her.
“It didn’t hurt,” he repeated. “It was... distracting.”
“Distracting?” The light in his eyes was beginning
to make sense to her.
“Yeah...” He stretched out his senses, searching
for any kind of danger, but the late afternoon countryside was quiet.
He could see the moon in the sky trailing the near-setting sun, a night past
its waxing quarter. There was nothing in the vicinity but them, and
he could detect the distinctive smell of a mineral spring nearby. They
could probably afford to make an early camp for once. And he’d been
putting off the discussion about them becoming Mates too long already.
“Distracting.” He nuzzled along her jaw, reabsorbing the smell and
feel of her, then nipped gently just below her own ear, careful not to break
the skin. It was no where near a full Mating Bite, more akin to a sample
of what he could do.
Kagome’s heart pounded as she felt his teeth skim over
her skin, but she felt no fear. No where in her mind was the possibility
that Inu-Yasha could harm her. It simply wouldn’t happen. “Ohhh...
I... I see,” she stammered when he drew back.
“Not yet,” he disagreed. “But you will. Come
on. We’ve got to talk.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried
her toward the smell of the hot springs.
She was shoulder-deep in hot mineral water before he brought
the subject up again.
"There was stuff I wanted to talk to you about that morning,"
he began slowly.
She didn't lift her head from the edge of the natural
pool or open her eyes. "Inu-Yasha," she started, a hint of warning
in her tone.
"Hear me out, Kagome. I know you don't want to talk
about that time, but there's things I have to say. You remember that
wedding we had for Myoga and Shyuga?" he asked from across the pool.
She smiled. "I remember Myoga ran away before the
ceremony. Why?"
"Not all… not all demons have the same kinds of ceremonies.
They don't all do the same kinds of things."
Kagome shrugged, and the water rippled a little.
"Well, I wouldn't think so. What's your point?"
"Dog-demons, the inu-youkai, their ceremonies involve
biting most of the time."
He was dancing around the subject, and Kagome frowned
a little. "Inu-Yasha, did I do something wrong or not?"
"No. I was just… I'm trying to explain…"
They were getting no where at this rate. "What,
Inu-Yasha? What are you trying to say?"
"Damn it, Kagome, I'm trying to say I want you to be my
Mate!"
Her eyes snapped open and she saw Inu-Yasha hovering above
her, golden eyes boring into hers. He'd crossed the pool and was leaning
over her, hands resting on the edge, enclosing her in the circle of his body.
She blinked, trying to decide if the moment was real. "What?"
The all-encompassing eyes stared down at her. "Be
my Mate," he repeated.
"I… Yes," she replied before the logical voice in
her head could stop her. "Yes."
He grinned that familiar cocky grin that said all was
right with his world and bent down to kiss her gently. "Good."
His lips traveled to the corner of her mouth, then across to her jaw and
up to her ear, settling in just below it, the same place he'd nipped gently
before, and she shivered. "It's going to hurt some," he whispered.
"I'm sorry. I can't change that."
"'S okay," she murmured, one hand rising out of the warm
water of its own volition to tangle in his hair. Her head fell back
a little, exposing more of the smooth column of her throat. She felt
the pinprick of his fangs against her skin, then pain as he bit harder.
She sucked in a quick breath of air but didn't flinch or cry out. He
knew it was hurting her, there was no reason to make him feel worse.
The blood in her veins itched as she felt her skin break
over his sharp fangs. "What do I do?" she whispered. He had to
know what would still the insanity inside her.
"The same thing," she heard him murmur against her skin.
"Bite hard, Kagome. You have to break the skin."
She tilted her head and did as he instructed, sinking
inadequate human teeth into the white flesh of his neck. She could
feel his growl as well as hear it, and in some distant part of her mind,
she was aware of him as he picked her up out of the water and they flew through
the air back to camp.
Kagome drifted awake to the smell of wood-smoke and rolled
over, burying her nose in Inu-Yasha’s soft hair, the corner of her mouth
twitching a little in a small smile as his arms tightened around her.
It felt so nice to sleep in for once and let someone else handle the day
to day business of....
Her eyes flew open to a cloud of white hair. ‘Inu-Yasha,”
she whispered urgently. “Someone else is here!”
She heard his sensitive nose go to work. “‘S just
Sango and Miroku,” he murmured sleepily. “‘N’ Tetsuko and Kirara....”
His body tensed under her as the meaning of what he was saying sank in.
He was gone from her side in a flash, advancing on their
friends. Kagome watched Sango's eyes go wide, then saw the exterminator's
face go pink as she took Tetsuko's hand and hurried the girl away through
the trees. Miroku looked stunned for a moment as well, then fastened
his gaze on the sky.
"What the hell do you think you're-" Kagome cut
him off mid-rant.
"Inu-Yasha!"
He whirled back to face her where she sat up, holding
the sleeping bag to her chest with one hand. "What?!"
She hurled a number of things at him with her free hand.
"Your clothes, you baka!"
"Feh. Like there's something he ain't seen before?"
She vanished back into the bag and squirmed around a bit.
"Well, Tetsuko hadn't. You've certainly taken a great deal out of the
mystery for her." She emerged from the sleeping bag fully dressed.
"I'll go tell them it's safe. Get dressed." She smacked him familiarly
on the way past, pausing next to Miroku. "Then you're going
to give me a very good reason for hauling my daughter out here." The
smack he received was not quite so friendly as the one she'd given Inu-Yasha,
and she stormed into the underbrush.
Miroku chuckled uneasily. "Lovely morning, isn't
it?"
"It was," Inu-Yasha seethed. "What the hell are
you doing here, bouzu? I told you to take care of my daughter,
not haul her all over the countryside with Naraku on the loose." He
dragged his clothing on and shook his hair free.
"Wouldn't you prefer to wait for Kagome-san to return
before I go into that?"
"No, but you're probably going to make me anyway.
Feh." He settled irritably on the sleeping bag. "You built up
the fire. Did you start breakfast?"
"The kettle's heating. We truly didn't mean to interrupt,
but Tetsuko-"
Inu-Yasha waved him off. "Save it. If it's
about Tetsu-chan, Kagome will want to hear."
"Hear what?" Kagome asked, coming back through the bushes.
Before Miroku or Inu-Yasha could respond, Tetsuko pulled free of her hand
and launched herself at Inu-Yasha, knocking the hanyou over backwards
where he sat.
"Otou-san!"
Inu-Yasha lay back where he fell, arms outstretched, moaning
theatrically. "Oh, oh, she got me. That's it. I'm done
for." Tetsuko giggled and pounded on his chest until he sat up, shifting
her to his lap. "Okay, Tetsu-chan, that's enough for now."
Kagome joined them, and Sango moved to sit next to Miroku
across the fire from them. "I'm guessing there's a really good explanation
for this," Kagome said, brushing out her hair.
"Tetsuko-chan was very worried when you didn't return
the first night," Sango began, but Tetsuko interrupted her.
"You said you would come right back, Mama, and you didn't.
Then Sango-basan and Miroku-jisan said the bad man might be
out here trying to hurt you. And I thought you were gonna get hurt,
but your just out here camping, and I wanna go camping too. Mama, remember
the time we went camping with Sota-jichan and I fell in the lake?
I didn't even know I could swim…"
Inu-Yasha looked over her head to Kagome. "She really
does talk more than you. Hey, that's enough," he said sharply as Tetsuko
raised her voice to be heard over them and pounded on his chest. He
stroked her hair to reassure her that he wasn't angry and looked across the
fire to Sango and Miroku. "Well? You got some reason for this?"
"Tetsuko became very worried when you didn't return immediately,"
Miroku said, picking up where Sango had left off. "She simply would
not let the subject go, and so we started tracking you a few days ago.
Or tracking the sightings of a stranger in white furs, actually, since you
were more likely to avoid inhabited areas. Once we got close enough,
Tetsuko said she knew where you were, and we left Naraku's trail to find
you."
"It's probably Naraku's kugutsu that are out there
wandering around," Kagome said thoughtfully. "In fact, that's probably
what was destroyed in that fire."
"But why would Naraku have entrusted the majority of the
Shikon no Tama to one of his puppets?" Sango asked. "Surely
that would have left him dangerously vulnerable."
"He wanted Kikyo," Inu-Yasha said quietly. "He probably
sent the kugutsu with the jewel to tempt Kikyo, to offer her back
her life or something."
"Or you," Kagome said, just as quietly.
"I ain't his to give away, or hers to take," he replied,
wrapping his arms more tightly around Tetsuko.
"And instead, Kikyo-sama held him off long enough to ensure
the destruction of the puppet and the safety of the jewel," Miroku concluded.
"At the cost of her own life. Poor Kikyo," Kagome
sighed. They may have been rivals for Inu-Yasha's affection at one
point, but Kagome couldn't bring herself to feel much anger for the tragic
miko. Though she had come to grips with the knowledge that she
was her own person, the soul they had shared gave her a great feeing of empathy
for the sorrowful priestess. She felt Inu-Yasha touch her arm, and
smiled a little. Kikyo would always be in their lives, but she was
a part of their past, and what mattered now was the future. "That doesn't
solve our problem with Naraku," she continued.
"No, it doesn’t," Miroku agreed. "He'll be weaker
without the Jewel, though, won't he?"
"Probably," Kagome allowed, "but if he's just been sitting
quietly for ten years, waiting for the Jewel to return, he's probably been
changing his demon combinations, trying to get stronger."
Sango frowned. "So he could be stronger than the
last time we faced him."
"Feh, so am I," Inu-Yasha scoffed. "I haven't spent
ten years up a tree, countin' leaves. And I want the bakayaro dead
and out of my life for good."
Miroku frowned, looking troubled. "If Naraku has
been alive, even hidden, then, at the risk of sounding self-serving, what
happened to the kazaana?" He held out his unmarred palm.
He could still remember the pain that had shot through it, how he was sure
it was the end of his borrowed time. He had despaired for a moment,
not only that he would die without completing his quest or passing it on
to a son, but even more because he would never have the chance to tell the
demon exterminator how much he cared. He remembered backing away from
where they had been sitting and talking of nothing important, closed fist
tight to his chest to avoid injuring her….
"Houshi-sama?" She started to follow him.
"Don't, Sango-san. It's the kazaana. It's
time."
"But you don't have your heir…"
He tried to smile through the pain. "I don't think
that matters much now. You'll get my vengeance for me, Sango-san.
You and the others will finish Naraku, and my soul will be at peace."
"I'd rather your soul stayed here, M-miroku-san."
"As would I, but I don't believe I'll be given that option."
He curled over his clenched hand. "Farewell, sweet Sango. I will
miss you." He heard her sniff once or twice, but she didn't burst into
tears. Perhaps they'd all been spent on her slaughtered family.
They waited for several long moments, but he remained
where he was, crouched in the tall grass, waiting.
"H-houshi-sama?" Sango asked at last.
"Hai?"
"How… long does this take?" she asked hesitantly.
"Not this long to the best of my knowledge."
She approached and knelt in front of him. "At the
risk of sounding foolish, I think we should look."
He looked up at her. "Were I to open it, I could
not guarantee that it would not suck you in as well."
She wrapped one hand around her wrist. "You're worth
the risk," she said quietly. She continued to hold him as he carefully
peeled away the rosary and cloth covering the air rip and looked. There
was nothing beneath but the unblemished soft skin of a hand unused to hark
work.
"It's gone."
He was dragged from his memories by Sango's elbow in his
ribs.
"-must have weakened him a lot," Kagome was saying.
"He might have been strong enough 60 years ago when he first became hanyou
to curse your family, but he's given up a lot of power since then, creating
those offspring. And even if he were able to reabsorb Kagura and Kanna,
that still leaves him missing some important parts. Without those parts
and the Jewel, maybe he lost control of the curse on Miroku."
"Feh. Seems too easy."
Kagome ignored the weak barb. "Well for now, it's
just a theory. And as long as the void doesn't come back, what difference
does it make?"
"That is exactly what I'm concerned about," Miroku said.
"I'm quite happy not having a gateway to hell in my hand. Life is exciting
enough without it."
Inu-Yasha set Tetsuko on her feet and jumped up.
"So let's not sit around talkin' about it anymore." He started packing
away their supplies as Kagome rolled the sleeping bag, tossing it into the
pack as well and handing her several cups of ramen.
"Not exactly a balanced meal," she commented.
"It's good, though."
She shook her head and started filling the cups with boiling
water. “So what about after breakfast? What do we do then?”
Inu-Yasha broke his rehydrating ramen into tiny bits.
“Same as we were. They go back,” he said, pointing across the fire,
“and we keep moving.”
“I want to go with you,” Tetsuko said as she stirred her
own noodles.
“No,” Inu-Yasha said shortly. “Too dangerous.”
“But I want to. You let Mom go with you. It’s
not fair.”
“Tetsu-chan,” Kagome started, “it’s really not safe...”
“But I want to..”
“No,” Inu-Yasha repeated firmly. “You’re going back.”
“But...”
“Tetsuko,” Inu-Yasha was near-growling, “I said no.”
She looked over to her mother, but saw that there would
be no support coming from that corner. “All right,” she said with a
sigh. “Gomen ne. I’ll go.”
Kagome wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sat down
with the girl. "It won't be very long, Tetsu-chan. And I know
you've been missing us very badly. But you have to believe that Inu-Yasha
and I know what we're doing. We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't
for the best."
"You're not just running around out here having fun?"
Tetsuko asked, poking at her noodles with a chopstick.
Kagome felt her cheeks warm under her daughter's inadvertently
personal question. Certainly, there were parts of the journey that
had been very enjoyable, more than just renewing and strengthening her relationship
with Inu-Yasha. Difficult as her life in the Sengoku Jidai had
been, the mere act of day to day survival had a simplicity to it that was
lacking in the modern world. There was no telephone bill here to pay,
no geometry test waiting around the corner, no questions from friends about
how her relationship with her jealous, violent, two-timing bad-ass boyfriend.
Here, she could simply worry about living, and fit the other parts in where
she could. And if the price was having to clean and dress whatever
Inu-Yasha killed for dinner, she was certainly willing to pay it.
"It's not all fun and games out here, Tetsuko," Inu-Yasha
answered for her. "I've seen your time, and the reason we don't have
all that junk is 'cause it takes all a person's time just to get by.
So when we're not a jump ahead of Naraku, we're pokin' through the brush
for somethin' to eat. And even though there are parts of it I happen
to like a lot, it's not something I think you ought to be hauled through.
Okay?" He plopped down next to her, brushing Kagome's hand in the process,
and she knew he'd seen her embarrassment over the question. "Hey, wench.
My ramen's still crunchy. What's wrong with it?"
She shrugged, but shot him a smile, grateful for the change
of subject. "Maybe it's something to do with your complete and total
lack of patience?" she asked pleasantly.
“Feh.” It was his usual conversation closer, and
worked quite well.
“How much longer are you thinking of staying out?” Miroku
asked.
“Eh, a few more days. Might backtrack a little and
cross our own path a few more times to tangle Naraku up but good. Then
we can slip back to the village and plan something more long term.”
Inu-Yasha slurped his soup. “Hey, that reminds me, what did you mean
about Tetsuko knowing where to find us?”
“I smelled you,” she piped up, doing her best to imitate
his noisy eating despite her mother’s glare.
Inu-Yasha smirked proudly. “There’s something I
gotta think about when we get back. Have to figure out just what you
can do, chibi-youkai.” She grinned at him, and he thought maybe her
canine teeth were just a fraction longer than most humans. It pleased
him somewhere deep inside to see even a small manifestation of her youkai
blood. “We’ll talk about it when we get back. Right now,”
he stood and crumpled his ramen cup, “your mom and I are going to talk to
Miroku and Sango, and you’re going to sit right here and wait for us. Got
it?”
She nodded. “Yes. I understand. Right
here.”
“Good.” He moved off into the brush, not waiting
to see if the others were following.
Tetsuko watched them all walk out into the brush then
looked around. There certainly didn’t seem to be anything dangerous
around them, and Kirara had already curled up, tails wrapped around her body
for a post-breakfast nap. Through a thin screen of trees away from
where the adults had gone, there was a field, and it was calling to her to
come and run around. Slowly, she stood, checking the trees in the other
direction. She could still hear the low murmur of the adults talking.
And surely, if she didn’t go too far, they could see her when they came back.
She was torn for a moment, remembering what Inu-Yasha had said. But
“right here” had always meant “where I can see you,” and it really wasn’t
that far. And she’d had her fill of sitting still while traveling on
the cat-demon. Just for a minute then, to stretch her legs. She’d
probably be back to the camp before them, anyway. She threw one last
look to the brush where the grown-ups were still talking, then ran up the
low rise to the clearing.
Inu-Yasha glared at Sango and Miroku. “So we’re
clear on this, right? She cries, she screams, whatever. She doesn’t
come out after us again.”
“I don’t think she’ll be as hysterical now,” Miroku said.
“She truly did not realize at first that it was possible you would be away
several days. I think her understanding of the situation will be better
now.”
“I don’t care right now if she understands, Miroku.
I care if she’s safe.”
“It was my idea, Inu-Yasha,” Sang said quickly.
“Miroku was against it from the beginning. We’ll make sure she’s kept
strictly to the village once we get back. Have you thought of anything
to do about Naraku?”
“Nothin’ really. Too bad we can’t get rid of him
with the Jewel.”
Kagome shook her head. “It’s not a pure wish.
The evil intent would corrupt the power, and we’d probably end up with something
even worse.”
Inu-Yasha shuddered, not wanting to think about what could
be worse than Naraku. Ryuukossei, maybe, though the dragon demon had
ultimately been defeatable, thanks to the Tetsusaiga. “Yeah.
So that ain’t gonna happen. But the sooner we take care of him, the
better.”
Kagome fidgeted a little in the brush. “Inu-Yasha,
we should probably get moving-”
Inu-Yasha stiffened, holding up a hand to cut her off.
“Shh,” and she saw the hanyou’s nose go to work. “Kuso!
Tetsuko!” He crashed back through the brush, the others hot on his
heels.
The smell of miasma hung heavy in the air around the camp,
Kirara lying on the ground, unconscious rather than simply napping.
Sango snatched her up with a low cry, covering her own nose and mouth with
her mask as the others covered their faces with their sleeves. Of the
little girl, there was no sign.
“Chikuso, it’s Naraku.” Inu-Yasha’s voice
was muffled through the sleeve of his haori. He dropped his arm, wincing
as the stink of Naraku’s miasma hit him full blast. It was nasty, but
not overpowering, almost like the scent was left behind deliberately.
He trotted a few steps away, toward the clearing through a thin screen
of trees. The scents were different here, easier to pick out. He turned
back and rejoined the others. “He left us a trail,” he said, helping
Kagome secure the last items in the pack. “He wants to trade for the
Shikon no Tama.”
“Trade what?” Kagome asked, sliding the pack on.
“Tetsuko. He took Tetsuko.”
There was no question of going back now. Miroku
quickly threw a layer of earth over the remains of the fire, stamping it
down as Inu-Yasha chased down the scent trail, Kagome clinging to his back.
Within second, the monk was perched behind Kirara’s broad shoulders with
Sango, and they were off as well.
“Gonna rip the head off the bakayaro and shred
his lungs. He’ll be breathing out the other end by the time I’m done
with him.”
Kagome had grown inured to Inu-Yasha foul mouth in the
first months of their journeys together a decade ago, but this was certainly
the most personal invective she’d heard. “We’ll get her back, Inu-Yasha,”
she said, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.
“No shit,” he snapped. “Kuso. Sorry.
I’m not mad at you, Kagome. None of this would have happened if Sango
and Miroku had just kept her at the village in the-"
She squeezed his shoulder again, but not for comfort.
"Done is done. And if she'd never come through the well, she wouldn't
have been captured, either. Is that what you want?"
"I want her safe."
"So do I. So shut up about it and keep moving."
She squinted, eyes watering in the wind of their passing. "She's stubborn,"
Kagome said after a moment. "Just like you. She would have gone
anyway, and Sango and Miroku would have been chasing her while we were still
out here."
"Feh. So where do you want it?"
"Where do I want what?"
She could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "Our
house, wench. I don't mind living in a tree, but I didn't think it
would suit you too well."
"I-" It was on the tip of her tongue to say 'I have
a house,' but she realized that, until she could get back to her own time,
she didn't, really. And if whatever had destroyed the shrine building
had damaged the house, she might not have one at all. "I don't know.
Let's worry about getting Tetsuko back, then we'll talk about it."
He snorted again. "You're going to be living in
a tree at that rate, woman." He slowed to a trot and let her slide
to the ground. Kirara dropped to the ground beside them.
"They're close?" Sango asked, slipping the shoulder strap
of her Hiraikotsu over her head. Miroku hopped to the ground
and helped her off, staff and demon-banishing spells at the ready.
Inu-Yasha nodded, the Tetsusaiga transforming as he drew
it. He grabbed Kagome with his free hand, and she shouldered her bow
and quiver, leaving her pack behind. "Right through those trees.
Let's go."
Naraku’s barrier pulsed with a sickly pinkish light, nothing
like the clean rosy glow that normally surrounded the Shikon no Tama.
It covered a hemispherical area perhaps ten feet in diameter, and the swirl
of color on the surface gave no clue as to what might be contained within.
“Can you break it without hurting Tetsuko?” Kagome asked
from where Inu-Yasha had placed her safely behind him.
“Yeah, I think so. Maybe. I think Naraku reabsorbed
that bitch Kagura. The winds in that thing are fierce.” He looked
up, checking on the exterminator and monk, who hovered overhead on Kirara,
waiting to provide any necessary distractions or assistance. “Light
it up for me. I want something to aim at.”
He heard the rustle of an arrow coming out of the quiver,
then the faint protest of wood bending and gut being pulled taut. He
could feel the heat radiating from the arrow as Kagome let her purifying
miko powers seep into her weapon, and the soft twang as she
released the string. The glowing shaft lifted high into the air, just
a hair to the left of centered on the barrier before them, drifting a smidge
right in a puff of wind, landing square in the middle of the barrier and
wounding the youki wind generating the barrier.
He smiled faintly, remembering a time he’d denigrated
her skill with a bow. But he wasn’t laughing at her now. Now,
he let his own power flow into the Tetsusaiga forming tiny cyclones around
the huge blade.
“Eat this, bakayaro. Kaze no Kizu!”
The energy ripped across the ground between them, slashing at the purified
area of the barrier, and finally tearing the whole dome of energy to tatters.
“You have something of mine, kusottare. I
want it back, NOW!”
“Kukuku, Inu-Yasha. You have something I want as
well. I’m not averse yet to doing this the easy way.” Naraku
dragged the small form of Tetsuko out from behind him. “Give me the
Jewel, hanyou, and you’ll get your whelp back.”
“How about you give her back, and I kill you quick instead
to letting you suffer first?” He spared a quick glance up, and saw
Sango, Miroku and Kirara engaged in fighting off Naraku’s ever-present cloud
of youkai. Kagome launched another arrow toward the enemy hanyou,
only to swear when one of the demon hoard slithered into the way.
“Inu-Yasha...” she started.
“No!” he shouted.
“We don’t have any choice!” she shouted back. “He’s
got us this time.” She stepped around him, staring up into his eyes.
‘Trust me,’ she mouthed. She turned and faced Naraku. “Don’t
hurt her,” she called, holding her hands out wide. “I have the Jewel.”
“Throw away the bow, witch, and come out here.”
She cast Inu-Yasha one more pained look, then tossed her
weapon aside and walked out into the center of the field.
“Show me the Jewel,” Naraku demanded, and she dug into
her clothing, pulling out the brilliant orb on a chain. The demented
hanyou cackled again and shoved Tetsuko away from him. “Throw
it here, miko, and take your useless spawn.”
Kagome did as she was instructed, chucking the Jewel toward
him and scooping up her daughter as the girl ran into her arms. Her
free hand raced over the girl’s form, checking her head, her face, her chest,
tucking the girl’s head under her chin and racing back to Inu-Yasha’s side.
“Stay behind your dad, Tetsuko. He'll know what to do. I’ve got
to get my bow.”
“You fools!” Naraku crowed. “You’ve killed yourselves
with your blind sentimentality. Now watch as I take what should have
been mine in the first place.” He gripped the Shikon Jewel in his hand,
pouring power into the relic. But soon it was clear that something
was terribly wrong. Naraku’s face contorted in rage as his body began
to erupt, the various youkai he had invited to possess his weak human
form pouring forth and falling to the ground in steaming lumps. “You
BITCH!” The last of his strength flowed out across the ground, flying
into Kagome just as she stood, recovered bow in hand.
“KAGOME!” Inu-Yasha flung himself toward his Mate,
but the curse reached her before he could, light flaring bright enough to
blind. Inu-Yasha flung an arm over his eyes, blocking the worst of
the illumination. When he could see again, Kagome was gone, replaced
by a statue of glittering crystalline ice, a perfect replica of the woman
he loved. He touched her cold cheek with one finger, then whirled on
his opponent. “Omae o koroso, kusottore.” He raised the
Tetsusaiga, letting the power of the Cutting Wind build until it licked at
the youki of the sprawl of demons on the field. Only then, when
they were hopelessly tangled, did he let it out, watching with cold satisfaction
as the sword’s ultimate attack, the Bakuryuuha, whirled through the
hoard in a series of savage tornadoes. The demons turned to ash, floating
in the tainted air for a moment, then settled slowly to the ground.
“Mama!”
Tetsuko flew across the ashy ground, and Inu-Yasha saw
the truth of his blood in her. Her eyes were the same amber, claws
and fangs readily apparent, small black ears laid back on her skull in anger.
He sheathed his sword and reached out for her, catching her before she could
throw herself onto the statue of her mother. “MAMA!”
Inu-Yasha winced, laying his own ears back at her shrill
voice, but he couldn’t blame her. If he had been any less numb, he
would have been howling along with her. But this, this was too much,
too hard to accept. He held his weeping daughter in one arm, other
hand pressed to Kagome’s cold face.
“Not again,” he whispered. “Don’t you do this to
me again, Kagome. You said you were staying, damn it. You can’t
go and die on me now, wench. Not now. Not when we finally got
it right.”
He withdrew his hand as Sango and Miroku approached, stunned
for a moment into silence.
“What did he do?” the exterminator asked at last.
“I don’t know,” Inu-Yasha answered tiredly, pressing
the weeping Tetsuko to his chest. “He was trying to use the Jewel,
and it somehow fell apart on him. She must have... must have done something
to keep him from using it.” His voice sounded strange in his own ears,
too calm, too even. “She said, she said ‘trust me.’ She knew,
must have known... KAGOME!” He fell to his knees at her feet, Tetsuko
still clutched to his chest.
Miroku examined his frozen friend. “She is like
ice that does not melt,” he said after a moment. “Perhaps she will
remain like this long enough for us to find a cure, a way to reverse the
spell.”
Inu-Yasha could only stare up at his frozen mate.
“Kagome...” he croaked. “I should have made the wish, I should
have...”
Tetsuko’s head jerked under his hand. “What?”
“I should have wished for her to come back, or for the
well to open. Anything to use the power of the Jewel and get rid of
it.”
Tetsuko reached up, patting his face. “D..dad?
I... I have it.”
He looked down, not really seeing her, until she reached
under her t-shirt and drew out a round ball on a chain, glowing with a faint
pink light. Far from being destroyed, the Shikon no Tama was
hanging around his daughter’s neck.
"How did you…?"
"Mama," the girl sniffled. "She, she put it on me
when the baka let me go. She said you'd know what to do."
Inu-Yasha cradled the jewel in his palm for a long minute,
then pressed it back into his daughter's hand. "I do know. You're
going to make a wish, Tetsuko."
"Do you think that's wise, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked.
"I know Tetsuko's a smart child, but shouldn't you make the wish?"
"Her heart's pure," the hanyou informed them.
"It'll work this way. It has to work this way."
They stood to the side and watched as Tetsuko lifted the
Jewel in her cupped palms. "Shikon no Tama, Sacred Jewel of
Four Souls, I humbly ask you to grant my heartfelt wish. Please bring
my mother back, and let her be happy forever."
A sudden wind whipped the branches of nearby trees and
the jewel rose from her hands, breaking itself free of the chain that had
held it. It hovered in the air for a long moment, pulsing faintly,
then arrowed toward Kagome, exploding in a showed of white light as it hit
the ice.
Inu-Yasha snatched Tetsuko back, covering her face with
his voluminous sleeve, turning his own face from the glare only a second
too slow, hissing as a shard of something cold sliced along his cheek.
Miroku spun nearly as fast, burying Sango's face against his chest and ducking
below the worst of the spray.
Time stood frozen around them until Inu-Yasha picked up
the faintest rustling from where the statue had been and dared to look over.
Kagome stood where she had been, eyes wide with confusion, breathing heavily.
"I…In…Inu-Yasha? What…where…?" She started
to slump, and he was with her in a flash, pulling her close.
"It's over," he whispered, holding her as if he could
pull her into his skin. "He's gone. It's done, finished."
He couldn't, wouldn't let her go.
"Mama!" Tetsuko threw her self between them, shimmying
her way up to drape her arms around her mother's neck. "Mama, I was
so scared. The baka froze you and Daddy threw tornadoes at him
and boom! He was gone. Mama?"
Kagome had turned away to look over the battlefield.
The dull gray ash that had been Naraku covered everything, and she watched
with sorrow as the evil that had infested him even how ruined the soft green
of the forest. "No," she said softly, releasing Inu-Yasha only long
enough to wave her hand instinctively, power rippling out to purify everything
his evil had touched. The ash flared white then was gone, leaving behind
only the healthy green of a thriving forest. Even the scars of the
Kaze no Kizu had faded, new grass pushing through the wounded earth.
She wavered on her feet, exhaustion setting in, and Inu-Yasha caught her
more firmly, urging Tetsuko to the ground.
The girl slid down, still hugging her mother tightly.
Kagome wrapped one arm around her shoulders, holding onto Inu-Yasha again
with the other. She smiled wanly down at her daughter, then looked
up at Inu-Yasha, brow contracting in worry. She reached up with shaky
fingers and touched the wound on his face. "Gomen," she murmured
when he jerked back.
"Leave it. It's fine."
Sango and Miroku huddled around her then, and she hugged
them gratefully, then found herself swept up in Inu-Yasha's embrace when
the bone-weariness of her body finally overcame her will.
"Let's go," she heard him say distantly as she was cradled
to his chest. "We're done here." The rush of the wind as he jumped
into the air was the last thing she heard.
She was laying down, she realized with a start, her head
pillowed one something firm and warm, something brushing rhythmically through
her hair. Voices spoke softly around her, though not so quietly that
they were anxious to avoid waking her.
"-then what will you do?" Miroku was asking.
"I dunno," she heard Inu-Yasha reply. "It's up to
her, I guess. With the Jewel-"
"Did she absorb it?" Sango asked.
"I think so," he replied. "I couldn't see much either,
but I think that's what happened."
Then she heard Tetsuko's voice from somewhere very close.
"Is it going to hurt her, the Jewel?"
"Nah." She could feel the hand on her head tighten
fractionally. "It didn't before, Tetsu-chan. She'll be fine."
His voice was somber, though, and no where near as confident as Kagome liked
to hear it.
She cracked one eye open. "Ohayo,'"she murmured.
His nose twitched. "More like konbana wa.
Daijoubu ka?"
She nodded. "Hai. Daijoubu. Is
everyone else okay?"
"Yeah. We got back late last night. You've
been out for more than a day." She saw lines of tension that
had been etching themselves into his face fade a little. "Sure you're
okay?"
"Pretty sure, but I'm in no big hurry to go back out and
do that again." She let Inu-Yasha lift her up a little until she was
lounging against him, Tetsuko scrambling over his lap to curl up against
her. "So what happened?" she asked, once safely tucked between them.
Naraku tried to use the jewel you gave him," Miroku said.
"Where did you find such a perfect replica?"
"Jii-chan had a ton of them. When I tried
to open the well, they came through with some of the beams." She looked
up at Inu-Yasha. "Did you try it again?"
"No. Didn't want to risk getting stuck. Why
didn't you tell me you were giving him the fake?"
"No time. Glad it worked, though." She yawned,
curling against him. "Sorry. Still a little tired."
"So go back to sleep. There's nothing to worry about
now."
She was flying like Inu-Yasha did, running a few steps
here and there, then pushing off to soar again. But it wasn't the countryside
of feudal Japan under her feet. Instead, she paced over skyscrapers
and modern roofs, the slap of concrete loud in her ears.
Everywhere she looked was devastation and ruins.
Buildings were tumbled down, the pavement cracked under them. Others
leaned drunkenly on their foundations.
She paused long enough to get her bearings, and raced
across the remaining shaky rooftops, finally coming to rest in the courtyard
of the Higurashi shrine. The house was a large pile of matchsticks,
the little shrine a matching smaller pile. Two other people stood in
the yard, picking through the rubble, but they seemed to take no notice of
her.
"Anything?"
"Nope. Owner said her daughter and granddaughter
may have been home at the time, but there's no sign of them."
"All right. Put it on the list for cleanup after
the wrecks with casualties are finished."
They walked away, and Kagome stared at the wreckage of
her home.
She woke with a start, waking Inu-Yasha at the same time.
Tetsuko had crawled into a nearby futon during the night, and lay curled
not too far away.
"What is it?" he asked her softly.
"Home", she whispered back. "Something happened
to my house."
He pulled her into his lap as she started to shake.
"We'll try to go through when it gets light."
"It was gone, all of it. The whole city was in shambles."
"Shh. Don't think about it. We'll see how
it is when we get there."
It was, as she had said, a wreck.
They had picked their way up through the beams that filled
the well. Once again a part of her, Kagome had been able to open the
passageway between times using the Jewel. Then she had let Inu-Yasha
carry her up, clinging close to his back as he navigated the maze of timber
and crawled over the edge of the well.
The raised platform just inside the Shrine doors had protected
the dirt floor beneath, to an extent, and he managed to clear a small path
out of the collapsed shrine. Kagome crept out into the courtyard, and
saw that it was every bit as bad as her nightmare had indicated. The
sound of sirens filled the air, and there were crashes at intervals as more
unstable buildings succumbed to the overwhelming force of gravity.
The only good she could find in it was that with the devastation of the city,
no one seemed interested in visiting a half-forgotten shrine. Inu-Yasha
could walk the grounds with her in complete safety.
"This can't have happened the day you tried to open the
well," he said, surveying the pathetic city below them.
"Sure it could. It must have been an earthquake.
A huge one, to do this much damage." She shook her head, surveying
the remains of the house. "How am I going to tell Mom and Sota I'm
okay? They're going to be frantic."
Inu-Yasha swiveled one of his ears, picking up a sound
much closer than the general cacophony. "Not for long," he said, pointing
toward the steps up for the street.
She looked where he indicated, and saw her brother's head
rapidly rising as he ran up the last few steps.
"Ka-kagome!" he shouted, seeing her standing in the courtyard.
He stopped suddenly, almost falling in the dirt. "Inu-onii-chan?"
Inu-Yasha folded his arms into his sleeves. "Feh.
You expecting someone else?"
Sota ignored his retort, grabbing his sister and hugging
her tightly. "Onee-chan, you're okay! We didn't know what
happened! It took days just to find out we could get into the city
again."
Kagome returned his embrace, smiling that her 'little'
brother was almost as tall as Inu-Yasha now. "We're okay, really.
We weren't here when it happened."
"Kagome?"
Kagome broke away from Sota and ran to her mother, hugging
her tightly. "We're okay, Mama. I'm fine, Tetsuko's fine, Inu-Yasha's
fine."
Her mother pulled back to look at her. "Inu-Yasha's
here? I should have known. He'd never let anything happen to
you."
Standing next to Sota, Inu-Yasha snorted and tried not
to blush.
Mrs. Higurashi looked around the remains of her former
home. "Oh, dear. It is bad, isn't it? Where have you been
staying, Kagome-chan?"
She drew a deep breath. "With Inu-Yasha, Mom.
Tetsuko and I went through the well before it happened. I just got
back myself."
Mrs. Higurashi looked from Kagome to her white-haired
protector, the father of her first grandchild, and love of her daughter's
life. "All right. We'll take care of it. You go on, Kagome.
Don't worry about it."
"Mama?"
"You remember when we talked under the tree, Kagome?
About finding peace? I don't think you're going to find your peace
here, my daughter. But it's waiting for you on the other side of the
well."
"Mama, I don't know for sure I can come back again if
I go."
"It's all right, Kagome. You will be where you belong.
That's all a mother can ask, to see her children where they belong.
But you should go back before you can't go at all. The Shrine looks
ready to fall in any moment."
Kagome looked troubled. "Mama, I don't think I should…"
Her mother hugged her quickly, then pushed her back.
"Inu-Yasha, take her back. Hug Tetsu-chan for me. I know they'll
be safe with you."
He nodded, taking her arm and pulling her gently away.
He could hear all too well the creaking of the beams that had made up the
old well. "It's gotta be now, Kagome. There's no time left."
She turned as he moved her away. "Mama, Sota!
Aishiteru! I'll keep trying to come through!" Inu-Yasha
scooped her up, quickly moving her to his back and started climbing through
the wreckage.
"Aishiteru, Kagome. Be safe!"
The shifting sounds were more ominous now, and Kagome
understood why her mother had sent her back so quickly. The reached
the bottom, and Inu-Yasha shifted her again, cradling her against his chest.
"We’ve gotta go Kagome. Open it now."
She reached into the rift between times, pulling them
into the portal as the remains of the shrine fell into the well.
They landed in the Sengoku Jidai surrounded by
more debris from the shrine, coughing in the swirling dust.
Kagome slipped from Inu-Yasha's grasp, sitting down on
a reasonably horizontal beam. "So I guess that's it, more or less.
No more going back and forth."
Inu-Yasha leaned against the cold stone side. "Looks
that way. Are you sorry you can't go back?"
"A little. I'm going to miss Mama and Sota terribly.
And there are some modern things that are very convenient."
"Your te-le-vi-sion and ra-di-oh?"
"No. Hospitals and medicines. And ramen, too."
"Well, I'm sorry about the ramen, anyway." He pushed
away from the side and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, woman.
You have to pick a place."
"A place?"
"For the house, wench. Or is living in a tree starting
to look appealing?"
She let herself be pulled up and carried to the top of
the well in a single motion. "You'd really build a house for us?"
"Feh. I said I would, didn't I?"
"I-N-U-Y-A-S-H-A…"
He flinched, afraid she'd find some way to sit him without
the rosary. "Nani?"
"Aishiteru."
That was the last thing he expected. "N-nani?"
"Aishiteru, Inu-Yasha."
"Feh!" But she heard him muttering under his breath.
"Aishiteru, Kagome."
*THE END*
SOME say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
"Fire and Ice," Robert Frost
Glossary:
It's just about impossible to write Inu-Yasha without using some Japanese
phrases, and while some might be familiar to non-speakers, many aren't, so
the following is provided to help with the translations. (If your familiar
with Inu-Yasha, then you probably know all of these.)
Aishiteru : I love you
Arigeto : Thanks
Ba- (chan, san, sama): Aunt, older woman
Baka : idiot (a common expression)
Bouzu : Monk, but implies doubt about the person's dedication. Rude
Daijoubu : I'm okay, fine, all right. With -ka, Are you okay?
Gomen : Sorry, casual
Goshin-boku : Old God-Tree, where Inu-Yasha was sealed at the beginning of
the series
Hai : Yes (everyone knows this, right?)
Hakama : Wide-legged pants typically worn over a kimono
Hanyou : Half-Demon
Haori : Jacket typically worn over a kimono
Hijin Ketsuso : Blades of Blood. Inu-Yasha can fling his own blood
to slice his enemies.
Hiraikotsu : Bone boomerang. Sango's signature weapon
Houshi : Buddist monk
Ja ne, Ja mata : See you soon. Casual
Ji- (chan, san, sama): Uncle, older man
Jii- (chan, san, sama): Grandfather, elder man
Kami : Spirits; with –sama, refers to God
Kazaana : Air rip or Air void, Wind tunnel. The curse on Miroku's family.
Kaze no Kizu : Wound of the Wind, or Cutting Wind. Inu-Yasha's favorite
attack.
Konban wa : Good evening. Inu-Yasha's not usually this polite.
Kugutsu : Puppet. Naraku likes to use these rather than do anything
himself
Miko : Shrine Priestess. Kikyo, Kaeda and Kagome are all miko
Nan desu ka: What is it?
Nani : What?
Ohayo : Good morning, casual, with gozaimashita, formal. Kagome's a
nice girl.
Okaa- (chan, san, sama): Mother
Omae o koroso : I'm going to kill you.
Onee- (chan, san, sama) : Older sister
Onii- (chan, san, sama) : Older brother. Sota calls Inu-Yasha Inu-onii-chan,
dog-eared brother.
Osuwari : Sit. The word of subjugation tied to Inu-Yasha's rosary
Otou- (chan, san, sama): Father
Ri: a unit of distance used in Japan
Saimyoushou : Naraku's Hell Insects. Poisonous
Sayonara : Good-bye, particularly when you don't plan to see the person again
Sengoku Jidai : Warring-States Era, the latter half of the 16th century.
Shikon no Tama : Jewel of Four Souls, the focus of the original quest
Shoji: Paper screen used as walls in Japanese houses
Sumimasen : I'm sorry, please excuse me
Youkai : Demon, a supernatural creature rather than a being from Hell
Youki : Demon-energy
yo-bun no-ichi youkai : One-quarter demon
Yukata : light cotton kimono
Kuso, Kusottare, bakayaro, chikuso, kono yaro : Various bad words, mostly
dealing with excriment.. Inu-Yasha's quite a potty mouth