Take Two
Chapter 9
Kagome knelt on the tatami, head bowed, hands in her lap, wishing her
uniform skirt was just an inch or two longer. She knew Inuyasha
and Miroku both enjoyed the effect it had of making her legs look miles
long (a little too much, in the houshi’s case, she thought) but now,
sitting under the gaze of a man she had to impress, it called into
question the sobriety of their mission, and her value in it.
That, or he was just another letch.
She hoped that wasn’t the case, however. Getting Sango into the
group before Naraku could get his tentacles on her and leave her with a
fine sense of self-loathing was one of Kagome’s major goals in this
second turn through the past. And her other plans had fallen like
dominoes. Kikyou was shambling around somewhere, though Inuyasha
loyalties were no where near as divided. The Jewel was in pieces,
though they seemed to be larger this time, an effect she hoped was not
one of perspective but a function of there being fewer of them out
there. And now, Naraku had the means to create offspring again,
offspring that could potentially set loose the demon in Inuyasha’s
blood, constrained only by the sword at his side.
So it was imperative, in her mind, to save Sango, to save Kohaku, to
save the whole taiji village, if she could.
“It’s an incredible story, Houshi-sama,” Sango’s father said at last,
sipping his tea. Miroku had been chosen to lay the tale out, in
the hopes that his status as a monk might gain them a bit of
trust. “Almost too incredible.”
“I assure you, Okashira-san, it is true. My grandfather spoke of
the demon Naraku, and Kaede-sama, the younger sister of Kikyou-sama,
was able to explain that hanyou’s origins. Taken with what
Kagome-sama and Inuyasha have experienced first-hand, there can be no
doubt. Naraku must be stopped. The people of your village are
renowned for their skill at demon extermination. To whom should
we turn, if not you?”
There was a long silence, finally broken by the okashira. “I want
to believe you, Houshi-sama. Truly, I do. You seem like an
honest man...”
Kagome held her breath, ready to whisper the word if Inuyasha so much
as twitched, but miraculously, he held his peace and kept his place.
“…but without some kind of proof, what can I do?”
Reaching into the neck of her blouse, Kagome withdrew the leather pouch
Inuyasha had given her, and shook out the three shards of the Jewel
they had been able to recover. She held them out in her cupped
palm where they glowed with a soft pink light. “Okashira-san, is
this proof enough of what we say? These are shards of the Sacred
Jewel, shattered by my hand to prevent it from falling into Naraku’s
grasp. I know the danger of this thing. I know it will
pervert any wish made without the purest of hearts. Please,
Okashira-san, we must have a skilled taijiya with us to finish
collecting the shards from the youkai who find them and finally face
Naraku.”
He stared at the fragments in her hand, a hand, he noted, that had been
soft not long ago, but now bore the marks of an archer. The
shards, and the girl who held them, radiated a kind of understated
power as if great potential was hiding inside, waiting to be brought
forth. He shifted his gaze to study the girl, trying to look past
her strange clothing and see more of the power within. Their
words, he concluded, could be true. The girl could be a miko,
could be the reincarnation of the late Kikyou-sama. Or they could
be a band of charlatans intent on some nefarious plot that required the
skills of the taijiya.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Miko-sama. I’m a simple
man. I believe only what I see and touch. Those could be
shards of the Shikon no Tama, or pieces of some other object.”
Next to her, Inuyasha bristled, and Kagome rested a calming hand on his
arm. “Fighting won’t help us,” she whispered.
“He as good as called you a liar,” Inuyasha gritted out. “He can
say what he wants about the bouzu, but no one says things like that
about you.”
“Inuyasha-“ Her attempt to cool the hanyou’s temper was cut short
by the pounding of feet on the walkway outside.
“Chichi- uh, Okashira-san,” a boy called, sliding to a stop in the open
doorway. “Aneue is back!”
Kagome stifled a gasp. Kohaku was here, alive, full of joy and
vibrancy, and not the lifeless puppet she had seen too many times
before, one of Naraku’s tools designed to cut into their hearts as well
as their bodies.
The okashira stood, a fleeting smile crossing his face. “Go and
greet her. Tell her I wish to see her here.” He turned back
to them. “Excuse me for a moment. One of my hunters has
returned.”
Kagome saw their chance, and took it. “Not just one of your
hunters, your best hunter. Your daughter Sango. She
defeated a centipede youkai in a nearby village, and brought back some
legs and hide. She also has a shard of the Jewel. Please,
Okashira-san, give me a chance. If I’m right, if I can purify
that shard, then it’s proof that what I said is true, right?”
“And if you cannot purify the shard?”
“Then I’m wrong, mistaken, delusional, whatever you like. We’ll
leave and you’ll never see us again, I swear.”
He studied her for a long moment, and she fought not to quail under his
stare. “You will leave this place and never return? Our
safety relies on being secret from the outside world.”
Kagome nodded. “I understand. I promise you will never be
troubled by us again. Please, Okashira-san. Just one
chance.”
He nodded sharply. “Wait here.”
As soon as he was gone, Inuyasha turned to Kagome, frowning. “Why
did you tell him we wouldn’t come back? When the-”
“Inuyasha,” she snapped, cutting him off. “What difference does
it make? I’m going to purify the shard, so I could have promised
him my firstborn and it wouldn’t matter.”
His glittering golden eyes went flat. “Don’t even joke about
that, Kagome.”
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She could have bitten her tongue for saying that. It had taken
years to get him to open up about the letter he’d tried to write to her
as a schoolboy in New Zealand, about how the one thing he wanted was to
start a family with her. Children, her children, were no joke.
Not to him.
She apologized immediately. “I’m sorry, Inuyasha. That
wasn’t a bit funny, and I should have known-”
“Shut up a minute,” he hissed, flapping a hand to silence her.
“I’m trying to listen. He’s talking to her.”
“What’s he saying?”
He frowned, ears swiveling to pick up the faint voices. “What
kind of demon was it; did she meet any strangers on the road; did she
recover a shard of the Jewel? Stuff like that.” He waved
her back toward her former place. “Sit down. They’re
coming.”
She shot him a look that told him how very unamusing she found his
choice of words as Miroku chuckled, having witnessed one of the few
times Kagome had lashed out at Inuyasha with the word. She knelt
on the tatami, watching the doorway, and stifled the urge to cry out
when Sango appeared, wrapped in her familiar pink kimono and green
mo-bakama. She followed her father respectfully and knelt where
he indicated, bowing to the guests, but waiting on her leader’s further
orders.
“Sango has reported to me on the events of her last assignment,” the
okashira said, resuming his seat, “and her account tallies closely with
your own. Sango,” he asked, turning to her, “have you ever seen
these people before?”
She shook her head. “No, Okashira-san. I have never seen
these people before.”
Kagome’s lips started to shake with the effort to keep them
closed. The temptation to call out to Sango, who had become
closer to her than friends she had known for years, was nearly
overwhelming. Inuyasha must have sensed her fraying composure,
because his arm brushed almost casually against hers, and when her eyes
flicked to his face, she caught sight of his lowered brows and
flattened ears, everything in his expression screaming, Don’t.
Kagome sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, reigning in her
free-wheeling emotions. Sango was here, Sango was alive.
And nothing was set in stone.
“Miko-sama?”
“Huh? I’m sorry, Okashira-san. I was lost in my own
thoughts for a moment. What were you saying?”
He frowned a little. “Do you require any special instruments for
the purification, Miko-sama?”
Kagome smiled, relieved that it was, to her, at least, such a simple
matter. “Oh, no. Just to touch it, Okashira-san.”
The okashira exchanged a cryptic look with Sango, then gestured toward
the door, and Kagome saw Kohaku hustle into the room, the shard glowing
darkly in the center of a small tray. He set it carefully in
front of Kagome, then stepped back to kneel next to Sango.
Kagome reached out and picked it up, the dark aura turning light at her
touch. There was a round of sighing as held breaths were
expelled. Then the okashira’s shoulders slumped, and his head
ducked for a moment. “Very well, Miko-sama,” he said, head coming
back up. “You have proven yourself true to your word. One
of my most skilled taijiya will be ready to accompany you before
nightfall.” He looked over their company as if assessing
something. “I think I know the perfect choice to ensure your
safety. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to have a word with my
children. One of the women outside can show you to the bath house
and arrange a meal.”
Kagome and Miroku bowed and stood, while Inuyasha merely refrained from
snorting too loudly.
Once outside, Kagome arched her back, then twisted from side to side,
stretching muscles and releasing kinks. “Oh, that bath sounds
good,” she sighed, arms reaching overhead to stretch her
shoulders. “You wanna…” It was on the tip of her tongue to
invite Inuyasha to join her, then remembered that she was still stuck
in the same wrong body for that to be a good idea. “…see about
some food, Inuyasha? We could stand a good hot meal.”
Inuyasha nodded, simultaneously slapping the bug-eyed monk on the back
of the head before his twitchy hand got ideas and trying to keep his
own tongue for lolling in the dirt at their feet. “Go
ahead. I’ll keep the sukebe bouzu busy for you, too.”
She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank,
Inuyasha. You’re the best.” She trotted off to inquire
about the bath, short skirt swaying tantalizingly in the breeze.
Inuyasha’s eyes tracked her until she vanished into one of the huts,
tuning out Miroku’s rambling until a line tangled itself in his brain.
“That is a woman a man could be faithful to.”
The hanyou’s head snapped around. “That’s my woman, you bastard, and you
better not forget it.”
Miroku started at him for a moment, puzzled, then his eyes widened in
shock. “You thought I meant Kagome-sama? No,
Inuyasha. I was talking about her.” He gestured back to the
room, where they could see Sango kneeling in profile.
“Sango.” He rolled the name like a parched man offered an
ever-flowing spring.
In his mind, Inuyasha could hear the echo of a hundred slaps.
“I’ll believe that when I see it, bouzu.”
---
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
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