InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Girl in the Gilded Cage ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

AN: yes…I know…it's not an update to one of the many stories that I'm SUPPOSED to be working on -.- But I just had this idea and you guys know how I can be with some of my spur of the moment ideas! So yeah……I know that Byakuya got a good many votes in my poll to decide the `Death Is Only The Beginning' pairing but still didn't quite make it. Well this is gonna be his story! He gets a whole one all to himself instead of just a one-shot like I'm gonna do for some of the other pairings that didn't make it. I'll let you know where I am on other stories at the end of the chapter, but for now I hope you enjoy!!

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Disclaimer: I make no monies and own neither Inuyasha nor Bleach (which is obvious from the whole `no monies' part).


Girl in the Gilded Cage


Prologue

Kagome sat, perfectly poised with her knees and feet underneath her, as she listened to the murmuring coming from the next room. It's not that she was eavesdropping or anything, it just wasn't terribly difficult to overhear a conversation through the thin shoji doors. Before she had been left alone in the room she had been enduring one of the most stressful hours of her life.

`And that's including the final battle…' she thought with a sad smile.

It seemed like so long ago now that she really thought about it. In reality it had only been about ten years, but to her it seemed like an eternity ago. Despite actually being close to thirty in age, Kagome still looked like she was eighteen or nineteen. She had been a very busy girl during those years…well, a very busy spirit of a girl. Kagome had died those ten years ago, due to injuries she received in the final battle against Naraku to be exact, but it was a choice that she would be willing to make over and over again if faced with the situation.

Their group had begun the big search for the half-demon accompanied by Koga with a few members of his pack and surprisingly, though reluctantly, Sesshoumaru. All of the jewel shards had been found and Kagome carried with her about one-fourth, if that much, of the magical sphere.

As much as she didn't want to participate in a battle that she knew could cause casualties, Kagome was praying for Naraku to just make himself known so that they could get things over with. Every night for about the two weeks leading up to the battle the jagged piece of the jewel that she held had been giving her nightmares as she slept. She could feel the torment of each soul trapped within and knew that they wanted to be reunited with their missing piece.

Her dreams would be those of war, famine, and disease. She could only imagine that these were scenes out of the lives of those who had come in contact with the cursed object. She saw things that she wouldn't wish on anyone; mothers burying their sons, husbands and fathers burying their entire families, starving children now lost and alone in the world, whole villages crying out in agony as they were burned alive inside their homes during raids.

Needless to say, Kagome hadn't been sleeping much if she could help it. She remembered what the jewel had looked like when it was whole: a perfect sphere with a smooth, cool surface that sparkled and glittered pinks and blues even in the faintest of light. She never did understand how something that looked so innocent and pretty could cause as much destruction and hatred as it did.

She also thought it was a wonder that it hadn't managed to taint any of those that she traveled with, herself included. They all had darkness in their hearts. Sango had her thoughts of revenge for her slaughtered family and village, Inuyasha had his anger of being a half-demon outcast from the rest of society, Miroku had his thoughts of lust and killing so that his own curse would be broken, and Kagome had her jealousy over the place that Kikyo held in Inuyasha's heart. The only thing she could think of that might darken Shippo's heart would be the loss of his parents even though he didn't show much mourning these days.

But when their small, dysfunctional group turned into a large, rowdy, tension-filled group Kagome thought she was going to lose her mind. Being around each other every day didn't help Inuyasha settle his differences with Koga or Sesshoumaru. If anything it probably only made them worse.

It usually started with Koga trying to persuade Kagome to go with him after the battle was won and then Inuyasha would pry her away and start a fight with Koga. This, of course, slowed the group's progress which annoyed Sesshoumaru who would reprimand the two demons. That would only serve to redirect Inuyasha's yelling towards Sesshoumaru who would then have to “put Inuyasha in his place.” After the dust would clear the group would continue on in a tense silence until nightfall. Then they would get up and do it all over again the next day!

Kagome rubbed her temples just at the memory. `But when the battle finally came…I wish we still could have been fighting each other instead,' she thought with a sigh.

Naraku had struck during the night. Everyone had already started to relax when those among them with more sensitive noses picked up on the putrid scent of Naraku swiftly approaching. They'd had just enough time to grab their weapons and take fighting stances. Most had to cover their faces with the half-demon's arrival as a thick, poisonous miasma covered the small area they had settled on for camp that evening.

Even the demonic fighters with their advanced eyesight were having trouble finding the target through the dark violet haze. So in an effort to clear away some of the fumes Kagome pulled one of her arrows and aimed straight for the ground in front of her. The arrow lodged itself within the earth and radiated a bright, purifying glow. With a few more well placed arrows, the surrounding air was safe to breathe again without any immediate or long-lasting effects.

Before she knew it, Kagome was witness to lightning fast swordsmanship, quick and deadly punches, and an array of other attacks that reminded her just how strong her friends were. As confident as Naraku seemed to have been, even with the majority of the jewel hanging from his neck, he was still having trouble fending off all of his attackers. Suddenly a strong breeze lifter her hair and Kagome looked up to see Kagura above them.

When the wind sorceress caught Kagome's gaze her face turned serious and she gave a sharp nod. With Kagome's return nod, Kagura left the safety of her feather and entered the battlefield to release one of her more infamous attacks, The Dance of Blades.

Before Naraku had started placing Kagura under stricter surveillance, she had been meeting with them briefly to work a strained sort of partnership. She would join their side in the final battle against Naraku and they would allow her the freedom she wished instead of hunting her down for previous transgressions against them.

Most of the sharp wind blades met with Naraku's many tentacles as he glared at Kagura with nothing short of rage and hatred. But one blade did manage to get past his defenses and strike him across the chest and shoulder, effectively cutting the piece of leather that held his piece of the jewel in place around his neck in the process. Kagome's eyes widened at the lucky turn of events and knew that if she didn't act immediately then it would be like condemning them to brutal fates that they would meet very soon.

She rushed forward and just managed to beat one of Naraku's thick tentacles in reaching the jewel. She hit the ground with a hard impact and curled her fist around the almost complete orb with no intention of letting go. Quickly joining the only two pieces remaining of the jewel, Kagome could feel it starting to radiate purity once more within her grasp.

Naraku had been furious. After the years of plotting and manipulating and fighting he had lost everything he had been working for. He had pulled Kagome's body closer as his tentacles formed to sharp points and began assaulting her trying to get to the jewel by any means necessary.

The group of shard hunters and allies had been so shocked at the events taking place that it took them a moment to realize that Kagome was in very real danger of being killed. With the revelation that their friend was in danger, everyone began their attacks once more while trying not to cause further harm to the girl. But when one of Naraku's tentacles had pieced Kagome's shoulder she let out a pained cry for help. That was all it took to push Inuyasha over the edge.

His father's demonic blood had boiled within him and, discarding his sword, he rushed forward to begin fighting close combat with claws and fists. Blood red eyes filled with dread looked up to the crazed half-demon. Without the jewel in his possession Naraku was losing power quickly. The body that he had made for himself didn't have the energy needed to keep itself together on its own and was slowly breaking down. But when Inuyasha's lethal claws had reached him he didn't even have time to manage a chocked scream as his throat was ripped out and his world began to fade to black around the edges.

The others watched with something akin to shock and horror as a still feral Inuyasha tore at unmoving tentacles to get to a battered raven haired girl. He pulled her up for his teal eyes to examine as he sniffed at a few choice wounds. A few of the members of his group tentatively stepped forward with the intent to help only to halt in their steps at the deep, threatening growl they received.

Before anyone could say anything to bring him back to his senses, Inuyasha scooped an unconscious and badly bleeding Kagome into his arms and seemingly disappeared. He began running as fast as his legs could take him. In his animalistic state he could only think about one place for Kagome to get the best treatment: her home 500 years in the future. When he finally reached the well he immediately jumped in and as soon as solid ground was under him he sprang out just as quickly.

Inuyasha made his way to the front door and began to bang against it with his fist as Kagome's blood continued to stain his clothes. When the door was unlocked and opened, Kagome's mother came face to face with a golden eyed Inuyasha who pleaded with her, “You have to save her…please.”

Kagome's mother gave a quick nod and instructed him to lay her on the kitchen table while she got some bandages and called an ambulance. Some of the wounds were able to be bandaged but once the paramedics got to the house Kagome was rushed down to the ambulance and off to the hospital.

Unfortunately by that point she had lost far too much blood and even with the attempt at a transfusion it just wasn't enough and she had died en route.

Being dead wasn't quite what she had expected. Nobody had ever said anything about a chain hanging from her chest or the monsters that were apparently trying to eat her. Her spirit had been left to roam the city as she didn't have a particular attachment to anything the moment that she died…though she did notice a hard lump if she pressed her fingertips into her side and could only assume that it was the jewel waiting with her soul until they were reborn once again.

She had wandered across a wide river and into one of Tokyo's outer areas called Karakura Town. She had been there once or twice with friends for some shopping. But she had cursed her unnaturally bad luck when one of the large black monsters with a white mask found her again. She ran and ran until she ducked into what appeared to be an empty lot save for a small store towards the back.

To her surprise there had been a man with a charming smile and blond hair pushed down into his face by a striped hat standing there almost as if he had been waiting for her. “Do they chase you often?” He'd asked her.

Kagome had nodded dumbly as she thought about the question more, not questioning once how this man could see her since she was dead.

“I'm not surprised! I can feel the large amount of spirit energy that you have and you would be quite a tasty snack to the Hollow. But fortunately for you I know just the place for you to go!” And with that he had pushed her into his little store.

Later a young boy about her age with orange hair showed up and was told by the blond man to personally escort her to a place that she would come to know as Soul Society and more specifically The Court of Pure Souls.

Many arguments, a glowing gateway, many more arguments, and a meeting with a very old man in a white city later found Kagome on her way to where she was currently.

She had trained in an academy that she had been informed was for shinigami. It looked as though she had impressed someone with a connection or two because after much training at the academy she was appointed to a squad and had been working her way through the ranks ever since.

Much to her surprise, Kagome found that she loved being a shinigami. She didn't feel as powerless as she had when she was alive and got the chance to help others who had gotten lost after their death. Things within the seventh division, which she belonged to, were calm and it left her with additional time to train.

But her world had been turned upside down once again while she was on her way home from buying groceries one evening. There had been an incredibly handsome man speaking with her captain and she had been called over for a friendly introduction…

Here, Kagome's thoughts were interrupted as the shoji doors slid open and a dark haired man walked back in to kneel beside her with a soft, happy smile gracing his features. He reached out to cup one her right cheek with his large yet elegant hand. “Good news, Kagome. You impressed them very much and the family elders are going to give their blessing for us to be wed.” His facial expressions were never radical like hers tended to be sometimes, but she only needed to look into his dark eyes to see how much he cared for her.

A large smile split across her face as she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. It always amazed her how he could be so balanced and had made it her official game to try and catch him off guard one day. But for today he readily returned her hug as she laughed in girlish delight before saying, “I love you, Byakuya Kuchiki.”

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AN: I know, I know, not as long as some would like but it's just the prologue so just tolerate it for me for now and I'll get some longer chapters out as soon as I can. But I want to go ahead and warn everyone that this story will NOT be on my “priority story” list. I'll get the chapters out as the ideas hit me, but I'm still mainly concentrating on `Everything Burns,' `Death Is Only The Beginning,' and `Fragile.' I might update this in the next day or two and continue that for a couple of chapters (as I'm prone to do with new stories), but things might slow down after that. I'm still taking that summer class where an entire semester is crammed into 13 days -.- But it's not as bad as I thought so I might get more writing done than I thought! Well that's enough of my ramblings. Let me know what you think; love it, hate it, don't care either way? I'll see you guys later!