InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Decisions ❯ Chapter 19

 

Chapter Nineteen

 

---On the other side of the well---

 

Inuyasha was pacing back and forth in front of the well impatiently. “Where the hell is that wench?”

 

Unfortunately, said wench heard him from the bottom of the well. “Osuwari.” It was really more out of habit than anything. Kagome climbed out of the well and stepped on a big rock, almost falling. Kagome looked down to move the rock out of the way and found that the rock was actually Inuyasha's head currently being smashed into the ground by her foot. “Oh, sorry Inuyasha. What are you doing on the ground?” Kagome hadn't even noticed when she sat him, she was that distracted.

 

Inuyasha spit out the mouthful of dirt that had been forced into his mouth when he had started to yell at her only to be stomped on before he got the chance. “WHAT THE HELL! You sat me, then you step on me, and now you don't even remember? What is your problem?!”

 

Kagome glared at him. “Well, I'm sure that I had a good reason for sitting you Inuyasha. (A/N: In case you haven't noticed, only the `osuwari' is the subduing word. It just made it easier for me that way. Although I may change that at various points in my story for comedic purposes. In fact, I already have one such moment in mind.) At the moment I have more important things on my mind than your insults. Is Sango out and about?”

 

Inuyasha got up and dusted himself off. “I'm not sure I should tell you.”

 

Kagome growled and Inuyasha started to look scared. “They came out yesterday. For a little bit. To train and check on Kohaku. Although I don't think what they did could be called training. More like flirting with weapons.” Inuyasha rushed all this out and braced himself in preparation for hitting the ground. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes only to see Kagome walking calmly away with her bag propped up on her shoulder.

 

She glanced at him gaping at her. “We better get going Inuyasha. You know how Sesshomaru gets when he feels he has been kept waiting.” Inuyasha fell to the ground all by himself, without any help from the rosary. What had gotten in to Kagome? She wasn't as predictable anymore. Maybe the training with Sesshomaru was good for her. And for my back, he thought silently.

 

He ran to catch up. “Let me take this, it will be faster that way.” He reached for the bag.

 

Kagome was shaking her head at him. “Wait until-”

 

Inuyasha took the bag and it carried him straight to the ground, almost ripping his arm off with the weight. “What the hell!”

 

“-I take the spell off. Inuyasha, you really should listen to me every once in a while. It would really save a lot of time and effort. As for the spell, I figured that this would be a good anti-theft tool. It is great for training when you cast it on your clothes or some weights. That was how I trained in my era. A lot less suspicious than seeing a supposedly sick high school girl running around punching trees. More time efficient, too, with all the lessons and responsibilities that keep popping up. You know how my mom wanted to get me a tutor so that I wouldn't get too behind? Well, she did and without asking me first. As soon as I got home I was ambushed. Although I have to admit that it is doing me a lot of good. He is really quite smart and good at explaining things-”

 

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks. “HE!”

 

“Yes, he. He was actually really nice, well he still is, but now he seems distant and distracted. Just because we went on a date to the amusement park. At least, that seems to be what triggered it.”

 

“DATE!” Inuyasha yelled, dropping the bag and starting back to the well, rolling up his sleeves as he went.

 

Kagome ran up ahead of him to stop him from going through the well. “What are you doing Inuyasha? You can't still be jealous! It's not like it was a date-date. We just went as friends.” Better not mention the dreams, not that it is any of his business anyway.

 

Very good idea. I never thought about it before, but I never really desired Inuyasha, at least not like this. It was more of a sense of belonging than anything. We were both alone and we mistook that for love. It's sad, but there it is. I just hope that he can find someone that can love him in the way that he deserves.

 

Kagome silently agreed with Kikyo. She turned her attention back to Inuyasha and noticed that he had calmed down. “Plus, you couldn't have just gone up and attacked him. He would have smelled that you were a hanyou. He has a peculiar aura, but he is definitely youkai.” Kagome said matter-of-factly.

 

That got Inuyasha all worked up again. “There are YOUKAI in your time! That's it; I'm never going to let you go back, no matter what Midoriko says! It's too dangerous for you to be going around back there without me to protect you.” Inuyasha was so busy contemplating the horrors of what could happen to her that he didn't notice his danger.

 

Kagome drew back her fist and let it fly at Inuyasha's face. When it connected Inuyasha flew back twenty feet into the God Tree and crashed on his head with a sickening thud. Lucky Inuyasha's head was as hard as a rock. In fact, Kagome had seen Inuyasha's head break some pretty big boulders without fazing him. “I think that I can protect myself now. If I couldn't, Sesshomaru would have killed me more often than he already has.” Kagome walked over to where Inuyasha was laying against the God Tree on his head. “Are you okay Inuyasha?”

 

Inuyasha slowly got to his feet rubbing his head, his bangs covering his eyes. “Kagome…”

 

Kagome slowly backed away from him, giggling nervously. This could be one way to get him to Sesshomaru's before Sesshomaru takes it upon himself to come get me. “Now, Inuyasha, you wouldn't hurt your best friend in the entire world would you?”

 

“Kagome…” Inuyasha started to growl.

 

Kagome took off running in the direction of Sesshomaru's palace, chanting a moving-barrier spell to hide both her and Inuyasha's presence completely from anyone who would think to attack them. Kagome ran just fast enough for Inuyasha to keep her in his sights. All that training must have really paid off if I can run faster than Inuyasha. Especially since he has improved so much as well. They got to Sesshomaru's palace in a couple hours. Kagome ran into the courtyard just as Niiku tried to throw himself into her arms along with Shippo and Rin. “Niiku, transform and fly!”

 

Niiku was startled, but did as his mistress asked. Rin and Shippo stopped dead in their tracks as Kagome jumped on Niiku and went up fifty feet in the air. Inuyasha slid into the courtyard seconds later and looked around for Kagome. “Inuyasha are you still mad?”

 

He looked up to see Kagome in the air out of his reach. “What do you think, bitch?! Look at the knot on my head!”

 

Kagome squinted. It was a big knot, but he had had bigger. “'Bitch?'” Inuyasha cringed and went from angry to apprehensive. Kagome just looked contemplative. “You know, I've never thought about it but isn't it a little derogatory to yourself to call me `bitch'? I mean I am human…well, mostly. Isn't that sacrilegious or something for inu youkai?”

 

Inuyasha looked taken aback. Since when had Kagome passed up the chance to sit him? And didn't she know that all those big words would just confuse him?

 

Kagome had to cover her giggles with a cough. At least now he wasn't thinking about her punch or Kurama.

 

Inuyasha was about to speak when he felt something even harder than Kagome's fist or the subduing spell smack him into the ground. Sesshomaru spoke. “You shouldn't use that term in a derogatory fashion, even if you are a hanyou. It is a term of endearment among inu youkai. You can call Kagome that, as she will be our sister when we initiate the blood bonding ceremony. That way we will never be able to be separated even when they put the barrier between the worlds up.”

 

“You're going to adopt me!” Kagome squealed before she noticed the rest of what he said. She motioned for Niiku to descend now that Sesshomaru was there. “What barrier? And what worlds?”

 

Sesshomaru turned around and started back towards the palace entrance. “We will discuss this in the library. We have a guest.”

 

Everyone followed. Kagome carried Rin and Shippo while Inuyasha still carried her bag. She was thankful that he had had the presence of mind to grab it before he started chasing after her. Surprising.

 

They got to the library and Sesshomaru led the way inside Sango, Miroku, Kaede, and Jaken were already there. Rin and Shippo jumped down from Kagome's arms just before they entered. Kagome was wondering why when a bundle of baby came flying into her arms, literally. “Koenma?”

 

“Kagome! It's been ages. You missed my two-hundredth birthday. Did you get me a present?” The baby currently clinging to her didn't look anywhere near two hundred years old. He had a funny purple hat with `Jr.' on it that kept slipping over his eyes and a pacifier in his mouth. (A/N: Picture a baby that just learned how to walk. I have no idea how Koenma ages so I'm making this up as I go along. The pacifier Kagome gave to him. It is not the one that he has in the modern era but I'm going to say that he got the idea from this one. The hat I'm just adding so that he will be recognizable. He is also going to be more childish, if that is possible. Years of responsibilities in Spirit World have mellowed him out a little. Imagine Shippo on a permanent sugar high.)

 

Kagome laughed. “Of course I got you a present! You reminded me enough the last time I saw you about your birthday that I couldn't have forgotten if I wanted to. Although your father will probably kill me after you get done with it.” Kagome went over to Inuyasha and took her backpack from him. She pulled out a brightly wrapped package and handed it to the baby, who was currently floating in the air waiting impatiently.

 

Koenma grabbed the present. “Yay! Thanks Kagome!” He floated to the table and ripped into the present. “Yay, chocolate! This should last me for a while!” The entire box was full of chocolate. Yama was currently glaring at Kagome who smiled innocently.

 

“Look in the bottom of the box. I also got you a blanket. It has your name on it. This way, when you pass out from your sugar intake, you can cuddle up with your blanket and sleep it off.” It's a good thing that most of these children are demons. Otherwise I would probably be giving them diabetes.

 

Yama stood and bowed to Kagome, who went straight for a hug. Yama awkwardly patted her back before letting her go. (A/N: I'm going to say that he can shrink when he wants to. I know that his nose is the size of a person, but I think that a person or whatever with that much power could shrink if he wanted to. I mean, just look at Sesshomaru in his youkai form.) “It's good to see you Yama. But what are you doing here?”

 

Sesshomaru took his seat at his desk. “Yama will explain it to you.”

 

Yama went back to his seat at the head of the table. “Everyone sit down. This may take awhile. For those of you that don't know, my father was a youkai and my mother was a miko. I inherited my mother's powers and my father's appearance. Koenma takes after his mother, also a miko, and my mother. I have lived for over eleven thousand years and I have seen the tensions and troubles that have developed because humans and youkai have been forced to live together. I have assembled a team of mikos and people with high amounts of holy power, even some high-ranking youkai, including Lord Sesshomaru. What I plan to do, with the help of these people, is to create two separate worlds in addition to a spirit world for souls to be processed and sent to the right place. There is already a system in place but it doesn't work as well as it could. What I propose is to bring the Underworld under Spirit World supervision. The other two worlds will be this one, for humans, or Human World, and a demon world, or Makai (A/N: I just like the way that sounds). A barrier will separate the human and demon worlds so that the casualties will be minimized. At this moment, I have the mikos and other people with holy powers pooling their energy into making his barrier. Sesshomaru is even donating some of his youki to be used in the barrier. The holy and youkai energy will be woven together to create an almost impenetrable net to keep the youkai in their own world. If all goes well, the barrier should go up in about fifty years.”

 

So this is why there seems to be next to no youkai in my time. But there are still some. (A/N: Yama and Koenma do not know that Kagome is from the future. Otherwise my story wouldn't work very well.) “You said `almost impenetrable.' What did you mean?”

 

Yama turned his attention exclusively on Kagome. “Lower level youkai will still be able to get through. It would only stop the strongest of the youkai. Which brings me to why I came to see you Kagome.”

 

Kagome started. “You just came to see me?”

 

“Not just to see you, but that was my main reason. With the power of the Shikon Jewel, we could get the barrier up and running immediately and absolutely no youkai will be able to get through.”

 

Sesshomaru growled. “You said nothing of this when we talked before, Yama. My future sister is the jewel's guardian and cannot leave it in the hands of others. You will not add to her responsibilities by asking this of her.”

 

Yama turned to Sesshomaru calmly. “I believe that is her decision to make.” He turned back to Kagome. “Will you help me?”

 

Kagome really had no choice. She had to put the jewel back into its rightful place: joined with her soul. Plus there were still youkai in her time, so she must have already said no. Now all she had to do was actually tell Yama that. “I'm afraid that I can't do that. As Sesshomaru said, I am the jewel's guardian. And I have other responsibilities as well. I won't be here very much longer as it is. I will have to go back to my country soon and I won't be able to return. So even if I wanted to help you I couldn't.”

 

“Even if you wanted to? Does that mean that you don't want to help?”

 

Kagome shook her head. “It's not that. It's just that not all youkai are bad. Is it fair to punish some for actions that they had no part in? What about hanyous and the youkai with human mates? Where do they belong?”

 

Yama sat there calmly. “Some sacrifices have to be made.”

 

Kagome shook her head at him. “I won't help you but I won't stop you either.” She turned to Sesshomaru. “Why are you helping him? I would have thought that you would have resented this barrier more than anyone. Sure, you get away from humans, but it would also restrict your movements.”

 

“The youkai that donate their energies to the barrier are exempt. In addition, Yama has agreed to allow me to have a portal in my domain that allows anyone of my choosing to pass between the worlds. My domain will also be separated from the other youkai territories by a barrier so I won't be bothered. It would cut down on my paperwork drastically.”

 

Sesshomaru and his paperwork, thought Kagome exasperatedly.

 

Yama stood to leave. “My work here is done. Lady Kagome, I respect that you have valid reasons for not participating in this. I hope that we meet again, if not in your present life, then in the next.”

 

“But, Dad, I hardly even got to play with Kagome!” Koenma whined.

 

“Say goodbye, Son. You will not see Kagome for a long time.”

 

Koenma burst into tears and his father sighed. “I have some business to attend to. You may stay for a week and say your goodbyes in that time. I will return for you then.”

 

Koenma went from tears to beaming in less than a second. “Thanks Dad. Kagome it will be just like when I was traveling with you before! Only this time, no Naraku. And no traveling, but I'm sure that this will be way more fun.”

 

Kagome smiled. “I think that is a bit of an exaggeration. I have training for most of the day, but you can play with Shippo and Rin as much as you want. Just don't come near wherever Sesshomaru and I are training. I don't want you exposed to that kind of stuff any more than you already have been.” And I don't want any of the kids to see me die. Sesshomaru would never forgive me if I let them see that. I don't think even Rin would understand that it was part of the training. Inuyasha has a hard enough time as it is. Sesshomaru had to ban him from the training yard for a month the first time he saw Sesshomaru kill Kagome. Inuyasha still cringed every time it happened.

 

“The blood bonding ceremony will take place in a few months. You may want to come back for that.” Sesshomaru nodded to Yama, who nodded back. Sesshomaru respected Yama for respecting Kagome's decision without trying to bully her into changing her mind. He didn't completely understand her situation, but he still respected her enough to accept her decision.

 

“I think that it would be a good idea to have the adoption ceremony for Rin and Shippo at the same time. If we are going to be a family, we should all do it at the same time.” Kagome pointed out.

 

Yama bowed to the room at large, all of whom bowed back. “I will take my leave of you now.” He stared hard at his son. “A week.” Then he left.

 

Koenma started zooming around Kagome's head. “This is going to be so much FUN!”

 

Kagome sighed. She felt a headache coming on. She suddenly jerked her head up. That sneak! He left me alone with a chocolate crazed baby! He did this on purpose!

 

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