InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Left Behind ❯ Telling the Family ( Chapter 5 )

AN: Thank You all so much for the reviews. It's always a pleasure to read them. Plus my usual editor doesn't have the time to look over my work any more, so feel free to tell me if I've made any mistakes.

 

Important Note: I'm making Souta seventeen.

 

Chapter Five: Telling the Family

 

 

Too much sanity is madness, but the maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be. Life is short. Death is long. Kagome, of all people, should know that it is true. Will she take her life in her own hands and make it, as it should have been?

 

 

Outside of Kagome's Dream

 

 

Asako invited everyone into the living room for a drink. Their living room had changed over the years. They had a blue couch set that went around half the room placed where the flat screen television in a black entertainment center would be in view. In a corner under the window a simple two-seated bench was decorated with pictures of Kagome and her father.

 

 

The Spirit Detectives looked around in awe as they took in all the family pictures. Charms and superstitious good luck things lay around them. Rabbit feet, hundreds of prayers, and other things laid weaved around all of the photos.

 

 

Souta gently set his sister on the far side of the couch letting her rest.

 

 

“Is this all for her?” Yusuke asked.

 

 

“Young man, when you loose your son at a young age you can only pray for his children left behind. When Kagome last walked out that back door she said, `I may not be coming home again.” Ji-chan paused to look at a certain a picture of a young Kagome being held by a black haired, green eyed, tall man. They were smiling like there was no tomorrow.

 

 

“It broke our hearts to hear such a thing, but we refused to believe it.” Souta finished off for his grandfather.

 

 

Asako sighed as she gracefully raised her daughter's head and put it in her lap. “I couldn't stop her from leaving even if I begged her.” She quietly said. Souta sat down near his sister's feet.

 

 

Hiei stood near their window quietly listing to everyone finding a place of the their own to sit.

 

 

“Who are you guys though? How did you find her?” Souta asked.

 

 

Koenma cleared his throat taking a seat with Botan on the other side of the couch. “I am the Prince of Spirit World.”

 

 

The Higurashi family gasped as Ji-chan and Souta both stood up and quickly bowed in respect. “Its an honor, Koenma-sama.” Asako said.

 

 

Koenma nodded his head continuing with introductions. “This is my number one Spirit Detectives team, Team Yurameshi. Finally this is Botan, a Lady Death Member.”

 

 

“It is quite the honor to have you all here and at once.” Ji-chan said.

 

 

“But that doesn't explain how my sister came to be in your hands.” Souta looked them all over with calculating eyes.

 

 

Inside Kagome's Dream

 

 

“Midoriko, what if I'm not strong enough?” Kagome looked down at her delicate fingers, they came nowhere near Sango's strong hands or Kikyo's rough grip. “I know I'm not strong enough.” She finished.

 

 

The elderly priestess shook her head knowingly. “I know that.” The reply took Kagome by surprise making her jerk her head up to peer at the elder.

 

 

Lifting the yellow flower Midoriko held in her hand she tucked it away behind Kagome's ear. Seconds after it laid there a bright pale yellow light erupted from it. In the place of the flower a crown of moss laced with pink azaleas and bittersweet wrapped around Kagome's head. A proud smile lifted the corners of the elder priestess lips. “Kagome in few cases a miko is meant to protect more than just human lives. In that situation they are blessed with a crown of moss.” She said.

 

 

“Why moss?”

 

 

Midoriko gently helped her up from the ground and lead her to the glittering moon lit lake. Kagome took a seat on one of the few stones that littered the lakeside, peering in she studied the beautiful nature made headband.

 

 

“Moss stands for maternal love and charity. The azaleas that laces through it are temperance, fragile passion, and are the Chinese symbol of womanhood. Bittersweet that is heavily sprinkled through it is truth. I must say it is an impressive combination for one that has been through so much. But it is to be expected from you.”

 

 

Outside Kagome's Dream

 

 

The Spirit Detective kept quiet, as they didn't even know as of how she was found. “That would be my story to tell.” Botan said. “You see I was having just one those days were you just reminisce and I had just looked up at the sky when I spotted a star in the clear blue sky. I didn't really know why it struck me or even bothered me to point to think it was strange but it did.

 

 

“I took off on my broom to examine it more when it finally hit me. It wasn't a star at all that I was looking at. It was a soul glowing of its pureness. Taking it carefully in my arms I took it to my home in Spirit World.” Koenma stopped her from saying more.

 

 

“This is were things get complicated. The point is there were orders left long ago that need to be followed out. Your daughter is being put under high surveillance. I am ordered to hand her the Shikon within a week of her rebirth form taking.”

 

 

“What do you mean rebirth!” Souta shouted. His grandfather put a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.

 

 

An exaggerated sigh came out of Koenma as he explained. “Spirit World is considered to be fairly new to demons than to humans. We don't have a record of how your sister either died or was stripped away from her body. All that we know is that we found her and she is seriously scarred in some manners. We can only guess its from her past living experience.”

 

“Inuyasha.” Souta was seething as his fist clenched in his lap.

 

 

 

“That doesn't explain how she came to be in a form again.” Ji-chan wondered out loud.

 

 

“That I could only tell. You see…” Botan explained to everyone how after she found Kagome and taking her to Spirit World that the soul had amazing began taking human form. “From there everything…well…” She tried to find the right words, but they all sounded so harsh.

 

 

Yusuke took this chance to speak up again. “Everything went to Hell from there.”

 

 

“Yusuke, I believe Botan was trying to avoid wording it in such a way.” Kurama gave him a cool glance.

 

 

Kuwabara shook his head at Yusuke. “Yeah man, you didn't have to go and say it like that.”

 

 

“Shut up Kuwabara! It won't do any good if we're all just going to beat around the bush. By the time you're all done sugar coating the story the girl we be back in a coma!”

 

 

Koenma kept himself in one spot silently willing his detectives to shut up. Taking in a calm breath he decided to be clearer with the details for the family. “Your Kagome is in a rare and fragile state that leaves a person bare to their emotions. Your daughter's body is best explained as an illusion that the soul projects for others to see.”

 

 

“How can that be? I'm holding her right now.” Mrs. Higurashi hugged her daughter to her in emphasis. “My little girl is right here. She can't get any realer.” Emotions threatened to overwhelm her as she held her daughter.

 

 

Yusuke's heart went out for the mother as he was forced to remember his own mother's and Keiko's cries when he was dead. `Maybe I should have kept quiet?' He mentally told himself. Looking to Mrs. Higurashi the rare feeling of guilt gnawed at him. `Real smart move, baka.' Shaking his head he chose to keep quiet and listen for once.

 

 

A regretful sigh left the prince as he continued explaining. “What you see and feel is the most powerful illusion I have ever come to see. The only reason I realized her form wasn't real is because of near collapse that happened back in Spirit World. There are only two things that can happen from here. She can take this second chance or”

 

 

He could see his mother in hysterics if what he thought was coming was true, so before Koenma could say another word Souta stood up and gently gathered his sister in his arms. Lifting her up he sent a silent plea for his mother to follow him. Without a word to anyone he carried his sister out of the room followed by Mrs. Higurashi. Five minutes of stunned and confused silence catered to the room. Souta stiff and rigid form walked back in and took the seat his mother was once occupying.

 

 

Ji-chan's throat constricted as he heard his daughter soft muffled sobs from up stairs. Taking in a calming breath (AN: People are doing that a lot) he recomposed himself and asked the dreaded question. “What's the worst that can happen?”

 

 

“At worse their emotions can be too much to handle. The form the soul was trying to take will collapse into itself. In other words, that second chance of life the soul was trying to gain is lost. They will not be judged to go to Heaven or Hell though, but be trapped in the Middle.” To never find peace of mind or heart, He added in his mind. “Its simple to understand that its never been heard of a soul to try it a third time.”

 

 

The two Higurashi men didn't know what to think. They thought that their family was finally back together only to push the woman of the house to her limits. Souta mulled things over in his head. “Looking on the brighter side of things your saying that my sister can live again, right?”

 

 

“Yes, but considering what I've seen happen so far” Koenma was cut off abruptly.

 

 

“Shut up!” Souta's eyes were glazed over with an open hatred for the people that protected humans. “You don't know my sister. She's one of the bravest and most giving people I know. If I can assure you of one thing its that she'll live again.”

 

 

Kurama tried to step in help Koenma. “Yes, that's true, however what Prince Koenma is saying”

 

 

“I don't recall asking you to talk.” The youngest Higurashi's voice was clipped and cold. His eyes looking straight into Koenma's irritated glare. These people were trying to convince him that his sister is damned. That she couldn't handle the pressure. They didn't even know her! “She has her family back. Kagome will live for us.”

 

 

“Koenma, didn't you guys think I wasn't going to pass that egg test. The kid obviously knows his sister better than us.” Yusuke said.

 

 

Up Stairs in Kagome's Room

 

 

Asako Higurashi could only sit next to her daughter and stare. She had been this way since her son left the room. True, she had cried attempting to muffle the sounds with a pillow, but she hadn't done anything else. What else could she have done? People were telling her that her daughter was dead. That she was just an illusion.

 

 

The familiar sting and blurred vision of tears broke her thoughts. Her hands were shaking violently but Asako grabbed her daughter and held her to her chest. She didn't care if she was holding her little girl with the strength to crack bones. All that mattered was that she could feel her daughter's every move. Soft breathes ghosting against her skin, up and down motions of her chest, and the warmth coming through her clothes.

 

 

She releases her tears as she stroked her daughter's soft hair. “Please Kagome don't make me go through what your father put me through.”

 

 

In Kagome's Dream

 

 

Kagome sat beside Midoriko slowly digesting all of what the priestess had told her, Eventually she some how thought of the hatred that people showed her. One raw emotion that she could never hold onto and at the end of the day killed her.

 

 

Why couldn't she hate like everyone else. If she could hate she wouldn't be in such pain. She could just turn her back to everyone like they did to her. Point a finger at them and tell them what she saw with clear eyes. Rub the truth in their faces making them realize what they had done, than leave them stranded on an ocean of their own mistakes and guilt. Going on with her life knowing that they would suffer at least a portion of what she went through. They would have each other to comfort them unlike her who had nothing but herself.

 

 

She wasn't that kind of person though. Never would she leave a person who needed help whether they noticed that they needed her or not. What was thought of as her gift had ultimately been her curse and resulted in her deathbed.

 

 

Kagome knew how she died and yet she couldn't find it in her to resent her abusers. Two days before they left the village the healer had warned her about her health. She was to thin for her own good. Sleep was severely needed. The list kept going from there.

 

 

A soft nudge from beside her broke through her thoughts, “Little One, it will do no good to think about what you could've done. All that matters is that you learned from the past to walk toward the future.”

 

 

“All right.”

 

 

“It is time for you to find a base, Little One.” Kagome leaned her back against the tree behind her thinking of what the elder said. Midoriko simply smiled at her and stood up from where she sat. “You don't need to understand everything I say right now. Kagome there is a simple saying I want you to think about for now.”

 

 

The elder priestess held out her hand for Kagome to take. “What is it, Midoriko?”

 

 

With a small laugh she help Kagome stand up and in a motherly fashion leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. “Nothing venture, nothing gained.”

 

 

In Kagome's Room

 

 

Asako noticed her daughters breathing became more irregular. A breathy question reached her ears, “Okasaan, what's wrong?”

 

 

Kagome noticed her mother's tight hold. “Kagome, I need you to do something for me.”

 

 

“Hai okasaan?”

 

 

Her mother gently brought her daughter to arms length. Taking Kagome's face in her hands she looked her daughter in the eyes. “I need you to live longer than me,” she whispered, “I've waited to see you for what seems like forever. All I ask of my children is to be happy and live longer than me.”

 

 

She couldn't find her voice as her mother continued to look her in the eyes. The once sparkling chocolate browns were now dulled over with a pain she recognized. It was the same pain of when you kept on looking back in your past trying to figure out where it all went wrong. The one were only another person could put your heart at ease.

 

 

Okaasan I know I can ease your pain and I will. “Mother, can I tell you what really happened back in the Feudal Era?”

 

 

In the Landscape of Kagome's Mind

 

 

Midoriko smiled into the lake looking at the scene of the mother and daughter. “Kagome, I have no doubt that'll be the keeper that Kami intended you to be.”

 

 

Her eyes misted as she glanced down at the crown in her hand. It used to be envy of many. A clear sign that Kami had favored her over all the others. It was full of tiger lilies and orchids braided into stock crown. It neither looked nor meant like it's former self now.

 

 

She is cursed to wear a crown that mocks her. Yellow carnations a way for Kami to say, “You have disappointed me.” Purple hyacinth for her numerous tries to get back into his good standings. Flakes of pine that she prayed stood for hope. All these new flowers were braided into her now dead stock crown. Tears coursed down her face as she sobbed into her hands. “Please Kami, if I turn her into the perfect keeper allow me passage into heaven.”

 

 

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

 

 

AN: Hello People, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I want a lot of things to happen in the next two chapters, so there may be a longer delay on updates. Just to make it clear I used the site http://www.800florals.com/care/meaning.asp . If I got the wrong meanings of the flowers please tell me. I'm willing to fix it.

 

Another note is the next chapter will be out next week, so keep an eye out for it.