InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Cross of Blades ❯ Seraphim ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don’t own it. The end. (Sniff)





He missed her.


As strange as it was (never mind the fact that he was only an intricate program consisting of silicone, copper and wiring), he truly missed his little summoner.


‘Oh alright,’ ART thought to himself as his robotic camera eye scanned the empty cafeteria. ‘I miss her taiyoukai as well. It’s good that the two of them are so close. They passed my tests with flying colors so I’m confidant that he will help her to do well.’ He stopped when the burglar alarm was tripped on one of his secondary systems. He turned his attention to one of the few operating outside cameras and sighed as disappointment sank into his circuits.


‘Perhaps I angered the taiyoukai more than I expected,’ ART said sadly. He watched as a small troop of SeeD officers stood outside one of the entrance doors buried within the massive mountainside. Esthar scientists sat back and waited while the technicians and military personnel discussed entrance through the heavy steel door.


‘The tai told them about me. I just know it.’ If ART could have pouted he would have, but chose instead to activate the emergency procedures set in place two and a half centuries before.


‘I knew it would come to this,’ ART said as one of three green lights flickered on in the library. ‘And though I know I will feel no pain, I do regret not seeing my little seraphim one last time.’ Another green light flickered on, this one inside Dr. Gippal’s office on the lower floors. The last light came to life just as the dynamite blasted the mountain door off of it’s hinges.


‘No one else shall come through that door,’ ART vowed as the first explosion rocked the underground facility. ‘No one else will see the secrets of this place. But there is still one last thing I have to do.’ He loaded a single message to the small headset Kagome used to see him, using what little power he still had to hold back the base’s destruction long enough for the message to be sent. ART watched the last image on his viewscreen, his gentle laughter one of the last sounds in the base as the Esthar technicians scrambled for cover when the open doorway vomited debris all over them. He turned away from it and embraced the flames, explosion after explosion ripping through the delicate carvings that lined the hallways and turned the bones on the floor and the blood on the wall a crisp black.


‘I did my best Dr. Gippal,’ was his last thought as the flames licked greedily at his motherboard and circuits. ‘Goodbye Kagome...’


oOo



Pain.


I should be used to it by now. I’ve been shot, stabbed, set on fire and nearly dismembered. My arm was almost severed, I nearly drowned, my tail’s been pulled (my childhood was spent with Inuyasha after all) and I’ve had more broken bones than I can count...


And still, there has been no greater pain than the one I feel right now.


I do not remember our journey back to the Black Dragon but I do remember Almasy’s dismayed shriek when she found us without Kagome. Without Kagome...it sounds as if we left her someplace and forgot to retrieve her. Never would it hint at the fact that she is gone, truly gone and now I realize how stupid I really am. Now I look back on every smile and laugh she gave me with the reverence of one glancing upon a great king’s royal treasures. How I could not have noticed these great and terrible things is beyond me but I wish I could turn back time.


Not even after my mother’s death have I felt such mind numbing, paralyzing grief for someone and I hope to never feel it again. It feels as if something has ripped a hole through me and I’m not sure how to handle it. I retired to my room soon after our return to the Garden and left the others to debrief Headmaster Leonheart. For days I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the whiteness of the wall before me before I finally stood up and changed. Imagine my reaction when, as I prepared to bathe for the first time in days, I found her blood staining my clothing.


My black shirt and pants hid the proof of my failure and I once again found myself staring, this time at the full length mirror in the bathroom, at myself and my once white underclothes. Her blood had soaked through the porous dark uniform and stained my boxers and undershirt a dark coppery red. Her scent engulfed me then, leaving me stunned and unable to tear myself away.


I remember some of Inuyasha then, though I do not remember what, and once again I found myself in my room, clean and fully dressed in a pair of silk pyjamas.


I...The kitsune...Why can I not be left in peace?


Shippou stood in Sesshoumaru’s open doorway, his fists balled and seething at the silent youkai as he stood there and stared out the window at the world beyond. ‘All he ever does is stand there,’ Shippou growled in blind hatred. ‘He doesn’t even CARE that Kagome’s parents will be here soon! The entire Garden is in mourning and all he’s doing is STANDING THERE!!!’


“Say what you will and leave,” Sesshoumaru growled softly, his voice his only acknowledgment of Shippou’s presence. “I do not wish for company at this time.”


“I frankly don’t give a damn you selfish bastard,” Shippou growled before he could gain control of himself. He shook as his anger took over him, his fist clenched so tightly dark blood began to seep through his clawed fingers. “Do you know what’s going on around you? Do you even care?! Everyone in the Garden’s hurting over this, so much so that the student body voted not only to use the Garden to take Souta home, but to attend the memorial Esthar’s having in her honor! Hell, even Inuyasha’s trying to help when he should be trying to find his mate!”


Shippou frowned when Sesshoumaru remained unresponsive, his aura unreadable as he continued to stand with his back to him. “Kagome had to be in-fucking-sane.” That grasped Sesshoumaru’s attention, his inner youkai’s hackles raised as he turned to glare at the offending kitsune. Shippou stood unafraid, his darker side itching for a fight as he steam rolled ahead. “You’re a royal pain, a selfish bastard and I bet you thought that since she took that oath with you it was her place to die in your stead. You probably wouldn’t have died anyway, pity on the world. You would have survived and made everyday a living hell for the rest of her life. You didn’t deserve the precious gift she gave you!” Shippou finally sobbed, his broken and bleeding heart exposed for the taiyoukai to see.


“That’s enough Shippou.” Shippou trembled when Inuyasha’s hand settled on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring pat before stepping between him and Sesshoumaru. “How about you calm down and lay off for a while?”


“Why are you defending him?” Shippou shot back with an accused and bloody finger pointed toward Sesshoumaru. “This is his fault and you know-“


“This is not his fault and you know it,” Inuyasha interrupted with a shake of his head. “Kagome chose. She could have just shouted to him, or for all we know she could have purified the danger or raised some sort of barrier or turned back time but she didn’t. She chose to take that blow for Sesshoumaru and we can’t jump on him for it. So cool off because your shit is getting old really fast.”


Shippou stood in open mouthed shock, his finger limply extended as he sputtered to think of what to say. Sesshoumaru stood by as well, surprised that Inuyasha would defend him for even the slightest second before he found his voice. “What has happened to your mate Inuyasha?” Sesshoumaru asked.


“She was missing long before we got back,” Inuyasha replied with a dull shake of his head. “No one knows where she is, and no one knows when she’ll come back.”


“She would not willingly leave you,” Sesshoumaru replied stiffly. It was not in his nature to be sympathetic yet he treaded on this unfamiliar territory anyway. “She will be found.”


Shippou’s confusion heightened as Inuyasha nodded gratefully. ‘What the hell...’ his brain finally stuttered.


“Oh yeah, I came to tell you guys that we’re here and the headmaster wants us to be waiting,” Inuyasha said with a somber face. “Kagome’s family wants to say something to us.”


“Of course.” Sesshoumaru glanced down at himself, caring for the first time in days what he looked like and was pleased to find himself in a simple pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt. He put on a pair of sneakers and followed Inuyasha down the hallway toward the guest end of the dormitory. Shippou trailed along behind them, the sudden unity between the two inu temporarily taking the wind out of her sails.


They entered Souta’s guest room quietly and found Sango and Miroku waiting on them. They sat in a pair of chairs across from Souta’s bed, Sango’s eyes still tinged red and weary with Miroku’s patient arm around her shoulders. Sango waved and attempted to quietly blow her nose.


“Now that’s gross,” Inuyasha growled softly to lighten the mood. Sango wacked his arm but gave him a grateful smile as the door opened once again.


“Team,” Headmaster Leonheart said as he stepped aside. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Higurashi.” The team said their hellos as the pair walked into the room and Headmaster Leonheart closed the door. Sango and Miroku jumped up so they could sit down but they walked past the offered chairs to take their places at Souta’s bedside.


“How’s our baby?” Mrs. Higurashi asked, her voice understandably watery and strained. “Has he woken up at all?”


“He’s been through quite a lot Mrs. Higurashi,” Headmaster Leonheart answered as he leaned against the door. “Our doctors have examined him and they believe he will recover in a couple of days. It will be hard for him, as the stress of what he’s witnessed wears on.”


“Of course,” Mr. Higurashi nodded in understanding. “Thank you all for what you’ve done for our son.” He sighed when Mrs. Higurashi began to cry, her hands covering her mouth as she attempted to calm down. “It’s alright honey. They understand.” He patted her hand reassuringly and gazed at the others in the room. “I just want to thank you, all of you, for being there for Kagome’s last moments. I’m sure she was comforted with knowing that you all were safe.”


‘Why don’t we feel ‘comforted’ then?’ was the single question that formed in the minds of Kagome’s friends. Shippou accepted their thanks with a sad smile. “I just wish we could have done more for her.”


“But there was probably nothing you could have done,” Mrs. Higurashi sniffed reassuringly. Mr. Higurashi nodded. “We just wanted to say thank you before we took our children home.”


“Children?” Headmaster Leonheart asked. “What other children do you have?”


“Well Souta of course, and Kagome’s body,” Mr. Higurashi answered. “So if one of you would lead me to the morgue-“


“We don’t have-“ Inuyasha stopped when Mr. Higurashi stared at him, the human’s dark brown eyes suddenly strange as he pinned Inuyasha with a surprised glare. “Ahem. What I mean to say is that we don’t have Kagome’s body.”


“What?” Mrs. Higurashi gasped brokenly. “What do you mean you don’t have her? We were told that you did.”


“Then you were told wrong I’m afraid,” Headmaster Leonheart answered with a sigh. “Kagome’s body was never recovered.”


“So you just left her?!” Mrs. Higurashi accused with her voice raised. “How could you have just left her there?!”


“We didn’t leave her,” Shippou retorted guiltily. “We couldn’t bring her back. She-“

“Was mutilated?” Mr. Higurashi guessed a little too hopefully for the group’s liking. “Well, tell me. Was she mutilated or her body destroyed?”


“Neither,” Sesshoumaru finally spoke up as everyone else gave each other questioning glances at the Higurashi’s odd behavior. “She was taken away from us. We could not recover her remains.”


“But you saw her last breath right?” Mrs. Higurashi asked hopefully. “You saw her pass on, didn’t you?”


“No,” Shippou answered with a shake of his head. “But we assumed-“


“You assumed?” Mrs. Higurashi stood up and shouted at the quaking kitsune. “You ASSUMED?! How could you stand there and say that you assume my daughter is dead?!”


“Well, she did take a tentacle to the chest,” Inuyasha grumbled loudly. “I mean, I don’t know many youkai who could survive that so-OW!” he shouted when Miroku tossed a small paperweight at him. “What was that for?!”


“They didn’t need to know the gory details,” Sango hissed at his crassness. “Jeeze Inuyasha, when are you going to grow a brain?”


“This is awful,” Mr. Higurashi whispered as Mrs. Higurashi began to panic. “This is just awful. How could you not have seen her die?”


“You know what?” Shippou said as he shook off his nervousness. “You two are acting really weird. We know you’re grieving, we’re all grieving, but this is completely off. You guys care more about making sure Kagome’s dead than the fact that she actually is.”


“No human could have survived her injuries,” Sesshoumaru stated, his voice deep and stern as he glared at the couple. “Yet you two seem certain of the minute chance that she could have. Why is that?”


The Higurashi’s glanced at each other, the nervousness and panic in their scents and auras dampening to a nearly tolerable rate. Mr. Higurashi shook his head and, with a final look of resolution, turned to the others and said


“Because we don’t believe Kagome’s completely human.”


o.o


Ow.


My head hurts. Why does my head hurt?


Ohhhh....I feel like it’s stuffed with cotton. My chest kinda hurts too...what happened? What’s going on?


I turned my head at a sniff from somewhere nearby. I can’t see, and at first I thought it was because the room was dark before I realized my eyes were closed. I opened them and saw nothing but harsh white light. It flooded everything around me and I groaned when it stung my eyes.


“Kagome?” the voice sniffed again. I knew this voice but I couldn’t remember how because of the fog and the pain that feels like it’s everywhere but my legs. I opened my eyes again and again saw that blasted light but I kept my eyes open and attempted to focus on the dark blob in front of me. I tried to speak but groaned instead and the voice started to laugh.


“I’m so relieved,” she said as my vision began to clear. “I’ve been so worried about you. You’ve been out for a long time.”


“Wha-?” I finally croaked out. “K-Kikyou?”


“Yeah, it’s me,” she laughed again and this time I noticed how watery and nervous she sounded. The blurriness left then and I could see her smiling, tear-stained face staring back at me. She sat kneeling on the cold stone floor underneath us a few feet away and I couldn’t help but ask why her hands were chained to the floor.


“Yours are too, Kagome,” she replied as she did her best to point to me. “Just look down.”


I looked down and gasped, but not at the enormous metal bracelets circling my wrist. The chains holding me to the floor didn’t surprise me either. My shirt was gone, completely gone and so was the lovely gray sports bra that I had on underneath it. Yards and yards of white gauze wrapped around my exposed skin like a macabre tube top.


OK, now I was pissed. That was my favorite bra!


“What are we doing here?” I asked instead of fuming like I wanted to. I knew it wouldn’t do any good since Kikyou was the only person in the room. Its not like she stole my bra and tossed it somewhere. “And just where is here?”


“I don’t know,” Kikyou admitted with a tiny sob. “The last thing I remember before here was standing in the Garden gym. We stopped practicing when the announcement came over the P. A. system. The Garden staff said you...were...”


“Were what?”


“Dead,” Kikyou whispered. “They said you were dead Kagome.”


Holy crap.


I’m...dead...no way! But my last memories aren’t exactly pleasant. Now I knew why I was missing my clothes.


“We were standing there, having a moment of silence for you when these purple tentacles came shooting out of the floor. We tried to run but I got caught and the last thing I remember before here, where ever here is, is being pulled through the floor.”


‘Poor Kikyou,’ I thought sadly as she began to cry. ‘She’s been through a lot. I bet Inuyasha is worried about her.’ “Hey Kik?” I asked softly. I didn’t want to upset her more than I had to, but I needed to know how long we’d been here. “How long have we-“


“At least eight days,” Kikyou guessed with a shrug. “I’m not sure about you, but I think I’m on my eighth day. You’ve been out of it this whole time. Every now and then this guy would come in and shove something down your throat, then toss me something to eat. I haven’t seen anyone else.”


Oh, now that’s great. No, I won’t get discouraged now. Maybe there’s something good here. Ok, um...let’s ‘access’ the situation, as Sesshoumaru would say. Thinking about him, and the last thing I said to him, made me want to blush so I foraged on ahead. Here we were, chained to the floor, in a place that was starting to look more and more like a dungeon. Kikyou was an emotional wreck but at least she was fully dressed, something that I was quickly becoming jealous of as a chilly wind blew past me.


OK, all that’s bad.


But whoever had us here wanted us healthy, so maybe we could talk this guy out of letting us out of here. I told Kikyou as much and nearly jumped out of my skin when someone began to laugh.


“My, my,” this new person said as he stepped into our limited line of sight. “Such hope and optimism. Are all SeeD this way?”


“Deling,” I couldn’t help but growl. My time with youkai has really influenced me. “What are we doing here? What are you doing here?”


“What am I doing here?” he laughed as if it were the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “Why, I live here.”


“Well we don’t,” I shot back. “How about taking us home, NOW!”


“No,” he said after a moment’s pause. “I don’t think I’ll do that just yet.”


“And why not?” Kikyou demanded. She pushed her weepy nature aside to grill him and I couldn’t help but be proud of her for being so brave.


“I’ll admit, one of you will get to go home,” Deling replied nonchalantly. “The other one will stay here-“ He turned and smiled at me, and I glared and spit on his expensive leather shoes. His brow shot up and he wiped his foot on the side of the wall.


“Charming,” he growled in disgust.


“And when did you become a hanyou?” I asked as his fangs glinted in the harsh light. “You didn’t start out this way.”


“And how would you know?” Deling asked as he dragged a chair from somewhere nearby and set it between Kikyou and myself. He made sure we could see each other, but also made sure we could see him. “Do either of you girls know why you’re here?”


“Um...maybe you want some Girl Troop cookies?” I offered sarcastically. “Sorry Mac, but we’re too old to be peddling sugar snaps.”


He laughed, he actually laughed and it surprised me so that I forgot for a second to be afraid of him. His laugh was deep, rich and full like a cup of black coffee. In another life he could be charming but I knew what this guy was capable of and he wasn’t going to fool me.


“You’re so witty,” he said as his laughter died down. “And so beautiful too.” He reached out to touch me and I balked, leaning as far away as I could from his outstretched hand. He frowned and drew it back, then shrugged. “No matter,” he said. “One of you will beg for my touch soon enough.”


“You’re nuts,” I replied and gestured to Kikyou. “And she’s mated.”


“That’s right,” Kikyou chirped happily. “And I can just see your face when-“


“When what?” Deling cut her off. “When your mate and his friends come bursting into the room? Not possible my dear. This building is protected by all kinds of ofudas and wards to prevent any youkai from detecting anything that’s inside. That means your mate mark is useless. Sorry.”


“I know you’re sorry,” she muttered dispassionately. Good one Kik!


“Now,” Deling said as he ignored her last comment. “I know when you were adopted Mrs. Endo. But you,” he turned to me with an expectant look on his calm, almost kind-hearted features. “When were you? It’s not on the public records.”


“That’s because I wasn’t adopted,” I retorted snidely. “Jeez, is this what we’re here about?”


“Oh no, you’re adopted,” Deling pressed on and slid his chair closer to me. “Think about it. Does anyone in your family look like you? Does anyone have your hair or your eyes? You were told you have a holy power buried within you. Does anyone else in your family have that?”

“I don’t know,” I snipped. This dude was really starting to piss me off. “Then again, I don’t care. There are lots of people who don’t look like their families. That doesn’t mean they’re adopted.”


“No it doesen’t,” Deling agreed. “But normally if a female displays the ability to purify then her mother would as well. Miko and purifying abilities haven’t existed in over 200 years. It would have been documented if your mother had displayed the level of power you have. Why are you so special?”


“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I guess I was just born that way.”


“You were more than born that way,” he said cryptically. I couldn’t stop the cold chill that shot down my spine. He’d forgotten about Kikyou and I didn’t like having his full and undivided attention. “You were created special, the brainchild of many intelligent men and women.”


“What are you talking about?” Forget starting to creep me out. He was creeping me out. I seriously wanted him to crawl back into the hole he came out of. “Get away from me.”


“Why?” he purred as he leaned in closer. I turned away and grimaced as his breath fanned against my cheek. Gross. I’m going to have to wash my face when this is over. “Am I...frightening you?”


“No,” I growled back. “You’re melting my face with your dragon breath.”


I grinned when he jumped back and Kikyou giggled. He stood up and, without a word of warning, backhanded Kikyou. She whimpered and I cried out in sympathy when the side of her head knocked against the wall behind her. Deling turned back to me, all of his charming air evaporated as he snarled in my face.


“I’ve just about had it with you,” he snipped as he grasped a lock of my hair and twisted it around his finger. “I may need you but that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you.” He glanced over his shoulder at Kikyou and smirked. “Or hurt someone close to you. It makes little difference to me. Either way I get to see you suffer.


“Now,” he said as he sat back down and crossed his ankle over his leg. “Tell me what you know about what you are.”


I looked at him cautiously, knowing now just how far he would go to get whatever answers he wanted. “I’m a SeeD,” I said at last. “And I’m Estharian.”


“That may be true,” Deling agreed with a nod. “But what are you?”


“I’m Kagome Higurashi,” I said and I couldn’t help but be proud.


“Yes, yes,” he said as he brushed this aside too. “But what are you? Are you human?”


“Yea-“


“Wrong!& #8221; He cut me off so violently I couldn’t help but be quiet. “You’re not human!” He laughed then, a short barking laugh that bordered on insane. Kikyou and I exchanged worried glances as he cracked up in front of us.


“Some of you might be, but you’re not all human my dear,” he said when he calmed down. “But I know what you are. Would you like to know?”


o.O.o


“What do you mean Kagome wasn’t human?!” Shippou shouted before anyone else could speak. “Of course she was! What’s wrong with you two anyway?”


“Is there someplace we can discuss this?” Mr. Higurashi asked Headmaster Leonheart instead of answering Shippou’s question. “I don’t want Souta to hear.”


“Of course,” Headmaster Leonheart nodded as he opened the door. “Follow me.” The Higurashi’s and the rest of the team followed the headmaster to his private office and waited for him close the door and seat himself behind his desk before glaring at Kagome’s parents. “Now what is this all about?”


“We adopted Kagome seventeen years ago,” Mr. Higurashi told him and frowned when Headmaster Leonheart shook his head.


“There are no legal papers of this,” the headmaster disputed. “It is not in the court doctrine either.”


“That’s because we never told our government,” Mrs. Higurashi answered next. “We were...told not to. We wouldn’t have anyway because we were afraid they would take her from us.”


“Even so,” the headmaster argued. “You should have still been able to tell if Kagome were indeed human. Why are you two so unsure?”


o.O.o


“This is nuts,” Kikyou said for me. “There’s no way Kagome’s anything but human. We don’t want whatever it is you’re trying to sell.”


“One of my ancestors used to work at a small research facility,” Deling said, completely ignoring Kikyou to look at me. I’m telling you, I seriously hate this guy but I felt like whatever it was he had to say was important. I guess Kikyou felt that way too, cause she didn’t say another word. “I’d like to say he was a doctor, or someone equally as important, but he was just a janitor. The only thing special about him was the fact that he was a spy. Yevon planted him inside this Al Bhed facility to see what they were doing. What he found there was more than remarkable.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Dr. Gippal, yes?” he asked me and I nodded. I could sense that he would know if I lied so I didn’t. “Well,” he sighed and leaned back against the chair’s hard wooden back. “Lord Endo, not our Lord Endo but Lord Endo’s father-“


Sesshoumaru’s grandfather, I mouthed to Kikyou, who nodded in understanding.


“Helped Dr. Gippal on an important assignment. They were in charge of creating a unique weapon, one that would be able to steal it’s way past Yevon’s defenses. The God weapons were powerful but were too easily spotted. I mean, how hard do you think it is to spot three purple monsters over 8 feet tall?” He laughed again like what he said was really funny. He looked at us like he expected us to laugh with him but we couldn’t see what was so funny. He shrugged and continued.


“Ah, anyway...where was I...Oh yes. The new weapon. Well, Dr. Gippal had a brilliant idea and Lord Endo was so impressed with it that he offered to assist in any way he could. Together they decided that a human female would be the least to draw attention, but she would also be the weakest person to send in with the enemy. The plan became to improve the female so that she’d make a better weapon. They needed someone that would either match or better the summoners that were under Yevon’s control, and what better way to do so than to steal one of their summoners?


“They happened to catch a summoner/miko by the name of Lenne. They tested her and found a virtual wealth of power, so they kept her locked away on the lower floors of the facility-“


“How do you know all of this?” Kikyou asked.


“My father showed me the boxes of files my ancestor brought home,” Juromaru explained easily. “They were stored in our old attic. He would show me those boxes and read to me the pages inside. Anyway, dearest Lenne was the first step in their research. The next was to find the strongest youkai and splice their genes together. That part was the hardest, seeing as how the Ultima and Omega weapons were already sold to finance the compound and the hospital built on top of it.


“Lord Endo produced the answer to that. He systematically brought youkai to ‘test their skills’ against the remaining weapon. The only one to survive a fight with the monster was a dark haired kitsune with an odd control over ice. He too was locked inside the compound and the testing began. Dr. Gippal and Lord Endo tried again and again to produce a creature but nothing they tried made it past the embryotic stage. That’s when one of the junior lab techs came up with the idea for something else, a third part to this confounding puzzle.”


“What part was that?” I asked. I had to ask. This was all too weird to be believed but I couldn’t help but feel like maybe he was telling the truth.


His smile was infectious and I wanted to smile back. He seemed so friendly. Why was he such a monster?


“They decided to try and find an aeon. It worked too.” His smile widened at my surprise and Kikyou’s confusion.


“What’s an aeon?” she asked.

“An aeon’s another word for a GF,” I told her and glared back at Deling. “But there’s no way they could have managed to trap one. Not back then.”


“Oh it’s possible,” Deling assured us. “Didn’t you know that the very first summoning stones were invented by the Al Bhed? They’ve been perfected in the past couple of years but yes, they were the word of the Al Bhed’s alchemists. They didn’t have to trap one though. Somehow they found one that willingly donated its DNA toward the project. The result was a baby girl. They figured they would have time to create male child at a later time. The hospitality program for the facility prevented that. Somehow it released the Omega weapon and allowed it to slaughter everyone but a handful of people, including my ancestor.”


“No way,” I disagreed and shook my head. “I mean, that’s not ART. ART wouldn’t have hurt so many people for no good reason.”


“He had a reason,” Deling replied. “He was put in charge of you. Your well-being and training were left to him. He must have decided that the other scientists had to die so she could have a better life.”


There’s no way ART could have hurt so many people, I said to myself. There’s just no way. I mean yeah, he went a little nuts in the end but he wouldn’t have unleashed that kind of horror on anyone.


“Just imagine what the young heir would think if he had known,” Deling thought out loud and chuckled. “I bet he wouldn’t have allowed the program to last as long as he had if he’d known that it killed his grandfather.”


“How do you know abou-“


“I know lots of things my dear.” I gasped when he appeared in front of me, his path from his chair to my knee unseen as he kneeled down in front of me and grasped my chin. “I know that you can purify a room full of youkai and fiends. I have it on tape.”


“So-“


“And I know that all of your life things have just happened around you. I can bet you by now the young heir knows it was you who set his hair on fire years ago.”


“I didn’t mean to do-“


“And what about the Blizzard spells that activate around you?” he continued and I shivered. He knew too much and, though I wanted to ask how, my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. “You are that creature Ka-go-me,” he hissed against my cheek. “And I intend to use you to take over the rest of the world.”


“Even if I were this crossbreed, which I’m not,” I added as he stood up and glared down at me. “There’s no way I’d help you do anything that would hurt innocent people. I hate it for you cause you’ve done all of this for nothing.”


“Oh, do you think so?” He reached down and grasped my necklace, the blue star pendant disappearing in the palm of his hand. “I have ways of controlling you.”


“Oh yeah,” I snipped. “How?”


That’s when he ripped my necklace off.


o.O.o


“Well, you see-“


“No dear,” Mr. Higurashi softly interrupted with his hand over hers. “I’ll tell them.” She nodded and Mr. Higurashi returned his attention to Kagome’s friends, his dark eyes pausing over each face before he stared down at the floor.


“To begin things,” he said with a heavy sigh. “My wife and I weren’t even pregnant 17 years ago. We were married yes, but only for three or so years.”


“Three years, two months and 14 days,” Mrs. Higurashi reminded him with a sniff. Mr. Higurashi nodded. “As you see, my wife is better with dates. Aren’t all women...as I was saying, seventeen years ago, we were a newly formed couple and were employed with the Esthar Historical Research Facility.”


Headmaster Leonheart nodded. ‘The EHRF huf? They’re responsible for eighty or so percent of the historical finds of the world. A few of their people are the ones that helped Sefier and Sorceress Ultimecia find the Lunatic Pandora seventeen years ago. Would that have anything to do with this?’


“We were stationed on the Centra Plains then, so we were not around for the attempted Galbadian invasion,” Mr. Higurashi continued. “There were rumors of a ruin of significant historical importance on the southeastern part of the island closest to the east. We found those ruins but discovered them to be nothing but an empty shell of a religious site. It was riddled with monsters so we decided that the mission would have to wait for a later time when we could come back with more of the Esthar guardsmen.


“Of course, that time never came. We found the blood trail of a researcher who had separated from the group the next day. We followed it and instead of the researcher we found an enormous metal door nestled in the side of the nearby mountains. No one knew where it would lead but we were all excited to find out. We used dynamite to blast the door open and walked down a flight of stairs that lead to the first floor of some strange research facility.”


‘Now why does this sound familiar?’ Sesshoumaru vaguely wondered as his own recollection about underground research facilities reared their ugly heads. He glanced at the headmaster and read from the look in his eyes that he was thinking the same thing.


“It really was a wonder,” Mr. Higurashi continued with a far away look in his eyes. “Everywhere we looked was technology, lots and lots of technology. We were astounded by how primitive, yet advanced, everything was and we couldn’t help but be surprised that it all could be held in secret underneath the desert above. We set to work immediately, with a few of the Esthar guardsmen working on how to gain access to the third and fourth floors-“


‘Those were the floors that were open to us,’ Sesshoumaru remembered. ‘We couldn’t get to the other floors until near the end of our stay.’


“-and a couple of the rooms,” Mr. Higurashi said. “There was a cargo bay that we couldn’t get into and an office, right dear?”


Mrs. Higurashi nodded. “But everything else was ours for the grabbing, per say. We studied everything we could and learned so much about the tech there. It was like a regular paradise for people like us.”


Mr. Higurashi smiled at the memory. “We studied various blueprints, circuitry and robotics for weeks and weeks at a time. We poured ourselves over everything and were granted the title of Head Researchers-“


“But that was only because we were the only ones who knew Al Bhed,” Mrs. Higurashi giggled weakly. “So they really had no choice.”


“That’s correct dear,” Mr. Higurashi agreed with a loving smile. He covered his mouth with his hand and nervously cleared his throat when he noticed the expectant glances of the others. “Things did not change until after we gained entrance to a Dr. Gippal’s laboratory/office on the seventh floor of the center.”


“Mr. Higurashi?”


“Yes Lopez?” Mr. Higurashi replied with an expectant smile. “What is it?”


“We’re finished sir,” Lopez said with a brilliant grin on his youthful face. “We’ve managed to open one of the research rooms.”


“Which one?” Mrs. Higurashi asked, her head popping up from a nearby box of files. “Is it the cargo bay on the first floor?”


“No Ma’am,” Lopez shook his head. “It’s the seventh floor research room. The one with that doctor guy’s name on the do-“ Lopez was forgotten as the couple breezed by him, their movements stirring his silvery uniform. The couple dashed to the elevator, then had to wait their turn as another group of researchers boarded and closed the door behind them. They could barely contain themselves and couldn’t wait for the elevator to arrive.


They stepped off of the elevator onto the seventh floor and waded through a crowd of scientist to an officer stationed in front of the door. “Sir, Ma’am,” the soldier greeted with a salute. He turned the knob, opened the door and stepped aside. “Go right ahead. We’ve already checked the room so it’s safe to proceed.”


Mr. Higurashi nodded and, despite the soldier’s reassurances, walked in and glanced around before beaconing his wife forward. The room consisted only of a small cryo chamber, an unimportant-looking desk and a file cabinet. The walls were made of the same painted concrete as the rest of the facility with a colossal plate of steel dividing the upper half of the northern wall. He left his wife in the center of the steel tiled floor and approached the desk nestled in the right corner.


He rummaged through the file cabinet first, taking out one manilla file after another while his wife looked over the desk. The top of the desk was amazingly clean and free of dust. The pencils and pens were stored inside a beautiful crystal cup with swirled etchings along the sides. A rounded crystal paperweight rested on the center of the desk calender, the date it rested on unnoticed as Mrs. Higurashi weighed the ornate crystal in her hands. “It’s so heavy,” she remarked to herself. “It’s pretty too.”


“Don’t become attached to it dear,” Mr. Higurashi scolded fondly. “I am fully aware of your love for those babbles.”


“I’m not going to do anything with it,” Mrs. Higurashi huffed in annoyance. She scowled at her husband’s back and returned the trinket to the desk before walking across the room to the cryo chamber. She gasped in surprise and nearly touched the cold glass before thinking better of it. “Andrew,” she called out. “Come here and look at this.”


Mr. Higurashi immediately closed the cabinet and waded through through the scientists that had finally entered the room toward her. “What is it Ellie?” he asked as he peered down at her. She pointed to the cryo chamber and the tiny green light that flickered at them.


“Are you telling me that it’s in use?” he asked and his eyes widened in surprise when she nodded. He reached out and touched the glass, then snatched his hand away when the green light flickered red and steam hissed out the sides of the chamber. The frost quickly wicked away before the glass opened and slid back, revealing a tiny baby girl. She was small, but beautiful with dark red hair and the tiniest clawed hands they’d ever seen. The other researchers crowded around them while she yawned and opened glowing green eyes.


She glanced at the crowd around her and smiled then howled when rows of needles on either side of the chamber jabbed into her skin. Mrs. Higurashi gasped and immediately reached for the baby but Mr. Higurashi grasped her hands and pulled them away from the child.


“Stop it!” she demanded while the other scientists stood by. “It’s hurting her! We have to get her out!”


“I know Ell but we don’t know what it’s doing,” Mr. Higurashi told her with a gentle shake. “I know it’s hard to see but the machine might be vaccinating her. Would you want her to get sick and die just minutes after waking up?”


Mrs. Higurashi calmed at this. She shook her head and lowered her hands before looking back into the chamber. The syringes were absorbed into the walls of the chamber only to be replaced by two more sets, each syringe either drawing blood or injecting various vials of either clear, blue or green liquid. The round of needles stopped just as quickly as it started with the red light on the chamber dying. The other scientists gaped as the tiny needle marks in the baby’s skin fading into nonexistence.


Mrs. Higurashi reached inside and cradled the nude infant in her arms, cooing softly to the baby and swaying from side to side while Mr. Higurashi took off his lab coat. He wrapped the coat around the girl and was gifted with one of the infant’s infections smiles. He smiled back and traced his index finger along one of her dark eyebrows. ‘She’s precious,’ he thought and yelped slightly when she gummed his finger.


“She’s hungry,” Mrs. Higurashi laughed. “Or she’s teething.”


“She’s a marvel,” one of the scientists breathed in awe. “The fact that she’s survived so long inside that cryo tube...”


“There’s no telling how old she is...”


“Or what she is...”


“We must begin testing on her immediately...”


“Excuse me,” Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed as she stepped away from the group. “What are you talking about? What kind of testing?”


“A physical of course,” one of the researchers said as their eyes began to glaze over at the possibilities. “Then we’ll extract some of her spinal fluid so we can study her DNA, take a scraping of her brain cells to study her intelligence. There are so many things we can learn from it.”


“She’s not an it,” Mrs. Higurashi hissed angrily. “And how could you stand there and say that?! She’s a defenseless child for God’s sake! We can’t just cut her open and start dissecting her! Andrew, tell them!”


“I really must agree with my wife gentlemen,” Mr. Higurashi said as he stepped in front of Mrs. Higurashi and the precious bundle in her arms. “In no way would this be considered historical research.”


“Of what do we care about historical research,” one of the scientists retorted. The others behind him nodded in agreement. “We could have the next medical cure on our hands, or the next weapon. You can’t stand there and say you’re not curious about her.”


“I am but the way you’re proposing to learn about her is wrong. You would put the child herself through much suffering just to satisfy your curiosity?”


The scientists began to advance on them, all intent on talking reasonably forgotten as the thoughts of fame and fortune clouded their vision. Mr. Higurashi stepped back, his eyes watching the pack warily while Mrs. Higurashi shushed the crying infant. “You will give us that child,” the nearest scientist hissed at the couple.


“Don’t come any closer,” Mr. Higurashi warned before his back collided with the desk behind him. “I won’t let you do this. We’re men of reason. We can find a better way tha-“ He gaped as the floor abruptly gave way underneath them, he and Mrs. Higurashi standing on the edge of an enormous hole in the suddenly empty room. He looked over his shoulder to star into his wife’s confused orbs, then grasped her and managed to pull her behind the desk as a group of youkai suddenly stepped out of the walls around them. Each youkai was dressed in identical white uniforms that copied the silver and pastels of the Esthar guards. The youkai stared at the couple with understanding shining in their lavender eyes. The floor closed up, the hole quickly replaced with the original steel tiles before one of the youkai stepped forward and approached them.


“Tell me,” he began as he ran a clawed hand through his blonde, waist length hair. “Do you care for the child in your arms?”


“W-what?” Mrs. Higurashi stuttered as she shielded the infant away from him. “What are you talking about? Who are you? What happened to the others?”


“Those men are bad men,” the youkai simply explained. “And they were deemed not worthy.”


“What did you do with them? You cannot judge them so qui-,” Mr. Higurashi began but his mouth clicked shut at the sudden fury that was directed at him.


“Can’t I? They judged her. Now answer my question. Do you care for the child in your arms?”


“Yes,” Mrs. Higurashi answered quickly. “We would never have let them hurt her. Sooner or later they would have seen things our way.”


“No they wouldn’t,” the youkai disagreed with a shake of her head. “They had no intentions on ‘seeing things your way’. They would have hurt you two to obtain her. She has been through enough today, don’t you think?”


“I do,” Mrs. Higurashi answered with a nod, then cried out when the baby jerked on her hair. “Ow. That hurts.” Mr. Higurashi stood by as the youkai watched Mrs. Higurashi gently unwrapped the baby’s fist from her chocolate brown hair. She laughed and shook her hair out of the way when the infant reached for her again and the youkai smiled.



“You’re wife is a gentle soul,” the youkai said approvingly. “I have no doubts that she will look after her. You however...” The youkai’s eyes narrowed, then glanced toward the other youkai in the room. One of the copies walked toward Mrs. Higurashi and produced a bottle from behind him. He offered it to her patiently, the led youkai looking on in approval as Mrs. Higurashi hesitantly accepted it. She tested the formula on her hand and, after nodding at its temperature, proceeded to feed the baby. The youkai guided her toward a rocking chair that rose from the floor and waited for her to have a seat before humming a soft lullaby.


Mr. Higurashi inhaled sharply when the lead youkai gently grasped his arm and led him toward the giant metal sheeting on the back wall behind the desk. “I have no doubts about your wife,” he said again as he stared at the metal cover. “She will protect the child and love her as if she were her own. What say you on this?”


“Eleanor has always had a kind heart,” Mr. Higurashi agreed readily. “And what she wants I want, whatever will make her happy.”

“Really? I want to believe you,” the youkai sighed, its purple eyes secreted behind pale lids before opening again. “But I cannot help but think that the moment you leave here you’ll take her to some facility to be studied and probed. I do not wish for her to become a lab rat. I want her to live a normal childhood, have friends, grow up, and have children of her own. Will you ensure that if I allow you to leave here?”


“O-of course,” Mr. Higurashi stammered, the hidden threat in the youkai’s words not falling on deaf ears. “We would gladly give her those things.” He started when the youkai laughed, his arm raising to drape around Mr. Higurashi’s shoulders as if they had known each other for years. “What is it?” Mr. Higurashi asked in confusion. “What’s so funny?”


“Forgive me Andrew,” the youkai said as he made a show of wiping at his eyes. “Your wife did call you Andrew, yes?”


“Yes,” Mr. Higurashi nodded. “And please, continue.”


“Thank you. You see, that child is doomed not to have a normal life.” The youkai sighed then, the sadness and heartbreak in that single sound enough to soften Mr. Higurashi’s heart. “There is so much she won’t understand, but at least with you she’ll have some hope of formal training. That is what I really want. I want you to make sure that, when the time comes, you get her that training.”


“We will but what will happen to-“


“The others?” the youkai finished, then gestured to the desk. Mr. Higurashi waited and watched as a small tv screen rose out of the desk’s surface. The screen flickered on and Mr. Higurashi watched as the missing scientists appeared on the screen.


“Now I want you to watch this,” the youkai said as he pointed to the screen. “There is no sound, but I’m sure you’ll be able to appreciate it all the same.” Mr. Higurashi nodded, unable to do anything else as one of the scientists pointed toward a hole in a nearby wall. They backed away in a panic when an enormous monster rushed into the room and shook himself, slobber and bits of dirt flying around the room from it’s hide. The hole it came in through closed behind it and one of the researcher’s mouth’s opened in a silent scream. Mr. Higurashi looked on, horrified, as the monster shredded his colleagues into little more than blood and tissue, then watched it stop to feast before moving beyond the room. The camera flickered off, then turned back on and focused on the creature as it stalked an unsuspecting pair of technicians.


The youkai with Mrs. Higurashi continued to hum, the sound soothing, calming and completely contradictory to the blood and carnage on the screen as the creature slaughtered anything and everything it came across. The monster tracked its victims ruthlessly, blood dripping down its scaley purple hide to splatter onto the cold uncaring floor. Mr. Higurashi watched as the last person, the Esthar infantry man who came to him not an hour ago to announce the room’s availability, blindly ran into a padded room. He screamed and clawed at the wall when he realized he’d run into it and panicked when he realized the room had no other exit.


Mr. Higurashi closed his eyes and turned away, unwilling to watch the demise of the young man as the youkai patted his shoulder in sympathy. “I am sorry,” the youkai apologized. “I’m normally not this violent but I needed you to understand. I cannot let you leave if you don’t agree to my terms and I don’t wish to make your wife a widow.”


“So I don’t have a choice?” Mr. Higurashi growled angrily, his voice taunt with emotion. “You’d have me ripped apart too?”


“No, of course not,” the youkai shook his head. “I’d find a more peaceful way for you. You did try to protect my charge after all.” Mr. Higurashi gaped at the youkai’s seriousness, then frowned and shook his head.


“Th-that won’t be necessary,” Mr. Higurashi finally said. “I will take care of her-“


“You will pass her off as your own.”


“We can’t,” Mr. Higurashi disagreed. “No one would believe a youkai child is ours.”


“She’s not youkai...exactly,” the youkai replied evenly. “Don’t worry about her appearance. This necklace will fix that.” He held up Mr. Higurashi’s hand and allowed a thin silver chain to pool into his palm. A small sapphire star winked up at them and sparkled in the sparse light. “This is hers. Don’t allow anyone else to touch it.”


“I-I won’t,” Mr. Higurashi reassured him. “But how are we supposed to leave with that thing out there?”


“The weapon has been locked away now,” the youkai assured him, then gestured to one of the other youkai. He nodded and opened the lab door. “You two have nothing to worry about. You are not to tell your wife about this. The child is only a few hours old and you have been here long enough for your wife to have had her legitimately. Do not fail me,” the youkai warned, its narrowed eyes glowing a startling lilac. “I will know.”


“Of course not,” Mr. Higurashi assured him again. “We’ll do what we can by her.”


“And that is all I can ask for I suppose.” The youkai paused before smiling at him. “Good luck Andrew Higurashi, and Godspeed.” He quit the room silently, his clones quickly following behind him in a single filed line. The youkai attending to Mrs. Higurashi was the last to quit the room, making sure to deposit a loving kiss to the child’s head before turned and walking away. Mrs. Higurashi watched him go regretfully and smiled at Mr. Higurashi. Her smile faded at his abnormally pale face and she reached up to touch him when he grasped her hand in his.


“I’ll be fine,” he reassured her as he kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry about me.”


“I take it we can take her home huh?” Mrs. Higurashi guessed as she stroked the baby’s cheek. Mr. Higurashi nodded and reached out for the baby’s tiny fingers. “What do you want to name her?”


“How about......Kagome, after my great aunt?”


“Alright,” Mr. Higurashi agreed. “Kagome it is. What do you think little one?”

The baby cooed then giggled as her hair began to darken. They stood by and stared while blood red hair became shimmering onyx curls and waves. Her claws receded until they resembled human hands and her eyes, which were the last to change, swirled between colors until they found a happy medium between blue and green.


“It looks like she’s going to be full of surprises,” Mrs. Higurashi whispered adoringly and laughed when Kagome gave a happy shriek. Mr. Higurashi nodded as well before guiding his wife out of the room.


“When we returned to the ship, I reported the others dead and the birth of my child all in the same transmission,” Mr. Higurashi finished his story to his astonished audience. “We were ordered home and no one was the wiser about what really happened. I told my wife about what happened to our colleagues a week after we arrived back home.”


o.O.o


“This is just impossible,” Shippou stammered as the others remained silent. “I mean, this just isn’t possible. Kagome isn’t youkai-“


“But we know she’s different,” Inuyasha reminded him. “Remember in Magic 101, when we had trouble scanning her?”


“Yes,” Miroku nodded. “She couldn’t understand why we were having such trouble and it scared her. There were other times as well but none that we didn’t figure to be little more than her holy aura interfering. We never would have thought-“


“She didn’t know, did she?”


All eyes turned to Sesshoumaru, who watched the couple lower their heads. “When were you going to tell her?”



“We prayed we wouldn’t have to,” Mrs. Higurashi answered him. “We wanted her to live a normal life. We wanted her to be happy and to know that she was loved, no matter what.”


“But we knew that wasn’t possible,” Mr. Higurashi finished for her. “The youkai said so but we thought otherwise. We believed we could protect her. We were proven wrong.”


Mr. Higurashi gazed up from his paper and waved at his seven year old daughter. “Daddy!” she called out with sparkling blue-green eyes. “Watch this!” She grasped the highest bar of the monkey bars and swung upside down. She eeped and he laughed when her dress fell over her face.


“Honey, be careful,” Mr. Higurashi called out. He laughed again when she peered from underneath her dress and waved again, her smile brilliant and happy before she grasped the metal pole above her and boosted herself up. Mr. Higurashi happily sighed to himself, leaned back against the park bench and enjoyed the afternoon sun. His thoughts traveled back to that fateful research trip and the results their decision had on the couple’s lives.

The Centra Ruins Tragedy, as the newspapers were calling it, launched the Higurashi’s and their daughter into the center of attention from the moment they stepped off of their federally funded airship. The press hounded them for months and months on end, only stopping when the opal mines on the outskirts of the city collapsed. The remaining years spent with their rare little treasure were filled with one exciting discovery after another. Their Kagome never got sick, never caught a cold and whenever she managed to get some sort of scrape or injury she merely cried until she tired, and her wound was healed by the time she finished crying.


And best of all, at least best of all to Mr. Higurashi, Kagome turned out to be a daddy’s girl. She loved her parents equally but it was her cries of “Daddy!” that greeted him first when he arrived home, followed by her running from wherever she was in the house to his waiting and outstretched arms. At night she insisted on reading him a bedtime story and she would wait on him on the nights he would work late. He would come in and find her in his reading chair, her favorite blue quilt draped over her legs and her hands tightly grasping a book as she struggled to fight off sleep.


The Higurashi’s loved their little miracle baby, even more so now that she was a child with wants and ideas of her own. They decided to teach her a little Al Bhed early in Kagome’s young life and were surprised at how easily she picked up on the foreign language. She learned to read early as well and poured herself over the volumes of history books stored inside the study. They sounded out the words she couldn’t understand but otherwise left her to herself and her discoveries.


Their biggest surprise came with the birth of their ‘second’ child, a bouncing baby boy they named Souta. Kagome adored her baby brother from the moment she laid eyes on him, never questioning why his eyes were different than hers. She watched over Souta while her parents were busy in the kitchen and helped whenever she could around the house.


‘She’s so responsible for a child so young,’ Mr. Higurashi mused as he watched the clouds drift overhead. ‘And so loving, and so very special. I had my doubts then, but now...I can’t imagine life without my little Kagome.’ He frowned thoughtfully as he remembered the youkai’s warning about sending her away, then shook his head and laughed.


‘There’s no reason to send Kagome away,’ Mr. Higurashi decided. ‘She’s happy here with us, and we’re happy with her being here. I don’t know what they had planned for her two hundred years ago, but in this era she can have a happy, normal lif-‘


“AHHHHHHHH! DAAADDDDYYYY!”


Mr. Higurashi jolted out of his musings and was on his feet before he could think to do so, his expensive leather shoes thudding dully against the soft playground sand as he ran toward his daughter’s cries. He arrived just as an older lady was picking up a small fluffy dog. Kagome sat crying on the ground, her bleeding arm outstretched and pointing at the yapping mongrel while the lady apologized.


“What’s going on here?” Mr. Higurashi thundered as he swooped Kagome up and cradled her in his arms. “What’s the meaning of this?”


“I’m so very sorry,” the lady apologized again before shushing her pet. “I’m not sure what happened. Skipper is normally a good little dog. He just got away from me and-“


“Does he have all of his shots?” Mr. Higurashi demanded, his concern for the woman’s nervousness nearly zil in light of the pain his daughter was going through. He had little doubt that she would heal without a scratch but that didn’t mean he had to accept it when she felt pain. “Ma’am, I asked you a ques-“


“Yes, yes,” the woman interrupted suddenly as she jerked free a couple of papers from her purse. “Here they are. Again, I’m sorry. If we could just get the child to the doctor-“


“No,” Kagome said suddenly. “Daddy, I don’t wanna go to the doctor! They’ll give me a shot!! I don’t wanna go!!!”


“Alright baby, don’t worry,” Mr. Higurashi assured her. He rubbed his cheek against hers to calm her down and glared over his glasses at the confused woman. “Let me see the papers.” He read over the vet’s report and nodded in satisfaction. “Why do you carry this around if it’s so rare for him to behave this way?”


“I don’t know,” the lady shrugged. “Precaution I guess. But Skipper’s normally so well behaved. This has never happened before. He’s usually such a good dog-“


“Bad,” Kagome said with a pointed glare toward the dog. “Bad, bad dog!” Mr. Higurashi nodded in agreement then asked the lady for her address before carrying Kagome off the playground. glared over his shoulder at the unhappy pair, then turned away and hugged Mr. Higurashi’s neck.


)(


Mr. Higurashi drove down the narrow roadway, his fingers tapping impatiently against the steering wheel as he followed the old woman’s directions to her house. He knew of one other brownstone in Esthar and followed her directions to the other side of the city. He stopped in front of the red brick building and gaped at the number of police vehicles parked around it.


“What’s going on?” he asked a passerby and frowned when they shrugged and walked away. Mr. Higurashi maneuvered his way through the crowd of on-lookers and found the old lady from the day before standing in the middle of two police officers. She wept brokenly into a pearl blue lace handkerchief.


“My poor, poor Skipper,” the lady sobbed broken-heartedly. “My poor baby. Why would anyone want to do with to my poor sweet doggie?”


“What’s going on here?” Mr. Higurashi asked a passing police officer.


“Who are you?” the officer demanded instead. Mr. Higurashi gestured toward the crying woman. “I’m here to see her.”


“Oh, well um...” The officer scratched his head for a moment, then leaned toward Mr. Higurashi and gestured for him to come closer. “Look mate, I don’t know if I’m supposed to discuss this or not, but I figure you won’t tell anyone.”


“I won’t,” Mr. Higurashi assured him. “What’s happened?”


“Dispatch got this call fifty minutes ago about somebody killing this lady’s dog,” the officer said as he gestured toward the lady and the lavish doghouse behind her. “Me and my partner were the first ones on the scene. We didn’t think we’d need so much back up but we were quick to call some up when we took a good look at that dog. Boy, someone in this city is really sick.”


“What do you mean?” Mr. Higurashi asked as he tried to see for himself. He could see little of the grass around the doghouse itself but what he did see was only grass darkened by what he thought to be dark brown stains.


“The dog was still chained to it’s house,” the officer told him as he began to set up a mental picture for Mr. Higurashi. “The weird thing was that all of the dog’s skin looked like it had melted off the dog. It was kinda folded around it on the grass and stuff. Not only that but the dog’s bones and insides were FROZEN inside a block of ice. It’s eyes were starin’ at you, you know?” The officer shivered in spite of himself. “I swear, I thought it was looking at me.”


Mr. Higurashi nodded and, after promising the officer that he wouldn’t tell another soul about the investigation, walked up to the lady and offered her his handkerchief. “I am so sorry for your loss,” Mr. Higurashi began with a calm bow. “Please accept my condolences.”


The lady sniffed and nodded, then retreated inside her house with one of the officers trailing along behind her. “Poor old woman,” the remaining officer said with a shake of his head. “That dog was all she had. It’s messed up how sick some youkai are.”


“You believe a youkai did this?” Mr. Higurashi asked. The officer nodded. “Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, only a youkai would be powerful enough to do whatever it was that happened to that poor pooch. I mean, I think a youkai did it. I certainly can’t think of anything else.”


“I see. Thank you officer.” Mr. Higurashi returned to his car and drove back home, his abandoned handkerchief forgotten as a hunch began to blossom in his mind. He walked through the front door of his house calmly and smiled when Kagome hugged his knee.


“Hi Daddy,” she greeted with a toothy smile. “Did you go see the lady and her bad doggie?”


“I did baby and the lady was really sad,” Mr. Higurashi explained as he watched his daughter’s reaction.


“Why?”


“Someone...h urt her doggie last night,” he replied carefully. He was surprised when all she said was “oh”.

“Darling, aren’t you upset?” he asked as Kagome sat down and continued to play.


“Why should I be Daddy?” she asked innocently. Mrs. Higurashi stepped out of the kitchen and looked on while she dried her hands.


“Because that lady lost her only friend,” Mr. Higurashi told her as he kneeled down beside her. “She’s all alone now. Her doggie was her only company.”


“Oh. I’m sorry Daddy.”


“That’s alright baby girl,” he replied with an affectionate pat on her head. “You didn’t know.”


“Do you think she’ll forgive me?” she asked. Mr. Higurashi glanced down and noticed the tears welling in her teal eyes.


“Forgive you for what?” he asked before she sniffed. He hugged her when she began to cry and barely heard her say,


“I punished the bad doggie and now the lady’s sad.”


)-(


“OK,” Shippou said with his hands thrown in the air. “Out of everything I’ve heard today, there’s no way you’re going to convince me that Kagome killed some defenseless dog.”


“You don’t have to believe it,” Mr. Higurashi snapped pointedly. “I don’t care if you do or not. Kagome described what she did to that poor animal and I believe her.”


“Look, that’s just nuts,” Sango retorted as she stood up and took her place beside Shippou. “I mean, Kagome wouldn’t hurt a fly, no less a dog that bit her. She’s so gentle, so mild and...”


Sesshoumaru allowed the conversation to drone on without him, choosing instead to consider what the Higurashi’s had told them. They seemed like honest people to him, so why would they lie on their deceased daughter? And why would they do it to people who knew her so well? He considered every possibility and that, other than the time at the E. S., he had not heard of her being ill at any time. The computers at the E. S. questioned his every movement but they allowed Kagome to pass without incident.


Passageways that seemed to open through his genius at the time now appeared to be parts of a maze and he and Kagome were merely the unwitting rats trying to get to the proverbial cheese. The Emergency Shelter’s outside operations responded to both his and Kagome’s DNA and until now it never occurred to him that it might have recognized her DNA coding too.

‘That could be what the injections were for,’ Sesshoumaru mused to himself as the shouting around him grew louder. ‘And thus her fear of needles. There are other things that I wish to know...’


“What of this youkai?” Sesshoumaru asked, his calm baritone effectively calling the argument to a halt. Mr. Higurashi glanced toward him and blinked.


“What?”


‘Kagome may be adopted,’ Sesshoumaru thought with a mental shake of his head. ‘But you can tell by their reactions they’re related.’ “What of this youkai you spoke of?” Sesshoumaru tried again. He pressed his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose and sighed, the promise of a violent and long-enduring migraine already blossoming behind his eyes. “You described a youkai with blonde hair and purple eyes, yes?”


“More lavender than purple, but yes,” Mrs. Higurashi nodded. “Why?”


“Did he appear in anything else?”


“Are you kidding?” Inuyasha huffed indignantly. “Here we are having a crisis and you want to discuss fashion?!”


“Inuyasha hush,” Headmaster Leonheart gruffly replied. “Sesshoumaru is on to something. The two of you mentioned a similar youkai in your reports.”


Sesshoumaru nodded thoughtfully. “He was a few inches shorter than myself, without markings of any kind?”


Mrs. Higurashi nodded again. “And he was so nice,” she mused with a sigh. “He was so attentive too. He truly loved Kagome.”


“Not from what I remember,” Sesshoumaru growled to himself.


“You reported an incident between the simulation and Kagome, didn’t you?” Headmaster Leonheart asked Sesshoumaru. “Something about two altercations, one that resulted in you deactivating the program.”


“Yes. The program disobeyed orders and-“


“Wait,” Mr. Higurashi interrupted with a raised hand. “Are you telling me that the youkai wasn’t real? That it was a computer program?”


“Think about it,” Headmaster Leonheart said to them. “How else would this ‘youkai’ be able to release that monster-“

“It was one of the three God weapons.”


“Right,” the headmaster nodded, his face paling slightly at the thought of the monstrous creatures. “But how did you think he could release it, make the cameras watch it’s every move and lock it away all while it stood beside you? Didn’t you find that odd?”


“Forgive me sir,” Mr. Higurashi fairly snarled in his direction. “But I was busy trying to save our lives at the time.”


“You do realize what this means?” Headmaster Leonheart asked the SeeD around him. The others gazed at each other, clueless, but Sesshoumaru nodded.


“You don’t like this any more than I do,” Sesshoumaru spoke aloud.


“What?” Shippou demanded as he glared from to Sesshoumaru to the headmaster and back again. “What’s going on? What don’t you guys like?”


“Think on it kitsune,” Sesshoumaru growled, his annoyance more at the situation than Shippou himself. “If Kagome is still alive-“


“I think she is,” Sango piped from her corner of the room. Sesshoumaru sighed and held the bridge of his nose while the others voiced their agreements.


“That’s all well and good team but if she is alive,” Squall said to regain their attention. “Then that means Deling knows what she is.”


“Then,” Sesshoumaru began at the others clueless stares. “He planned what happened at the Desert Prison. He intended on taking her brother, knowing that we would bring her to him.”


“Oh God, are you serious?” Sango gasped. “You mean we just hand delivered her? That all this might be our fault?”


“That isn’t all,” Squall sighed despondently. “If Deling knew what she is, whatever she is, then he probably has a way to control her. If so then...we may have to neutralize her.”


“‘Neutralize her’?” Shippou balked in disbelief. “Just what’s he talking about Sesshoumaru? Sesshoumaru?!”


“It means,” Sesshoumaru finally said, his eyes closed and his shoulders slumped as his headache reached full bloom.


“If we have to fight Deling, we may have to kill Kagome.”


o.O.o


I hissed, my eyes snapped closed as blood wept from a small cut at the back of my neck. And I thought I was mad before!


“You give me that back!” I shouted when he walked away from me. “You give that back right now! My father gave it to me and-“


“Your father...” he sneered at me, his fangs lengthening dangerously as his eyes began to glow red. “Do you know which father gave this to you? Do you think it’s the one who gave you his last name? Doubtful.” He sighed and tapped the star with his index finger, then grinned at me. “What do you know about the Al Bhed?”


“Why?” I asked. “You seem to know more than I do. Why don’t you go ahead and say what you’re going to say?”


“Alright, I will. The Al Bhed and Yevon weren’t the only ones that existed in the world,” Deling said while he wrapped my necklace around his wrist. “There were alchemists, powerful wizard-like people who created wondrous things out of junk.


“The alchemists lived by a set of laws, one being that the universe follows a greater law that is beyond our imagination. To understand, disassemble, and reconstruct under this law was alchemy in it’s purest form. The ability to help others, create weapons or assist in farming all had their places in the world of alchemy. As much good as alchemy was to the world there were also pages of the forbidden, dark practices that alchemists were forbidden from performing under any circumstances.


“One of these,” Deling said as he stood up and stood between me and Kikyou. “Was the practice of bringing the dead to life. After all, the human body was made up of common minerals and materials, things that you could find easily enough if you had the money and were looking for it. It was the soul that made attempting resurrection forbidden and any alchemist caught was punished by death.


“Some tried anyway and gave birth to a horror called a chimera. These creatures were half man half beast and nearly all of them were mindless, rampaging killing machines.”


What does this have to do with what he was talking about earlier, I wondered. And when is he going to give my necklace back?


“But in spite of the horrors of the chimera, there were those that were much worse. Sometimes creatures called homonculous came instead of the loved one you were seeking. They were created without souls, but had incredible abilities. They were feared more than the chimera because of their ruthlessness.”


He bent over me threateningly and I couldn’t help but be frightened. “You wanted to know how I would control you?” he breathed as he dropped my necklace in front of me. “Well I can show you better than I can tell you. Drec ec ruf dra tyshat yna punh...”


I looked up at him wide eyed before I glanced at Kikyou. She shrugged from behind him and I shrugged back, the both of us confused but confidant that whatever it was he wanted wasn’t going to happen.


That was before the pain began.


It wasn’t too bad at first but it grew worse as time went on. Deling backed away from me, smiling, when the pain intensified and the breath left me. I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and poured acid down my throat. I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t think and the last thing I heard before everything went black was Kikyou screaming my name...


(End chapter)


SF: Ok, hold up. Let me explain-


Inu-chan: Yeah, you’d better explain. Hop to it woman.


SF: Alright. I was going to do that anyway before you interrupted. Anyway, you guys have been asking me for the longest what Kagome was. Well here you go.


Sesshou: And you still haven’t explained a thing.


SF: (sigh) OK look. Kagome’s like a GF/human/youkai crossbreed. Inside Kagome is something powerful enough to shove her to the back burner once activated and that’s what Deling just did. The Kagome we all know and love is gone and there’s something new taking her place. But...anyway, that’s it for this chapter. There are three or four to go (can’t remember which one) so we’re nearly finished with this ride. Oh, and THANKS to everyone who voted this story best AU for A Single Spark’s annual contest. You guys are so great, and so patient! I promise to be a better author this year!



Preview of next chapter:


Shippou: So what do we do now? If I know Sesshoumaru and the headmaster, they mean what they say about Kagome. I’m not about to let them hurt her though, even if she is evil or something. Besides, we’ve got bigger problems now anyway. There’s something going on at the old headmaster’s house and we won’t like what we find if the tingling in my arm means anything.


Next chapter- Chapter Twenty: She’s the Blade


Al Bhed Translation-Drec ec ruf dra tyshat yna punh-This is how the damned are born.