InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Simple Legacy (I) ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and its characters are created by Rumiko Takahashi, not me, but the new plots are mine. This fanfiction had been written for entertainment purposes only and without intention of infringing upon any copyright.

 

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A Simple Legacy by elle6778 - Chapter 5

 

 

Shippou's eyes rounded in fear. “T-that…” his voice wavered unsteadily.

“KAGOME!”

“SHIPPOU!”< br>
Kagome swallowed hard. It was a distant sound, but she heard it alright. There was no way she could mistake the voice, or the tone for that matter. Eyes large in her face, Kagome turned to Sango.

“Inuyasha,” both of them said together.

“SANGO!”

“SHIPPOU!”

Shippou began to tremble. “H-he sounds m-m-mad.”

The kitsune began to inch away from the direction Inuyasha's voice was coming from, burying himself deeper into Kagome's arms. Worried, Kagome looked down at Shippou. The kitsune was right, Inuyasha sounded mad. No, he sounded downright furious. Not that she did not understand why.

Miroku smiled nervously, his eyes darting around. “Ah, I think I have something to do in the village nearby…”

Before he could escape, Sango grabbed his sleeve. “Are you thinking of running, houshi?” she asked darkly.

Miroku closed his eyes and fingered his prayer beads, his lips moving in silent prayer.

“MIROKU!!”

Kagome bit her lips as Miroku gulped, his eyes snapping open instantly. Sango just stood there with Miroku's sleeve fisted firmly in her hand, preventing him from taking off.

“KAGOME!”

Kagome flinched. The volume of his shouts was increasing at a rapid rate, which meant that he was getting closer by the second. Stiffening her spine, she took a fortifying breath and waited for the inevitable.

Inuyasha arrived in a flurry of red and white, panting heavily. Dust flew around him as he skidded to a halt in front of them. His golden eyes were narrowed in anger as he pinned his gaze on them, one by one, until it landed and remained on Kagome.

Kagome barely saw him move. In a blink of an eye, he was standing right in front of her, glaring down.

“You put me to sleep,” he snarled accusingly.

Shippou scrambled off her arms hurriedly, but Kagome stood her ground. “No. Kaede did, not me,” she said in the calmest voice she could muster in the face of his wrath.

“Why?! Why did you-” He suddenly paused, his nose twitching. Frowning, he leaned closer to her and sniffed.

Kagome watched as he slowly straightened, his golden eyes narrowing further as understanding dawned. It was not hard to guess what Inuyasha had detected. She had not taken a bath after her session last night. With a sense of smell like his, there was no way he could fail to recognize Sesshoumaru's scent.

“Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha growled. “Why is his scent on you?”

Kagome rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Why do you think his scent is on me?”

Inuyasha growled low. “I told you I'll kill the bastard! You didn't have to do this, Kagome!”

Kagome planted her hands on her hips. “Oh? And did you even bother to ask if we managed to get him to give us his fang?”

“He will not.” Inuyasha snorted derisively, shaking his head. “Not a chance.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Think again, Inuyasha.”

The hanyou's eyes widened in disbelief as he froze. “He did?” he choked out.

Kagome nodded, a smile creeping onto her lips. “Yeah.”

For once, Inuyasha was speechless. Kagome could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. He was probably wondering why his half-brother had agreed to help. Kagome had to admit that she, too, had been surprised.

“He agreed in exchange for his arm?” he asked suspiciously.

Kagome hesitated for a fraction of a second before she nodded again. There was no need to tell Inuyasha of Sesshoumaru's additional stipulations or her training sessions. Inuyasha did not need to know. Right? “We'll get his fang when his arm is completely restored. It's probably going to take another six or seven weeks.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Inuyasha huffed. “Feh! He'll never give it up. He's lying.”

Kagome's eyes flashed in irritation. Sesshoumaru might be an arrogant pain in the ass, but so far, he had given them no reason to doubt his words. He had held up to his end of the bargain in terms of training her, and he was doing a good job of it too.

“He's not lying, Inuyasha,” she said tightly, not unaware how odd it was for her to defend Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha blinked once, and then his eyes narrowed. “You're defending him.” His hackles rose and he pointed at her. “Why are you on his side?” he asked accusingly.

Kagome ground her teeth together, irritated because the hanyou was being his usual unreasonable self. “Give him a chance, alright! What makes you think he wouldn't keep his word?”

Inuyasha leaned in close to her. “Because he's Sesshoumaru!” he snarled, sounding as if that name itself was enough reason to distrust the youkai.

“So what? You need his help this time, Inuyasha. So just suck it up!”

Inuyasha growled. “I told you I can get his fang without this. You should have stayed out of it.”

Kagome planted her hands on her hips. “No, I cannot! I can't let you go get yourself killed.”

“Are you saying that I'll lose?” His voice was dangerously low. “You underestimate me, Kagome.'

Kagome's lips compressed into a thin line. “It's not that. Sesshoumaru is not that easy to kill, Inuyasha. And I won't let you kill your own brother anyway.” Her voice was sounding more shrill by the second.

“Half-brother!” Inuyasha corrected with another growl.

Sango stepped between them, a hand on each chest, holding them apart. Kagome was breathing heavily, trying to contain her rising fury. Inuyasha's fists were clenched tight as he glared at her.

“You need to calm down.” Sango's voice was firm. “Both of you!”

Kagome continued to glare at Inuyasha, resisting the temptation to subdue him. She was not backing down from this battle of wills, whether Inuyasha liked it or not. How could he expect her to sit back and do nothing when he threatened to kill Sesshoumaru? It was suicide. She did not want her friend to come to this sort of harm when there was another way to solve the problem.

Inuyasha was the one who finally broke their eye contact. “Keh! Do what you want. In the end, I'll kill him anyway.”

“Inuyasha…” Kagome gritted out in warning.

Without another word, he tossed her a mutinous look and leapt into a tree. Once settled, he turned his head pointedly away from her.

No sound could be heard in the campsite apart from the soft gurgle of the stream in the distance and the whispers of the trees as they swayed in the breeze. The dreaded confrontation over, the rest of them went back to their morning tasks, trying to pretend that everything was alright.


***


The small fireplace in the middle of the study burned bright, the crackling wood occasionally throwing up bright sparks into the air. Shadows danced gracefully on the bamboo-lined wall, appearing eerily alive. The large room was sparsely furnished and it gave an impression of collected calm.

Sesshoumaru sat cross-legged in front of the low table, tapping his clawed fingers against the paperwork in front of him. He should be dealing with the affairs of the Western Lands, however, his mind kept straying to his arm.

And the human miko who was responsible for its growth.

The sessions always ended with varying results. Sometimes his arm would grow more than other times, but her powers always fluctuated wildly towards the end. It was as if the strength of it reached a level at which she was unable to control it. His sleeve had been singed on a regular basis for the last couple of weeks, and the hassle of replacing his kimono was becoming so much of an annoyance that he considered just taking it off.

At the rate they were going, he highly doubted that he would have his arm back in the next six or seven weeks. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth. It was just not acceptable.

Although the wench had outwardly dismissed his grudgingly given advice to endeavor to control her powers, he had sensed in the last few weeks that she had been trying harder. However, her efforts had appeared to be futile. The wench just simply did not know how to do it. From what he could see, she was not really bonding with her powers, but instead, she was trying too hard. Almost as if she was fighting it every inch of the way. Whoever that had trained her obviously did a deplorable job.

Sesshoumaru continued to tap his clawed finger, his brow slightly furrowed in thought.

In a way, her miko powers could be likened to his youki. Those were powers which resulted from the person's own strength, not any external source. As an extension of oneself, those powers were similar to a limb. Assuming that this was indeed the case, all the wench had to do was to command the power within, and focus the strength before she let it out. While all the while remembering not to force it.

At least, that was how he dealt with his own youki.

Perhaps that was something the wench needed to know.


***


Kagome's entire body was held a stiff as a board when she made her way to the clearing to meet Sesshoumaru. The reason for her discomfort was walking behind her, muttering ever so often under his breath.

She had tried to prevent him from coming, but Inuyasha refused to listen to her. He had been subdued many times, but with the weakening of the rosary, he had always recovered enough to continue chasing after her. And now, she was at a loss of how to lose him. She had no doubt that Sesshoumaru would not welcome Inuyasha's presence. After all, she was supposed to turn up alone.

Also, if Inuyasha stayed, he would find out that Sesshoumaru was training her. For some reason, she still did not want Inuyasha or any of the rest to know this. Not just yet, anyway. The thought of it made her feel uncomfortable, like she was betraying them or something like that.

She sighed heavily when she reached the empty clearing. Why couldn't things be simple for once? Settling down on a rock ledge, she propped her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands, prepared to wait for Sesshoumaru's arrival.

Inuyasha remained stuck close behind her, his eyes scanning the area suspiciously. Kagome wanted to roll her eyes at him. Inuyasha knew that Sesshoumaru was coming, so did it matter which direction the taiyoukai arrived from?

As if on queue, Inuyasha started growling deep in his throat. Sesshoumaru appeared a short while later.

Ignoring Inuyasha, the Western Lord said in his usual disdainful tone, “Wench. The hanyou's presence is not acceptable.”

Before she could answer, Inuyasha butted in. “Keh. I'm staying whether you like it or not.”

Sesshoumaru simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Don't look at her like that!” Inuyasha snarled, taking a step towards the taiyoukai.

Kagome's eyes glinted in annoyance. Inuyasha was making things worse every time he opened his mouth. “Inuyasha…”

“Shut up, Kagome! Let me deal with this.”

The muscle under her eyes ticked.

“OSUWARI!”

Inuyasha landed face down on the ground and began to curse violently.

Turning to Sesshoumaru, she said placatingly, “Look, he won't disturb us, okay?”

Golden eyes narrowed at her. “We have an agreement, Wench.”

Kagome groaned. Both of them were just as stubborn as each other. It must be a family thing. Yes, that must be it. Stubborn dogs. And she was caught right in the middle.

Choosing the less dangerous one, she turned to him with a pleading look. “Inuyasha. Could you just leave us alone for a while? It won't take long, only a few hours.”

Getting up on his feet, Inuyasha growled. “I won't leave you alone here. Even for a few hours. Not with him.”

She exhaled a sigh of exasperation. Inuyasha was making this harder than it needed to be. “I've done this before and it's fine. Really.”

Inuyasha looked suspiciously at Sesshoumaru, and then back at Kagome. “Why are you on his side? What's really going on? What is he doing to you?”

Kagome's eyes widened. What was Inuyasha implying? Could he be thinking that she and Sesshoumaru…Heat flooded her face as the implications sank in. Shocked into silence, she could only stare at Inuyasha dumbly.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha seemed to have taken her silence as a confirmation of his suspicions. His entire body shook and he clenched his hands into fists. Baring his fangs, he glared at Sesshoumaru. “I'll KILL you!”

“You're not capable of it, little brother,” Sesshoumaru retorted dryly.

“Don't call me little brother! And don't you DARE you lay your filthy paws on Kagome, you bastard!” Inuyasha ranted furiously.

Kagome had heard enough.

“OSUWARI!”

Breathing heavily, she glared down at the groaning red pile on the ground. “Inuyasha, if you even suggest something like that again, I'll personally make sure you remain face-planted in the ground for the rest of your miserable life!”

Inuyasha mumbled something incoherent, his fists thumping the ground in frustration. Kagome just continued to glare at his back.

“Jaken.”

At Sesshoumaru's calm voice, Kagome turned her attention to the approaching toad youkai.

“Bind the hanyou and bring him out of hearing distance. Get Ah-Un to watch him,” Sesshoumaru ordered.

Kagome started to protest indignantly. “Hey…You can't do that. He's-”

He interjected coldly. “You will free him after our session.”

Knowing that she had no other choice, Kagome slumped in resignation.

Sesshoumaru leveled an unreadable look at her before he picked up the katana she had been using. Catching the katana he tossed at her, Kagome looked around for her little training companion. “Where's Rin?”

“She's resting. We shall commence,” he stated tonelessly.

As usual, the training session flew by at a rapid pace. Jaken, when he returned from securing Inuyasha Kami-knows-where, was again her unwilling sparring partner. This time, Sesshoumaru put her through attack and defense combinations. She had come to realize that the set combinations were designed to improve her reflexes and her strength. It was not easy, but she had every intention of mastering everything Sesshoumaru imparted to her. After all, how often did a human get a chance to be trained by a taiyoukai?

Kagome was enjoying the challenge so much that when Sesshoumaru called a halt to it, she was reluctant to stop.

“Is it time already?” she asked, a little mournfully.

Sesshoumaru gave a curt nod. “There's something else you need to learn.”

She stepped towards him, curious as to what he had in his mind. With Sesshoumaru, one could never tell. She sometimes wished that she could read his expressions, but so far, that proved to be a waste of time. All she had seen so far in terms of his expressions were disdain, annoyance and smug-satisfaction.

“The strength of your miko powers needs guidance,” he told her.

Kagome instantly slumped. They had been through this before when she burnt his sleeve for the first time. He would never understand that she had tried so many times before without success. “Sesshoumaru-sama, I know that. But…”

He carried on as if she had not spoken. “Try this. Close your eyes and call forth your powers.”

Kagome hesitated. Did she trust Sesshoumaru enough to do this? Would he do something to her powers? In the future, they had things like hypnosis and such. Was Sesshoumaru going to utilize some sort of youkai version of it?

He gave her a warning look. “Wench…” That one word carried a wealth of warning.

He had never broken his word to her before, she told herself. Sighing in resignation, she closed her eyes. Inhaling deeply, she concentrated until she felt her power rise and threatened to spill. “What next?”

“Your power is an extension of yourself, not something separate. Find it with your inner eye. Try to move it out, but just a little and keep it close to you.”

Kagome focused on imagining the force inside her as an arm, a glowing, translucent limb. And then she tried to move it. A jolt ran through her body as her imaginary arm escaped her. She expelled a groan of frustration. She just could not do it.

“Manipulate it. It's part of you.” Although he did not sound exactly encouraging, his voice was strangely calming.

Kagome frowned and tried to make the fingers of her imaginary arm wiggle. A finger moved, and then another. Satisfied at her success, a small smile curved her lips. She then made the fingers clench. The translucent fingers curled inwards on command.

“Reach out. Keep it contained.”

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to stretch the arm. It reached out further, going beyond her mind's eyes.

“Maintain the position. Open your eyes. Slowly, wench!”

Obeying his words, she lifted her lids. Then she gasped.

Both her arms were stretched out, palms out. A pearlescent beam of energy, tinged with purple, extended outwards from each of her hands, glowing steadily. Experimentally, she moved one hand. The narrow beam moved together with it like an extended arm. Her eyes widened in awe.

“Now, call it back.”

Holding her breath, she willed it to return. To her amazement, the glowing beam gradually shortened until it zipped back into her arms.

Kagome blinked slowly as she gazed at her still extended arms like it was an alien form. She did not know that she could do that. The only time she remembered doing something like this was when the Shikon jewel was still inside her body and she had unknowingly blasted the centipede youkai in the well with her hand.

She turned her gaze to the stoic youkai near her. “Sesshoumaru-sama…” she faltered, unsure what she wanted to say to him. This was something she had always wanted, to be able to use her gift. And of all things, Sesshoumaru, a taiyoukai who hated her and Inuyasha, had to be the one who made it possible.

“Hn.” He turned away. “Your control is still lacking.”

Her jaw dropped. What? That was the last thing she had expected him to say. And to think that she was about to thank him as well.

“You will use the same method to restore this Sesshoumaru's arm,” he ordered haughtily.

Kagome lowered her eyes, hiding a smirk. What was she thinking? That he would praise her for her success in getting a grip, literally, on her powers? She should have known better. This was Sesshoumaru after all.

“Of course,” she chirped cheerfully.

“This Sesshoumaru trust that his kimono will remain intact tonight.” It was an order.

She blinked up at him and grinned. The mighty Load of the Western Lands was concerned about his wardrobe. Who would have guessed that? “With my new skills, you'll be as good as new in no time.”

“Hn. Commence. This Sesshoumaru is weary of listening to the whining of the hanyou.”

Hanyou?

Inuyasha! She gasped in horror. Inuyasha's predicament had completely slipped her mind. Unlike her, Sesshoumaru must have been able to hear Inuyasha even over a large distance. She was appalled at herself. After all, Inuyasha was someone she cared for.

Quickly, she rolled up Sesshoumaru's sleeve. It had grown almost to his elbows. Just a few more times would do it. But now, with her improved skills, she could get Sesshoumaru's arm to grow faster and Inuyasha would get better sooner than she had anticipated.

Focus, Kagome, she told herself.

And she began.


***


The familiar tingling began. Sesshoumaru realized with satisfaction that this time, it felt different. Her power was steadier, more powerful.

Sesshoumaru eyed the miko silently. She was still wearing that intense look on concentration she always wore when she did this, but this time, her internal struggle was absent. Instead, she appeared calm and collected.

It was working, he thought smugly. He was not sure that it would, but his youkai method actually worked with her miko powers. A twinge of unease coursed through him. Somehow, by teaching her something like this, he felt as if he might have just betrayed the youkai community.

He knew that if it had worked, her control of her powers would mean that it would become more deadly towards other youkais. All except for a select few like him, who was practically immune to her purification.

But did he really care what the rest of them thought?

His eyes hardened. No. This Sesshoumaru answered to no one.

A long while later, the glow between her hands and his skin gradually faded, leaving a warm tingling feeling in the stub. No explosion, no sputtering of purifying energy, no singed sleeves. Nothing. He glanced down, and noted with satisfaction that it had grown more this time than the last few times combined.

“I did it!” the miko jumped up in excitement, her eyes shining brightly. “Did you see that? It's under control!”

“Indeed.” His tone was flat. This was the first time she had the energy to bounce around after the session.

The bright light in her eyes subsided a little at his tone, and then she brightened again. “This means we'll finish faster, right?”

Yes, it would, he admitted to himself. This meant that she would be out of his hair sooner, much to his relief. Good.

“Isn't this great, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

“Hn.”


***