InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ After-effects ❯ Another goodbye ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: Well, you probably guessed it already but Inuyasha and the gang are not mine in any way, only Yuna and Mattemaru belong to me :).

 

Author's note: Well, thanks a lot to nitefire for his/her kind review, it's greatly appreciated :).

 

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Chapter 8: Another goodbye

 

"What's the matter Kagome, you look troubled," questioned Sango when the said girl entered their shared bedroom.

 

Troubled was probably an understatement for what the young miko was feeling right now. Her powers... tainted with youki. How was that even possible? They were supposed to actually dissolve this type of energy, not blend with it. But of course, as luck would have it, that was not the only thing happening to her

 

***Flaskback***

 

"How... how is that possible Kaede, my powers purify youki on contact, they can't possibly become tainted!" exclaimed the young miko incredulously.

 

"I do not understand either child, but the fact is undeniable," answered the old woman, as baffled as Kagome.

 

A heavy silence then fell on the two women. Both were too overwhelmed to actually say anything. Finally, Kagome let out a long and weary sigh and spoke up.

 

"Okay, so my powers are becoming tainted. Now what exactly does it mean for me? Am I going to get sick and die? Are my powers going to disappear?" she asked, feeling suddenly very tired.

 

"I cannot say for certain, but if you were to get sick, I believe that at least some symptoms would have started to show and if you are not sick, then it is even less likely that you will die from this. As for your powers disappearing, I don't think this is going to happen because from what I could tell... they are actually getting stronger," said the old miko seriously.

 

"Stronger?" repeated the girl. Things were definitively getting stranger by the minute.

 

"Yes. You see when you light two candles and you bring the flames together, they merge into a bigger and stronger one. What I saw when I read your aura was pretty similar," she explained.

 

"I see... but it still doesn't explain how such a thing is even possible," muttered the miko.

 

"I know, but... I somehow have the feeling that this might just be the beginning," finished the old woman somberly.

 

***End flashback***

 

The beginning Kaede had said, but the beginning of what? Her powers, her burst of speed, the jewel, the separation from her family, Mattemaru... everything was all happening at once, leaving her no time to adapt at all. All she really wanted to do was spend some quiet time with Sango and Miroku and Shippo and most of all Inuyasha. She also desperately wanted to be able to come to term with her separation with her family. But she couldn't. She couldn't because she had a responsibility to everyone to keep the jewel from falling into the wrong hands.

 

"Kagome!!!" yelled Sango, causing the girl to jump at least a foot in the air in surprise.

 

"S... Sango! Don't do that," stuttered the girl, her heart hammering in her chest.

 

"You're one to talk, I've called your name at least ten times before getting your attention," shot the demon slayer in a half-amused, half-annoyed tone.

 

"Sorry... I have a lot of things on my mind," muttered the miko, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

 

"I can guess. It took you so long to finish with Kaede that Kagura had to help me to bed. And now that you finally show up, you're so lost in thoughts that you don't even acknowledge my presence. Something is definitively bothering you. Mind sharing with me?" asked Sango seriously.

 

"Sango I..." began Kagome, but she trailed off as she realized that if the demon slayer was to ever find out about her tainted powers, the woman would most likely be worried to death about her.

 

"I can't... I can't afford to have Sango worry like that about me," she reflected sadly.

 

She wanted so much to break down and cry, to curl up in a ball and weep like a little girl. She wanted someone's comfort. She wanted someone's arm around her shoulder, murmuring soothing words in her ear. But she couldn't have any of those things. She was Kagome Higurashi, she had a jewel to protect from the hands of evil and as such, she had to be strong, she couldn't afford any sort of weakness.

 

And so, she sighed deeply and squared her shoulders, once more burying her pain in the depths of her mind. "I just wish I could have some time to come to term with all that's happened in my life recently. Problems just seem to pop up faster than I can handle," she admitted. Not the whole truth, but enough to give a hint to Sango that she was definitively not at her best.

 

"Yeah," agreed the demon slayer. "I just wish I could come along with you and help. I just can't stand it when my friends are in danger and all I can do is sit back and watch," she continued, unconsciously flexing her good hand in frustration.

 

"I know you do Sango... I know you do," whispered the young miko somewhat sadly.

 

"Kagome?" asked the demon slayer, worried by Kagome's somewhat depressed reaction.

 

The miko raised her downcast gaze to look at Sango with pained and unfocused eyes. She blinked once, as if not realizing where she was and then she jerked slightly as reality crashed back on her.

 

"Sango... when everything's over let's go on a picnic together, an all girl picnic!" exclaimed the girl suddenly

 

The change of topic and mood was so radical that all Sango could do was stare at Kagome in complete and utter confusion. "Are you sure you're feeling okay Kagome-chan?" questioned the woman.

 

"I can already picture it from here. You, me, Kagura and Yuna too. We're all sitting in a small meadow filled with flowers. No Miroku to grope, no Inuyasha to constantly complain... No youkai to attack us, no shikon jewel to worry about. Just four friends having a good time together. What do you say Sango, wouldn't it be great?" babbled the miko, completely ignoring the slayer's question.

 

Abruptly, Sango understood just what was going on in Kagome's head and what had brought on such a drastic change of topic. The girl was literally cornered on all sides by problems that kept popping without stopping. So, in order to keep going through all this, she had to keep hoping beyond hope that things would turn out all right. To do that, the girl had chosen to picture a happy scene, one where everything had been taken care of, one where all her problems were finally over, and do everything in her power to make it happen.

 

"You're wrong Kagome-chan. It won't be just 'great', it will be the greatest we've ever had in our life," the demon slayer answered with a smile on her face.

 

"I may not be able to fight Kagome, but if I can help it, we're going to see this dream of yours come true," thought the demon slayer almost fiercely.

 

******

 

She was walking in the forest slowly, all her senses on full alert, not making the slightest noise. The sun was high in the sky, basking the under of the trees in a surreal light. Her eyes scanned her surrounding carefully in search of something, though she had no idea what exactly.

 

And then, a flicker of movement caught her attention and her gaze instantly locked on it. A rabbit was lazily jumping through the grass a short distance from her, completely oblivious to her presence. Her lips curved upward in a predatory smile as she started to stalk carefully in its direction. She had almost reached her destination when the wind suddenly changed and carried her scent to her prey. Immediately, it bounded away, trying to escape her. Her smile turned to a snarl and a deep growl emanated from her throat as she launched herself after it.

 

It was a wild chase, the branches were scratching her face, leaves were getting tangled in her hair, but she didn't notice any of it. The only important thing right now was her prey. She was getting closer now as the rabbit started to tire. She could smell its fear now and it fueled her strength, exhilarated her beyond what she even thought possible.

 

Finally, with one last leap, she caught it in a death grip. It struggled futilely in her hands, trying to escape its fate, but Kagome would have none of that and in one smooth movement, she promptly snapped the poor creature's neck, killing it instantly. She laughed then, cruelly, sadistically at the pitiful form that she now held in the palm of her hands. She laughed and kept on laughing even when she sank her fangs in the soft flesh and took a bite. She reveled in the rich flavor of the raw meat mixed with blood, not bothering that some was dripping down her chin and staining her clothing.

 

Abruptly, Kagome bolted up in bed, furiously scrubbing her sleeves against the corners of her mouth while at the same time wiping her hands, trying to get the blood off of them. Finally, after a few seconds of this, she dared a look at her sleeves, only to realize they were clean and so were her hands. Burying her face in her palm she started taking deep and steadying breath, trying to stop shuddering at the memory.

 

"A dream… It was just a dream," she kept repeating unsteadily.

 

After what seemed to her like an eternity, her heartbeat finally slowed down and her erratic breathing became more regular. As her last attempt to dismiss her vision, she ran her tongue along her teeth and noticed with satisfaction that nothing was out of the ordinary about them.

 

"Just a dream," she sighed in relief and flopped back down on her futon.

 

Looking out the window, she noticed that the eastern sky was slowly becoming tainted with gray, a sign that dawn was fast approaching. As the calm of the early morning seeped into her, her thoughts wandered back to her dream. It had been so… primal and animalistic. It was like she had been reduced to the state of an unthinking beast for the space of a few moments. Her train of thought didn't get very far before a strange warmth between her breasts caught her attention. Curiously, she brought her hand down and it came in contact with the shikon jewel.

 

"The jewel is... hot?" she thought in confusion.

 

Before she had time to dwell on this though, yet another distraction came in the form of Sango. The demon slayer moaned softly beside her and started to shift a little, showing signs of awakening. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the slayer opened her eyes and started to stretch. She stopped short with a painful hiss though and grumbled something unintelligible. Kagome couldn't help but smile a bit at this, Sango always loved to stretch when she woke up, it was a habit that had stayed with her since childhood and she always did it without even thinking. Being wounded as she was though, the movement proved to be a little hard to do.

 

"What was that Sango?" asked the miko in a light tone, causing the slayer to look at her.

 

"You don't want to know," muttered the wounded girl sleepily.

 

Laughing softly, the miko threw back her covers and got out of bed. She then headed over to Sango's futon and started helping her sit up. It wasn't really that Sango couldn't do it, but the wounds in her ribs made it excruciatingly painful to do the movement alone. So in the end, she had to rely on someone else's help to support her back while she pushed herself upward.

 

"I feel so helpless like this," said the disgruntled demon slayer.

 

"Sango..." the miko said, voice filled with sympathy.

 

"Don't say anything Kagome," said the slayer with a small smile. "It takes more than a few scratches to knock down a demon slayer like me," joked the wounded girl.

 

"Well they certainly do nothing to dampen your mood, that's for sure," chuckled the miko lightly. "So then, what do you say we go and get ourselves some breakfast?" she asked enthusiastically.

 

"Good idea, I have a feeling the next few days will be rather hard on my stomach," agreed the demon slayer and both girls burst out laughing.

 

******

 

"Hmm, not quite fixed yet, but it's more than decent enough," mused Kagura as she looked at her ripped kimono critically.

 

There were a few reasons why she had went to the trouble of recovering it from Yuna's former masters. The first one was of course its regenerative properties which allowed it to mend itself back together if thorned, a bit like Inuyasha's fire rat haori. Also, being made from the hair of a water sprite, it had the ability to stay dry even in the dampest weather you could imagine and fire had a hell of a time getting even close to it. It was also very light, soft, resistant and incredibly comfortable to wear, nothing like that blue dress she had "borrowed" from the old lady. Behind her, Yuna sighed deeply and started to stir, bringing her out of her musing.

 

"Good morning Yuna, did you sleep well?" asked the female youkai once the girl had opened her eyes.

 

The child looked at her surroundings in confusion for a second before her brain caught up with her body and she recalled her current situation. "Good morning Kagura-sama, I slept very well thank you," she answered the sorceress.

 

As the girl sat up, she winced a little as she jolted her wound accidentally. "Does your shoulder hurt?" inquired Kagura, concerned by the sudden grimace.

 

"Not too much, only when I move it," she confessed.

 

"That's normal I suppose, but just to be sure, we'll have Kaede take a look at it today," Kagura replied, motherly concern taking over.

 

Seeing the child nod in answer and get out of bed to get dressed, Kagura started getting out of her sleeping kimono and into her almost repaired one. She had just finished putting it on when her eyes fell on the hairbrush Kagome had given her the day before. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the disheveled appearance of the ten years old and an idea suddenly popped in her head.

 

"Yuna?" she called.

 

Upon seeing the child turn to face her, she felt her heart speed up in her chest and her hands get somewhat clammy. "Get a grip Kagura, the worst that could happen is for her to say no," she berated herself. "Would you like me to... brush your hair?" she asked with a smile, trying to sound calmer than she actually felt.

 

"B... brush my.. hair?" she stuttered in surprise and the youkai merely nodded in answer.

 

As the surprise faded, she suddenly found that she couldn't look at Kagura's face any longer so she promptly averted her gaze to the ground, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment. She didn't know why exactly she felt this way, maybe because the sorceress' hair were so much prettier that hers. And it was true in a way, you couldn't possibly hope to compare her hopelessly tangled and knotted tresses to the youkai's shiny, soft and silky mane.

 

"I'm sorry Kagura-sama but... I'd rather leave them like this," she declined. It was hopeless anyway, her hair had always looked like this and it wasn't about to change anytime soon. "No... That's wrong, they weren't always like that," she suddenly remembered. But before she could go any further in her musing, Kagura spoke up.

 

"That's a shame, I'm sure that, if given the chance, your hair would look a lot prettier than it does now," answered the youkai with a touch of disappointment.

 

"Really?" she blurted out without even thinking and Kagura, who had been in the process of putting the brush down, froze in mid-gesture.

 

"Once all the knots and tangles have been smoothed out, I'm sure you'll look like a little princess," she replied, surprising herself by the sudden compliment. She hadn't really meant to say so much, but seeing the reaction of the ten years old before her told her it hadn't been such a bad slip after all.

 

Yuna was currently blushing so furiously that she was sure her face was going to explode. For some reason, the idea of looking like a princess made her incredibly jittery. She simply couldn't wait to see what she would look like. It was a long time since she had paid any attention to her appearance and it felt strangely good that someone close to her would suggest that she could be beautiful if given the chance.

 

"Kagura-sama..." she began, her voice faint with emotion. "Could you... do my hair... like yours," she finished in a quiet whisper.

 

Now that was not something the sorceress had expected and it showed plainly on her face. As the shock faded though, she realized something else: the child wanted to look like her because she considered her beautiful. This warmed her heart and embarrassed her both at the same time. But in the end, she couldn't do anything but smile tenderly at the ten years old before her.

 

"I'll see what I can do," she answered and promptly settled behind Yuna with brush in hand.

 

******

 

"So how long are you two going to be away," asked the sorceress who was currently supporting Sango.

 

"Well, it should be around five days on Kirara's back to get there and as much to get back and then a few days to investigate. That should bring us to about two weeks," answered Kagome.

 

They were all gathered outside Kaede's hut to say their goodbyes to the pair. Shippo, Kaede, Miroku, Sango, Kagura and last but not least Yuna. The little girl had been quite a surprise when she and the sorceress had emerged from their room. Her hair had been combed free of all knots and tangles and had also been arranged in an exact reproduction of Kagura's haircut. Even the white feather was there. Though the child's timid nature had caused her to shy away behind the sorceress immediately upon entering the common room, Kagome had not failed to notice the tiny spark of pride glittering in her eyes.

 

"Sango... you take care of yourself," the young miko said as she got closer to the wounded demon slayer.

 

"Don't worry about me Kagome, you just make sure to come back in one piece," she answered and gave the other girl a pointed look.

 

Kagome didn't miss the stare and she smiled reassuringly in return. "Don't worry Sango, I'll be fine."

 

She then kneeled in front of Yuna, causing the child to take a small involuntary step toward Kagura.

 

"Yuna, you have very pretty hair, make sure to take good care of them so that they'll be even prettier when I get back okay?" she said with a smile.

 

The girl looked surprised for a second, but then she nodded mutely, a faint blush appearing on her cheek. Standing up, Kagome winked at the sorceress before turning around to face Inuyasha.

 

"Yo Kagura, be careful not to kill Miroku while we're gone. It's something we'd all want to see," launched the hanyou, prompting amused chuckles from everyone but the sorceress and Yuna.

 

And then, seeing the monk's outraged expression, he immediately jumped on Kirara's back and extended his hand toward Kagome. The said girl took it and climbed behind him. "Goodbye everyone," she said turning back one last time. "See you in two weeks," she launched again and grabbed on the hanyou's back as Kirara took off in the sky.

 

"Is it just me or did they looked suddenly eager to leave?" questioned Kagura, once the pair had gone out of sight.

 

"I think you're right," Shippo answered with an amused smirk.

 

The sorceress' gaze shifted when she noticed that the monk was looking at her intently. "What?" she asked briskly, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 

Instead of answering, the monk simply raised his hand to his face in a praying position and murmured "All is vanity," before limping inside.

 

"Huh?" she answered intelligently, confused even more by the strange behavior.

 

Beside her, Sango sighed heavily and answered her question. "You just passed Miroku's beauty test. Pretty soon, he'll ask you to bear his child. He does that to every pretty woman he encounters," she muttered while shaking her head in discouragement.

 

"I see," answered the youkai, as she suddenly understood. "And what about the part about keeping him alive?" she asked again.

 

"The hand," Sango said. "Watch the hand," the slayer answered with an even heavier sigh than before.

 

Behind them, a bee that had been lazily walking on the wall of Kaede's hut decided to fly off. No one saw it but even if they had, would they even have paid attention? After all, there's nothing really peculiar about a bee flying around.