InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ambiguity ❯ Like Time Had Stopped ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Jesachi

Chapter 1

~Like Time had Stopped~

She sat by the well, twirling a small vial in her hands, around and around, examining the small jewels within it. Amazing really, that she still had them, yet disappointing that it was all she had, after three years of searching for them…

Three years… it had been that long? Yes, yes it had… she had just had her eighteenth birthday last week, school was almost over… and yet, it seemed that nothing had changed at all really, since the first day that she had fell through the well, fell through time…

“Kagome.”

Kagome looked up to see a small brown bundle hopping towards her, swimming in the high grass the occupied the meadow where the well sat. She smiled as Shippou bounded into her lap, “Hi, Shippou.”

He gave her an imploring look; “I thought you were going back to your time for a little while…”

Kagome ruffled his auburn head, “Yeah… I have to get going soon…” she sighed. Thankfully, school was almost over and if she kept the good marks up that she had been pulling, seniority would allow her to finish about two weeks before everyone else.

“How long are you going to be gone?” Shippou asked, playing with a blade of grass and averting his eyes. Though he put up a nonchalant facade, Kagome always felt a pang of guilt when that little face looked so lonely to see her go.

“Probably a couple of days at least,” she answered, “I have to finish some work at my school and then I'll be all done and I can stay with you as long as you want me to.”

The Kitsune looked up at her with wide, astonished eyes, “Really? As long as I want?”

“As long as you want.”

“Cause you'll be all done your school training, right?”

“All done.”

“Yeah!” Shippou jumped up and down in front of her. He was still so small that it only added to the feeling that time had somehow, well, it felt like time had stopped…

Kagome smiled slightly, picking up the small kit and placing him down on the ground as she stood, brushing off her skirt, “Alright, well, you should run off back to the village. Tell the others that I'll be back soon, okay?”

Shippou nodded, “I will… but Kagome? Are you and Inuyasha in a fight?”

She sighed, “No, he's just irritable, that's all,” she explained, ruffling the child's head again. The kit smiled, said goodbye, and then ran off back down the path to the village.

A look of minor frustration passed over her face as she watched the kit until he disappeared. True, Inuyasha had been quite temperamental of late. Kagome knew it to be that it was because the scent of Naraku permeated everywhere, and there was no clear direction of where he was. It aggravated the hanyou to no end, to the point where he would sit up in Goshinboku for hours at a time, more than usual, or take off for a day or two without so much as a hint, leaving Kagome more miserable every time.

Then again, she had begged and pleaded with Inuyasha when Naraku's scent first came around, begged that he would wait for her to finish school, only about a month at the time, before they went after anything. Now, with the pressure on and just a few more days to go, the hanyou seemed about ready to self-combust from anxiety.

`Stick it out, Inuyasha…' she thought, dangling her legs over the side of the well, preparing to jump in, `Just a few more days…'

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He waited so patiently, as patiently as he could anyway, for her to go back. Normally, he hated when she left, feeling like a piece of him always left with her. But tonight, for the next few days maybe, he was looking forward to the break.

Inuyasha sat on the roof of Kaede's, watching the sun set, waiting, waiting. Naraku was close, he could feel it, and Inuyasha wanted Kagome to leave so that he could go and have a sniff around. But if she was here, then she would want to go with him, and then he was distracted, the conflicting desire to keep her happy with the need to protect her. Normally, the two didn't seem to go hand and hand.

The whisper of the trees shifted, and he knew then that she was gone.

`Perfect…' he thought to himself, preparing to leap away, but a voice drifted out of the hut, making him pause.

“… she left for a reason, Miroku. You know how important those exams are to her… besides, she's almost done…”

“Yes, I understand, Sango, but these are desperate and dangerous times. Surely you think that Inuyasha should have gone with her? Perhaps even more for himself than for her?”

“What's on your mind, Houshi-sama?”

Miroku paused, and Inuyasha's ears twitched, “I think, Sango, that without Kagome's calm influence… Inuyasha might do something… rash…”

“Rash? You mean… you don't think he'll…”

“I don't know what to think anymore, Sango… I only have a feeling…”

Inuyasha snorted as the commentary died away. Rash? What did they think he was, a pup? And as for Kagome? She was in her time, he felt it. She was safe there…

With a great leap and running on contact, the hanyou took off into the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The whisper of the trees shifted, whipping Kagome's hair around her as she dropped into the well. As the time slip opened for her, she felt it. The subtle change in the wind, the tension in the air, the sudden stillness…

She landed on the bottom, glancing up quickly as she felt the odd feeling leave her, `Nope, that was definitely in the past…what was that? It felt like…'

Climbing up the ladder designed on the side of the well for her use, she turned around about halfway up and dropped into the well once again. As the slip opened, she felt it reappear, that feeling that something was wrong, the stillness pressing in on her aura with intent to smother her.

“Youkai…” she muttered to herself, climbing out and dropping her bag beside the well. Should she go get Inuyasha? Wincing at the thought of what would come out of a pent-up-with-frustration-hanyou, Kagome decided against it. She would just check it out and if it was something that she couldn't handle, she would sneak away and get help. That sounded like a good plan…

Taking off in the opposite direction of Inuyasha's forest, Kagome skirted through trees, trying to make as little sound as possible. There was a small clearing just ahead and after all these years of hunting youkai, she was able to gather that the energy was centered in the clearing.

Standing on the outskirts, hiding behind a tree, Kagome peeked out. There was nothing there, save the sky and air was darker than the night that rapidly closed around it.

Something moved on the horizon, coming towards the clearing faster and faster, `Saimyoshou…' she thought, peering up at the spot. She had to go back to get Inuyasha, because wherever there were Saimyoshou, Naraku was nearby.

She had hardly gotten five steps when a bolt of lightning hit the ground in the center of the clearing and the earth shook with the force. Kagome lost her balance, hitting the ground on all fours. Her backpack tore on a tree branch, the gaping hole spilling its contents around her. But she didn't care. At that moment, she was staring wide-eyed at the three figures that had appeared in the clearing. One of them, the one that stood in the middle of the bunch, locked his blood red gaze with hers, beckoning her forward with a single finger. It was too late. There was nowhere to hide.

“Come out, miko. I can see you,” Naraku called.

Slowly, Kagome stood, taking a few deep breaths to calm her jangling nerves. If she fell to pieces in front of Naraku… it would be only too easy for him to take advantage of her then. Her aura wrapped around her in a protective manner, the same feeling that she got when Inuyasha was around, `Inuyasha will come for me…' she reassured herself, stepping forward with as much bravado as she could manage, `He'll know something isn't right… he'll come…'

“Come, miko, don't be shy. We are free to have a little chat now that there is not a half-breed barrier between us,” Naraku smiled in a sadistic way.

“What do you want?” Kagome demanded, raising her chin a little, `Inuyasha… where are you??'

“Don't be silly, miko. I have come to negotiate with you. I believe it is you who possesses the final shards of the Shikon no Tama?”

“You won't get them, so you can stop asking right now.”

“Foolish human. Negotiate means we have terms to agree on-“

“I won't agree to anything!”

An energy whip hit the ground feet from where she was standing, making her squeal and leap back to avoid it. The snap of a folding fan made her glance up. Kagura, the wind sorceress, was impatiently tapping her fan against her arm. There was something in her gaze though, something that gave Kagome pause. Was it hesitation she saw in those magenta eyes? Defiance?

“Thank you, Kagura,” Naraku said, before turning back to Kagome, “Now, if you hand over the shards, I shall spare the lives of your friends, even that half-breed if you so wish.”

Kagome, shaking like mad from head to foot, lifted her chin as she hurriedly tried to regain her audacity. Inuyasha would rather die than hand over the shards, and if that was what he said, she agreed, `Where is he? He should be here, saving me…' she wasn't fool enough to think that she could handle this on her own. In any other circumstance, she might be inclined to disagree. But with Naraku, no way.

“Your time of consideration is over, miko,” Naraku announced when she remained silent, “An offer like this will not come again, so think hard on your answer. Your friends' lives are in your hands…”

Sango and Miroku would rather die too, Kagome knew. She had been with them for the past three years; she could practically read their minds. If she handed over the shards, they wouldn't speak to her, not to mention Naraku would be so strong and nearly unbeatable. Add that to what Inuyasha would do to her and say to her for even considering it… well, there was only one answer.

“Never…” she whispered, `Okay! Inuyasha! There's your cue!' but no hanyou showed up.

Naraku smiled; as if he had been hoping that that would be her answer, “Then you leave me no choice…” he snapped his fingers and Kagura whipped open her fan. Kagome noticed the uncertainty grow in wind youkai's eyes, but she didn't stop to think. She turned heel and ran. Her efforts were in vain though. A blast of wind knocked her back into the clearing just as she reached the trees and she landed hard. She felt her miko's energy flare up, an attempt to save her, but she couldn't harness it fast enough as another blast of wind whipped at her.

“I'm done playing nice, miko,” Naraku hollered at her as a whirlwind steadily built up around her, trapping her within a wild storm, “I want your shards!”

“Inuyasha! Inuyasha!” Kagome screamed, covering her face with her arms as grass, sticks and dirt tore up to pelt her from every angle, “Inuyasha!”

“Your hanyou can't save you now!” she heard Naraku as if he were coming from a very long ways away.

`Inuyasha! Where are you!' her mind screamed for the hanyou, even as she herself knew that he wouldn't come. He thought she was in her time, safe, where nothing could harm her. Her own curiosity led her away from that safe haven…

Before she could think too hard on it, she felt a blast of energy not her own, and everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saimyoshou~ poison insects

~Jesachi