InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ An Inu-Yasha What if...? Story: The Sacred Tree ❯ Centuries Later, All Alone ( Chapter 1 )

Part I: Centuries Later, All Alone

It has been five years since then.

That memory is bittersweet…

I knew, although I hoped…

I knew you would not stay with me.

You had chosen her-

Your first love-

She had your guilt,

She had your pity…

She had your Love-

Yet, I couldn't bear to be apart from you.

So I stayed, wanting to savor every moment

I had left with you…

It only made leaving you so much harder.

But eventually…

I had to leave…and you would stay with her.

We said our farewells…

And my heart shattered…

Inu-Yasha…

I will love you always…

Even if I never see you again

You and your kiss will be a part of me…

Forever…

Tears streamed down Kagome's cheeks as she put the memory back into the far reaches of her mind and released her grip on the pendant she wore. Now was not the time to dwell. She had to finish sweeping up the shrine before Mama and Ji-chan came home from the hospital. Fall always made a mess of leaves all over the temple.

"KAGOME!!"

Kagome looked up from the floor and saw her friends coming towards her. Ayumi, her curly haired friend and Yuka, her friend with the short hair were waving at her from a distance. Eri was between them, holding onto something very carefully. Kagome grinned, tossing her depressing thoughts to the back of her mind. She waved back at them and put the broom aside as they came in. She met them by the archway.

Yuka gave Kagome a hug. "Hey, Kagome-chan! How is it going? You look so cute in that shrine maiden outfit!" She giggled.

Kagome smiled looking down at the white haori and green hakama. If she had been wearing red instead of green, she would have looked more like Kikyo. She was actually getting into the habit of wearing the Miko clothes when she took care of the shrine. Kagome shook herself internally. She didn't want to think about it. She was just an ordinary girl. That's all.

"Do you like it, Yuka-chan? Ji-chan almost collapsed crying when he first saw me wearing it. He said 'At last, my Kagome-chan is accepting her destiny as a true Miko!' Ji-chan is so silly."

Ayumi grinned at her. "But he's right, Kagome-chan. You do look like a Miko. And you did decide to stay here and take care of the shrine instead of going to college like us. You must have heard the call of the ancients." She clapped her hands twice and gave Kagome a little bow.

Kagome giggled. "Don't be silly. I just don't have the time for college now. My family needs me here, and Sota is planning to go to college. It'll be too much for Mama if we both go."

Yuka nodded. "Hai, hai. Good dutiful daughter Kagome. I still think most of the money went into helping you get over that hereditary disease when we were in our last year of junior high!"

Kagome nodded. That had been the most difficult lie she had had to do. There was no way she could have all those diseases so she had explained to the class and the teachers that her disease was a hereditary one. Her grandfather had said all the other diseases because he was scared for her and it made her more possible to survive if it was something he knew. Of course in the end, she had…ahem…survived…so there really wasn't a problem. Everyone had thankfully bought the story and had forgiven her. If they knew that she was really travelling through time…But she didn't want to think about that either. [I got this from a cool web site. That person came up with this not me!]

"Anyway," Kagome said, trying to get off the topic. "Why are you guys here? I thought college was demanding. Can you really take time off to come and visit me?"

The three grinned evilly at her. Kagome took a step back surprised by those smiles. "What?"

Ayumi stepped forward. "But that's just it, Kagome-chan. We came to visit you for our own reasons and for college."

Yuka nodded. "One of our classes, our history class, has us doing a project. So we went to the knew library/museum that opened today."

Eri spoke for the first time then. "Okay, guys. My turn. I've held it in long enough." She stepped forward, and Kagome saw then what she held so carefully in her hands. "Kagome-chan, it's an ancient scroll. This library has got it all. Any and every book on Japanese history and mythology, they've got it! Even scrolls as ancient as this one. We were looking through some books, when we saw this scroll on a table. When we opened it and began to read it…"

Ayumi interrupted. "Do you remember your final term paper on Japanese myths our high school senior year, Kagome-chan?"

Kagome nodded. What on earth was so exciting about a scroll? And what did have to do with her old term paper?

Yuka grinned. "That history you did on the myth of the Shikon no Tama was amazing! We were amazed at what an interesting story it was, and that you knew so much about it! The sensei was also so impressed that he read it aloud in the class, remember Kagome?"

Kagome nodded again. Eri moved the other two out of her way and stepped toward Kagome. "Well, this is the deal, Kagome-chan. When we started reading the scroll, we realized that it was telling us the story of the Shikon no Tama!"

"NANI?!"

Kagome stepped toward them and looked at the scroll, her heart pounding. An ancient scroll talking about the Shikon no Tama? How…how could this be? "What…? What does it say, Eri-chan? Why don't you open it?"

Eri shook her head. "It's really old Kagome-chan. I'm amazed we were able to even check it out of the library. It's at least 500 years old."

500 years old?! Kagome's heart was racing in her chest. "Then what does it say?"

Yuka grinned. "Exactly what you said, Kagome-chan!"

"Eh?"

Ayumi shook her head. "What Yuka means is that your paper on the Shikon no Tama coincides with this scroll. The priestess named Midoriko that created the Shikon no Tama, it's safekeeping at the demon hunter village until it was given to another Miko named Kikyo to purify it. It's all here!"

Kagome gulped. This was getting freaky. "I never mentioned the name of the other Miko."

Eri grinned. "I know. But this is a full account! Wherever you got your information, they probably got it from here. Let me tell you! This is so cool!

"This scroll tells about the priestess Midoriko and it names the priestess that purified the Shikon Jewel afterwards. Kikyo. But the story continues and here is where the cool part begins. This Kikyo fell in love with a hanyou-half youkai, half human. Can you believe it? Half youkai and half human?!"

"I know what a hanyou is, Eri-chan," Kagome said unconsciously.

The three were silent. Kagome blinked and then realized what she had said. "I mean, I already know what a hanyou is because I've done research on the stuff. After all, my family comes from a long line of people who 'supposedly' deal with youkais, ne?"

The three nodded and Eri resumed her tirade. Kagome breathed a small sigh. "Anyway, this hanyou had wanted the Shikon no Tama like all the other youkai, but he wanted it so he could become a true youkai. But he fell in love with the priestess and she with him! Isn't that romantic?! Then the scroll says that a new demon that hated and loved the priestess made the two lovers betray each other and she sealed the hanyou's spirit away. It was this new demon that killed the priestess and when she died, she took the Shikon no Tama with her."

Yuka burst in. "But that's not the end of the story, Kagome-chan! It says that 50 years later another priestess from a different land came with the jewel in her body. The people of the time believed her to be the reincarnation of Kikyo. Unfortunately, it doesn't say this Miko's name. The story says that she freed the hanyou from the sealing and after an accident that broke the Shikon no Tama into thousands of pieces-just like you said in your paper-they traveled together to restore it, and eventually they fell in love."

"I thought I was telling the story!" Eri cried and shoved at Yuka. Ayumi only sighed. "Anyway," Eri continued to Kagome, "Hai, they fell in love and the story says that they traveled with a Buddhist monk, a demon hunter, and a youkai! They eventually defeated the demon from 50 years before and restored the Shikon no Tama, but the Miko had to return to her land and the hanyou she loved stayed behind with the Shikon no Tama."

Now Ayumi cut in. "But that isn't the end, Kagome-chan!"

Kagome blinked, confused. It had been disturbing enough to hear her entire adventure coming from her friends…but…there was more... "What do you mean?"

Ayumi grinned. "The writer then says that the hanyou protected the Shikon no Tama for twenty years, the hanyou only aging eight years during that time, and then suddenly both the Jewel and the hanyou vanished!"

Kagome's heart clenched. Vanished? "Vanished? You mean they disappeared?"

Yuka rolled her eyes. "Of course, they disappeared, Kagome-chan! What did you think she meant?"

Kagome put her hand over her heart. Her breathing was coming in fast and her heart racing. Fear laced up her spine. Vanished? Vanished? Inu-Yasha and the Shikon no Tama vanished from…from existence? What…what on earth happened? Her three friends were looking at her strangely. Kagome ignored their looks. She turned to Eri. "Eri-chan, who…who wrote this scroll? Does it say?"

Eri nodded enthusiastically. "I was hoping you'd ask that, Kagome-chan, because that's something else that's really strange. This person actually signed his name and his wife's name. He also identified himself! That's unheard of in ancient scrolls! But this man did it! His name was Miroku, the Buddhist monk that traveled with the Miko and hanyou, and his wife is Sango, the demon hunter. He also makes a parting note saying that he would have named the great priestess that defeated the demon Naraku-oh, yeah, the even named the evil youkai that was causing all this havoc-but that he had promised the hanyou, never to reveal her name. He also says that he decided to write this scroll with his wife when the hanyou vanished. He wanted people to know that this wasn't legend, but truth. The priestess, the hanyou, the Shikon no Tama, were real people and so was their love." Eri sniffed and became teary eyed. "It was so beautiful, Kagome-chan!"

Kagome gripped onto the pole of the archway beside her, her hand over her heat. Miroku-sama? Sango-chan? They're the ones who wrote this? They wrote it, after Inu-Yasha vanished with the Shikon no Tama? How…How can this be?

"Kagome-chan, are you all right?" Ayumi asked.

Kagome straightened, trying to regain her bearings when she saw someone behind her friends. She almost hit the floor. SANGO-CHAN?!

"Ano…excuse me? Are you three the young ladies the ones who checked out a scroll from the Kitsu Library and Museum?"

Kagome watched her three friends turn around and she got a better look at the woman before them. No…not Sango-chan… Why? But why had she though it was she? She does look a little bit like Sango-chan…a little… The woman's hair was shoulder length and was held up in a high ponytail. She had on large glasses that made her dark violet eyes seem more vibrant. She wore a blue business suit and her hands were clasped.

Kagome watched Eri nod. The woman heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness! Do you still have it with you? Is it still in tact?"

Eri held it out to the woman and she grabbed Eri's hands. "Ah! Arigato gozarimashita! This scroll was not to be placed for check out. This scroll is approximately 500 years old and was going to be on display, but since we do have some scrolls that are allowed to be checked out, and today is hectic with the grand opening and all, my incompetent employee checked this out to you! Please, may I have it back? It is a Kitsu family treasure and Kitsu-san would never be able to handle its loss. It's a very delicate scroll."

Eri finally spoke. "We know. We thought it was strange that were able to check it out. We've been taking good care of it."

The woman nodded and smiled. "I can tell that you have. Arigato gozarimashita! For this kindness, you have now officially become members of the Library. Should you ever need anything all you must do is say your names and someone would help you immediately."

Kagome's heart clenched. The scroll was going to be taken away. She had wanted to really look at it, to touch it. It was something that Miroku and Sango had done, had written on and placed their memories upon. Though she had only seen it for a moment, she felt that it would connect her to long dead friends. Kagome stepped forward.

"Are you really from the library? How can we be sure and you're not someone who knows the value of this scroll and wants to take it from us?"

Kagome met the woman's eyes. Kagome wouldn't budge. She would not see this scroll go into the wrong hands. Unless this woman was really from the library, Kagome would not let the scroll leave. The woman smiled at her.

"My name is Kitsu Sayo." The group gasped (not Kagome) as the woman reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. She showed them her identification. "My uncle is the owner of that scroll and all the books and artifacts in the library. Kitsu Shi. He is a very well respected businessman and well established. That is our family heirloom. It has been painstakingly preserved throughout the centuries. I assure you, I'm not a criminal."

Kagome gave the woman a slight smile and took the scroll from Eri. She gave it back to Sayo-san, her touch lingering on the scroll as Kagome imagined both Miroku and Sango working painstakingly over the story of their journey. Tears threatened as Kagome released the scroll and stepped back.

The woman didn't seem to notice Kagome's behavior and gave them a bow. "Thank you again. You all have the privilege to come to the library and look at any of our old scrolls. This is the least I can do for your kindness and understanding."

Yuka shook her head. "It's all right. But we won't turn down your generosity either. It'll help us with our classes."

The three friends bowed simultaneously. "Arigato, Sayo-san."

She bowed in return. "Arigato." She then turned to Kagome and bowed. Kagome returned the gesture and the woman turned and left.

Kagome stared after her. It was eerie the way she looked so much like Sango-chan and then above all that scroll. Kagome's heart twisted in her chest. She turned to her friends. All three were looking at her curiously. She gave them a light smile.

"I'm not feeling well right now-"

"Oh, dear! I hope that your disease isn't resurfacing!" Eri cried out.

Kagome giggled and shook her head. Oh, Kami-sama. "Iya, nothing like that. I just don't feel well. My chest hurts. It's probably just a cold. Why don't you guys go back to that library to finish your research? It seems like that scroll was a major distraction."

The three gasped.

Ayumi grimaced. "She's right! We got so wrapped up in the scroll that we haven't done our assignment yet!"

Yuka clasped her hands to her head. "Oh no! We've got to hurry back before they close!"

Eri was already walking away. "What are you two doing?! We've got to get there fast! Ja-na, Kagome-chan!"

"Ja-na!"

"Ja-na minna!" Kagome called back and waved at them from a distance. After they disappeared she sighed lightly and turned to her home. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to Inu-Yasha… and why there was that fear clutching at her heart.