InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bound by Blood ❯ Chapter 5: Finding a new home? ...and a history lesson ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: Finding a new home? …and a little history lesson.

 

Kaede smiled at their question. Maybe, just maybe the students would show them kindness. It seems as if it had been years since the two had seen any. Many students at this particular school seemed to come from humbling beginnings and had helped each other out.

 

“There is no reason to pay us back, but please allow us to show you the campus. First you should shower and change into the clothes that Sango has brought for you. She will show you where the shower is located; there should be fresh towels, soap, and shampoo.” Kaede said signaling for Sango to come forward.

 

“If you guys follow me I can take you to the showers, they're just down the hall.” Sango had a large smile on her face. “It will probably feel great too, getting those muscles relaxed.” The trio began heading down the long plain hallway.

 

“A good sparring session will help us out a great deal. . .” Kagome's muscles were very stiff and new that a good sparring session would help both girls out. Also Kagome couldn't help but think that if they had more formal training they would not be in this position.

 

“We have dojos on the grounds. I'm sure that later on after we show you around Kaede won't mind you two sparring. But…are you sure you want to spar so soon? You risk re-injuring yourselves.” Sango was worried they would push themselves too hard. She also couldn't help but wonder about the statement Kagome made earlier about wanting to leave.

 

 

“It would be nice to spar; it'll give us the workout need to get the kinks out. Plus, I'm pretty sure that both of our wounds are completely healed.” Yuriye smiled at the thought of sparring with Kagome. Actually, both demons were opposed to violence but became such a big part of their lives.

 

“It really shouldn't have taken us a week to heal. Most of the time these types of injuries would've only taken two to three days but running for as long as we had must have slowed our healing.” Kagome reasonably supplied.

 

“How long were you guys running?” Sango questioned while stopping outside a door labeled showers.

 

“Which time?” Kagome's voice was dead-panned; there was no hint of anything less than total seriousness.

 

Sango looked into Kagome's eyes and saw all of the sincerity. `How many times have they had to run?' Sango thought to herself.

 

“From the wolves, we ran for 2 months non-stop. We hadn't slept and we tried to eat as we ran.” Yuriye answered.

 

“I will wait out here for you and then Kaede and I will show you around.” Sango smiled, she hoped that they could convince the two to stay. Sango slid down the wall next to door leading to the showers. She knew it would be a long shot though but maybe if they showed them that they weren't the only “strays” they might find a new home.

 

She knew what it was like to lose a home. She had lost all those close to her because of a freak accident. Her entire family had been demon slayers for as long as there had been demons walking the earth. Most demon slayer villages would often stay secluded not allowing outsiders to train, this way the traditions were upheld. Only those showing the most potential were sent to training schools outside of the village.

 

Sango had been one of those at the age of 13. On the day she had been sent to visit the school her village had been attacked by a rogue demon pack. Every man, woman, and child had been murdered. She couldn't understand why her village had been slaughtered. Her village had been known to get along with the higher level demons. They only hunted the lower level youkai or youkai that went rampaging through villages.

 

When Kaede had given her the news her only thoughts were those of revenge. Kaede traveled back to her village with her to ensure her loved ones and the villagers received proper burials. After everyone was buried, including her father and brother, she wanted to leave the village to seek revenge. As she snuck out of the village Kaede caught her, she gave her the choice of going after the youkai that killed her village and pointed out to her that she would most likely be killed. Or she would allow her to stay and train at the school. She explained to her that in doing the latter she would uphold the honor of her village and be able to continue their traditions and honor their lives and their memories.

 

Kaede had given her a reason to live and the ability to rebuild her village. While she still had a couple of years to finish she would be able to carry on her village's tradition as a tribute to the fallen village. If she would have gone off in her anger she would have died and those who had died that day would have been forgotten and ultimately lived their lives in vain.

 

It had been six years and sometimes it still felt as though she would go home and everyone would greet her. She could still hear her neighbor's “Good lucks” and “Farewells,” sometimes she could still feel her younger brother's arms around her in a hug. The feel of her father's calloused hand holding her cheek while giving her one of his rare smiles. He never was any good with it but having her picked to go to the training school was one of his proudest days and, inadvertently, it was the last thing he had told her.

 

“Are you ok, Sango?” Kagome's voice reached Sango and she jolted in response.

 

Kagome had finished her shower quickly and told Yuriye that she would meet her in the hall. When she had opened the door the air smelled of salt and she could feel Sango's gloomy aura.

 

“Yeah just some old memories resurfacing…it comes and goes” Sango said while rising, her legs felt stiff from sitting in that position for a while. She wanted to ask Kagome about her dreams but knew that she wouldn't talk about something so personal to someone she just met.

 

“Yeah…sometimes it's hard.” Kagome was staring down the hall towards the doors that lead to the courtyard.

 

Yuriye exited the bathroom with a sad knowing smile; she heard the exchange between the two.

 

Both girls were similarly dressed. Both were attired in black skirts that finished right below the knee. Yuriye had on a blue tank top, while Kagome's was black. When Kagome turned away Yuriye came up behind her to put her hair into a high ponytail. As she pulled her hair up you could see a large pinkish-purple jagged mark starting on the top of her right shoulder. On the left you could see the start of three jagged marks with similar coloring. Once Yuriye had finished Kagome's long braid she turned around so Kagome could do the same for her.

 

Sango smiled at the two inus. “Do you guys always do each others hair?” Part of her knew it was pack instinct but it looked so practiced and both did have really long hair.

 

“Yeah it helps with how long our hair is, plus you know it part of our instincts to groom each other. You are a slayer you may not be dressed the part right now, but I remember in the clearing you had on the traditional clothing.” Kagome couldn't help but be intrigued by the woman standing in front of her.

 

“So are we going to start this tour or are we going to stay inside all day?” Yuriye questioned she was itching to feel the sun on her skin again. She could feel Kagome tugging at her hair to pull it up and off her neck and back. She knew that Kagome could use the sun too for they had both grown up loving the outdoors.

 

“Let me go get Kaede and I will be right back. It shouldn't take me more than a minute to get her.” Sango jogged towards Kaede's office wanting to get outside and to continue her talk with the two inus. She stopped when she saw Kaede walking towards them. It intrigued her how Kaede always knew when she was needed.

 

“Kaede, you sure you aren't telepathic? How do you always know when you are needed?”

 

“I'm sure child that I am not a telepath. I was coming to check on you all to make sure everything is alright. If I was a telepath then I would've known you were ready to go outside.” Kaede gave a soft smile towards the inus, she pointed towards the door at the very end of the hallway. “Those are the doors to the courtyard. From there I can tell you about the history of the school.”

 

When both inus turned towards the door Kaede could see glimpses of the heinous scars marring Kagome's back. Most of them were covered by her shirt and hair. She wondered at and if they told a much darker story. Looking at the girls' faces she noted how excited they seemed to be able to go outdoors.

 

As they started to walk down the hallway laughter could be hear coming from beyond the doors. Both inus perked at the thought of being in the sun and learning more about the place they were in. When they reached the doors Kagome and Yuriye allowed Kaede and Sango to exit first.

 

When they finally reached the fresh air and sun both took in deep breaths of the clean air. Then they noticed the beautiful courtyard they were standing in. In front of them there was a large lake surrounded by cherry trees, they had just begun to bloom. Around them groups of demons and humans were gathered around and laughing with each other. Kagome and Yuriye were both surprised at the amount of interaction between them.

 

“This school is about 500 years old,” Kaede started, “It started out as shrine. Many mikos and monks would come from all over Japan to study the art of self-defense and offensive strategies. Often times the shrine would take in orphans from massacred villages neighboring the area. We would aid any who requested it. Soon though, a group of stray demons came across the shrine asking for help, all were young, barely 50 in age. Many were very nervous about the group of youngsters but soon they proved to be honest and hard work individuals. They taught the younger humans how to defend themselves after the young humans saw their sparring sessions.”

 

“The demons never had any issues teaching both the male and female humans. It was their way to pay back the shrine for their kindness. They knew the mikos could've rejected them simply for what they were, but instead chose to help. That is how this school started, over the years we have grown and the shrine slowly started to take in and teach more of those who wanted to learn. We allowed ourselves to grow and soon instead of focusing on the differences between the groups we worked together in forming a bond. Over the next hundred years or so the shrine officially turned into a school teaching future generations of humans and youkai. And so while the outside world has changed tremendously we have chosen to stay with and adhere to the teachings of old. Everyone learns from both worlds. Those outside of our boundaries know we choose to follow our ancestors' customs.” Kagome and Yuriye practically gawked at the groups scattered about the clearing, it was such a foreign idea to see each species interacting amongst the other.

 

“This is home for those who are here. We eat here, sleep, train, and live here. Some of us have been here for a couple of years others have been here for most of their lives. For some this is there family, they have no one else. I'm both sad and happy to say that I am one of those.” Sango said with a sad smile, but the truth in her voiced never wavered. “We will continue to live here unless we chose to leave.”

 

“Once we finish schooling we move to another part of the land that belongs to the school. There we will live and work for the school, we will teach or go on assignments for the school and government.”

 

Kaede turned facing both of the young demons and looked them in the eye.

 

“I would like to welcome you both and invite you to stay and attend the school. So that we can gauge your level of combat you will be tested on your fighting skills and placed into groups based on your skill level. Afterward and depending on your chosen career path you will be placed in your perspective classes. We want to help you both.” Kaede hoped the two would be open to the idea of staying.

 

“I don't understand…are you offering us a new home?” Kagome could not help but be suspicious.

 

“Kagome would it be so bad?” Yuriye knew Kagome would be a little apprehensive but she also knew that Kagome really wanted to stop running.

 

“Please excuse us for a moment,” Kagome said while dragging Yuriye towards the lake.

 

“Do you trust them? I mean really trust them?” Kagome growled she really wanted to stop running but this was all still too weird.

 

“Kagome they could have killed us or let us die back at the field but they took us in and cared for us. Why would they try to convince us to stay if they didn't mean it? Not once have we sensed any deceit from either of them.” Yuriye knew that Kagome always trusted her senses if nothing else.

 

“You really want to stay? …I mean look at it…it seems too nice. There are an even number of cherry trees you know!!” Kagome felt deep down that this was the best thing to happen to them in a long time. She knew that was a very desperate and off the wall attempt at a rebuttal. Maybe…just maybe they could finally start over.

 

Yuriye knew she had won when Kagome made that off the wall statement but it wasn't that she had won, they both had won. Yuriye broke into a large smile and grabbed Kagome into a hug.

 

When Kaede saw Yuriye grab Kagome she turned to Sango with a smile and then back to both girls as they approached.

 

Both girls approached slowing not showing any emotion on their faces.

 

“If you will accept us, we are willing to give this a try.” Kagome couldn't keep her smile from showing.

 

Sango and Kaede smiled, “Sango, would you continue to show these two around? I have go and find sleeping quarters for our new residents.” Kaede turned around and started back towards the building they had exited earlier.

 

“So where would you like to see first?” Sango asked delighted that the pair decided to stay.

 

Both girls looked at one another and smiled a slightly twisted smile.

 

“The dojo.” They said in unison.