InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Fates ❯ The Forgotten ( Chapter 5 )

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

Chapter 5: The Forgotten

"There's no need to fear me, Kagome. My name is Mika, and as you can probably tell," she rolled her eyes, "Sesshoumaru is my father."

Narrowing her eyes, Kagome held herself still against the wall, obviously not about to trust anyone at this point... not even her mother.

"So what do you want? Don't think I can't feel all the youki swirling around downstairs... why are so many youkai in the house?"

Mika blinked. "Is there a problem with youkai being here? Your mother was not upset by our presence."

Kagome shook her head. "That's not what I meant!" She closed her eyes, and concentrated on the auras, after a moment, her eyes snapped back open. "Sesshoumaru's here in my house, and so is that Taisho guy that was here the other day. Why? Come to gloat at the 'pathetic copy'?" she asked, bitterly.

Her mother gasped, but before she could say anything, Mika held up a hand and shook her head. "Why would you think you are Kikyou's 'copy?" She tilted her head, slight confusion in her eyes. "Kikyou was a child compared to you - calling you her copy is the same as calling me her copy. I don't understand your thinking on this."

Kagome stared at her, shocked and unsure. Is she telling the truth? Eyes narrowing even further, she asked again, "Why are you here, then?"

Mika gestured to the desk chair behind her. "May I sit?"

"If you want to, I guess."

"Well, I'm here to talk to you for a few minutes - and I also have a shot of something. Your mother said that you were really upset so I brought some medication along that will help you for tonight - so you won't be bothered by your thoughts, and can get a little sleep."

Gods, that sounds good... drugs to make me sleep without being plagued by memories.

A mistrustful look still on her face, she pursed her lips for a moment, obviously thinking. "So, you want to talk. What about? And if I talk, you'll give me this shot so I can sleep?"

"Well, to be honest, father was curious. He always had respect for your strength of will, and so he wanted to know what could upset you so badly. He was concerned. And yes, I'll give you the shot when we're done."

Kagome snorted, a disgusted look crossing her face and she turned and stared out the window again.

"Like I believe that. Lord Sesshoumaru never could stand me - hell, he tried to kill me several times, and even when he stopped trying to kill me, he still hated ningens, and barely said two words to me. But if he's curious, then tell him it's his bastard brother that upset me, and I'm pissed at him. That oughta please Sesshoumaru, since he always hated Inuyasha anyway."

A frown crossed her face, then settled into a sullen look. "Come to think of it, I should have listened when he would talk about what a bastard Inuyasha was instead of trying to defend him. Maybe then I wouldn't be in this mess. At least with Sesshoumaru, I knew where I stood. He hated me, and I could deal with that."

Mika chuckled. "Well, I can't speak to how he saw you in the beginning, but I know that his views on you had certainly changed by the time of Naraku's defeat. For the longest time, he saw you as the only human worth anything at all - he felt you had honor, strength, and courage. And from my father, that's high praise."

Aiko was still standing near the door, listening intently but not saying anything.

She kept so much inside - so many things that she went through that none of us ever knew...

Kagome shrugged, indifference settling over her. "Yeah well, not that it matters now or anything. So is there anything else you need to know?"

"I am curious about one thing." She paused for a moment, looking searchingly at the girl. "Why won't you take back the rest of your soul?"

At the mention of that, her jaw clenched so hard it hurt, and she glared over at the woman. "That's not my soul, it belongs to that bitch, and I don't want anything to do with it, do you hear me?" she shrieked, quickly becoming irate.

Mika's brow rose into her hairline at that reaction.

I see... identity crisis, brought on by too many years of trauma. On top of that, I believe she has PTSD. Gods know she'd have plenty of reason to. Her emotions are overwhelming her and she's drowning... her mind is too unstable to level her out right now, and that missing part of her soul isn't helping.

"That's fine, Kagome, I was just curious. If you want, I can give you that shot now, and we'll all go downstairs and leave you to sleep."

Kagome nodded jerkily, every muscle in her body so tight by this time that she could barely move. "Please. I want to sleep."

Reaching into her pocket, Mika pulled out the prepared syringe and an alcohol pad. Moving quickly, she sat on the bed, and realizing the state Kagome was in, picked up the girls arm. Pulling back her sleeve, she opened the wipe, moved it thoroughly over the area, then administered the shot.

"Give it about fifteen minutes or so, Kagome, and you will begin to relax. As soon as you begin to feel your muscles loosen, I would suggest you lay down, because within five minutes you'll be falling asleep."

Standing, she cast a significant look at Aiko, then tossed the wipe away in the trash and moved towards the door. "Sleep well, Kagome."

"Yeah... thanks." She mumbled her reply, casting a still aggravated look at Mika, obviously still upset about the mention of the soul orb.

Kagome sighed with relief as the two left the room. She didn't even want her mother around right now, all she wanted was the promised relief from the shot, and blessed oblivion.

She didn't have long to wait.

---cCc---

Yasha stood as soon as he heard the women on the stairs, with an expectant expression on his face. The moment she entered the room, he asked, "Well?"

She frowned slightly at him. "Patience, Yasha. Let me sit down."

She moved over to the chair she'd sat in before, then looked around the room for a moment. With a sigh, she said, "Kagome is suffering from several different things. Right off, she needs the rest of her soul back. That is going to help stabilize her. But even beyond that, she has a lot to deal with. Bottom line, she's in shock, and she is suffering from PTSD. On top of that, she's dealing with an identity crisis - because of the problems with Inuyasha and Kikyou, and what they put her through, she's just not sure who she is anymore."

Yasha shook his head, anger breaking free from him, and he stomped over to the window and looked out it. Voice bitter, he said, "Then should we really make her take back that piece of soul?"

"Yes." She sighed again. "Kagome thinks that by taking that piece back, she will become nothing but a walking, talking echo of Kikyou - she's wrong, but you will never get her to believe that. The only thing to do is wait 'til she's asleep, and then return it to her."

Yasuo exchanged concerned glances with his mate. "But what's going to happen when she wakes up and that part of her soul is back? Will she realize it?"

Sesshoumaru considered that for a moment. "She will know it is back. However, how she will react is another matter. There is no way to know until it happens."

Aiko reached over and squeezed her father-in-law's arm as he looked on in concern. "How bad could it get?" she whispered, fear evident in her voice.

"The worst that could happen would be a state of catatonia. Even that, however, would most likely only be temporary - long enough for her mind to deal with the circumstances, and then she would awaken." Mika was pretty confident in her words... the girls aura was simply too powerful to stay muted forever. She would eventually awaken.

Yasha clenched one hand into a fist, and glared out the window, worry evident in every line of his body.

"So, how long are we waiting before taking the barrier off the orb?"

Mika glanced at her watch. "About fifteen more minutes. I want her good and asleep."

Out of habit, grandpa looked at his watch as well, and his brows ascended as he realized how late it was. "Aiko, where is Sota? He should be home already!"

She patted his arm. "I sent him to stay with a friend for the night, don't worry. I didn't think he needed to be here for this."

Sesshoumaru nodded at her. "Wise. The young one would be unhappy that he could not help. The less he sees of this, the better."

Mika smiled over at Aiko. "After she has taken in the soul, the rest of the family will probably go home - however, I will stay until she wakes, just in case."

Yasha whipped around from his contemplation of the yard at that. "Hell no! I'm not leaving until she wakes up and I know how she's doing."

Etsu started to say something, but Yasuo cut her off. "Okay, son. I won't argue with you on this. Just be careful, and do what Mika tells you, agreed?"

He didn't look too happy about it, but finally nodded. "Fine."

Mika glanced at her watch again, and stood. "It's time. Aiko, would you bring the soul fragment to her room, but not break the barrier 'til I ask you?"

She nodded, and went up the stairs to her room to retrieve the orb.

Mika and Yasha headed for the stairs, everyone else holding their places in the room, content to wait.

---cCc---

Mika opened the door to Kagome's room, and poked her head in to make sure the girl was asleep, then opened it fully and stepped into the room, gesturing for Yasha to enter and move to one corner of the room so he'd be out of the way.

She didn't miss the look of longing in his eyes as he saw Kagome, or the deep inhale he took of her scent - he looked like he was ready to cry, and she determined that after this was done, and they were waiting for the girl to wake, she'd speak to him about counseling for him as well as Kagome. She would work with them singly and together - it would take up a lot of her time, but this was family, and she wouldn't turn her back on them.

Frankly, they needed all the help they could get.

She turned from her contemplation of Yasha as Aiko walked into the room, her hands gently cupping a small, glowing orb, and she nodded.

"Please... go ahead and break the barrier. Kagome is most definitely asleep."

Yasha hissed. "Are you sure this is the best thing to do?"

"Yes, Yasha, for the thousandth time," she chuckled. "It has to be done. She cannot go on any longer without it, no matter how much she hates the idea of it. It is why she's so unstable. If she hadn't been missing it to begin with, she wouldn't be nearly as bad off as she is right now - she'd still have a lot of issues to deal with, and pain to heal - but not like this."

He growled, eyes going to her, lying in the bed. Even in her sleep she looked broken - and his heart clenched.

She's so precious to me...

He closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Keh. Let's get this over, then." He opened his eyes and stared at her. "You'd better be right about this."

She nodded to him, understanding the warning. His youkai was trying to protect it's mate, so she wasn't offended by his doubts and warnings. It was Inu nature, after all.

Aiko inhaled and then closed her eyes, focusing her powers on the barrier, and it responded, flaring brightly for a moment, then flashing out of existance, and the moment it dropped, the soul fragment almost hurled itself into Kagome.

At the moment it rejoined her, Kagome jerked, and then she began to whimper, tossing and turning as though she was fevered. Mika stepped back, a surprised look crossing her face.

Yasha snarled at her. "What the fuck, Mika? I thought you said it would help her?!"

"Quiet!" She glared at him momentarily, then looked back at Kagome, who was still whimpering, and now had tears running down her face as well. "She will be fine - I was just surprised by just how vehement she really was about not wanting it. With the valium in her system, nothing should make her react, but that soul fragment did. It's because she didn't want it - she's fighting it even in her sleep."

"Keh! And that's supposed to be good?! What the hell do you consider bad then?" he asked, sarcasm and anger evident in his voice.

Aiko intervened between the two, stepping towards Yasha and putting a calming hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Yasha," she murmured. "Kagome's been through worse than this in the last several years. She'll pull through this as well - after all, we all plan to help her, don't we?"

Mika nodded, but before she could day anything, Kagome let out a strangled gasp, then went motionless, and Mika turned and bent over her still figure, checking her pulse, as Yasha and Aiko held their breaths in fear.

"She's fine, just fully back under the influence of the medication."

She straightened back up and turned to face them.

"She's not fighting herself anymore."

The three stared at each other, then looked at the pale girl laying in the bed.

Now that that was over, they were left wondering what would happen when she woke.

---cCc---

Those left in the living room all looked up from their thoughts as the three came back into the room. Sesshoumaru was the first to react.

"What happened?"

Mika shook her head as she sat down. "She really didn't want that part of her soul back, father. Even with the valium in her system, she fought it. I've never really seen the likes of that before."

The group looked at each other, concern evident in their expressions. Etsu frowned and sent a sympathetic look to her son. "But she did receive it, correct?"

"Yes. After a few minutes of fighting it, she finally accepted it and let go. She'll sleep for several more hours. You all may as well go home - I will stay 'til she wakes, and call as soon as I know anything."

Yasuo, Etsu, and Sesshoumaru stood, then, and bowing to Aiko and the miko's grandfather, turned to leave, piling into the genkan to retrieve their shoes. Sesshoumaru nodded to Aiko. "If you need anything, please feel free to let me know." Glancing at his daughter, he said, "I will await your call, no matter the time, daughter."

Mika smiled at him. "Okay, father, if that's what you want, but you'd better hope it doesn't wake mother."

He narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at her. "Hn."

Shaking her head in amusement, Mika slid the door shut, then turned and went back into the living room. Aiko looked up as she came in and said, "I need to get dinner started. I hope you and Yasha will take dinner with us?"

Yasha nodded distractedly. "Yeah, sure. Thanks, Aiko-san." He returned to staring out the window, losing himself in his thoughts again, as Mika nodded.

"I thank you, Aiko. Dinner would be most welcome."

Aiko smiled, and turned to head into the kitchen. She loved to cook, and having guests made it even more worthwhile. It also helped to take her mind off her daughter for a little while, and she was humming happily to herself as she disappeared through the door into the kitchen. Mika chuckled as she watched her go.

Turning her gaze on Yasha, she sighed inwardly when she saw how tense he was, and the hurt he was carrying in the set of his shoulders. Walking over to join him at the window, she followed his gaze to the Goshinboku. With a nod, she realized where his thoughts were.

"Tell me, Yasha - how did Inuyasha feel about Kagome? I would very much like to know - I am having a hard time figuring him and his actions out."

He glanced over at her, brow raised, then looked back out towards the god tree. His eyes went far away, and it was obvious that he was looking back into the past.

"Feh." He shook his head, inhaling deeply, then letting it all out. "Inuyasha was always caught between the two of them. He didn't know how he felt, really, except that, while he adored Kagome, there was just, I don't know how to describe it... a slightly better fit with Kikyou." He chuckled then, though there was little humor in the sound.

"Do you know... he remembered Kagome's scent 'til the day he died? He never forgot it, not even after several hundred years. He loved her scent. And I'm no different. You could stick me in a room with a thousand people a hundred years after being away from Kagome and I'd immediately know she was there... just by her scent."

Mika nodded at that. "Yes, her scent is pleasant, is it not?"

He snorted disbelievingly at that. "Pleasant?! For you, maybe. For me? It's the best damn thing I've ever smelled... and pleasant isn't really on my mind when I catch a whiff of her. It's more like immediate meltdown. Trying to keep my hands to myself over the years I've been waiting and watching her has been a challenge I hope I never have to go through again. I hope like hell this is over soon... or I'll be the crazy one."

Mika laughed, a slight blush crossing her face. "Okay, that was TMI, Yasha. I really didn't need to know that."

He chuckled again. "Well, you asked."

She sobered then. "When she wakes, Yasha, I want to start seeing you two, together, every day. There's a lot to work through, and the sooner we get a start, the sooner your hopes for the future can happen. Will you agree to counseling with Kagome?"

He sighed. "I knew you were going to ask that, and you should know the answer. I'll do anything it takes to get Kagome back the way she's supposed to be, no matter what it takes. So, yes, I will."

Mika patted him on the back, then, and smiled slightly at him. "I will help you find her, Yasha," she said softly. "We all will. You are both family, and we are behind you all the way. You aren't alone this time around."

Yasha jerked his head around to stare at her. He knew exactly what she meant with that statement.

He wasn't alone, this time - unlike last time, as Inuyasha. Now, as Yasha, he had what Inuyasha had so desperately wanted.

Family... a family that had his back.

He smiled at her, a genuine Yasha grin crossing his face.

"Thanks, Mika."

She smiled back. "You're welcome, Yasha."

---cCc---

Later that night, as the moonlight washed across the floor through the window, a low, frightened cry came from the room above, and Yasha and Mika were jerked from their light sleep.

Hitting the floor, they were both up the stairs and in front of her door in a flash, and both looked up when Aiko came through her bedroom door a few moments later. With a nod, she walked to the door, and taking a deep breath, let it out and opened it, moving into the room and to her daughter's bedside.

It was a good thing they had turned on her little lamp when they'd left the room earlier.

Kagome sat up in bed, staring at the people in her room with confusion and a little suspicion. "Mama?" She looked up at the older woman, then back at the other two. "Who are those people and why are they here in my room?"

Aiko clapped a hand over her mouth in shock, and Yasha's jaw dropped. Mika was caught a bit off-guard as well, though really, she probably shouldn't have been.

"You don't remember who we are, Kagome?"

The girl tilted her head, an even more distrustful look crossing her face, and said, "No. Should I?"

Well. This just keeps getting better and better.

She stared at the girl, who stared right back, obviously unhappy with the strangers in her room, and had to grab Yasha's arm to keep him from going to her.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

She shook her head at Aiko, then dragged a protesting Yasha from the room, reaching for her phone as she shut the door behind them.

Father's going to love this one.

The moment he answered the phone, she spoke.

"We have a nice case of shock-induced amnesia, father. She remembers her family, but not us."

---cCc---

A/N: Wanted to send a big Thank You to all the reviewers here and over at Media Miner... It's been so good to see the response to this story, and I'm very pleased that so many have picked up on the emotions in this piece. A special shout out to Angelica Pierce... her reviews are so in-depth that they've even helped clarify some of my own thoughts to me, and also to mariposa miko, tigerfrog, and Angela Culver... I'm glad to see that you and your family are hanging in there, Angela.

Amber