InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cannot Be Broken ❯ Truth Awakens ( Chapter 10 )

Kagome ran. She ran until she had nowhere else to run. The shoreline of the ocean was like a barrier and a haven in one as she collapsed on a grassy knoll when her exhausted legs gave out on her. She heaved in massive gulps of air, each breath was like stabbing daggers in her chest and she coughed out each breath achingly.

 

Kagome lay there prone, unable to move, not ever wanting to move again. Her mind felt filled with cotton and her body throbbed and shuddered in defeat. Her breath was haggard and raspy as she moaned her agony.

 

She just lay there, her eyes focusing on the endless waves, but nothing did she see except golden eyes and silver hair. She sobbed, or wanted to, but her body gave out. All she could do was wait and relive.

 

She wanted him. Really wanted him. No, it wasn't like those other times. She could easily blame InuYasha for it all. Even now she wanted to, but she couldn't.

 

She ran believing the turmoil in her head, but it wasn't true. She was just afraid.

 

She wanted it too badly. Youkai instinct or not, it was InuYasha's heart she truly felt when her aura touched him. It was that she really desired and it was that she really wanted to trust, and yet, she forced herself not to. Why? Because he is everything she wanted when he was nothing she believed him to be.

 

And she ran from him. She groaned in regret. Even now, after all the fear, resentment, anger and betrayal she placed on him, she felt a dull ache in her pelvis in her need of him. She shut her eyes in embarrassment.

 

`What the hell came over me? Damn! What does he think of me?! What does it matter? Everything…. Everything.' She rubbed eyes and felt her world fall apart at the seams. How could she face him after all that?

 

Kagome lay there until the air around her grew cold. She was not quite sure how long she was there. Her breaths were easy and calm but her body was severely stiff. She slowly sat up and winced at the brightness around her. The sun was cast close to the west and its rays were not so blinding, yet her eyes could only see white light.

 

She blinked and shielded her eyes, but it was not the sun, for even the shade glowed. Was it was her?

 

She then began to have a good look around her. The ocean was the richest blue, the sand the palest cream, and the grass the most brilliant of techni-greens. It was alive, every bit of it, and she could see it.

 

She cast her gaze everywhere. She couldn't get enough of it, and more so, she couldn't help but feel it too.

 

It wasn't like it was extraordinary, it wasn't like it was completely different, in fact it was so slight, she could have easily missed it. But it was there. It was like everything was a bit sharper, and bit more focussed.

 

It was like a dream, where you swear it was a place you've been before and you knew it in and out, yet you have never once seen it in your waking life. And everything you looked at you knew was more real than what you have ever seen before.

 

And the feel of it. Oh the feel of it. Kagome closed her eyes to absorb it all in.

 

As you sit alone in a room, sometimes a feeling hits you, and you know that feeling, but for the life of you, you have no idea when or where you first felt it. But when you sense it, when that familiar feeling hits you at that moment, you try to grab it for all its worth and taste it. You beg to relive it! Because just as quickly as you felt it, does it seep away from you, and all you have is that lingering thought of, where, when, how did I first feel that? But all you knew was that when you did, you were at your most content, most adventurous and most alive.

 

Kagome felt that right now, and she was filled with wonder.

 

She was aware of all around her and something tingled in her mind's eye.

 

She turned her head to have her eyes fall upon a small twisted pine. Compared to the rest of her surroundings, this small tree was dull and sick and dying.

 

She crawled over to it and sat to watch it. It was no more than a foot high, but what was odd about it was that it was the only pine around. Its seed must have been dropped by a sea bird, and now grew alone on the knoll. But aside from its unusual location was its appearance. Yes, it was weak and dying, but there was almost like a smoky haze or fog coating it.

 

She crinkled her brow in confusion. She reached her hand to touch this dullness, only for some of it to absorb into her skin.

 

She gasped and pulled back. Looking at it, her hand did not change. She didn't feel pain or sick or anything that was causing the tree to die. It was as if she just wiped it off of the tree, like a coat of dust or cobwebs.

 

She looked back at the tree. It didn't appear as dull, and its features became more focused in the fog surrounding it.

 

Kagome bit her lower lip and shakily reached out to the tree once more. Again the haze collected to her fingertips and vanished like a rolling fog. The tree was now as sharp and defined as the rest of the life around it, but it was still listless.

 

Kagome clenched her hand into a fist, almost afraid to touch the tree again, but she felt a great desire to do so and she couldn't explain why.

 

Ever so slightly did she reach out and finally grace her fingers on the needles. She gasped in pain and pulled her hand away as if it were burned. Instead it just ached, like a growing pain. Just as quickly as it came did it die away.

 

`Is it coming from the tree?'

 

Kagome rested her hands on the ground near the tree in order to kneel over and see it more fully. Again the pain inched up into her fingers, palms and wrists before she lifted them off the ground.

 

`The soil. The soil around the tree is making it sick.'

 

She dug her fingers into the soil around the roots, ignoring the throbbing aches in her hands. Under the layer of grass and topsoil did she see it, a faint blackness swirling into the roots of the small tree.

 

Kagome frowned and delved her hands deeper into the dirt. The blackness swirled around her fingers and dissipated until there was nothing left but brightness. She lifted her hands to gaze at them, her body trembling in shock and understanding.

 

She knew what she did, she knew what she had to do and why, but for the life of her she did not know how. She swallowed hard and looked at the tree that was now bright and melded into the life force of its surroundings.

 

She shook her head slightly and a choking sob hitched into her throat. She felt this before. Her eyes widened. She saw this, something like this. She stood up quickly and backed away from the tree.

 

The bear! She saw the bear's life leave it, she felt it, and she heard it. That was when… that was when she began to see that light!

 

But why? What was this happening to her? What was going on? It only happened since she was with….

 

`InuYasha.'

 

Before she could rationalize her thoughts and the pandemonium going on in her head a sound startled her.

 

She jumped around to see Sango, dressed in her demon slayer outfit and carrying a large boomerang.

 

“Kagome.” Sango sighed a breath of relief. “We were so worried. When InuYasha came back and said you were gone…. Why did you run away like that?” Seeing the odd look on the girl's face she frowned. “Kagome, are you alright?”

 

Kagome looked at the slayer and regarded her carefully. Sango was surrounded by a pale light and was also bright and sharp like the rest of the life around her. Kagome blinked heavily and nodded, trying to act normal.

 

“Yeah… yes, I'm… fine.” She sighed. “Tired… and… hungry.” She smiled weakly.

 

Sango smiled in relief. “Come on, girl, let's get you home.”

 

Home? Kagome looked to her left to see the edges of the manor. `InuYasha. What will I say to him? What will I do?'

 

She cringed at the though of seeing him. She couldn't. There was just… he was… but she felt….

 

Even her mind could no longer come to any coherent thought. But her heart, it still spoke the same verse that ached to be heard, growing stronger in her mind's cage with each step to the manor. She liked him.

 

-+-

 

`I feel you, Midoriko.'

 

`….'

 

`You call for me.'

 

`Stay … away.'

 

`I am coming for you.'

 

`I will run again.'

 

`I will find you.'

 

“I will fight you!”

 

“Heh heh heh…. Fight your self?”

 

`I AM NOT YOU! I AM….'

 

Kagome sat up in bed. Her face sweat stained and her hair stringy.

 

Another dream she could not remember, but every time she woke it was if she was running for her life.

 

The dreams were more frequent and she was now waking every morning to them. All she could recall was a dark voice and unbridled fear.

 

She shook her head and tried to quell the knot in her stomach. She got out of bed, unable to rest, thankful that it was now morning.

 

It had been a few weeks since her escape from the manor, since she felt so many things, and since she last saw InuYasha.

 

Kagome gathered her things and headed down to wash and change in the bath chamber.

 

It had been three weeks. And he was nowhere to be seen. Sango or Shippou would say she just missed him, or he was here a second ago, or he should be here soon. But she never saw him.

 

For a while it was a relief. She wasn't ready to face him, but as the weeks passed, she realized that he was avoiding her. It hurt her beyond what she ever felt, and as much as she tried to tell herself she didn't care, the pain never subsided any less.

 

But he did still think of her.

 

The morning after her escapade her wardrobe was again filled with colourful kimonos, not the elaborate frills and bows like before, but tasteful, simple and comfortable. She loved them.

 

The week after her escapade, she found the white stallion tied in the garden, a gift to her from him. She never got to thank him, but she did begin to see him in a new light.

 

Kagome lazily brushed her hair as she stepped out of the bath chamber, feeling somewhat better now that she was clean and dressed.

 

Sharp clanging and yells caught her attention and she quickly and quietly jogged to the main hall to see what it was. The commotion seemed to be coming from the main hall that InuYasha had turned into a dojo as well as a meeting place. One of the large doors to the main chamber was open a slight. Kagome peaked her gaze in and gasped.

 

Inside a shirtless InuYasha was fighting both Sango and Miroku. The Tetsusaiga was fully extended but he did not seem to be using it to its full power.

 

All three were sweating heavily, hard at work in their training. Kagome was obviously unnoticed as she watched in silence.

 

“Don't… you think… you've had enough?” Miroku panted heavily.

 

InuYasha only growled and charged him.

 

Miroku flipped out of his way to stand beside Sango, who stood ready holding her katana.

 

“InuYasha, please,” she jumped to the side to miss the Tetsusaiga's swing, “we've been at this all morning.”

 

Again the hanyou did not reply but swiped his claws at the both of them with a guttural scream.

 

Miroku sighed and brought his staff down upon the half demon's head, knocking him unceremoniously to the floor.

 

Panting heavily, InuYasha stood and growled, rubbing the aching lump on his head. “No… not enough.”

 

“InuYasha, this has gone on long enough…. Talk to her!” Miroku crossed his arms in annoyance.

 

InuYasha shook his head but unbranded Tetsusaiga.

 

“Houshi is right, InuYasha, this has to be settled. Waiting for it to just go away won't happen.” Sango wiped her brow of the sweat she had worked up.

 

InuYasha looked at the floor. “I can't.”

 

Miroku and Sango looked at each other and sighed.

 

Kagome held her breath and waited.

 

Miroku sat quietly on the floor. “She must know. She must know who you are. She has for her entire life seen you as Sesshomaru has. She has every right to know why you two fought. She has to know the importance of Tetsusaiga. She has to know the truth, or at the very least, the truth as you see it.”

 

InuYasha spat out in fury. “There is no other truth! Sesshomaru is a murderous bastard. He ruthlessly killed countless villages! How can anyone tell Kagome her `father' sacrificed them all just for a sword he cannot touch! She is too naïve to believe the `truth'!”

 

Kagome's head reeled and righteous fury ebbed in her soul. She shook but could not turn away from the argument within.

 

Miroku sighed. “InuYasha, can we be certain it was him? So much of what we saw seems too….”

 

“Wrong!” Sango said.

 

InuYasha swung around to face them both. “It was your village! Your monastery! It was Shippou's parents. All slaughtered! We all saw the flags of the blue crescent! We all saw the demons! Who else could it be? How can you not believe what your very eyes saw!”

 

Kagome's eyes widened in shock and she held her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming out in retaliation, but she had to know more.

 

Both the slayer and monk remained quiet before Miroku spoke.

 

“One cannot take truth by face value alone. Yes, we have witnessed much to point the blame towards Sesshomaru. But you, yourself, had said that each attack did not smell nor seem to be of your brother.”

 

InuYasha growled and his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yeah, there was something not right about it, and nothing about it was Sesshomaru's style. I have fought with him for over fifty years, and know him in battle. But it does not mean the bastard could not have changed his tactics. Humans are nothing to him! He should not feel hesitant to kill all who get in his way to get Tetsusaiga!”

 

“Do you forget what is in front of you?” Miroku fumed.

 

“Huh?” Golden eyes crinkled in confusion.

 

“InuYasha, you know both Miroku and I had fought along side you against Sesshomaru, believing he was as you say, but….” Sango stalled.

 

“But?” InuYasha looked from one to the other. “What could make you turn so quickly?”

 

“Kagome.” Sango replied. “InuYasha, he adopted a human girl, raised her as his own. From what she has told me, he loves her and she loves him. He has done so much for his people, done so much for his own. He has even taken a human mate, and is expecting a child.”

 

“What?” InuYasha breathed. “You mean, his heir will be… a hanyou?”

 

Sango only nodded.

 

“No.” The half demon shook his head in disbelief. “No, he can't… he couldn't have…. He hates humans… he….”

 

“Whatever you believe he feels, can you deny what Kagome is to him?” Miroku asked.

 

“She is…. No, he gave her to me readily. I was his enemy! He just gave her to me and just turned and left her! What true father would give up a daughter like that, honour bound or not? He treated her like a human he could cast off! He didn't want her….” His ears flattened against his head. “He didn't care about her.”

 

Kagome choked on a sob and shook her head violently. She felt those very words, had thought them herself, but she couldn't stand to hear them out loud. `Otou… please no….' Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't even allow herself to believe his last words, but there they stood.

 

Both Sango and Miroku looked at each other dumbfounded.

 

Whether Kagome was sent away or not, it did not keep from the fact Sesshomaru raised her, and that she trusted him. She was a miko that loved a demonic human killer?

 

No, there was nothing right about anything they once believed. Answers were needed, answers found in Kagome.

 

“InuYasha, don't you think Kagome should know? Don't you think it would be fair for you to know what she thinks and knows instead of assuming?” Miroku stood and stared down the hanyou.

 

InuYasha regarded both of them carefully, and nodded. “She should know, but I can't talk to her.”

 

“Why?” Sango marched over to him and gave him a shove. “What are you so afraid of? The truth?”

 

“No! I just….” His ears flattened hard on his head.

 

“What? You just what?” She fumed.

 

“I can't trust myself around her! Okay? Happy now?” InuYasha yelled.

 

“What do you mean?” Sango frowned.

 

“She… I….” InuYasha sighed. “When I am with her, I can't control who I am around her. I just… need her.”

 

Sango raised an eyebrow in disappointment. “InuYasha….”

 

“No, it's more than just that!” InuYasha shook his head and growled. “I… I don't know.”

 

Miroku placed his hand on Sango's shoulder before she could argue any more. She turned to glare at him before turning her head to look where he was looking.

 

Kagome stood at the open doorway, tears freely flowing down her face.

 

“Kagome.” InuYasha whispered.