InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daybreak ❯ Path of the Pearl ( Chapter 19 )

A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long! But I deliberately neglected my exam study to finally type this chapter. Just for you guys. Can you feel the love? Can you?! Lol. Okay… that's a bit extreme.

 

So many reviews! THANKYOU!! :D

 

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EvilNeko- lol! Don't worry! I had expected someone to guess correctly; I left a few subtle clues. I'm so glad you like the story! Thanks!

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IDoInuyasha31- Aw, thank you (twice)! The characters are great in comical situations aren't they?

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You know I don't own nothing Inuyasha.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 19- Path of the Pearl

 

 

The little Inuyasha pouted at the strange miko in front of him. “Don't call me Koinu-chan.”

Kagome smiled playfully and knelt down to his eye level, her face resting in her hands. “Then why don't you tell me your name? If you don't like being called Koinu-chan…”

 

The boy looked away, trying to avoid her watching him as he contemplated her words. His eyes flickered back to her face before looking away once more.

 

“I'm Inuyasha…” he mumbled, his cheeks going lightly pink.

 

Kagome smiled warmly. “Inuyasha…” she repeated out loud. “That's the name of a proud warrior. It suits you.”

 

Inuyasha looked up at her, his golden eyes round in surprise. His puppy dog ears twitched once on top of his head. Kagome thought she was going to die of cuteness overload at the sight and let out a giggle. She always liked kids, but Inuyasha was the most adorable one she had ever seen! And she thought Soten of the Thunder Brothers was cute!

 

“You! Who goes there?!”

 

Kagome's gushing thoughts were interrupted by a harsh yell. She spun around to see two soldiers standing beside the large castle. Each holding potentially lethal weapons.

 

“Oh, um good evening…” mumbled Kagome, smiling as brightly as she could. Hopefully if she just acted nice they would let her off. One soldier whispered something to the other who then nodded and took off around the side of the building.

 

The remaining soldier took a few wary steps towards her before raising his staff threateningly. “Trespassers of the castle grounds are punished by death. State who you are, wench!”

 

Okay, so being nice wasn't going to work.

 

“Um, well, I-”

 

The soldier looked past the stammering girl and his face distorted in quiet disgust. Kagome, slightly confused at the man's sudden distaste, followed his line of sight, to see Inuyasha standing quietly by her side. Kagome felt the familiar, tingling sensation of anger building within her chest and flicked her head around to glare at the soldier.

 

“Hey! Is there something you would like to say?” she said sharply, her eyes narrowing.

 

The soldier jerked his eyes back to the young woman, taken aback by her sudden change in personality. “W-what?” You-!”

 

“You asked me a question, didn't you? And here you are, letting your thoughts drift away, not even caring to hear my answer! I should speak to your supervisor about this!” she said crossing her arms.

 

The soldier opened his mouth in what seemed was going to be an angry retort, but was interrupted by another voice.

 

“Yuusuke. What's happening?”

 

Kagome looked back towards the veranda of the building to see a middle aged man dressed in similar armour to the soldier (who seemed to be called Yuusuke). The young soldier spun around and bowed deeply at the man. “Supervisor! I was investigating why there is a trespasser in the castle grounds!”

 

The older man stepped off the wooden planks to slip into his shoes before walking towards them. Kagome watched, the anger slowly draining out of her, as the man came up beside Yuusuke's shoulder. His eyes trailed up and down her outfit in a calculating gaze. Kagome gulped.

 

“You are a miko,” he stated. The woman looked at him for a second before his words registered in her head. She looked down at her herself. Her white kosode was stained with mud and dirt, her sleeve torn and bloodied from Kikyou's misguided arrow. And her red hakama was torn and equally as dirty. She didn't even want to think how messy her hair was. What the heck must she look like to them?!

 

Unable to think of anything else to say, Kagome laughed weakly. “Yes, I'm a miko.”

 

The supervisor remained silent, analysing her. Kagome laughed again and waved brightly.

 

“Oh, my clothes? Yeah, I ran into a pretty bad youkai nearby here which gave me a run for my money and the next thing I knew, I found myself stumbling around here! Right, Koinu-chan?” she said gently patting the little boy's white hair.

 

She watched Inuyasha's head snap up to look at her. His eyes were wide with astonishment, curiosity and confusion. Well, of course he would be confused. He had seen her suddenly appear out of nowhere, hadn't he? That meant she was obviously lying and he knew it! Kagome's smiled wavered. Sure, it wasn't fair on him that she was making him a fake witness...

 

But god that confused expression was cute!

 

She looked back at the supervisor whose expression hadn't changed but for the suspicion, which seemed to have decreased. “I see. You are not from this area? What brought you here?”

 

“Oh, I wander the lands doing things that… mikos do…” Kagome mentally cringed at the mental blanks she was drawing. `Things that mikos do… that's not a suspicious thing to say at all…'

 

The supervisor luckily didn't seem to notice the hesitation in her voice. “A travelling miko?” he encouraged.

 

“Yes, um, giving my services to those who need them.”

 

A light flickered behind the irises of the supervisor and his eyes darted to the little hanyou boy beside her. “I understand.”

 

Kagome's eyebrows narrowed in confusion at the supervisor's remark before a female voice cried out.

 

“Inuyasha!”

 

A beautiful woman with long, black, trailing hair in regal clothes hurried towards them. Her red lips were a stark contrast to her translucent white skin and dark alluring eyes. Kagome's breath caught in her throat.

 

It was Inuyasha's mother. Izayoi.

 

Kagome couldn't stop her mouth from hanging open as the woman continued towards them, her arms outstretched towards her son.

 

“Inuyasha,” she called again.

 

“Mama!” Kagome watched as the boy ran happily into his mother's open arms. The miko couldn't help but feel warm as she watched Izayoi smile affectionately at her child.

 

Suddenly the motherly smile disappeared as the woman's eyes snapped up to land on Kagome's face. The girl jumped at the sudden contempt hidden beneath the woman's face. Inuyasha's mother was glaring at her!

 

Two maids came following after the princess. “Izayoi-sama,” one panted. “Your father wants you to return to the feast.”

 

Izayoi's narrow eyes never left the strange miko's. “Tell father I apologise, but I'm retiring for the night. Come, Inuyasha.” With that, she took Inuyasha's hand and turned to hurry back to the castle.

 

Kagome stood rooted to the spot in shock. She tried to open her mouth to say something, anything to the angry mother, but closed it quickly. What on earth could she say? It's not like they had ever met before… She caught Inuyasha turning his head to look at her as he was being dragged away. Thinking of nothing else, she smiled and waved goodnight.

 

She could have sworn she saw the little man's cheeks glow a bit pink in the light of the castle's torches before he flicked his head away and continued after his mother.

 

 

*****

 

 

Kagome stared at the ceiling with wide eyes.

 

She was still in shock about everything that had happened last night. She had almost passed out (quite literally) when she saw the child Inuyasha and realised that she had time travelled.

 

After Inuyasha had left with his mother, the supervisor asked her to come with him. Kagome had gulped nervously but agreed and followed after the man as he lead her through several hallways and over bridges until they stopped at what seemed to be the royal's quarters. She sat and waited inside while the supervisor went to retrieve the lord of the castle. She wasn't alone as Yuusuke waited with her, but as the two had already exchanged heated words earlier, both were content with ignoring each other's presences.

 

When the supervisor had returned with the lord of the castle (a man with thinning hair, who Kagome imagined to be Inuyasha's mother's father) he had looked at the miko for a second before giving his consent for her to stay in the castle. Kagome had stared at him in surprise for a second before remembering her manners and bowing deeply. The lord had then said something about summoning her tomorrow, as he needed a miko's skills for something, before apologising for not being able to host her tonight. He then called a maid to take her to one of the baths and give her new clothing. When he bade her goodnight, Kagome expressed her gratitude once again and followed after the maid.

 

Kagome blinked at the ceiling again and frowned, pulling the covers up to her chin.

 

Honestly! First she time travelled back five hundred years to the Sengoku Jidai using the well and now she had time travelled from that point even further into the past! Had she gone further than no human had gone before? And she had thought five hundred years in the past was a long way to travel at first! But wait… if she time travelled from the Sengoku Jidai, what time was she in now?

 

Kagome rolled onto her stomach and folded her arms under chin, temporarily distracted by the luxurious softness of her futon. What had Housenki said back at Kaede's hut? It was the size of the pearl that depended on how far you would travel back? `Yes, the size of the pearl determines how far back you go and how long you stay…'

 

Kagome sighed again and sat up, stretching an arm over her head. Okay, so how big was the pearl she touched last night? It was about the size of Housenki's other pearl wasn't it? The concealment pearl.

 

The jewel making youkai's voice suddenly popped into her head. `Hmm… one of this size would send you back about… two hundred years give or take a couple of decades… And you'd probably stay for about a week their time.'

 

Kagome froze in her morning stretches. A week? She was supposed to stay here for a whole week?!

 

“Aaaargh! Housenki Senior, what the heck were you thinking?!” cried Kagome, shoving her face in her hands. This wasn't going work! She needed to get back to the future, now! She had to get back so-

 

Kagome dragged her hands away from her face.

 

Why on earth was she so desperate to get back? She had already accidentally used the time pearl which meant Naraku wouldn't be able to use it. He would probably be so furious, he would let Onigumo come after her, especially since she would be of no more use to him as a human. And going back to Inuyasha, when she finally returned, was out of the question. Naraku would set Onigumo on their group and there was no way they would survive another battle with him; Onigumo was constantly changing, gaining newer techniques by finding different youkai parts to bind to himself. He was always getting stronger!

 

No matter what she did, when she got back, the result was going to be the same. What was she going to do?

 

Kagome sighed angrily and took off her sleeping yukata to reach for a spare one the maids had brought her last night. No! She wasn't going to let despair get to her! That was exactly how Naraku manipulated people, by putting fear into them! She finished dressing, slid open the shouji screen to her room and stepped out into the hallway.

 

Anyway, even if she could somehow make the pearl return her to the future, it disappeared after it had transported her! It probably wasn't going to show up again until the end of the week. So she was going to treat this trip as a little holiday. She deserved a break with all the crap she had been through back in the Sengoku Jidai and she needed some time to unwind, recharge and get pumped for when she finally returned. At least this week would give her some time to come up with a plan of some sort!

 

`Besides,' thought Kagome, giggling to herself. `This will give me a chance to get to know Inuyasha's past a little better! He's always been really secretive…'

 

Suddenly, the maid who had taken her to her room the night before came round the corner, her arms full of silk rolls. Both the miko and the maid stopped quickly to avoid a collision.

 

“Oh my! Miko-sama! I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!”

 

“No, no! It's alright, neither was I!” smiled Kagome brightly. She wasn't quite used to how everyone was treating her with reverence and respect.

 

The maid opened her mouth in surprise. “Oh, you're probably hungry! I'm sorry, I meant to bring you breakfast before now! I'll go get it right away!” she said turning away.

 

“Oh please, don't mind me!” said Kagome, stopping the girl. “I'm still full from the supper you gave me last night. Here, let me help you there.” Kagome took some of the rolls of silk from the maid despite her protests.

 

“Please, miko-sama, do not strain yourself-!”

 

“It's fine!” grinned Kagome. “After all, I'm a woman of service too!”

 

The maid bowed her head and gave a shy smile. “This way then…”

 

She led Kagome through the hallway to the veranda that skirted around the outside of the main buildings. They passed, what seemed to be, the main garden that was separate from the one she found herself in last night. Kagome looked out at the grounds in surprise. There were about fifteen men and a couple of women bustling about, carrying silks and foods and other items around the centre of the courtyard.

 

“Is there a feast coming up soon?” asked Kagome to the maid. The maid nodded eagerly.

 

“Yes, Miko-sama! The Moon Viewing Festival is to be held near the end of the week. As the days go on, it will become even more busy here. That is what this silk is for,” she said gesturing to the mounds of silk they were both carrying. “There were so little staff available; I had to deliver these before I could go on with my other duties…”

 

Sensing the maid was about to launch into another apology for her lack of breakfast, Kagome quickly spoke. “I see. The festival is very important, isn't it? It must be a busy time for you! What are these silks for?”

 

“The lord loves this festival so he has ordered many silks for new kimonos to be sewn for the royal family and guests.”

 

“So everyone will be attending?”

 

The maid stopped in front of a large storage room and took the other rolls of silk from the miko and smiled. “Yes, everyone of the royal family. Although, even we servants look forward to it as well!”

 

“So Izayoi-sama and her son will be there?!” asked Kagome hopefully.

 

The maid stiffened for a second and bowed. “Thank you for your help Miko-sama.” She turned and entered the storage room without looking back.

 

Kagome frowned and walked away, huffing. What the heck was that? It was a simple enough question! Are people who are in love with demons really treated this disrespectfully? Kagome, her good mood now lost, continued to storm her way along the walkway, ignoring the fact a few maids had to jump out of the way of her furious pace.

 

Quickly realising getting angry over one maid's reaction wasn't going to help anything, Kagome took a deep breath and sighed. Perhaps her anger came more from the stress of everything she'd been through, rather than the prejudice of the past. Even two hundred years or so into the future it was still the same; some villages still treated Inuyasha with suspicion and fear.

 

Kagome looked up to find herself wandering towards the little bridge she had mysteriously appeared on last night. How strange Inuyasha had never mentioned meeting her as a child like this. Perhaps he really did forget about her in future. That was the only explanation she could think of.

 

Kagome sighed again. Oh well, if it was fate for him to forget about her, so be it. She had other things to worry about other than Inuyasha's poor memory. But speaking of fate… to think the castle ruins where Housenki threw the pearl was the castle Inuyasha grew up in!

 

Kagome realised she had absent-mindedly wandered over the bridge and even further into the back garden. The neat bushes were still perfectly trimmed and the sand display behind her was equally well kept. She felt the breeze lightly flow through her hair and took a deep breath. She stayed like that for a minute, enjoying the sincerity of the moment. It was so peaceful.

 

A shuffling sound caught her attention and she looked around at a small bush a few metres away. There were two pointy puppy ears sticking out behind it.

 

Kagome involuntarily broke into a big smile. “Good morning, Koinu-chan!”

 

The puppy dog ears disappeared behind the bush quickly and there was silence for a moment. Sheepishly, the child Inuyasha came shuffling out behind the bush holding a ball to his chest. His cheeks were a little pink and he had a guilty look on his face.

 

Kagome knelt down. “How are you this morning?”

 

“Fine,” came his short reply.

 

“That's good,” continued Kagome. “What are you doing out here?”

 

“Playing.”

 

“What are you playing?”

 

“Ball.”

 

Kagome felt an eyebrow twitch. These sorts of conversations with kids were so difficult, yet at the same time, she loved how shy he was! He was so cute! To think he would grow into that tall, grumpy, fiercely protective man who would have that intense molten stare that would turn her legs to jelly and melt her stomach…

 

Kagome mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't be thinking of things like that! Not when the Inuyasha she shamelessly fantasised about was standing in front of her as a little kid! The last thing she should do now is think about the grown Inuyasha's manly chest and his warm lips pressed against hers- STOP IT!!

 

Kagome refocused on the little boy looking at her with round, golden eyes. He was still as quiet as last night, yet the fear and uncertainty was gone. Now there was nothing but the innocent curiosity.

 

Kagome gestured to his ball. “Do you want to play together?”

 

Inuyasha's eyes became even bigger. “Play?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Yeah! Throwing and catching! Let's see how far you can throw that thing!”

 

Inuyasha smiled a little. “I-I can throw really far!”

 

“Really? How about you throw it to me and every time I catch it, I take a step back, so you have to throw even further next time. What do you think?”

 

Inuyasha nodded. “Okay!”

 

Kagome stood up and took a few steps away from him. “Okay, ready when you are!” she said, raising her arms in preparation to catch the ball.

 

Inuyasha threw the ball to her. Kagome caught it and threw it back. “That's quite good!”

 

Inuyasha grinned. “That was easy.”

 

“Oh, is that so?” she took a step back. “Then lets see how far back I can get!”

 

Inuyasha grinned and threw the ball again.

 

Kagome caught it and laughed. So she had lots of things to deal with, what with the time pearl, Naraku, Onigumo and even the adult Inuyasha all waiting for her in the future, but for now, she was going to take some time off. She was going to enjoy her unplanned holiday to the past with her favourite person.

 

Even if he was just a little younger right now.

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: Sorry if it's not up to the usual standards. It might be another month before I update again because of exams, but stay with me! There is more to come!

 

BTW I've finally got out the first chapter of Feulner's requested Christmas story (sorry it's taken me to the middle of the year for getting it out)! It's called Season of Wishes. Check it out if you're interested!