InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Delusions ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

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

Author’s Notes: Here we are introduced to a few more original (but not really) characters. You’ll meet Miroku and Sango’s children and another original character.

Delusions Chapter Eight Rated - M (for suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, and coarse language) Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Inuyasha looked to Miroku, Sango, and Shippō. There was an unspoken conversation with them and he quickly turned to leave. Kagome called out to him, “Inuyasha!” He turned his head to look at her, “There are things I need to prepare,” and he left without another word. ‘Prepare?!’ she thought, ‘since when does he prepare?’ Sango left the room, closing the shoji behind her...presumably to prepare as well, which left Miroku, Shippō, Rin, Amaya, and herself. Rin stood next to Kagome and attempted to carry on conversation, “Is...is that your daughter then, Miss Kagome?” She nodded in affirmation, “Yes, that is Amaya.” Amaya had moved to speak to her mother’s old friends again. She riddled them with questions and they all managed to get in one or two. Mostly, Amaya had divulged that her mother was not as boring as she had initially thought. She pondered if she had inherited the spiritual powers that they had described her mother having. Her mother never seemed anything other than ordinary, but these new people spoke of slaying demons with a single purifying arrow. She didn’t even know that her mother could shoot a bow with accuracy, let alone wield one properly. Sango quickly returned in her demon slaying outfit. She brought Hiraikotsu out as well and sat it against a wall before walking to Kagome’s side. She nudged her with her shoulder as they both looked on while Shippō performed a few of his kitsune tricks for her. The girl was amazed by it. “You didn’t mention that you had a daughter.” Kagome chuckled nervously and waved the comment away, “With everything that had just happened, it...um...slipped my mind.” Sango narrowed her eyes and gave her friend a sidelong glance. “She mentioned she had just turned fifteen not long ago,” Sango started. Kagome was not quite sure where she was going with this. “Yeah, last month.” “And you’ve married.” “Um, yes.” “May I ask who the lucky man is?” “Oh, it was...uh...Takashi...Takashi Hōjō.” “Isn&rsq uo;t that the boy who…” Sango started, but Kagome quickly shut her down. “Yes.” Thankfully, two identical girls walked into the family dwelling, much to Kagome’s relief taking the heat off of her for the moment. Both girls were dressed in the style of a miko with a red hakama, the white shirt, and traditional tabi. The girls were obviously doing their best to assert their own personal identities despite their identical looks; one girl sported shoulder length hair that was tied half up with bangs and the other sported long hair tied back loosely at the nape of her neck. Both resembled their parents. They both looked questioningly at the two strange women in their family home. Miroku walked over to them and introduced the girls to Kagome and Amaya, “Maeko, Maemi, this is Kagome and her daughter Amaya. I’m sure you remember us telling you about Kagome?” Both girls broke out into matching grins. Maeko, with the short hair broke away from her sister and approached Kagome, “Kagome-sama, I’ve always wanted to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you and your purification arrow.” Maemi also spoke up, “Is it true that your spiritual powers are so immense that you can kill demons with just a glance? Kagome felt a little awed and bombarded by these girls reverence of her. “Well, I did what I had to do and I don't know who you've been talking to,” She threw a quick glance at Shippō who was examining the ceiling very studiously, “But I wouldn't go quite that far.” Miroku placed a fatherly hand on the shoulder of Maeko, “Let’s not overwhelm Kagome now, eh?” The girl nodded and looked to her sister, a small smile playing on her face, “Sorry Papa.” “Your mother and I will be leaving soon. I will need you both to keep an eye on your brother...who coincidentally has not returned yet. Do either of you know where he is?” Maemi almost too calmly answered, “He is at Usami-san’s…” “Gah, of course he is! He was supposed to be training with Kohaku today!” Sango yelled. “Just like his father,” she said under her breath; low enough so that only Kagome caught it since she was standing next to her. Rin smiled at the family’s antics, “I will take my leave then since you will all be busy with other things. Would you like me to stop by Usami-chan’s and send Kichiro home?” With a sigh Sango answered, “Please. And thank you, Rin.” “It is my pleasure. It was good seeing you again Miss Kagome. I do hope we will see each other soon. If I can ever be of any assistance during your time here, please let me know.” Kagome gave the young woman a brief hug, “Of course, thank you for your help, Rin.” ‘I wonder what happened between her and Sesshomaru…’ Kagome thought after she had exited. As if reading her mind, Shippō approached her and added, “He left her here to be among her own kind. He still visits from time to time, but not much more than that now. Actually, a couple of years ago he offered for her to return with him to his castle but she refused him.” Intrigued she asked, “Really? Why?” Shippō shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know all of the details, but, if I had to guess I would say  that she does not want to be just his sidekick.” He emphasized the just in his statement. “Oh, I suppose I can relate to that,” Kagome commiserated. Shippō shrugged again and made ready to leave as well. “What is going to happen now?” Amaya asked loudly, bringing attention back to the matter at hand. “Inuyasha should be returning soon, and in the meantime we will pack some supplies since we have no way of knowing how long we will be gone,” Miroku said to the girl. Sango was already grabbing a few things; packing lightly. Her twins made to complete the lunch preparations that had been pushed to the wayside when Kagome was brought in unexpectedly. Shippō waved to them as he walked out of the house. “We will have to detour by the well on the way,” Kagome finally said. “Why is that?” Miroku asked, pausing from picking up his staff. “There is no way that I am allowing my daughter to get involved in this mess.” “What?! What do you mean?” Amaya snapped. “I mean that you are not ready for this world,” she took Amaya by the shoulders, “I was barely ready for this world. I only made it by sheer luck most times and Inuyasha the others.” “No, I want to help you. I can help you. I can handle this,” Amaya asserted. Sango and Miroku had gathered their things and wished goodbye to their daughters quietly. This was typical for the family and they were accustomed to familial absences from time to time. “Inuyasha will be waiting for us at the edge of the village. We’ll just wait outside.” Miroku said to Kagome. Kagome gave a nod in return and looked back at Amaya, “I’m not doing this to punish you. I’m doing this to protect you.” Amaya grumbled but assented, lamely following her mother out of the house to regroup with Miroku, Sango, and Shippō. They all walked quietly towards the edge of the village where Inuyasha was to be awaiting them. As they neared, Kagome could make out two forms. One was that of Inuyasha and the other was someone unknown to her. ‘Maybe its Kichiro?’ Inuyasha stood waiting with his arms crossed. The young man next to him seemed to be older than what Kichiro was supposed to be. Kagome vaguely remembered that Miroku and Sango’s youngest was about twelve and this youth clearly was older than that. He also had a sword strapped to his side, much like Inuyasha’s, but he also carried a wooden staff. He was tall, even taller than Inuyasha, and he had raven black hair that was short but messy with bangs across the right side of his face, reaching but not overshadowing his eyes. His eyes were a piercing deep blue that almost faded into black and were narrowed into look of skepticism. He had an aura of arrogance about him and something else, too, that Kagome could not quite put her finger on. Kagome eyed the stranger warily. ‘I suppose Inuyasha was bound to make new allies. I wonder what this one’s story is?’ She caught a glimpse of Amaya who seemed to be captivated by the newcomer and she could only give a sigh of slight exasperation. ‘Teenagers…’ Inuyasha gestured to the youth with his chin, “This is Sōrin.” The youth gave the barest of nods in acknowledgements to Kagome and Amaya. The others, he seemed to be acquainted with but did not offer them any recognition aside from the sweep of his gaze. She bowed her head in greeting, “Ok…it’s unfortunate we had to meet in such poor circumstances, Sōrin, but I am pleased to meet you nonetheless. I am Kagome and this is my daughter, Amaya.” Sōrin raised an eyebrow at her, but remained silent. ‘How rude...must have spent a little too much time with Inuyasha.’ She frowned at him but he only looked over at Amaya, his gaze resting on her a little too long for Kagome’s comfort level, before he turned away. Inuyasha was ready to leave and he made it known, “Alright, let’s get a move on. Kagome, it’s up to you now. Which way?” “Wait...what?” she asked, confused. “You are the one who can sense the shards and you are the one who is marked. The mark works on both ends. So, where is this asshole?” “I don’t know how this all works Inuyasha! And I can’t sense any shards right now. I haven’t since I got here. We don’t even know if he has any of the shards.” Sango walked over to Kagome, “You are going to need to concentrate on your bond to find out the demon’s location. Close your eyes and think about him.” “The last thing I want to do is think about him!” Kagome complained. “You are stronger than him. You can’t let the past cloud you now...of all times. Close your eyes and concentrate on him; where he is, what he is doing, what he is thinking.” Sango pushed Kagome into a sitting position so that she could focus. Amaya eyed the whole spectacle dubiously and the rest of the group fell silent and focused on Kagome. ‘Concentrate...concentrate...as if this were easy. Ok...concentrate...think evil creepy Naraku goon.’ Her thoughts took her back to that night...sixteen years ago....when the mark was placed. She fought down all of her anxiety and focused on him. ‘Where are you…’ She imagined herself transported along an invisible line and, despite sitting in place, she could feel herself floating. With her eyes closed she could only see darkness at first, but soon she could see a swirl of colors which began to take shape. It was as if she were in his head, seeing what he saw. She vaguely wondered if he could sense her in his head so she tried not to think of anything more but discerning his location and then severing the connection. She saw trees the trees below her as they whirred past. So...he seemed to be on the move. She hoped he would stop soon so that she did not have to hold this connection any longer than she had to. It took all of her concentration just to keep it open. She thought she could feel what he felt. Maybe not sensations, such as the wind upon his face, but feelings. It was like a great emptiness with a hint of annoyance. How odd. Thankfully for her he did come to a stop. He had been flying she thought as he lowered to the ground quickly. She could see a village off in the distance, but now he stood by a great river. She could not hear anything. Maybe she needed to concentrate harder to be able to hear what he heard...or maybe she could only see what he saw. This entire experience was alien to her and he was the last person she would have ever wanted to share this type of connection with. It felt wrong to even think his name, as if it were tainted to speak. He stood still for a while, Kagome was not sure why. The reason became clear soon enough. In his field of vision she saw Naraku float down in a barrier. ‘Trust Naraku to meet in the middle of nowhere to avoid giving away his position,’ she thought. Annoyance oozed through the bond even stronger than before and then a trickle of subservience that felt forced came through as well. From what she could gather, he was being given instructions. Suddenly, as if receiving mental whiplash, she was snapped back into reality. Her eyes popped open and she realized that everyone was staring at her...again. Inuyasha was crouched near her, “Are you OK?” He reached for her hand and helped her up. “Yeah,” she began, “I am fine, Inuyasha.” “Are ya ready then?” “I didn’t even tell you what I saw, though.” “Actually, you did,” said a low, matter-of-fact voice said. Kagome looked over to the boy, Sōrin, who had spoken. “What do you mean I did?” she asked him.

Next time on Delusions…... ….Inuyasha, still holding her hand, answered, “You kinda said everything that you were seeing and thinking out loud.” Kagome blushed, “Oh….well, then I guess you know then.” Kagome looked down at his hand covering hers and she slowly pulled her hand away. She now felt embarrassed for having revealed an inner part of herself - on top of everything else - to the hanyō. She looked back up at him and saw hurt in his eyes…..