InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Delusions ❯ Chapter Twenty ( Chapter 20 )

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

Author’s Notes:

 

 

 

 

Delusions

 

Chapter Twenty

 

Rated - M (for suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, and coarse language)

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

 

 

 

 

Amaya had little in the way of survival skills due to the fact that she had led a sheltered life with her mother in a time where survival skills were unneeded, so Inuyasha gathered wood and built a fire for them. He did it out of habit rather than necessity. He’d been around his human companions for so long that it became second nature to do human-oriented tasks. He knew that his demon half kept him warmer in colder temperatures than a human’s body would and he suspected that Amaya was built similarly to him but the night was cold and the fire became a buffer of sorts.

 

Even with the fire, Inuyasha and Amaya sat on opposite sides in silence. The girl had her knees to her chest and she hugged them as she contemplated their situation. Though her body pose was one of hopelessness and resign, her expression denoted no such emotion, rather she seemed determined. Her face was set into hard lines, her brow furrowed, and her eyes narrowed with conviction as she stared off into the flames of their campfire.

 

She seemed so much like Kagome that it was almost too much to bear. Even in hopeless situations Kagome was always the one for optimism and rarely, if ever, gave up when she thought there was a way to win. Amaya was a steady reminder that he had failed Kagome, yet again, in his promise to keep her safe. The burden weighed heavily upon him and he closed his eyes so that the girl with Kagome’s features would not taunt him with his failure.

 

Their duo had lost track of where Kagome was taken, which surprised him little, so they had broke camp for the night. Inuyasha knew that finding Kagome would not be easy unless Naraku had wanted it to be easy and what better way to taunt him than to play keep away with the person Inuyasha would cling to the most. Naraku always did know where to strike. He mentally cursed himself for being so careless. A small part of him was glad that Naraku and his minions were ignorant of Amaya’s relationship to him as of yet, otherwise she may have been taken as well.

 

Amaya seemed to notice her father’s inner struggle, though he doubted it was from a tell on his face since he was quite practiced at stoicism. He sensed her looking at him through his closed lids. She hesitated and he could hear her change positions. He chanced a look at her, opening one eye and found her staring at him.

 

Now, her body reflected her determined expression as she sat forward in an intriguing manner. “What now? I don’t want to sit around on our laurels for too long when we could find my mother somehow. There has to be a way to get to her,” she said.

 

Inuyasha regarded her closely. He felt a small swell of pride. That stubborn refusal to admit defeat had surely come from him, he figured. “We wait until morning. Sōrin and the others should have caught up by then.”

 

Anger flashed across her face, “What?! We are going to wait?! Why?! By the time they catch up we could lose what little trail is left. They will just slow us down!” She gave a frustrated sigh, “I don’t know why you insisted we break camp now anyway. We could have easily continued on into the night.”

 

“There is no trail to follow,” he said as gently as he could, though he knew irritation would be soon creeping in. “I have an idea that could lead us to them. So just chill out and get some rest.”

 

His words did not seem to pacify her while she glowered at the fire, but she did not try to argue with him. He was glad that she was putting her trust in him for the time being, though she had no reason to do so as he had been the one to let her mother slip away in the first place.He just hoped that his idea would work. He closed his eyes again to concentrate on his plan of action.

 

“Inuyasha…” Amaya started tentatively.

 

He sighed and opened his eyes to give her his attention, “Yeah? What is it?”

 

“Could you...um...answer a question for me?” she asked hesitantly.

 

“It depends on what the question is…” he responded, scratching his head absently.

 

She paused and searched, seemingly, for the right words to phrase her question. “Well, I just want to hear it from you. I’ve heard it from my mother; at least what she thought I would want to hear, but I want to hear your side. Why didn’t you come back for her? I just don’t understand. If you loved her, why wouldn’t you come for her?”

 

Inuyasha was taken aback. He had expected her to ask him something more along the lines of: “What’s your favorite color?”, “Why do you have inu ears?”, or maybe even something a little different like, “What attracted you to my mother?” But, no, her question bypassed everything he was prepared for. He had never truly known the answer to that himself.

 

He fumbled for words, “I...uh…”

 

Amaya stared at him imploringly, not saying anything at his lack of words and she didn’t press him or admonish him for not knowing after all of these years.

 

He raked his fingers through his hair in an attempt to search his mind for an answer. He blew out a breath and looked at Amaya.

 

“I failed your mother,” he said simply. He kept his gaze trained on his daughter. How odd it sounded to him, ‘his daughter’. “And I failed you, too.”

 

He studied her reaction for a moment but her face betrayed none of what crossed her mind at his words. He continued, “I let my own insecurities and pride get the best of me.” He paused again, “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even know the answer myself until just now. I was...afraid to know. Now I’m not.”

 

Amaya emitted a sound he had not anticipated; a small chuckle. A smile broke on her face and she gave a resigned sigh. “It figures,” she said.

 

Confused, Inuyasha asked, “How so?”

 

“I know I haven’t known you that long, but you are both just so stubborn. I can see you both holding out until the other caves in and apologizes for something,” she said. Her thoughts turned inward and her expression reflected that as her smile slowly faded.

 

Inuyasha felt a little behooved at her observation. She was right, it did tie into their personalities but that was not an excuse. “No,” he said finally, locking eyes with the girl who was his daughter. “That doesn’t make it ok. I’ll make it right. We will find Kagome and I’ll tell her myself.”

 

Amaya nodded, seemingly pleased with his answer. Before Kagome had been taken from them, Amaya had been quite talkative towards Inuyasha; always asking questions and telling him things about herself. Now, she was more withdrawn; with the latest round of questions being the most she had spoken to him in hours. He’d grown rather fond of her tenacity in becoming acquainted with her newfound father and yokai powers in the short amount of time he had known her. He felt compelled to bring her spark back. That spark, of course, being Kagome.

 

He watched as she laid down and as her breaths evened out and became slower. He closed his eyes and began to recall memories from a happier time.

 

 

 

 

Kagome stirred from sleep. She did not know how long she had been out; her sense of time askew from being inside with no source of external light to gauge the movement of the sun, moon, or even stars. There was a lamp lit in the center of the small room she could see as she cracked her eyes open. It’s light danced against the walls that were, otherwise, swathed in darkness. Sitting up, she tried to register her surroundings. She was lying upon a futon and she was dressed in attire that was vaguely familiar. ‘Did I sleep in this?’ she thought distantly. So far, she could only make out the lamp as everything else was bathed in darkness. She did not sense anyone else in the room, at least.

 

‘Where am I?’ she wondered. She couldn’t even remember how she had gotten here in the first place. Her mind tried to piece together recent events but her memory wasn’t working. While she couldn’t recall how she had gotten to where she was or why she was there. A name did pop into her mind. ‘Inuyasha?’ The name registered and it evoked a wave of sadness that felt like a kick in the gut. Inuyasha, a hanyo, a man she loved and he had left her for Kikyo; she remembered. How painful it was to have those be the first memories she recalled.

 

She doubled over, the pain of it all too fresh and too great. She didn’t even look up when a door opened into the room, bathing it in warm light, and a man approached where she sat. The man kneeled down and patted her on the back soothingly. “There, there,” he said.

 

A lump had gathered in her throat which she swallowed and looked up slowly. She couldn’t put a name to his face, but he did seem familiar. He seemed kind enough. “Who are you?” she asked.

 

The man feigned shock, “Why, you don’t remember your dear old friend, Byakuya?” His painted lips lifted into a small smile.

 

Kagome studied his face. A small feeling of doubt lingered but she couldn’t think of why. She felt like she knew him somehow. “I’m sorry, no. I must have hit my head or something.” She rubbed her head as if to emphasize her symptom, though she didn’t feel a lump or any soreness to indicate a head wound.

 

He helped her to her feet and walked over to the small lamp in the room. “Or something,” he said with his smile. “You took quite a spill out there. I’m happy that aside from your memory, you are otherwise intact, Lady Kagome.”

 

Kagome felt rather bewildered. “You have me at a loss,” she said, “I don’t seem to remember anything...aside from some things that I’d rather I didn’t.”

 

With concern he brought her hands close to him, “What would that be, Lady?”

 

She felt odd, being so close to this man, but looked down when he asked what memories pained her so, feeling shame and hurt, “Oh...um...Inu…” She broke off, unable to complete the name.

 

Byakuya nodded knowingly and tsked in a concerned fashion. “Ah, yes, I know that story quite well. But, I am happy to announce that all of that is in the past now.”

 

“How do I know you?” Kagome asked suddenly, looking up at him. This man was being awfully familiar with her and it was rather unsettling. They still stood in the tiny room with only lamp-light to see by and the dark walls of the room seemed to compress upon her.

 

“Like I said, we are old friends,” he said, cocking his head to the side. “Don’t worry, it will come to you in time,” he assured her.

 

“But how did we meet,” she urged taking a step back, pulling her hands from his.

 

The smile faded and Byakuya sighed, “Rather unfortunately, we did. But, all is well now. It was shortly after your falling out with the hanyo.” He looked at Kagome who turned her head away sharply at the name before he continued, “You fell ill and my master found you and helped you to recover. You’ve been here ever since. It was just yesterday that some upstart demon attacked us here at the palace and rendered you unconscious. My lordship left to eradicate the scourge and left you in my care.”

 

Kagome’s brow knit together in confusion as she tried to piece together the information she was given. “Don’t tell me that because I hit my head that I can’t remember any of this. That’s too much time to lose.”

 

Byakuya chuckled. He seemed difficult to perturb. “I think I can help with that,” he said. He walked over to her and held out a hand. Kagome eyed it warily. “I don’t bite,” he said, his smile deepening.

 

She hesitantly took his proffered hand. “I have certain gifts, much like you,” he began, “but my gift allows me to show people things. In your case, I will show you what you missed.”

 

“So, I’ll see the events of my life up until now?” she asked.

 

“More or less,” he answered.

 

She was not sure how she felt about all of this, but Byakuya had not given her any reason to doubt him. She closed her eyes and watched as scenes of her life unfolded.

 

 

 

 

Next time on Delusions……

 

….Sōrin, Miroku, and Sango had reached Inuyasha’s camp before morning. They had travelled through the night, it seemed, following the trail that Inuyasha said would lead to them. Amaya had woken shortly before they entered camp, her senses alerting her to the approach of others.

 

She saw Sōrin leading them, his staff strapped to his back and his hand near the hilt of his wakizashi in anticipation of danger. Miroku and Sango were paired together as always, though Sango’s brow was knit with concern as her eyes shifted repeatedly back and forth to Miroku’s wrapped hand and Sōrin’s back.

 

Even Amaya had noted the distance between Sōrin and everyone else besides Inuyasha. She wondered what reason they might have to mistrust him. Though, it did not surprise her too much with the recent interactions she had with him. Still, it was cause for concern since your team was only as good as the weakest member. Not to say that Sōrin was weak, by any means, but trust is what glued a team together and Sōrin was greatly lacking in that department…..