InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Delving Into The Mysteries Of The Past ❯ The Past Episode ( Chapter 11 )

 

My emotional outburst didn't last very long, and I looked up at Yami who smiled down at me.

 

“You look like a mess,” she said. “Go get cleaned up. Washrooms are right down the hall.”

 

“Come with me?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to go to a washroom alone in a strange place with incubi running around. She rolled her eyes.

 

“No, I will not go with you. You're old enough to go by yourself. Besides, the incubus have direct orders not to touch you, and I'm not you keeper.” With that, she herded me down the hallway until we reached one of the washrooms, and then sped off before I could stop her. Cursing her speed under my breath, I opened the massive door a sliver and peeked inside, hoping there was no one in there.

 

There wasn't. I let out a breath of relief, and slipped in, the door closing behind me with a dull thud. Numerous sinks lined the walls and I openly gawked at the impressive display of marble and gold. Growing up in a shrine, I wasn't accustomed to much finery, and all of this was sending me into a mental overload. Cautiously, I tiptoed over to one of the sinks, though I didn't know why I had the feeling I should be quiet, and looked at the single tap adorning it. The gold was freshly polished and didn't have a speck of tarnish on it anywhere.

 

“They must have somebody clean these every day,” I whispered, and then glanced around to make sure no one heard me in all of my stupidity. I forced myself to turn the tap, wincing as my fingers left marks on the unmarred surface. Crystalline water poured out, and I placed my hand under the stream, only to jerk them back out again in shock. The water was freezing! I checked the sinks nearest me. They were all cold! “What the hell?” I asked, momentarily reverting to school ground language. I didn't was to check all the sinks, and I knew that if I delayed any longer, Yami would probably come marching back and drag me to the room. Taking a deep breath, I cupped my hands and splashed the water on my face, wincing as the water stung my cheeks. After several rinses, I dried my face with a towel found under the sink and hurried back to the room, which I found after the help of Mari, whom I ran into on the way.

 

I stopped at the door, and wondered how I was going to apologize to Kage. Unfortunately, as soon as I reached for the handle, the door was thrown open and Kage flew out, obviously thrown by Yami with the command of, “Talk!” We both didn't look at each other, Kage opting to stare at something on the floor, and I stared at the wall. Finally, he looked up.

 

“Sorry,” he sad gruffly, his eyes returning to the floor. I was speechless. Kage did not seem like the type to apologize.

 

“What?” I asked, blinking. His head shot up and he glared at me.

 

“I said I was sorry,” he said again. “I didn't mean to break it.” Now I was really confused.

 

“Break what?” I asked. He pulled out the object he was hiding behind my back. It was my alarm clock that had gone missing the day after we left again from the shrine. Or at least, I thought it was alarm clock, seeing as it looked so mangled it could have been anything.

 

“The stupid thing was annoying me, and I guess I hit it too hard because it broke,” he said, offering it to me.

 

“You're sorry because you broke my alarm clock?” I asked, in total disbelief. Was he that thick?

 

“I got nothing else to be sorry about,” he said. Before I could respond with a witty comeback, the door opened, and Yami, Miroku-sama, Sango-chan, Shippo-chan, and Kirara, Sango-chan's pet demon-cat, all came tumbling out, landing in a heap on the floor. “Were you listening the whole time?!” I yelled, half in embarrassment, half in anger. Yami was the first to recover.

 

“Retreat! Retreat!” she yelled, getting up and running back into the room with everyone else hot on her heels. I sighed in defeat.

 

“You know what?” I said to Kage. “I'm sorry too.” I shook my head at the question in his eyes. “I'm just sorry, okay?” He only `feh'-ed and walked back in the room, me trailing behind him.

 

“Well that was painful,” Yami commented, looking up from her channel surfing. “Never seen a big screen T.V. before?” I shut my mouth promptly, once again cursing my upbringings. She grinned at me, and went back to the T.V.

 

“Can you stop that?” Kage snapped. She looked at him.

 

“If I didn't have so many interruptions, I would have found a channel already,” she replied curtly. “But since there is an absence of anything good to watch anyway, I will settle for MTV.” Blaring rock music sounded from the speakers as if on cue, and we all lost Yami's interest as she watched the screen in rapt concentration. Sango-chan sighed, and moved away from the noise.

 

“Can she put it any louder?” Sango-chan asked me.

 

“If she hears you, then probably yes,” I said, keeping my voice low. The music lowered.

 

“All you had to was ask,” Yami said sweetly, her grin showing all of her teeth.

 

“Yami…err…Yami-sama?” I asked, unsure of how to address her.

 

“No honorifics. Just call me Yami or Yami-chan if you want to,” she replied.

 

“Okay, Yami, why is the water cold here?” I asked. Kikyo had always accused me of being too nosy for my own good, but it was trait that I had no control over.

 

“Hot water dries out the skin and hair,” Yami explained. “Incubi and succubi especially are slaves to fashion. Anything that might ruin their looks is avoided at all costs.”

 

“So there's no hot water?”

 

“None.”

 

“What about for showers or baths?” I asked.

 

“You'll have to take it cold,” Yami said with a shrug. “Oh come on!” she exclaimed in response to my horrified look. “It's not like it's going to kill you! So the water's cold. Big deal! You jump in, you jump out. End of story!”

 

“Easy for you to say!” I countered. “You're used to it!”

 

“No I'm not! I just do it because it makes my hair look nice. I hate it, especially in the winter!”

 

“Then don't do it!”

 

“But my hair!” she whined. “I might be only half succubus, but I still care about my appearance to the nth degree!” I was about to retort when a violent shiver seized my body. I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to keep warm. “Looks like some poor victim has stumbled in here,” Yami said, moving to a window to view the massive fog swirling around. “The fog will stay until whoever it is leaves. It ensures that the person can never find their way back here.” I was about to ask why, but Mari ran into the room and interrupted me.

 

“It's a bunch of bandits,” she said, making a face. “Hide me in here. I don't want to have to deal with them.”

 

“Tsk, tsk Mari-chan. Shirking your duties because you don't like the people,” Yami teased her. I sat up. I could sense a jewel shard approaching.

 

“Did any of them have a jewel shard?” I asked. Everyone looked at me.

 

“You're looking for them?” Yami asked. When I nodded, she said, “Don't tell me you were the one who broke it?!” I nodded shamefully. To my surprise she just laughed. “Cool. Eww…they're passing this way. I can smell them. Tell me which one has the jewel shard,” she said, opening the door a little bit. I watched as at least fifteen bandits walked by, each one smellier and uglier than the rest. I could sense the shard the strongest when the last one passed by, trailing flies behind him, and he looked as is he was stupidest one out of all of them.

 

“That one,” I whispered, reveling for a moment in the look of repulsion on Yami's face. “What are you going to do?”

 

“Watch and learn,” she said, sticking her head out of the door. “Pst, hey! Hey, you!” she whispered as the bandit passed by. He stopped and pointed at himself stupidly. “Yes you! Ya wanna come in?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. He looked down the hallway at his disappearing comrades, during which Yami pretended to strangle herself with her hair. Then he looked back, and looking very pleased with himself, nodded. Yami gave him a fake smile, and beckoned him in.

 

“What the hell is she trying to pull,” Kage asked me. I shrugged.

 

“Let me look at you, sweetheart, “ Yami crooned in sickly sweet tones, circling him. When she was behind him, she lashed out at him so quickly that I barely saw it. He crumpled to the floor without a sound. “Sucker,” she said, wiping her hands on her jeans. “So, where is the jewel shard?” she asked me.

 

“You mean I have to find it?” I asked, not liking the idea of having to search a smelly bandit.

 

“Yes, you do. You're the only one that can sense it, unless Miroku wants to do the honors.” Luckily, the shard was in a pouch hanging around his neck, and I had no problem purifying it and placing it in a small jar. “So,” Yami said after I was done. “You're in the east because there are jewel shards here?”

 

“Yeah, I was told to come here by my family,” I explained to her what happened. She frowned.

 

“I'm not that good at geology and stuff, but I wouldn't have expected the jewel shards to fly out this far,” she said thoughtfully, running her hand through her hair. “Maybe one or two, but not much more.” I shrugged.

 

“Those bandits weren't even from around here,” Mari spoke up. “They were from the west, traveling.” I bit my lip in frustration. We would have to double back if what Mari and Yami were saying was true. I was seized with a sudden idea.

 

“Yami, do you travel into the western lands often?” I asked her. My suspicions were confirmed when she shook her head.

 

“Not if I wanted to cause a hell of a lot of trouble,” she said. “It's pretty much an unwritten rule between Demon Lords. We don't trespass into each other's lands unless we have a good reason for it. It avoids unnecessary conflicts and with all that's going on right now with the Demonic Revolutions and such, we don't need to stir up anything else. Why?” I didn't say, and I was glad that Yami didn't push it, since the reason would have sent Kage off in another tirade. She had said it herself. Demon Lords didn't cross over the boundaries of their land. Even if the Demon Lord of the East was a she instead of a he, Sesshoumaru-sama wouldn't cross the borderline. Not that I expected him to, or even remotely wanted him to…I could feel my face burning. I was blushing! Why was I blushing?! Not good! Not good!

 

“You look sick all of a sudden,” Mari said to me, looking up at my face. “Are you okay?” She seemed genuinely concerned. I thought I was saved until Yami decided to put her two cents in.

 

“She's not sick stupid. She's blushing,” she said, not even bothering to look up. “Leave her alone.”

 

“Why are you blushing,” Kage asked, confused. I bit my lip, trying to formulate some kind of lie. Surprisingly, Yami saved me this time, instead of making it worse.

 

“Because there's some incredibly hot guy in the T.V. right now who has a great voice,” she answered for me, turning up the volume. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, as Mari did, and went and sat next to Yami.

 

“You have a big mouth,” I told her in hushed tones.

 

“My big mouth just saved you,” she replied. “Now why did you want to know about all that?” I could see that I wasn't going to get out of the mess I had unknowingly created, so I told her.

 

“My mother and sister think I'm having some kind of relationship with Sesshoumaru-sama,” I whispered. I had expected a reaction, but not the one she gave me.

 

“What!?!?!” she shrieked, her voice cracking several octaves. Almost immediately, she brought in back under control and asked again, “What!?” I told her about my meetings with him and what had transpired. Her mouth fell open.

 

After that exchange, Yami was strangely silent the rest of the night, except to mumble a few `goodnights' to us before rolling herself up in a sleeping bag. In the morning, though, she was back to being amicable, and even agreed to walk me to the washrooms again and stand guard by the door while I took a decent shower for once.

 

“Is this really necessary?” she asked me from outside the door. “No one's even awake yet. We're more of night people than early morning people.”

 

“Y-Yes,” I said, shivering. The fog still hadn't dispersed and it felt like it was below zero. “If I catch pneumonia, I'm blaming you.”

 

“You won't. You catch cold from going from places that are really warm to places that are really cold. You're going from cold to cold,” she stated. I hadn't known Yami very long, but her sarcastic logic was already killing me.

 

“Is anybody coming?”

 

“No, and no one will come! It's too early! Can I leave now?”

 

“Wait for me!” I heard her sigh. “Sorry,” I said.

 

“No, it's okay,” came the reply. “You remind me of my sisters.”

 

“You have sisters?” I asked. She had never mentioned that before.

 

“I had two,” she said, accenting the `had.' I blinked.

 

“Had?” I questioned.

 

“They died when the Demonic Revolutions started.”

 

“Did…did we do it?” I tried to choose my words carefully. Yami laughed darkly.

 

“Hikari was killed by a priestess. She looked about seven at the time. Hakumeiki was killed by demons when she looked about fourteen,” she answered.

 

“My father was killed by Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu.” I didn't know why I said that, but it was too late to take it back.

 

“Hmm,” she replied. “Mine was killed by Naraku.” I momentarily forgot the barrage of icy cold water, and looked up.

 

“Naraku?” I asked in morbid fascination. I could practically see her nodding.

 

“Yeah, he didn't really kill him, it was more like he absorbed him,” she said, disgust evident.

 

“He can absorb demons?” I asked, queasy. He had attacked the shrine on several occasions, always after the Shikon No Tama. None of us had ever gotten a good look at his face; the baboon pelt he always wore concealed him entirely.

 

Naraku was the sole demon responsible for the Demonic Wars. After the demon genocides, Naraku had taken a rise in powers, and he was the cause of many human deaths. I knew he was extremely powerful, and even more so when it came to manipulation, but I hadn't known the true extent of his powers. Yami was talking again.

 

“If I ever had to use the phrase `worthless half-breed,' he's what I'd use it on,” she said. I started.

 

“He's a half-demon?” I asked in disbelief.

 

“You didn't know?” she replied. “Wow, I thought a miko of all people would know that. It's why he wants the Shikon No Tama. The only way for him to become a full demon is the jewel. You don't know the story of Onigumo?”

 

“No,” I said, drying myself with a towel, and pulling clothes back on. “Tell me about it.” I sat down next to her.

 

“Well, Onigumo was supposedly a fugitive. They say that when the wars started, he got caught in the midst of battle and never fully recovered. He was covered in all sorts of burns, and was paralyzed. Some foolish woman took pity on him, and soon enough he began to lust after her. He called demons and promised them his soul in exchange for a body,” she recited with practiced ease. “In any case, that didn't work out, and thus Naraku was born.”

 

“And he wants the Shikon No Tama…” I started.

 

“…Because he has a human heart he needs to get rid of,” Yami finished. “They also say that there is one demon Naraku fears the most.”

 

“Really, who?”

 

“Not really fear, but this demon's powerful enough to kill him, so he wants to absorb him and take his power.”

 

“Stop being melodramatic and tell me!”

 

“Got close one time too.”

 

“Yami!” She grinned.

 

“Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu,” she said, the grin turning evil. “The only one that Naraku fears. It'd be fun to see those two in a death match. My money's on KGK,” she said, abbreviating the name. I shuddered.

 

“It would not be funny,” I said. “It'd be nice to see them kill each other.” Old wounds of the heart never heal.

 

“Sorry,” she said guiltily. “Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu also wants the jewel too.” I looked up. She nodded and continued. “Be on your guard. He may be closer to you than you think.” With that cryptic warning, she left, and I was still trying to process all this new information.

 

We left that day, at around noon. Yami, Mari, and a few other succubus and incubus saw us off. I tried to get Yami to come with us, but she refused.

 

“You're going to have plenty of drama in the future,” she said. “You don't need any more from me.” I let it go, but her comment bothered me. I had the feeling she knew something that she wasn't telling. It always irked me when someone did that, especially if it was to me. However, we had to backtrack all the way back to the west, and we needed to get going as soon as possible.

 

“I wish we could have stayed longer,” Miroku-sama said wistfully, staring off into space. Sango-chan growled and glared at him. I was beginning to think that she had a crush on him. I would have to watch more closely. Quickly, before Miroku-sama got himself knocked out, I shared the information that Yami gave with me about Naraku to them. When I was done, Miroku-sama nodded his approval. “I've heard the same rumors.”

 

“So have I,” Sango-chan agreed.

 

“We'll go back to the shrine and tell Mom, Great-Aunt Kaede, and Kikyo about this,” I said. I also wanted to go home so I could settle this little dispute with Kikyo. She'd probably told Great-Aunt Kaede to tell me that there were jewel shards in the east. No one questioned where or how Kikyo got her facts.

 

I had not expected to be met with battle when we arrived there.

 

I had already noticed something was wrong when I saw the column of smoke rising in the air when we came within seeing distance of the shrine. In a moment of panic, I ran ahead of everybody, fully expecting the worst. I burst into the back courtyard, yelling for somebody to answer me.

 

“Kagome! Get down!” I heard Kikyo yell, but it was too late. Whatever it was that was attacking saw and heard me before I could react. Tentacles reached out to grab me, and I froze, waiting for the end.

 

It never came. Kage had unsheathed Tetsusaiga at sometime, and had caught up with me in time to pull me down and I heard the faint hiss of one of Kikyo's Sacred Arrows. When I looked up, I saw that it was Naraku who had attacked again, but this time, Kikyo's arrow had caught the baboon pelt he always wore, and it fell off of him, revealing his face to all.

 

“Kagewaki-sama?!” I gasped. I couldn't believe it! My family knew Kagewaki-sama. He was one of the few humans that were actually trying to stop the war instead of making it worse. And he was…Naraku?! He, it, smirked.

 

“Kagewaki was a good man,” he said. “He still is to those who still believe he is alive.”

 

“You killed him?” Kikyo shouted, notching another arrow. I heard Sango-chan and Miroku-sama run up behind me. They stopped cold. Each bore a similar confused expression to one that I wore.

 

“That is Naraku?” Miroku-sama asked, hands at his prayer beads that sealed away his Wind Tunnel. I saw Naraku's eyes slide over to them.

 

“My dear Sango,” he addressed her. She started, and then grabbed her Hiraikotsu, readying for battle. His smirk broadened. “I thought I had my demons kill the all the Demon Slayers.” Sango-chan faltered.

 

“You! You attacked my village!” she yelled. She began to run, but Miroku-sama held her back.

 

“He's trying to bait you, Sango! Don't let him!” he said, holding on to her shoulder.

 

“You're still alive Monk?” Naraku asked him. “I would have thought that Wind Tunnel would have killed you already.” Miroku-sama glowered at him, his knuckles turning white as his grip on the prayer beads tightened.

 

“Enough!” Kikyo yelled, as she let loose another arrow. Blue light encased it, but Naraku sacrificed a large amount of tentacles to stop it. I glanced up at her and saw her worried expression. That had been her last arrow. A purple haze began to form around us. Miasma.

 

“Go to hell, bastard!” InuYasha yelled, swinging Tetsusaiga. “Wind Scar!” It did nothing, except to blow up more tentacles and more miasma was released into the air. I started coughing from the toxic gases. InuYasha growled. There was no way out of this. Miroku-sama stepped forward.

 

“All of you stay behind me!” he yelled. “Wind Tunnel!” I regained some hope at this. We couldn't cut through the tentacles, but we could still suck them up. Unfortunately, Naraku had also thought of this. A large number of Saimyosho, Naraku's pet demons of sorts, appeared and flew into Miroku-sama's Wind Tunnel. He collapsed to the ground. “Poison,” he spoke through gritted teeth. Sango-chan knelt by him, completely forgetting the battle. I could feel my energy slipping away. If I could get my bow and arrows, I would have a chance at shooting Naraku to distract him, hopefully causing the miasma to dissipate. I couldn't move my hands though. I couldn't breathe in the miasma, and I was using both hands to cover my mouth and nose. Something warm dropped over me. InuYasha had slipped of his shirt.

 

“What about you?” I mumbled. He shook his head.

 

“I'll be fine. You get out of here,” he commanded, glaring at Naraku. I seriously considered running, but a worried glance up at where Kikyo was, coughing and gasping for breath, made me stop. Hoping that Naraku didn't see me, I grabbed my bow and arrows with one hand, the other holding InuYasha's shirt against my face as protection, and quietly notched an arrow. Then I stood up.

 

“Naraku!” I yelled. He looked over at me. “This is it!” I let the arrow fly. I must have transferred my anger into the arrow because it was stronger than any arrow I had ever shot before, purifying the miasma even as it headed towards Naraku. It hit him in the chest, and continued to go though him until it emerged and struck the ground a few feet away. I took pleasure in seeing the shock and fear on his face. Faster than I thought possible, I notched another arrow, but this time Naraku was ready. He disappeared in a burst of miasma and was gone by the time we had all stopped coughing. InuYasha looked at me in a mixture of confusion and something else I couldn't quite place. We stared at each other for a little bit, until I noticed that he was shirtless. That caused a bit of embarrassment on my part, and amusement for Miroku-sama, who was not dead and still had energy to make jokes thankfully, and began quietly snickering at my predicament.

 

“That was good, Kagome” Kikyo said, coming down to help us drag Miroku-sama into the house. I blinked. Did Kikyo just compliment me? “If you could shoot like that all the time, Mother wouldn't have to worry about you so often.” Okay, scratch that.

 

“Will he be okay?” I asked her, nodding towards Miroku-sama. She nodded.

 

“I'll treat him right away,” she said, bestowing a very rare smile on me before turning away. Sometimes, Kikyo could be the nicest person anyone could hope to meet. Then at other times, she could be the coldest. My contemplation of my sister was stopped when I sensed an all-too-familiar demonic aura, and I hoped, with all that was going on right now, I would not be missed as I slipped out the door.

 

………………………&# 8230;………………………… …………………………

 

Okay, that took way too long to write! Heh, heh, I forgot about Sota. He'll show up in the next chapter.