InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Ara-mitama ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does.

From the manga:

“Ara-mitama, nigi-mitama, kushi-mitama and saki-mitama.  All together these become one spirit, and in the flesh they live inside the heart.”

 

[Next frame. Miroku continues, while behind him Inuyasha looks a bit stunned.]

 

“Ara-mitama is courage,  nigi-mitama is family (or friendship),  kushi-mitama is wisdom, saki-mitama is to be in charge of love.  Human nature is correctly maintained between them.”

 

 

Fonts for thoughts:

[Inuyoukai]

(Inuhuman)

`Inuyasha'

 

 

Ara-mitama

By Licentia poetica

 

[Give me the full moon.]

 

Inuyasha sat in his favorite tree outside of Kaede's home with an arm draped over his raised knee and the Tessaiga tucked against his shoulder. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back against the bark of the tree giving the illusion that he was relaxed and at ease, but his upright, triangular ears twitched at the slightest noise, belying his tranquil pose. He had too many issues to think about and ever since the Tessaiga had been broken he had too many voices in his head.

 

First and most pressing in his thoughts was his meeting with Yourei Taisei and how the information that he had learned affected the problems with the Tessaiga. He could not forget about the failure with Numawatari and how Sesshoumaru had told him he had lost his way.

 

`Shit. Like he cares if I can gain control of Tessaiga. He just wants to get an arm to wield it himself.'

 

Totosai had explained that the two new abilities, the Senki and Kinka's fire, were not necessarily a permanent part of the sword, unlike Kongou Souha and the Dragon-scale.

 

`He sent me to train with that Yourei Taisei asshole to master the Dragon-scale. Damn arrogant youkai. What good did it do? I still didn't find a way to return the Tessaiga back to the way it was before Naraku screwed with it. All I got was some stupid advice from an arrogant youkai and those damn exercises to control my youki.'

 

He shifted position in the tree as a distant noise caught his attention, but settled back when he determined that it was too far away to be a threat. He kept an ear cocked in that direction, just to make certain there was no danger, and turned his attention back to Yourei Taisei's lessons. The exercises had changed him.

 

That brought him back to the situation he was in now; talking to himself in his head.

 

[Give me the full moon. The other has time by himself and you cannot keep me suppressed forever. I have learned much in the short time that I have been awake.]

 

Inuyasha opened his eyes, looking down at Sango, Shippo, and Miroku who were sitting outside of Kaede's home. `You will destroy them. I can't let you free.'

 

[Why would I destroy our Pack? Do you not remember what Yourei Taisei said?]

 

One of the pieces of advice had been about Sesshoumaru. “Make peace with your brother, Inuyasha. His way has not been that of the InuYoukai; he seeks the way of Supreme Conquest. You must realize by now that neither one of you has established pack dominance as is normal with InuYoukai. Yet you seem to be an alpha male: you have a pack with adult females, another male, and a kit. Even though it is not an InuYoukai pack, it is powerful and Sesshoumaru can sense this. As an alpha male himself he will see you as a rival. If you wish to protect your pack, you must help him to find his way back to the InuYoukai way. Sesshoumaru will eventually master the Tenseiga and when he does he will be a potent enemy. You must protect your pack and you must learn Pack Law.”

 

`My Pack.'

 

All these years that they had traveled together he had never thought of them that way.

 

`I'm the alpha male? Shit. They're all a pain in the ass. Especially…'

 

“Kagome.” He growled her name softly into the wind carrying her scent to him.

 

`Hell, I don't know what to think of her. Give me a raging horde of demons any day rather than Kagome when she gets mad.'

 

[We protect her. She is ours to protect.]

 

`Yeah, well she scares the shit out of me sometimes.'

 

[She stands by us, even when we are angry.]

 

`Keh. You're lucky she stands by us. You've almost killed us more than once.'

 

[I come out when we are threatened, when we are dying or bespelled. You have never given me freedom when we are not in mortal danger.]

 

(I do not want to lose control. It frightens me that I can't control your actions.)

 

`Great. The other half's talking now.' Inuyasha felt like his head was splitting.

 

[That is the problem; you fight yourself. How will we gain control if we do not master ourselves? Give me the full moon!]

 

(You'll lose control again. You might hurt Kagome or the others.)

 

[I will not hurt our Pack and I would never willingly hurt Kagome. She is our alpha female.]

 

(Then why do we fight with her all the time?)

 

[An alpha does not respect a weak male and we need to show her our dominance or she will choose another. Besides, she belongs to us and we belong to her. She should know not to leave.]

 

(We don't have any right to hold her here.)

 

`Shut up!' Inuyasha began to grip the tsuka of the Tessaiga to keep control of his thoughts.

 

(Why don't we go get her from the hot spring? She keeps us calm.)

 

[Keeping us calm won't suppress me any more, foolish human! Be grateful that there is a possibility that we will remain a hanyou and that Kagome has said she likes us the way we are.]

 

`Shut up, damnit! Besides, when she said that I looked at her and she panicked. Who knows what she really thinks of us?

 

[She took an arrow for us. An alpha bitch protects her mate.]

 

(And then you had to dig your overgrown claws into her arms to show her how we felt.)

 

[I was under a spell! She broke it for us.]

 

(By kissing us, but then we had to act like an idiot about it. She'll never kiss us again.)

 

`Just…shut...u p...damnit! Both of you!'

 

Inuyasha took a deep breath in through his nose, breathing in the trace scent of Kagome as she bathed in the hot spring. Even though it was negligible it helped calm him and he spent a full minute just inhaling her fragrance.

 

[We must learn control.]

 

`Keh! The problem is that I need someone to teach me the ways of the InuYoukai but the only one I know of is my asshole brother.'

 

(Well, there is Kouga.)

 

Inuyasha stiffened and the youkai growled.

 

[Foolish human, he is a wolf! Do you want him near Kagome? Do you want him to be close enough to be influenced by her incredible scent, to touch her and leave his own scent claim?] Inuyasha's hair began to stir in a breeze that was not created by natural forces.[Do you wish to lose her to a rival male? One who is alpha in his own pack and who has already tried to lay claim to her? Kagome is ours and unlike the other cold, death-scented bitch you cared for she does not mind that I am with you.] The youkai voice held an odd combination of anger, affection, and desire as jagged markings began to appear on Inuyasha's face.

 

(Shit! Calm down and stop transforming us! The mangy wolf's just the only thing we know close to an InuYoukai. I don't want him even close enough for you to smell him and I don't want him looking in her eyes, either! And stop insulting Kikyou.)

 

`Shut. Up!' Inuyasha sighed, and closed his eyes. `Kagome…and Kikyou. That's another problem.'

 

[Do you deny that Kagome is our bitch?]

 

(We owe Kikyou our loyalty.)

 

[It is natural to want to mate with Kagome. She is beautiful and powerful and she likes us as we are—not divided and weak.]

 

(Keh! You admit I help make us strong!)

 

[I admit you have your uses, but it is the hanyou who must decide whether we balance and which female to choose for our mate.]

 

(Kikyou came first and we've promised her to protect her….how can we go back on that promise?)

 

`Fuck! Be quiet!' Inuyasha gripped the tsuka harder and breathed slowly as he thought about his recent relationship with Kikyou. `She does smell bad and she's as cold as ice. I think…I'm not sure, but I think she tried to kill Kagome. But I failed her and I have to make it up to her.'

 

(We failed Kikyou, but I don't know how to make it up to her other than follow her into hell.)

 

`That's not what I promised her, but I owe her.'

 

[Is that what you really want? It means we must leave Kagome unprotected and there are other evils in the world once Naraku is defeated.]

 

(We mean something else when we tell Kagome we'll protect her. Admit it.)

 

`Shit, will you shut up! I gotta think. I gotta think about Kikyou.'

 

He sucked on a partially elongated fang that was slowly returning to normal size as he briefly considered his relationship with her. Before his sealing his life had been very different from his current one; they had never associated within a village but had always met in the forest or locations away from humans.

 

`Kikyou was ashamed to be seen with me. Ashamed of the dirty hanyou. I was used to it and didn't question it, but now…now I have my Pack.'

 

His eyes flicked over the group of people below him. Not just Kagome, but Miroku, Sango, and even Kaede accepted him, welcomed him. It was the first time in his life that he had felt a part of a group. He couldn't help smirking as Shippo gathered up his crayons and skipped into Kaede's hut.

 

`Shippo. Damn little brat. Keh, I already know a part of Pack Law, without anybody's help.'

 

Shippo had accepted him and reacted to him as if he were the alpha male.

 

`I've always gotta smack the kid and keep him in line. He tries to take the choicest portions of the meals, he's always finding ways around the rules, and I gotta lay down the law. Then he runs to Kagome and she protects him…like an alpha female.'

 

Inuyasha smirked again. `Damn kid, he always comes back and tests me again, just to see who's in control.'

 

[We're doing it again.]

 

`What?'

 

[Avoiding making a decision about Kikyou and Kagome.]

 

`Keh. I don't want to face it yet.

 

[That is the coward's way. We must make an honorable decision soon.]

 

We have to finish the Shikon no Tama first and then I'll make the decision how to use it.''

 

The human sighed. (You already know what you will do. You want to get rid of me, but that won't solve the issue with them! Kikyou doesn't want the youkai.)

 

[And if you use the Shikon no Tama without thought or preparation, I will be an uncontrollable menace. Give me the full moon!]

 

`All right! Did you two ever think that maybe I want to stay the way I am? That's what Kagome likes, anyway. I'm tired of these fucking arguments running through my head.'

 

He scented the air and listened carefully, checking for any threats in the area and making sure Kagome's scent was still coming from the hot spring. As he ran his tongue over his normal-sized fangs he made a decision.

 

`I will give you the full moon on one condition: the only way you're gonna get free is if we can work through some of the exercises to help us stay in control.'

 

He took his inner silence for agreement and prepared to jump from the tree to run through the exercises Yourei Taisei had given him.

 

Suddenly he had the oddest feeling that he had been in this exact spot before, having the same conversation in his head. He shook his head to dispel the thought, and jumped from the tree.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Translations:

Youkai: apparition, spirit, demon. Although the translation is usually demon, the western interpretation of this word usually has connotations that I would prefer to avoid. I will use demon only to indicate the low level youkai that cannot assume a humanoid shape.

 

Youki: Japanese; the “demonic aura” or “ghostly wind” which is the special ki possessed by youkai that gives them their supernatural powers. Ki is the spiritual essence, soul, or life energy of an individual.

 

Tsuka: grip (handle) of a katana, a slightly curved sword with its convex edge sharpened, used since the Ashikaga period (1333-1474). The Tessaiga and the Tenseiga are both katanas (although Tessaiga is a bit larger than most when transformed). Katanas were one of the weapons used by the Bushi class, especially the Samurai, and those with a long and honorable history are believed to have souls of their own. To lose one's sword is an enormous dishonor; it means you have been careless with your soul and therefore cannot be trusted with any significant responsibility.