InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Finding Kagome ❯ Chapter Twenty Six ( Chapter 26 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own InuYasha and company, however I DO own an overactive imagination...

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty Six

 

 

Meanwhile back at the retreat...

 

 

“Okay, that was just a little weird,” Sally commented as she walked into the kitchen.

Kagome was busily transferring her energy into a kitchen knife, leaving it sit on the table with a soft pink glow. Selene gaped at the process, not sure which was weirder, her phone call or what her best friend was doing.

 

“What do you think?” Kagome inquired, quite oblivious to Selene's discomfort.

 

“What is it for?” Sally slipped her hands behind her back and cautiously examined the knife as it lay there, like one would study an uninvited scorpion in their cereal bowl.

 

“Momma says it's a defense. I can send energy through a projectile, and slow down or even stop demons. Aunt Kagome could kill them with her arrows, that's what Shippou was talking about when he told me to practice my archery,” she frowned at the knife. “I don't like the idea of killing anyone. Especially after getting to know Shippou...”

 

“Let's hope it doesn't come to that,” Selene tried to smile reassuringly, but failed.

 

“What's wrong, Sally?” Kagome turned to give her friend her full attention, eyes full of concern.

 

“I just talked to my cousin on the phone, she wants us to come out to her beach house on Saturday . . . she wants to introduce us to her new boyfriend,” she went to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup, then leaned back against the counter.

 

“You don't sound very happy about this,” observed Kagome.

 

“She was asking questions about youkai,” she took a sip of the coffee, her brow knit. “They didn't sound very hypothetical either.”

 

“There you are! You abandoned me . . .” Michael mock pouted, before pulling Selene in for a warm embrace. “Who was that on the phone?”

 

“I was trying to not wake you up!” she protested, setting her cup down before he spilled it for her. “It was Miranda, she wants us to come out Saturday. She has a new boyfriend she wants to show off. One who claims to be an authority on youkai. Something doesn't feel right about it to me.”

 

“We're going, right?” Michael looked at Kagome then back to Selene for agreement.

 

“You two don't really get along that well, are you sure you want to?” Selene asked worriedly.

 

“It was a silly misunderstanding, I never meant to insult her . . .” reached to grab a fresh cup, and pour himself some of the coffee.

 

“You insulted her cousin?” Kagome's lopsided grin suggested disbelief, though she knew from personal experience how brazen he was capable of being.

 

“I made an offhanded comment about her profession, not realizing what it is she does, that's all . . . I apologized!” Looking up after adding sugar to his coffee, he noted that Selene had him fixed with one of 'those' looks..

 

“Oh Okay, so you didn't make a pass at her . . .” Kagome sounded relieved.

 

“Kagome . . .” Michael turned and fixed a glare on the table knife. “Why are you putting the pink junk all over the silverware?”

 

“I'm practicing.”

 

“Just thought I would ask.” He watched as she suffuse yet another knife with the power. “Kagome . . .”

 

“Mmhmm?”

 

“What exactly is it . . . that you are practicing?” His tone was guarded, observing that this was not the same thing as the moth.

 

“Just the transfer . . . don't worry, the knives wont get up and walk away,” she commented offhandedly as she concentrated on yet another knife.

 

“Okay . . . I was wondering about that,” he looked pleadingly at Selene. “Do you see what I have been dealing with?”

 

“Hey, you have your own tricks . . . Monk!” Kagome shot back at him.

 

“Now she's calling you Monk, huh?” Selene watched Kagome warily for a moment.

 

“That's who he was . . . it makes sense now why you call him that . . . more than ever,” Kagome stopped, and blinked at her friends. “And you . . . were the exterminator. And you were good at it, Sally. The best. Shippou said so.”

 

“The only one missing is the hanyou, and we would have the full team back . . .” Michael sighed, “But for what purpose, none of us has a clue . . .”

 

The mention of the hanyou brought Kagome to pause.

 

“Something is brewing, Michael . . . I have felt it for some time now, but it's getting worse, stronger,” Ouna entered the room, eying the three of them. “Selene doesn't seem to have memories . . . while the two of you seem to remember more and more each day. That has me concerned.”

 

“We had the benefit of meeting Shippou . . . maybe that's the difference,” suggested Michael.

 

“Or what she needs to remember is too much for her,” Ouna paused with a thoughtful eye toward Selene.

 

“I will be honest, this whole demon's chasing us thing kind of bothers me,” Sally interjected, picking up her coffee. “First of all, I always thought of them as fables . . . like faeries and dragons.”

 

“And you don't believe in either of those, do you Selene?” The seriousness of Ouna's expression took Selene by surprise.

 

“Shippou would change her mind . . .” Kagome grinned brightly. “He even looks like Fae folk, at least in his human form.”

 

“Human form??” Selene glanced around at them. “He has another?”

 

“He's kitsune youkai, a fox demon. His true form is like an overgrown fox,” Michael grinned remembering the kitsune's head butting against the wards Ouna had placed.

 

“So I wonder what kind Miranda's boyfriend is . . .” Selene muttered offhandedly, taking another sip of her coffee.

 

This drew the full undivided attention of the others in the room.

 

“Well, even when all of this was just stories, we always knew youkai were demon's right?” she asked.

 

All three nodded.

 

“He told her youkai are gods, and were worshiped once upon a time . . .” She looked at each of them in turn, her brow raised. “Doesn't that suggest something to you?”

 

“This does not bode well,” Ouna's expression was grim as she shook her head.

 

“Ditto . . .” Michael mumbled in agreement, glaring at the empty space in front of him.

 

“Don't be so glum! We should give this guy the benefit of a doubt . . . he's probably just a mythology buff.” Kagome's cheerful tone was like a brass bell in funeral parlor. “Even if he is youkai, look at Shippou! He's great!”

 

“He was also reared by a human, Kagome. The fact is, we know nothing at all about this person that Miranda is with,” Michael was determined to break past her Pollyanna attitude.

 

“Even so, if he chooses to be with her, and she wants that too, who are we to get in the way?” Kagome was determined to remain cheerful.

 

“It's probably nothing, just the way she talked about youkai . . . It sounded like she really believes that they exist and have somehow been wronged,” Selene reached for the pot to warm up her coffee.

“Okay, so we go to see Miranda, prepared for what ever might happen . . . good or bad,' Michael compromised. “Kagome, you practice your defensive pink junk, I'll stock up on my paper junk, and Selene . . .” he looked at his fiancée drawing a blank. She didn't have that giant boomerang thing anymore. Even if she did, he doubted she would know how to use it.

 

“She asked me to bring my guitar . . . I guess I can provide the background music while you two . . . colorize and papier mache him?” she smirked. “That is . . . ” she added offhandedly, “Only if it turns out he's a bad guy.”

 

Ouna shook her head. Sally really . . . just didn't understand. And that distant look in her daughter's eyes told her Kagome was plotting something. She had a feeling she knew what it was.

 

She motioned to Michael to follow her, as Bo entered the room with Sally's shamisen, fully repaired to the young woman's delight.

 

“I don't believe it!” she quickly tuned the strings. “You are a miracle worker, Bo!! I thought it was a lost cause.”

 

This made the big man blushed.

 

“My Papa had me workin' on instruments when I was just little,” he offered, which was a rarity.

 

“How can I ever repay you?” she looked at the neck, where not a sign remained of the abuse it had taken.

 

The man looked down, still blushing. “It's payment enough to see you smile, Miss Selene.”

 

Michael caught this as he followed Ouna out of the room, a quirky grin on his face.

 

“I think he's sweet on my girl!” he told her, twisting backward a bit to catch one last glimpse of the scene.

 

“I don't believe you have any competition, Michael,” she replied, guiding him into her office then closing the door.

 

“This must be serious . . . usually you share everything openly, what's going on?” he sat in an offered chair.

 

“I believe that Kagome is going to try to do something stupid, thinking that it is the right thing to do . . . and I want you to stop her,” her tone was blunt.

 

“Kagome and stupid are two words that should never be in the same sentence . . . ever,” he frowned at her. “What is it that you think she is going to try to do?”

 

“It's the reason I didn't speak of the well before. I think she is going to try to use it . . . to find InuYasha.”

 

Michael stared at her, dumbfounded.

 

“No one knows what happened to him. They were inseparable for the better part of her lifetime . . . it stands to reason that she will try to find him.” Ouna sat in her own chair behind her desk.

 

“That would require a trip to Tokyo, she can't be away from her work that long . . .” he considered the ramifications of an extended absence from her job. “What are the chances that she could find him . . . if she were to go?”

 

“Slim and none . . . Shippou told me that he disappeared. No trace. He spent many years trying to find him, Michael. He felt that he owed him after years of his protection. He found . . . nothing. His assumption now, with the appearance of the Jewel, is that InuYasha is dead. The person that she will be searching for can't possibly exist.”

 

Michael thought on that for a few silent moments.

 

“So, you want me to keep her from running off to Tokyo, is that it?” he demanded. “She's a grown woman and can do what she wants, how do you expect me to stop her?”

 

“She respects you.” Ouna peered at him. “She can't leave . . . not when the clear and present danger is right here in our own backyard.”

 

“You mean the attacks. . . the break in . . .” he considered what she had said. “What you are saying is we need her here . . . her power. . . the jewel . . .”

 

“Precisely. What ever is going to happen, is going to happen here . . . not in Tokyo, it is going to happen now, not in some distant past. I wish I could tell you more than that, I only know as much as I have shared with you.” Her eyes held a sadness that he had never seen before on that face. “I am asking you to interfere in her search for her heart's desire . . . I only wish it didn't have to be that way.”

 

“Ouna, Kagome deserves to be happy. I have a friend I've been wanting to introduce her to that I think could really make her happy. She doesn't like the idea at all . . .” he raised his hand to his chin.

 

“Don't ask her permission, she will never consent,” she warned him. “Just make it happen, get them to meet . . . He's a good man? Perhaps it will dissuade her from a fool's errand.”

 

“I will see what I can do,” he promised.

 

“The sooner, the better, Mikey . . . I see it on her face, and I don't know how quickly she will try to make that trip. We can't lose her . . . if she jumps . . . Kami only knows what she will find . . . It's possible she won't make it back.”

 

The thought stunned him.

 

A soft knock came at the door, and Kagome entered without invitation.

 

“What are you two conspiring about??” she grinned at them, not fully registering their expressions. “Momma, where did you put that old bow of mine? I can't find it . . .”

 

“In the attic, little one. You will need to buy new arrows I'm afraid,” Ouna rose to follow her daughter, the discussion with Michael was concluded.

 

“Oh, Okay . . . Sally says we should go soon if she's going to help with the apartment. She said she is going to help out tomorrow with security at the Opera House. They just called her. OH Mikey, did you leave your cell at home?”

 

Hearing his name Michael snapped out of his thoughts.

 

“Um . . . yeah, I did . . . why?”

 

“Sally says that someone from the University has left messages on her voice mail, looking for you,” she informed him.

 

He shuddered. He had hoped to avoid his adviser for just a few more days.

 

“I know what it's about . . . I'll deal with it when we get back, it's not as urgent as all that.” It was a small lie, but a lie nonetheless and he felt badly about it.

 

And Kagome knew, because he had not, could not look at her when he said it.

 

He could feel her eyes on the back of his head. It would be the first of a procession of guilts.

 

 

 

~ooO0Ooo~