InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ The Difficulty with Divinity ( Chapter 39 )

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

Chapter 39: The Difficulty with Divinity

The clearing was silent, every single being within it caught in their own thoughts - trying to wrap their minds around what the newest demi-goddess had just told them.

It was rather a lot to take in - which explained the length of the silence.

Finally, after some time, there came a sigh, and Kagome looked up sheepishly at the one the sound came from.

"Tell me, miko - now that you are responsible for restoring the balance between human and demon... how do you intend to do so?"

Kagome flushed and dropped her gaze, embarrassed. Quietly, she said, "I don't know. I haven't even had a chance to take all this mess in, let alone plan how to deal with all of it."

Kaede laughed at that, and shaking her head wryly, she reached out a comforting hand to the one she considered a grand-daughter.

"Oh, child... ye are a strange one, that is certain. I would almost be disappointed, I think, if some fate equally as strange had not befallen ye."

Sesshoumaru's brow rose at that, privately, he had to agree with the elder miko. He also was quite aware of the snickers here and there throughout the meadow from those that knew her - and the blush that highlighted his miko's cheeks.

My life will definitely no longer be so quiet, that is certain, he thought, resigned to the chaos inherent in her very presence.

"Hey!" she protested. "I'm not that strange! I'm still just Kagome, that's all, nothing special. Just Ka-go-me."

"Miko," Sesshoumaru said wryly, as laughter broke out in the clearing, once again, from those that knew her, "you have never been 'just Kagome'. You have always been something more, and this," he gestured at her vaguely, although everyone understood that he was meaning the divine aspect of her, "does not really change that. It merely adds to it," he finished.

She blushed and dropped her hot face, refusing to look at anyone. "Well, I don't think it's funny what Amaterasu did to me... I never asked for this! I just wanted the kami to fix their mistake, that's all - without punishing me for it."

She folded her arms across her chest, then, and lifted her face, a disgruntled look crossing it.

"It's not like it was my mistake that caused all this, but noooo, she had to go and make me into this," she glared at her slightly glowing skin, "and dump the whole mess in my lap to fix! How fair is that?"

At that, the rest of those in the meadow started laughing, even those that didn't know her, and Sesshoumaru shook his head once again, but then frowned a little as he thought back over her words. She had left something out, he was sure of it.

There was something... she said about two choices, and this one was the lesser of two evils. Kagome has never sought power, so becoming divine is not something she would have wanted - if this was the lesser of two evils, what was the other choice?

It must have been something she feared...

He glanced at his miko, his frown deepening as his thoughts played out.

We will speak of this - now. Alone.

He stood, then, and without another word to anyone, reached down and pulled a surprised Kagome to her feet, then placing a hand to her back, he guided her from the clearing, leaving behind a rather bemused group of people.

Finally, with a chuckle, Kaede climbed to her feet and shook her head, glancing back in the direction the demon lord had just led the new divinity, then back to the group still sitting in the meadow.

"I believe this meeting be over - I am sure the Lord will call another when he deems it necessary. Until then," she turned to Shunichi, who, since he was one of the first to arrive, had taken over a position as one of the leaders of the human faction of the army forming against Ungai, "Shunichi, take the men and continue training."

As the man left with a respectful nod, she turned to Ryozo, Miroku, and Sango, and beckoned for them to follow her. "You, Miroku, and Ryozo, will work with me until it is time for ye to see battle to raise protective measures around our very much-enlarged village."

Glancing back at Sango, she finished with, "And ye, my dear Sango, will take your slayers, and set up guards around the perimeter - so that none of Ungai's people can sneak up on the village and wreak havoc."

Sango nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, Kaede." She looked up at Miroku for a moment, then began to veer off towards the slayers that had followed her. "I'll see you later, Miroku - keep out of trouble... and keep your hentai hands to yourself!"

Kaede chuckled as Miroku blushed a bit and stammered at the startled look Ryozo cast him. "It seems that Sango does not trust your wandering hands, Miroku," she chortled, "I would say that is wise of her."

He put a hand to the back of his neck as the red in his cheeks spread at the look on Ryozo's face, and grinned sheepishly.

"Eh-heh heh," he looked away, "I don't know what you mean, Lady Kaede. I am always the very soul of propriety."

At that, several women who happened to be passing, huffed in irritated amazement.

"The lies that come out of that monk's mouth!"

Ryozo raised a brow and stared harder at Miroku, and he looked away, embarrassed as Kaede laughed again.

"It does ye no good to lie in this village, monk - too many of the women here have felt the unwelcome touch of thy cursed hand."

Miroku sighed as they reached the miko's hut and stepped inside.

I am rather well known here... maybe that's not such a good thing.

The look on his brother monk's face seemed to agree with that statement.

---wWw---

Kagome, bemused, simply followed along with the demon Lord's rather imperious touch on her back as he led her towards the well clearing. It was kind of hard to think, since all she wanted to do was melt into his arms.

She hadn't allowed herself to think about how much she'd missed him until this moment, and now, the mere fact that she'd almost lost him forever by being trapped in the realm of the kami hit her with the force of a two-ton truck, and her eyes immediately began to water.

I almost lost him! If I hadn't... then... I'd be stuck there, and he'd be stuck here, even despite those vows between us!

Sesshoumaru, of course, scented her tears the moment they welled in her eyes, and something else... Fear? What does she fear?

The moment he moved into the clearing he'd taken over, he reached up and within moments had the ties to his armor undone, stepping over it as it crashed to the ground. Instantly, he had her pulled into his chest, nuzzling his nose into her neck as he inhaled deeply.

I missed her scent... his thoughts trailed off as his mind went hazy with pleasure, and his demon blood surged.

Mine...

As soon as he lifted his head, she buried her face in his chest, and cried, letting out all the tension of days away from him, and the worry and fear that she'd almost been trapped away from him permanently.

Concerned by this time, knowing that his earlier suspicions had been correct and that there was something she hadn't said about her time in the other realms, he wrapped his arms around her and held her, just letting her cry - letting her release the tension he could almost feel crawling through her.

It took a while, but finally, she began to calm, and once she was down to a few hiccuping, watery sighs, he pulled slightly away and lifted her face with a clawed finger, studying her solemnly.

With a frown at the upset he could still clearly see in her eyes, he asked, "What happened there that you did not speak of earlier?"

Kagome let out a strange cross between a laugh and a sob, closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, and met his gaze. "T-trust you to notice the holes in my story," she almost whimpered.

He cocked a brow. "Explain why you did not tell all of the story before."

She reached up and wiped at the tears still slowly wending their way down her cheeks, and sniffled, then said, "Because this part of things was really no one elses business. It's only between you and I."

He nodded, not surprised. "You said there were two choices, and this one, was the 'lesser of two evils'. I know you, miko. If you consider this choice the lesser evil... what was the other?" He caught her eyes shift, and finished sternly, "And do not think to lie, woman. I will not tolerate that."

She huffed up at him, eyes narrowing. "I wasn't going to lie!" she growled. Then her eyes saddened again, she sighed, and ran one hand over his chest that was for once devoid of any sharp, pointy armor.

"The first choice, well, not really choice, because at first, Amaterasu wasn't going to give me a choice... she was intending to keep me there," she flicked a quick glance up at him, noting the forming scowl, "forever."

She winced at the feral, baritone growl that burst from his chest as his hands tightened around her upper arms possessively and his eyes bled red.

"And what changed her mind?" he ground out from between clenched teeth.

"I, uh, well... I kinda yelled at her," she said sheepishly as his eyes widened and began to lose their redness, fading back to gold in his incredulity. "I let her know that it wasn't fair to make me pay a price for their assistance in the matter since it was their oversight in the first place."

He blinked, and his fingers grip on her slackened as he stared at her. She yelled at a... goddess. His mind shot back to the many times she'd yelled at him over the years, and he sighed inwardly.

I should not be so surprised, really. After all, if she was willing to yell at me...

"And how did the goddess take that?" he finally asked.

She giggled suddenly, still wiping a few stray tears from her eyes. "Well, she seemed surprised, and asked me why I didn't fear her," she frowned at the memory, "and I told her it was because she was already threatening me with the worst thing she could ever do to me by keeping me forever from those I love."

She yelled at a goddess, because she tried to keep her away from... us.

A fierce sense of pride and sheer, overwhelming possessiveness shot through him then, and before his miko could even draw another breath, he had her across the clearing and pinned to a tree.

Eyes wide and startled, she looked up, and as soon as her mouth was in his view, he claimed it.

Instantly, her eyes closed and her arms came around his neck as she almost climbed his body in an attempt to get as close to him as possible.

He groaned heatedly into the kiss as she wrapped her tiny body around him, accepting everything he chose to give and submitting to his possession of her.

This monk will pay for keeping me from my female, he thought hazily, for the thousandth time.

Running his hands down her back until he was cupping her bottom, he squeezed, and then one hand ran back up to take hold of her neck. He couldn't get enough of the feel of her.

Finally, the need to breathe interrupted the heated flow of his blood, and he pulled away, panting heavily as he pressed his forehead to her own.

After a few moments of regaining his sanity, he pulled back a little, and looked into the heavily-lidded eyes of his miko.

"You will not endanger yourself again, nor will you leave my side without my permission." His eyes narrowed on her as she began to scowl. "This one will not suffer any to take you from him, woman - if you had not returned from the realm of the kami, they would have had to destroy me, for I would have besieged their places with all my power."

At that fierce and almost angered declaration, Kagome lost her scowl, and her eyes widened in awe... and then closed as she bent her head and nodded.

He was... really worried for me. I can't be mad about that, even if he is getting bossy because of it.

With a deep, tension-releasing sigh, she smiled at him. "O-okay. I promise, I won't take off like that again." She blushed a little. "I only did it this time because I was thinking..." she trailed off and glared playfully at him as he scoffed, "... that Ungai wanted to destroy you - and I couldn't let him do that. I could never let him hurt you."

She feared for me... a small pulse of irritation went through him... does she have so little faith in me that she thinks I would be so easily harmed? Followed by a larger pulse of a feeling he was still very unused to - happiness - she fears to lose me, as I fear to lose her.

With one last press of his lips to hers, he set her back down on her feet, and stepped back, one final heated glance, and he bent to retrieve his armor.

Kagome watched as he picked up his spikes - I hate that armor - and then moved forward to help him put it back on, humming contentedly to herself as she did so.

"You know..." she trailed off thoughtfully, a small frown settling on her brow as her mind wandered, "this whole 'restoring the balance' thing reminds me of some egyptian myths we learned about in school once." She looked up, pulled from her musings by his sudden stillness.

"How is that, miko?"

"Well... if I remember rightly... when a person died, in their beliefs, their heart had to be measured against the feather of truth, or something like that. If the person was good, their heart was lighter than the feather. If they were bad, though..." she stopped, but he got the gist of what she was saying.

"Then their heart would be heavier. But what has that to do with this situation, miko?"

"Truthfully? Not much, really." At his narrowed eyes and quirked brow, she defended her words. "It's just that the scale part of things reminded me of balance, symbolism, you know," she rambled, and his other brow began to disappear into his bangs.

"Miko," he drawled warningly, "you try my patience."

"Oh, hush, Sesshoumaru," she huffed. "Let me finish! I was reminded of balance," she reiterated, "and then my mind went from there to the judging of the heart. It made me think... maybe... that's what I need to do. Maybe I need to judge each ones heart, and decide whether they should have reiki or not."

She scowled then, as his face became thoughtful. "Although I hate having to be the one to make decisions like that. It's too weird. I'm just Kagome, and I didn't really want to be anything more than that," she growled, with an irate glance into the heavens.

She was sure that Amaterasu got the message when she heard a little laugh in her mind.

"Miko, you will cease your complaints. What is done, is done, there is no point in speaking of it further." He frowned in thought as he turned and settled a considering gaze on the blue of the sky.

"Your idea has merit, perhaps, though I do not know how you would accomplish such a search of the person's heart in the middle of a battlefield."

Kagome watched him stare into the sky as the wind flirted with his silver locks, twisting them this way and that. All I want to do is run my fingers through that silk... she reluctantly turned her mind back to the matter at hand.

"Well... not really. I mean, if those people are running around doing the things that they've been doing, then none of them deserve to have reiki, anyway. They've already proven that they aren't responsible with such power. So... it's just a matter of figuring out how to take their powers away."

He turned to look at her then, surprise evident in his gaze.

"If you have already decided that none of those we are to face on the field of battle deserve to maintain their status as miko, or monks... who then, do you speak of judging?"

She shook her head at him, and laughed.

"Well... the rest of the humans that have reiki, of course. Who else?"

"And where are you going to put the power that you take away, then, miko? For I am sure that you know that power cannot be destroyed - it can only be moved."

Kagome blinked at him once, then once more as what he said kicked in. Then she groaned in frustration.

"I knew it! This whole 'demi-goddess' thing is gonna be a pain in my rear! Why can't anything ever be easy?" she complained petulantly.

I am so gonna get someone for this...

Once again, she heard divine laughter tinkling through her mind.

"Because you are you, miko. Life seems to always be distorted when you are around," Sesshoumaru said, and though his expression remained blank, she could see the amusement in his eyes.

I am so gonna get you for that, Sesshoumaru.

---wWw---

Far above, in the realms of the gods, Amaterasu laughed as she watched her newest daughter try to figure out how to deal with the mess that had been dumped in her lap.

She knew perfectly well that she would prevail, and that she would repair what had been damaged, but watching her get there was going to be very amusing.

In fact...

It might actually be fun to disguise myself and go forth - I have not participated in a battle in eons. And I'd get to watch her get frustrated with this problem up close and personal...

---wWw---

A/N: Well... here's a new chapter! Sorry it took so long, but after finishing The Flower Girl last week, I just needed a break. Anyway... hope everyone enjoys this chapter... and can anyone see the potential for fun and mayhem if Amaterasu gets involved? Not to mention we still have to have that meeting with Sesshoumaru's mommy...

Amber