InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ Not all Battles are to the Death ( Chapter 49 )

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

Chapter 49: Not All Battles are to the Death

Taking a deep, calming, breath, Kagome called out "Tadaima!" as she slid open the door into the genkan, and waited for the response from her mother.

"Okaeri! Kagome, I've been so worried about you, you've been gone so long!" came drifting out from the house, and with a sigh, Kagome slid her shoes off and waited for Sesshoumaru to do so as well, then led him into the house.

"Hai, mama, I know - and a lot of things have happened since I last saw you," she said as she led the way into the kitchen, then further back to the laundry room, where her mother's voice was coming from.

Sesshoumaru followed calmly along behind Kagome, looking around with interest at the dwelling his miko had spent her formative years in. It went without saying that he had never seen anything like it in his life.

It looked as though her family was well off - in no way, shape or form were they wanting for anything. And the house was large - no one but daimyo lived in places this large or larger, though it was built strangely, and not at all what he was used to.

It didn't seem as though they had servants, however, and he wondered at that. How did they get things done without them?

Before he could think to stop himself, he found himself asking. "Miko, where are the servants? Your family appears well off - I have never seen a family with your wealth without servants."

There was a silence, then Kagome chuckled a bit nervously, and a strange woman stepped from the room and looked at him as he stood in the hall.

He would know who she was anywhere - she looked much like her daughter - and their scents were very similar, as well.

"Kagome?" she said questioningly.

"Mama, this is Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands - Inuyasha's half-brother," she said formally. "Sesshoumaru, this is my lady mother, Higurashi Hitomi."

Another thing that led him to believe her family was well off and influential - in his era, only those of importance had a family name.

He bowed his head deferentially. "Lady Higurashi, this one is honored to make your acquaintance."

Hitomi stared at him weighingly for a moment, then smiled and nodded. "Lord Sesshoumaru, welcome to my home." Eyes twinkling suddenly, she said, "And to answer your question, most in this time do not have servants except the extremely wealthy. While our shrine is well known and does well for us, we are not considered wealthy."

Something occurred to Kagome and she looked up at the demon lord with a slight frown. "You didn't seem to be too concerned about visiting my mother - you know, with your mother and all - why is that?"

He cocked a brow as he met her eyes. "Because you were not concerned about seeing your mother."

She nodded. That made sense. "Oh."

Hitomi gave a startled look, then shrugged minutely - she was sure she'd find out sooner or later. "So... no Inuyasha this time, Kagome?"

"Eh, heh, heh... well, mama, uhm... Inuyasha's somewhere else right now, you could say."

"Come on then, while I start lunch, you two can sit at the table and tell me everything that's been going on," she said genially, but firmly, as she led them back into the kitchen.

She watched her mother rather awkwardly for several moments as the older woman began bustling around the kitchen after seating her and Sesshoumaru both, wondering where to start the explanations.

Her mother glanced at her, with a raised brow and a chuckle, she said, "Why don't you start at the beginning, Kagome?"

With a sheepish look at her mother, she sighed. "Uhm... okay. Well, we defeated Naraku, and completed the jewel," she glanced at Sesshoumaru, wondering how to say what came next, but he just looked calmly back at her, and with a petulant frown, she huffed at him, "but I kinda... well - uh... diedintheprocess," she finally got out.

Her mother came to a halt, and turned to blink at her blankly. "What?"

Crap - she's gonna make me say it again, and slower. "I said I... died." She flinched, waiting for it...

Only, 'it', whatever 'it' she was thinking was coming - didn't. Her mother merely looked at her for a few moments, then turned and continued on in her tasks.

Kagome was left staring at her back, surprised.

"Well, you're obviously not dead now, so... why don't you explain what happened to change that?"

Sesshoumaru flicked a rather amused glance at his miko. Apparently, she'd been expecting a much different reaction, and was now uncertain of herself since she hadn't received what she'd been expecting.

He had to admit, the miko's mother was acting differently than he'd thought, as well - but that really should come as no surprise.

After all, look at his miko.

With amusement flickering in his eyes, he sat back to listen to Kagome fill her mother in on all the circumstances of her life lately.

Are all the members of this family so different - so strange?

---wWw---

By the time Kagome had finished filling her mother in on the destruction of Naraku and the jewel, her death, and the cause of her resurrection, the elder woman was sitting at the table, chin in her hand, staring with fascination at her oldest child.

Sesshoumaru had to admit, it was a tale of epic proportions - especially for those raised in an era where magic wasn't supposed to exist.

Hitomi stared at her daughter for several seconds after she'd finished speaking about how she and Sesshoumaru had been returned to life, and then nodded. "Okay - remind me to thank Inuyasha next time I see him." She completely ignored her daughter's reproachful expression. "Now - why don't you explain your connection with the Lord of the West, and why it is that you keep glowing like a firefly."

Her face shifting into annoyance, Kagome once again forcibly doused the goddess-glow. "Oh, I am so going to get you for this, Amaterasu!" she growled.

Her mother's brows rose in shock, and she snapped, "Higurashi Kagome! You will not speak ill of the kami in this house - you are a shrine daughter, and will show respect!"

At that, Sesshoumaru actually chuckled as Kagome's face changed to a sullen glower. "That is a rather awkward sentence to enforce, Lady Higurashi - considering that Kagome is herself a member of the kami now."

For the first time, Hitomi showed shock over something, and snapped out, "Explain!"

Not taking offense at the sharp tone, Sesshoumaru merely gestured to a rather tongue-tied Kagome and said, "You must ask her - I was not there when she confronted Amaterasu-sama in the realms of the gods."

When her mother's sharp gaze sliced into her, Kagome slouched down in the chair further, idly considering how, though she was now, as Sesshoumaru had said, a goddess in her own right, she still felt intimidated by that mother glare.

That's not fair, either...

"Well... you see, I've figured out what happened to all the youkai between then and now, mama. There's this monk, named Ungai, and he's really got a hatred thingy going on with Sesshoumaru here - so when we defeated Naraku, and all the lower-level demons started coming out, he decided it was a good time to gather an army of monks, and destroy all demons - especially Sesshoumaru."

Her mother cast a sharp-eyed glance at the handsome demon Lord sitting in her kitchen. "And why does this monk hate you so much?"

"Because I have a small human child as a ward, and he tried to kidnap her from me. I would not allow him to take her against her will, however. I believe he found his defeat... humiliating. We have also come to find that he is being possessed by something else that is feeding his hatreds, changing it into madness."

She turned back to her daughter and nodded. "Okay, Kagome, keep talking."

"So anyway, I decided to go to the realms of the kami, and ask for them to help stop this from happening. Only when I got there, Amaterasu wanted to keep me there forever as the price of her help because I'm like some kind of giant puzzle to the kami, and she wanted to fill her curiosity about me." She blushed and looked down at her hands sheepishly. "I kinda freaked out and told her that it wasn't fair to make me pay a price since it was their mess up in the first place."

Hitomi's eyes widened at that. "And she didn't destroy you?"

Kagome shook her head. "Nope - turns out it was all a part of their plan to begin with. Darn gods," she muttered with a grumpy glare into the distance. "Anyway, she then said the only other way she was willing to go about it was to learn me from the inside out, so to speak - she combined us for a moment, I guess you could say. But when it was over, I was no longer really human - I'm a demi-goddess. The goddess of balance, if you can believe it," she said, with another sour look upwards.

"But why balance?" her mother asked, brow furrowed thoughtfully.

"Because it turns out this really is a fight of the gods. Sosa no Wo is after Amaterasu and the heavenly realms again, and I'm her answer to her brother's plotting - plus, I'm supposed to fix what he's messed up. I asked why they had to involve all of us, and she said-"

"-because the kami cannot fight in this reality directly, or we'd be destroyed," her mother finished. "Yes, that much is understood," she sighed.

It was quiet for a few moments as the woman took in all that she'd been told, and then she looked up at first Sesshoumaru, and then Kagome. "So, what's the story with you two," she gestured at the two of them.

Kagome flushed; Sesshoumaru cocked a brow at her in question, and she nodded.

"Kagome is my mate-to-be. We both have chosen to tie our souls together - in life and in death," he said quietly, but firmly, his tone stating that he would brook no arguments.

Hitomi chuckled at the deepening blush on her daughter's face and stood up. "Well, then, welcome to the family." She turned to the stove to check on the food, and had to shake her head at her daughter's crazy, mixed up destiny.

"Oh, my dear, trouble always seems to follow you around, doesn't it?"

Sesshoumaru stood up as well, holding a hand out for Kagome to take. "It seems that this propensity of hers has not changed as she has matured - it has only gotten worse. This one will have his work cut out for him in our lives together to keep her safe."

Kagome glared up at him as he pulled her to her feet, then huffed. "It's not my fault! It's the kami - they cursed me!"

Hitomi chuckled at her daughter and shooed the two out of the kitchen with a smile. "Why don't you show your Lord around, Kagome - when lunch is ready, I will call you."

Kagome nodded absently as she took his hand and led him out through the house, back into the genkan so they could put their shoes back on. Her thoughts had gone off on a tangent when her mother had teased her about trouble following her around.

For some reason it brought to mind the girl in the story that Sesshoumaru had told her about his ancestors and how they had come into power in the West.

But what stuck in her mind, is what he'd said of things between demons and humans before that time... they'd lived in peace back then, though distant from each other. So... it seems as though it's after that that people and demons started fighting. I wonder... her brow furrowed, when those with spiritual powers started using them actively against demons?

When did Sosa really start this plan of his? And how did it happen?

"Sesshoumaru..." her voice trailed off for a moment as he turned his head to look at her when he stepped out of the door.

"Yes, miko?"

"I think I need to find out just what it was that started the hatred between humans and demons - what life was like before that... when things were still balanced, before I can figure out how to fix things."

He paused in his steps, then turned around to face her, slight surprise shining in his eyes. "And how will you do such, Kagome?"

She looked up at him, a look of dawning knowledge shining on her countenance. "By walking the other realms - going back in time, as far as I need to go to find the answers. I need to know what the original creation looked like - what the balance was between human and demon before I can set things in motion to repair it, don't you think?"

He cocked his head thoughtfully, his eyes shifting to the trees behind the shrine as he considered her words. "I understand what it is you are saying - it would, indeed be difficult to fix something that you had no knowledge of... but you will not go alone. We will do this directly after the meeting this afternoon is over."

She started to snap at him about giving her orders - but then she caught the look in his eyes... and realized that he was suffering anxiety about letting her go anywhere alone. Especially after what had happened the last time she went off without him. With that knowledge, Kagome moved to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him as his arms came around her in response.

"Okay... then later - that's what we'll do. I won't leave you, Sesshoumaru," she whispered as she leaned up on tiptoe and brushed her lips over his.

She'd really only intended comfort, but at his almost needy, breathless groan, she submitted to his need and let him take her mouth over. She could never deny him...

No, she could never deny him - because she loved him.

She decided that the tour of the shrine could wait - but her demon lover could not.

---wWw---

Kagome was so caught up in her Inu that she didn't even notice the company they had - until the old man was practically breathing down her back.

Needless to say, she wasn't happy about the interruption.

"Girl, don't you think there's more important things than that to be doing? This is a battle for the ages - and you have things you need to be learning... I don't believe that's one of them, either," he said sourly.

Kagome clenched her hands in her lover's haori as she pulled away from Sesshoumaru and took a deep, calming breath before she let go and turned to greet her grandfather.

"Grandpa!" she said, with false cheer. "I'm glad to see you - wait, what?" she asked as what he'd said caught up with her. "What do you mean 'a battle for the ages'?"

Grandpa stared at her flatly for several long moments, completely ignoring the demon standing behind his granddaughter as she gazed just as flatly back. Finally, he huffed, and turned, motioning both of them to follow him.

"Come on then, we don't have all day, Kagome. There's something you need to see - it's your first clue. It'll tell you where to start your search for answers."

Sesshoumaru's brow rose into his bangs as he considered the fact that this old man obviously knew what was going on - and wondered how he knew. Somehow, he had the feeling that the great Goddess of the Sun had both hands in this one... he followed silently along behind his muttering onna as she glared with narrowed eyes at her grandfather.

Whatever it was they were going to see was being held in the shrine itself, because that's where the old man was leading them. He looked around idly as they passed, wondering exactly when it had been built; obviously, it was sometime after his era, since this place did not exist at that time - only the well, and the goshinboku were there - surrounded by forest and field.

He didn't realize he'd voiced that question out loud until the elder answered.

"This shrine was built four hundred and ninety-six years ago, though at the time, it was much smaller, of course. It didn't reach this form until almost a hundred years after that. No one knows why it was built to begin with - though legend has it that the original portion of the shrine was built to contain an evil spirit that was defeated in battle by a miko... and a demon - and then sealed here by a goddess."

Sesshoumaru cast a sharp glance at the old man, and caught a rather sly, sidelong glance cast in his direction.

"Tell me, elder - where is the portion of the shrine that this so-called evil spirit was sealed in?"

Kagome watched with suspicion in her gaze as her grandfather led them around the side of the main shrine to a smaller building along the back of the small garden behind it. How come, in all his stories of the shrine, and all his precious 'ancient artifacts', he's never mentioned this 'evil spirit'?

Reaching the building, her grandfather once more glanced back at the demon Lord, and slid the shoji door open, beckoning the two inside. "Come on - what you asked to see, and what you need to see, both lie in this building."

Kagome stepped in behind him slowly, never really having come into this building before - it wasn't part of the shrine that was open to the tourists or even worshipers - in fact, she'd only ever seen her grandfather come here, and even he did so rarely.

She hadn't taken two steps inside when she knew that there was far more going on, and that her gramps was hiding things from her, than she'd even suspected. Eyes narrowing dangerously as Sesshoumaru stepped inside after her and his eyes were also immediately drawn to the elaborate sealing sutra carved into the wood floor of the building, she snapped her gaze up to her grandfather.

She could feel her own power here... and Sesshoumaru's.

"Start talking, old man."

---wWw---

A/N: I apologize for the wait on this chapter – I've had a lot of things happening in the last week, and haven't had a lot of desire to write much. Hopefully, it won't take as long before I get the next chapter up.

Amber