InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Miko Malice ❯ Introspection for All ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Productions.

 

A/N: Hi all, long time no see. If you have read my profile (unless you're reading this on animespiral) you know that my trusty laptop that got me through 4 years of undergrad even though it was already used when I bought it and all of my friends nicer, newer, and prettier computers were crashing all around us has past on to that great computer lab in the sky. My computer met its end right about the time I started my new job and while I really have needed to be writing something just to keep my head straight, its safe to say I've been less that inspired. Part of the problem is that I really like writing on a computer (my ideas flow faster for obvious reasons) and the only computer at my disposal as been my office desktop, which happens to be in a really bad feng shui place for creative flow, or so I believe. My nanowrimo submission I attempted on it? Crap. So when I went to my parents for Thanksgiving, I came up with the chapter. Surprisingly, I got it out on a yellow legal pad, but whatever works. This chapter is really just a lot of reflection and nothing much happens I hate to say it, but I think it lays things out pretty well. Inuyasha's mom and dad get introduced, so that has to be something. I would have added what my outline (which I left at my house) called for, but it's a pretty complicated chapter and I'll attend to it later. I have a new laptop finally ordered, so I should be giving you regular updates sometime after the first of the year. Sooner if my muse comes to me.

 

Wish me luck.

 

Thanks to all who reviewed. I wanted to respond to some of your points and questions, but I thought you would rather have this. Maybe next time.

 

Chapter 8

 

She was light, weightless like a fluffy cloud. It was in her bones and in her soul. There was just a feeling of freedom Kagome had not felt in months: relief. A great burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Whatever Kaede had done it had worked a miracle; she felt almost giddy, the heaviness gone from her soul.

 

The memories were still there, but they did not slice into her being as they had before; Kagome was no longer tormented by her sister's betrayal and the resulting things that had been done to her. She had been freed from the ghosts who haunted both her sleep and waking.

 

There was something else too. Something she had not foreseen.

 

Leaning against Inuyasha and pretending to sleep, Kagome tried to get her thoughts together. Despite herself, Kagome snuggled a little closer to the inu hanyou next to her. That was it: she wanted to be closer to him. Not only close, as near to him as possible. She wanted to be closer to him and she could not place why. Perhaps when her jumbled thoughts settled it would all make sense.

 

Inuyasha shifted to put his arm around her and Kagome appreciatedly snuggled even deeper to his warmth. Her distinct lack of fear did not go unnoticed by the neko. The feeling of being so familiar around a man and feeling so relaxed was really quite new. When she had been at her father's palace, a great focus had been placed on her miko powers so she was expected to shun the company of men whenever possible. She had never befriended a boy before and had never been really comfortable in their presence.

 

In the fuzz of her mind, a thought had occurred to Kagome. What if it wasn't just that she no longer was afraid of men as she had been so recently? What if she just felt close to Inuyasha? Even before going to Kaede's, Kagome had to admit she felt endeared toward the inu hanyou. It had been a feeling that the ramifications of had terrified her. Now after seeing the wise woman with her soothing balm for Kagome's emotional scars, the feeling was still growing, only now it was not terrifying, but instead it progressed in a new, tempting way.

 

When she had first been taken in slavery, Kagome had thought her life to be over and in many ways it had been. Her miko powers had gone dormant and she had thought she had lost them forever. The neko hadn't wanted to live. Her family had been lost to her and Kikyou had betrayed her, so even if she could have escaped and made it all the way back to the human lands, there would have been nothing for her. Bleakness had over taken her, and she had had little hope—if any.

 

But everything clicked back into place when she came under Inuyasha's care. Not only did she feel safe and even respected by him—something Kagome had never hoped to feel again—but the neko inexplicably felt drawn to this new hanyou protector. The man whose side she leaned against at that very moment.

 

Still, it was all too soon to tell anything for certain. The euphoria she was feeling could evaporate and she could go back to fearing Inuyasha again. And what about Inuyasha? He might be offering her comfort, but did that mean he…Did he mean something more? Or was she just some kind of prize to be protected?

 

Wait. Something more? Where did that come from?

 

Another thought flew into the face of her warm fuzzy reflections. Why would Inuyasha want her to begin with? Sure, they could bond over the fact they were both hanyou, but Inuyasha seemed to be wealthy. His father could arrange a marriage with a rich hanyou if need be. As far as Kagome could tell, she was penniless, family-less, and used goods to boot.

 

Why would Inuyasha want me?

 

He wouldn't. He could do much better.

 

Kagome tried not to cry and instead buried herself closer to Inuyasha's side, trying to take advantage of his warmth while it was available.

 

It was so unfair. Just as she realized what she wanted, it became painfully out of reach.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Inuyasha leaned back into the side of the cart as it made the long trail back to the Cabin. His mind was full with all the things Kaede had told him about Miyu—no Kagome.

 

Her name is Kagome, Inuyasha reminded himself while looking over his shoulder at the girl sitting next to him. That was new. Whatever the wise woman had done for the neko, it seemed to have worked. Inuyasha couldn't help the small smile playing on his face.

 

The grin did not last long.

 

What Kaede had told him still bothered him, and would surely do so for a long time.

 

There has been much this girl has been though.

 

Even though he had guessed most of Kagome's experience, it didn't soften the blow of what Kaede had relayed to him. Inuyasha had to forcefully stifle a grown when the thought of other men touching the neko, hurting her popped in his mind. She didn't deserve that! Someone should have been there to protect her from her past masters as well as that sister of hers. At the thought of Kagome's sister, Inuyasha shuddered: not even Sesshomaru was that evil.

 

I wish I could have been there for her.

 

You can't change the past, but just be gladsheis yours to protect from now on. Now no one—

 

Wait! Mine? When did she become mine?

 

You did winher didn't you?

 

Inuyasha's moment of internal confusion was stopped in the its tracks when he felt a soft weight pressing into his arm. He looked down to see Miyu—no, Kagome had fallen asleep and was resting on him like a pillow.

 

Mine to protect.

 

Suddenly the thought wasn't so scary. What if she was mine—really mine?

 

The thought was not entirely new to him even though for the life of him he could not say when it had first come to him.

 

Inuyasha scrunched his forehead, his palms suddenly sweating.

 

Thinking was not his forte.

 

But this was important. Very important.

 

Inuyasha looked down at the girl passed out against his arm. Right at that instant, his idea seemed perfect.

 

Inuyasha knew better—nothing was perfect. Especially for a hanyou. And when one threw two of them into the mix, kami knew what hell was just waiting to come down.

 

Would it really be such a problem for him to take Kagome as his mate? Even though his father had insisted he go into the Cabin of Mates, Inuyasha had not honestly believed he would find one during his stay. No, he'd believed he would stay alone for all his long life or be married off to some unfortunate girl who would always resent him for what he was.

 

But with Kagome things would be different: as hanyou they both faced the same desperate loneliness that came with their breed. Maybe if they were together things would work out. It couldn't be much worse than their alternatives.

 

That wasn't all.

 

The thought of another man—youkai whatever—with Kagome made his blood boil into a blind, red rage. Inuyasha knew anyone other than himself would mistreat her: she was fragile and alone, not to mention a half demon, and someone needed to protect her. Inuyasha felt he had already proved himself a far better candidate than those who had come before him—not that they had tried or even cared what happened to her. Inuyasha swore to himself he would not let harm come to Kagome again; with him she would be safe.

 

So another question arose: when did he ask Kagome to be his mate? What would she say? He knew she wanted to be safe, but he didn't want her to feel pressured to be his mate. Kagome might not even want to be his mate.

 

Perhaps they could still be married. If she were to have the Takahashi name and his family's scent, Kagome would be safer than she was now.

 

Only with me, Inuyasha's subconscious answered him.

 

Even if Kagome would accept him, there was still the matter of his father.

 

Inuyasha needed his father's protection just as much as Kagome needed his. He could hardly piss without the old man's permission. No, it wasn't that bad, but Inuyasha had to stay well on his father's good side. Still, the hanyou believed his father would be pleased he had found a mate—any mate. But to be on the safe side, Inuyasha decided to check first. There was always the possibility Lord Inutaisho hoped his younger son would marry a demoness or a human girl. Inuyasha was very sure his father had never even fathomed there would be another hanyou, they were so rare.

 

It would be better if he asked his father's permission first. The offer might be more appealing to Kagome if there was a large, welcoming family in the package. He also was a little afraid they might not accept her. If his family didn't welcome Kagome then he would have a difficult time protecting her.

 

And our children.

 

The thought made Inuyasha feel strangely. Even if he ever found a mate or his father located some poor girl to force to marry him, he had never thought as far as his mate letting him near enough so pups would be an option.

 

Would Kagome want pups—kits?

 

Inuyasha shook his head. He was going way too far.

 

First he had to ask his father.

 

Then Kagome.

 

There was a long way still to go.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

“She's here, m'lord.”

 

Inutaisho had been pacing some time and his servant's words did not quell his already grown anxiety. His wife wasn't speaking to him she was so angry. He felt just about the same inside. But it had to be done. He wanted Inuyasha to be happy and the boy was making no progress on his own. The hanyou seemed to have given up on finding a mate, so as the boy's father, Taro had taken the task into his own hands.

 

Taro had though he was doing the right thing by writing to the Higurashi family in the human lands. If his memory served him right, that was the family the Great Midori had married into. It had always seemed as though Midori had given birth to a child, a hanyou girl, not long after Inuyasha had been born. The family had taken some time to respond to his correspondence, and when they did it was to say that while there was a neko hanyou woman only a few years Inuyasha's junior, she had disappeared some time ago. Instead, Lord Higurashi had practically flung his elder daughter at Lord Inutaisho. The demon lord of coarse had been suspicious. As the Deshi Higurashi's only remaining child, this daughter should have remained to carry on the miko heritage. A human lord should have been her husband and they would live in the Higurashi stronghold. Though the girl's miko powers would diminish after her wedding night, as long as she wasn't loose she would retain enough of her gifts to train the next generation of miko-ettes.

 

Desperate for his youngest son's happiness, Taro had accepted the human girl even though his wife wanted to look further for an acceptable hanyou girl. Lord Higurashi did ask for a hefty bride price, but in return he promised a wife for Inuyasha who would be sweet and kind, and with an open mind to his son's “pedigree”. The situation was not ideal—Deshi's wedding contract was very binding with promises of nasty things to come if the wedding was broken off (if say, in the event they found a hanyou girl) or if any harm came to his daughter (if say, in the event the girl was a total bitch and mistreated Inuyasha and become food for lower demons)—but this seemed the best of the bad. Both Taro and his wife wanted the best for their son; a happier marriage than their own had been, but it had not been meant to be. Another unwilling human girl was to be sold off into the hands of a demon lord. There had been no guarantee a union between two hanyou would be any pleasanter than a cross between species, but they could only hope.

 

Now the girl had arrived. With crossed fingers, Taro went to meet the woman who would hopefully marry his son. Inuyasha's life had been so unfair so far, he had hoped that in this they could do something right by him.

 

Please, please, let her not be a complete terror, Taro prayed as he went to greet the girl.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Izayoi watched as her husband greeted their son's future bride. She stood at an upstairs window over looking the front courtyard. The girl in question was a powerful miko—that much was clear. Mixing a hanyou with a miko did not seem like the best of ideas. But this was not why Izayoi disagreed with her husband's choice of the human Higurashi girl for Inuyasha. While Taro saw their own loveless marriage as a great annoyance, Izayoi could not bear the thought of harm coming to either her son or her future daughter-in-law. Izayoi disliked the idea of Inuyasha being yoked to something so dangerous to him as much as she hated the idea of bringing a human miko into the Demon Lands where the priestess would be extremely susceptible to becoming a youkai's prey.

 

A miko? Honestly, any demon knows that being around one of those was like toying with an explosive after its fuse had been lit. One is asking to be turned into a purified pile of body parts.

 

As much as she feared that fate for her son, Izayoi also feared what other demons would do to a woman with such power. No, it did neither Inuyasha nor this Mistress Higurashi any good for them to be together.

 

Higurashi, Izayoi shook her head in a downward motion that showed both hints of trepidation and disgust. She had known the family personally when she still lived amongst humans. They were a proud linage, and none too wiling to befriend any demon, much less marry one of their daughters off to a hanyou: they were an old family and had once prided their selves on their pure blood.

 

They also must be desperate for something, which was only more reason not to put faith in them.

 

For years Izayoi had disbelieved the rumors that Deshi Higurashi had married a demoness. She sure as hell had laughed at the idea of Deshi being the father to a hanyou daughter. Lady Takahashi still thought Taro was chasing a dragon in his attempt to find the girl of rumor.

 

Looking down at the Higurashi girl, Izayoi scrutinized her every move. She was poised and pale, her eyes did not hold much warmth, and her gestures were forced. She looked afraid if not flat out terrified of Taro as he warmly welcomed her. He really was trying to appear kind. More so than the first time he had met Izayoi.

 

On first impressions, Izayoi felt an annoying conflict of sadness and dislike for her future daughter-in-law.

 

 

A/N: I'm trying something I don't believe I've seen in Inuyasha fanfiction: Inuyasha's parents not being the perfect, forever-in-love, happy, best-sex-life-in-the-senior-citizens-crowd couple. I think it fits for the story: its about arranged marriages gone wrong. While Deshi and Midori (Kagome's parents in Miko Malice) aren't happy, they have respect for one another, if for no other reason fear, so I hope the elder generation comes out as a nice contrast to one another.