InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Miko no Youkai ❯ Miko ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all those involved do not belong to me. They just invaded my head and forced me to type.

Warning: No lemon this chapter! Perhaps you will understand why after you read it.

A/N: This is based off the manga on www.wot-club.org.uk/Inuyasha. Though I have every DVD I could get shipped from Hong Kong, the anime has no influence on this fic. Do you know how many extras they toss in? Cha..

If the above warning upsets you, don't fret; my next chapter had to have one.

This chapter is way shorter than I wanted it to be, but the next one also promises more length.

~~~ Reunited ~~~

When Sango helped Miroku into their shelter, Shippou's heart skipped several beats. His tiny hand gripped the chord Kagome had given him that morning. The smooth texture reassured him and calmed his heart. If Kagome was in danger, he was sure he would know. Unconsciously, his thumb and forefinger rubbed the chord as though to further assure himself of her safety.

Just as he was beginning to calm, the feeling that she needed him washed through his thoughts, making his tail bush. He stood, turning to Kirara and whispering low enough that the humans would not hear.

"Come with me."

Kirara shook her head. Ever loyal to Sango, she was hesitant to leave. The kitsune sighed and gestured toward the monk and taiji-ya. The latter was preparing ramen and looked as though she was gathering her courage. She paused after pulling the water off the fire to look over at her faithful companion. With the barest of nods, she told the neko youkai to leave with Shippou.

More nervous every breath he wasn't by his okaa-san, the kit was shifting from paw to paw. When he saw Sango's nod, he pulled Kirara behind him and bolted out of the cave. Sounds of protest convinced him to let go of the feline while he paused to search for Kagome's scent. He found her most recent trail mingled with Miroku's. Sparing a glance at Kirara, he dropped to all fours and took off. It wasn't long before the two slid to a halt as Kagome's form came into sight. Sitting near her was a rather grumpy hanyou, arms folded across his chest, and legs crossed neatly beneath him. Catching their breath, Shippou and Kirara crept closer to the resting miko. She appeared fine, just exhausted. Relieved, the kitsune sighed and walked confidently toward his mother.

"I wouldn't do that," a low growl rumbled from Inuyasha.

Shippou blinked, looking to the hanyou for an explanation. Little Kirara ignored them both and marched up to Kagome. She purred and nuzzled the miko's cheek, giving it a few licks as well.

"Keh! Must have let the barrier down while you distracted me." The hanyou glared at Shippou, causing the kitsune to scurry closer to Kagome.

The growl that had been directed at both the kitsune and neko youkai for their invasion of his time with Kagome died before it began when the miko stretched and blinked at him. He found himself unable to do anything other than stare back into her deep eyes. She smiled lovingly and pushed herself up, careful not to knock over the two little ones. Once standing, she held a hand out to her hanyou.

Inuyasha dropped his gaze to the hand and studied it for a long moment. Was it her way of apologizing for upsetting him? He deserved an apology, and until she voiced one, he shouldn't give her any signs of forgiveness. His whole posture changed from relief that she was okay to one that bespoke his mild anger with her. Unfortunately for him, Kagome just shrugged and pulled her hand back. She didn't seem to care. He tilted his head just enough that he was able to watch her through a curtain of his hair.

Infuriating, she was. After a brief glance at him she had sat back down, legs crossed, and was now cuddling Shippou. The kit was lost in her affections, and nearly asleep. Such a sight should have infuriated him; filled him with jealousy to direct at the kitsune. Yet, it was oddly comforting to watch her with one hand soothing Shippou while the other was scratching Kirara. Would she be like this with his children?

The thought made Inuyasha's breath catch with realization. Kagome was his mate now, they would have children together. His eyes softened as he watched her and his muscles began to relax. He hadn't realized how tight they had been. How did Kagome affect him so much without him realizing what was happening until too late? He sighed and turned to face his mate.

"Kagome, I-" he swallowed the lump restricting his voice and tried again. "What are we going to do?"

The miko blinked up at him. Her eyes ran over his form, calculating his mood before she spoke. "We're going to stay here and let Shippou sleep. I have a feeling he's been worried about us."

"Us? More like you." Inuyasha sat down beside Kagome, opposite Kirara. His hand reached out to rest on her knee while a blush threatened his cheeks.

"Nn, he worries over you as well, Inuyasha," her eyes closed and she leaned toward the hanyou.

Grunting, Inuyasha shifted his position uncomfortably. He had questions to ask, but he didn't want her to see his reactions. He wanted honest answers from her. With another grunt, he nudged her weight off of him and scooted around so they were back to back.

Kagome smiled and leaned back against him. If he preferred to avoid her gaze she could deal with it. Besides, she could use their bond better than he could. In fact, she'd place bets that the fact their powers were bonded had slipped his mind. It didn't matter, all it really did was allow her to read his energy as he could read her scent. She considered it an even trade. Perhaps she would explore the bond more when he wasn't so edgy. For now, she relaxed against him and waited for the questions she was sure were coming.

She had a while to wait, though. Inuyasha was gathering and sorting his thoughts and emotions. When Shippou started to snore softly and Kirara was contentedly purring beside him where she had climbed onto Kagome's lap, the miko wrapped her protective energy around the four of them and drifted into a light sleep.

The feeling of Kagome's miko power surrounding him only startled Inuyasha briefly. He could hear her breaths evening out, and guessed that he had waited too long to speak up. Though something told him that when he was ready to speak, she would be ready to listen. He turned his thoughts inward again, ignoring how comfortable her warmth was.

Seeing Kagome with Shippou had made him realize how good a mother she could be. The kitsune was wild and listened only to himself, except when Kagome asked him to do something. He behaved for the miko, and, Inuyasha admitted to himself, looked to her as he would a mother. He sighed. Well, Kagome was his mother now; she had claimed him and Shippou was obviously happy about it. For him, nothing had really changed. Slowly, realization dawned on him. If Kagome was Shippou's mother, and he was her mate, he should act as a father to the kitsune. All color drained from his face. They were always fighting! How could he act as a father to the annoying little brat? This time, realization did not dawn on him, it smacked him upside the head. Most of his fights with the kit started because of Kagome. It was nothing that she did, more how he reacted to her attentions toward the little twerp.

That was part of the problem, too. His attitude toward Shippou could be a lot better. Well, he could start now, right? Kagome obviously wanted things to change. Which brought up another point.

What had made her act so different? What had upset her so much that a casual comment he tossed out made her snap, and awakened her miko abilities?

"Feh."

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice made the hanyou jump. Only the feel of her power still surrounding them kept him from leaping to his feet, sword drawn.

"Feh," he repeated.

"Mm. I thought you were ready. I'll just go back to sleep." She yawned and shifted her position slightly. Her legs had fallen asleep shortly after she had and it was uncomfortable. The contented sounds of Shippou and Kirara, however, kept her from stretching them awake.

"Kagome," the hanyou's voice held the slightest amount of uncertainty. Kagome smiled; she was right after all. Now, she waited for him to continue.

"What happened?"

"To upset me? I told you that already. Remember?" She kept her voice even and soft enough to not disturb the sleepers.

He remembered now. Something to do with a friend's father. "How bad is it?"

"It's not. Not now, anyway. He won't ever bother her again." It was getting harder to keep her voice even.

"Is he-? Did he- ?"

"No, neither is dead. She was in the hospital for a while, but I think relatives took her in." Some of the hurt and guilt she felt for not being there for her friend slipped into her words.

"Oh." Both were silent for a while. Kagome tuning the events of her time over in her mind, and Inuyasha trying to think how he compared to the unknown father.

It was the hanyou that broke the silence, "You said I reminded you of him. How?"

"The few times I met the man, he was always dismissive of his daughter." Tears were slowly crawling their way down her face. She and her other two friends had known life was hard for the curly-hair girl, but they had never suspected her father would suddenly become violent.

Now he understood. He definitely had to start treating Shippou better. More like a son. The bops on the head would have to be reduced as well. It wasn't like they worked anyway. Inuyasha sighed. Well, he couldn't try to treat the kit like Kagome did, mainly because he didn't know how it was the miko made the brat behave. Mulling over it a bit more, the answer came to him with the memory of his and Kagome's bond.

In the short time since his youki had calmed down, he was beginning to get instinctual instructions. 'Instructions?' He rolled the word over a few times before nodding. Yes, that is what they were. Instructions for how to behave as a youkai. Apparently, some part of him had already considered Shippou his son. Dredging up memories of interactions between the kit and himself, he knew he should have nipped him on the nose or sent a sharp, commanding growl at him. Provoking growls only egged the kitsune on, and, truth be told, many of the bumps Shippou had received were for actions that did not require any reprimanding at all. The kit had viewed Kagome as his mother from the start, his behavior only let other youkai know his position.

"Keh." Inuyasha's head was starting to hurt with all the thinking.

Kagome smiled again. She felt Inuyasha relax against her and listened as his breathing slowly evened out. When she knew he was asleep, she whispered an "I love you" and allowed herself to drift off again.

A cold feeling of dread yanked Kagome from her dreams. Her breath came in fast pants as she glanced around, trying to pinpoint the location of the danger.

Flicking her gaze upward, she caught sight of a familiar, soul-stealing youkai. "Kikyou," she hissed.

She gently woke Shippou and Kirara, nudging them off her lap. A backward jab of her elbow had Inuyasha on his feet, a hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt. Kagome knew she didn't have time to explain, and she didn't want Inuyasha to realize who was nearby and go running off before she could confront the dead miko.

"Shippou, Kirara, watch Inuyasha. Stall him." The two youkai nodded, shifting their gazes to the hanyou. The miko bounced nervously on the balls of her feet, giving the surrounding trees another glance. Then, without warning, she dropped the protective barrier, shouted out Inuyasha's subduing command, and bolted in the direction she felt the dead miko.

~

She found Kikyou in an extremely small clearing that was unnervingly close to where she had just been. The dead miko looked surprised to see her, but quickly recovered and replaced her stoic mask.

"What are you doing here?" Kikyou's cold voice drifted across to her reincarnate.

There was no real need to answer. Kagome's power was obvious to the one who shared her soul. Then, miko's gaze met dead miko's gaze as each sized the other up.

Two barriers began to rise, meant to block all others out. Despite being able to feel Kagome's power, Kikyou was surprised to feel how strong she was. The girl was untrained, she should not have such control. Yet, there was no denying her ability, either.

"Kikyou," she spoke softly, just loud enough for her double to hear. "Your hate is burning you, release it."

"I can't," her voice was equally soft, but it sent a chill up Kagome's spine.

Having enough experience with Inuyasha to know when an argument requires more than words, Kagome gathered her courage and took three strides forward before tackling the dead miko. Her move was completely unexpected, and Kikyou found herself on the ground before she could react.

"You can, Kikyou. You must." Their gazes met again, allowing Kagome to watch the reactions to her next words. "We are mated. Inuyasha and I are bound beyond anything you can break, and he will not descend to the underworld with you."

A shudder ran through the body of clay and bones. Immense sorrow warred with the hatred in the dead miko's eyes. Her Inuyasha had mated with this inferior girl? She couldn't accept it. Her reincarnate had to be lying. Yet, she knew in her heart that it had to be true. The girl may wear revealing clothing and act unbefitting of a miko, but she never lied.

"I know you claimed his life," Kagome continued after she judged Kikyou was ready to listen again. "He claimed your life at the same time, but you don't have a life, Kikyou."

Slowly, the living miko's barrier was absorbing the dead one's. There was no fight against her, nor was there any malice in the action. As Kagome's barrier became the only one, however, Inuyasha could be seen standing just the other side of it. Through her bond, she could feel his warring emotions. He was afraid for them both. She sent a calming thought his way, hoping to reassure him that al was well before she returned her attention to the woman in her arms.

Kikyou's cold gaze had melted, and Kagome felt safe enough to let her go. Together they stood, understanding washing over both. No more words were needed between them as they embraced.

The soul Kikyou had been using to keep herself in the realm of the living drifted from her body. One by one, they floated through Kagome's barrier and out of sight. The two continued to hold one another until the last stolen soul was free. A sound suspiciously like a relieved sigh accompanied the crumbling of the false body. Kagome's arms dropped to her sides as she was left standing alone. She did not dare to open her eyes yet, fearing the sight of Inuyasha. He was the reason she had closed them, after all. When he moved to stare at her through the barrier she could not meet his eyes. He didn't understand.

Soft light tickled her eyes behind their lids. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. There before her was a soul, it's red color pulsating in time with the beat of her heart. It was the part of her soul that was Kikyou. The hate that had made it demand Inuyasha's death finally gone. Her arms lifted again as though to embrace it as she had the body it so recently occupied. As if her movement was a signal, the soul closed the distance and was absorbed into her body.

Pulling the energy she had put into her barrier back, Kagome sank to her knees and hugged herself. Silently, she welcomed the return of Kikyou; it felt right.

As soon as the barrier was down, Inuyasha launched himself at his mate. Any anger at her had vanished when he saw her drop. He tucked it away for later, now he wanted only to make sure she was okay.

Behind him, Shippou and Kirara exchanged glances and slowly approached the pair. Inuyasha had pulled Kagome into his arms and was now cradling the miko. She appeared to have dropped into a deep sleep the moment he took her in his arms. The two youkai stopped in their tracks when he stood and walked toward them. They watched him pass by and retrace his steps. Another exchange of glances and they followed him through the trees.

~~~

A/N: Another chapter posted! I really hated doing that to Kagome's friend, but I didn't want to add an extra character. Well, I guess I added the dad. Can you forgive me?

And thank you for the reviews! They make me happy, and help me correct mistakes I missed. And all are welcome to email me at shadowclaw@ivillage.com. (If you want responses from me, or just an email when I update, let me know in review. Or an email.)