InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pack Law ❯ Feelings ( Chapter 9 )

Pack Law

 

Chapter 9: Feelings

 

Kagome stifled a snort at the seriousness in Miroku's expression. “Your what?”

 

Miroku lifted an eyebrow, trying to gauge her reaction. She seemed somewhat amused. “Our alpha.” When Kagome merely looked at him in confusion, he sighed. “I told InuYasha 500 years ago that he needed to clue you in on a few things. It appears he never did.”

 

Kagome gasped, the implications of her feudal era friend standing in front of her finally catching up. “Wait, wait. 500 years? You're human. How are you-?”

 

“Alive?” Miroku interrupted. “If you slip on your ring, you'll notice I carry a bit of youki around me now…” He trailed off as Kagome did just that. “Why haven't you been wearing that thing everywhere?”

 

Kagome waved off his concern. “Have you noticed how many people are around right now? It's really hard to concentrate when I can't stop their emotions from flying at me. Now, I see that you have some youki, but why? How? Not that I'm complaining, but you shouldn't be alive right now!”

 

Miroku sighed. “We have a lot to talk about. Hop in, and we'll discuss it on the way to the den.”

 

“The den?”

 

“Our home. It's really the home for most of the pack, which is why we call it by that name.”

 

Kagome climbed into the SUV, sitting down next to Hitomu. “You knew!” She hissed at him and Sarah as they gazed warily at her. “You knew I traveled to the Feudal Era because of him, right?”

 

Hitomu nodded as Miroku got in and pulled away from the curb.

 

“Is Sango still alive?” Kagome pressed. She breathed a sigh of relief as Miroku nodded.

 

“Lady Kagome, I need you to listen to me. There's a lot you need to know and not a lot of time to discuss it. 500 years ago, after you left to come here, InuYasha went to see Totosai. He had talismans forged with his and Sesshomaru's youki, using InuYasha's fangs.” He held up a hand to stop Kagome from asking questions. “Let me explain this first, and then you can ask questions, okay?”

 

Kagome nodded. Miroku's voice had a steely quality to it; it was a tone she only had heard him use when talking to Naraku and it threw her off. `He couldn't be mad at me, could he?'

 

“You came back on Sunday, correct?” When Kagome nodded, he continued, “On the other side of the well, InuYasha is getting those talismans right now. The thing is… you're not going back.”

 

“What?” Kagome gaped. “Of course I am! On Saturday morning, I'm going back through the well! I even did all my shopping for it yesterday!”

 

Miroku met her eyes in the rearview mirror. His eyes, like Hitomu's just minutes ago, held a steely quality that momentarily caused her breath to catch in her throat. He didn't believe her! “I am!” She insisted. “Why wouldn't I?”

 

Miroku had begun to wonder that, himself. Obviously Kagome had not sealed the well. Her reaction to his statement had been honest: she was shocked and even a little offended that they would think she would just abandon their cause.

 

“Perhaps it's because-”

 

Kagome interrupted his speculation as realization hit. “Wait… you said InuYasha was- what did you call it? `Bearing his fangs' at people? He's not angry with me, is he?”

 

Miroku looked uncomfortable. “He wasn't too happy when you never came back. Since you left, he's been even more explosive than he was.” Everybody in the vehicle cringed as Kagome's miko's aura flared with the shift in her mood. Sarah and Tsukiyoshi visibly paled, pulling away from the girl in fear of an unintentional purification.

 

“I'll have you know that I have every intention of going down that well this Saturday. I can't believe that he would so immediately assume that I would do something!” she screeched. Sarah's ears flattened on her skull. “How could you guys believe that I would abandon you?”

 

Miroku pressed on with the air of somebody with more bad news. “I'm not saying what we felt was correct, Lady Kagome, but it was really the only possibility we saw at the time. However, Shippou has never believed you sealed the well. Even when we went west, he stayed with Kaede, determined to guard the well and wait for your return.”

 

Kagome felt a pang in her heart for the fox kit she loved so much. “Poor thing, he waited there all that time! What do you mean when you say you `went west'?”

 

“Do you remember Sesshomaru approaching InuYasha during the summer before you left?”

 

Kagome nodded, “Miroku, these might be distant memories for you, but for me, this all just happened over the summer!” In a far corner of her mind, Kagome marveled how willing she was to accept that her friends had lived so long and would be here in her time. Then again, she'd seen and done so much in her lifetime… what was one more completely weird thing?

 

“I really shouldn't be the one to tell you, but Sesshomaru requested InuYasha come serve under him as beta. Sesshomaru took their father's place as Inu no Taisho and needed a strong second-hand. As part of the deal, Sesshomaru would infuse his youki into talismans for us, so we could live long with InuYasha.”

 

Kagome gasped. `InuYasha would never admit it, but his biggest fear is being alone. What a move!' She admired Sesshomaru's shrewdness. “So you, Sango, and Kohaku are still alive? What about Kaede?”

 

Miroku gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Lady Kaede turned down the offer, saying she was too old to live so long.” With an apologetic look, he said, “She always felt badly that you never returned, but said she believed it was due to circumstances beyond your control.”

 

Just getting a hold on her emotions again, Kagome was torn between anger at the continued insistence she wouldn't return and disappointment at the thought of never seeing the elderly miko again.

 

“What about Kohaku? And what about Rin, the girl that followed Sesshomaru around?”

 

Hitomu spoke up this time, sadly. “Aunt Rin and Uncle Kohaku were married and had three children. Do you remember that plane crash over the Pacific several years ago?”

 

The color drained from Kagome's face as a memory, buried deep within her mind, began to emerge.

 

“Wait,” She gazed at Miroku, “That was you and InuYasha in the airport, wasn't it?” Miroku nodded, his lips almost nonexistent from holding his mouth so tightly. The vehicle fell silent as Kagome lost herself in thought.

 

**********

 

“Mama, mama! Why are we going to the airport? Daddy just left this morning... Is he coming home early?” The thought of seeing her father again so soon had the young girl bouncing on the seat of the car.

 

As Kagome gazed at her mother, excitement eased into concern. Her mother had picked Kagome up from school early; they had traveled to the airport in tense silence. The 6-year-old had seen the tears streaming down her mother's face, but was afraid to ask.

 

Looking around the terminal, she realized most people grouped together were crying. People were shaking their heads, making loud denials. Kagome's mother looked as though all the blood had drained from her face. The look on her face made Kagome wish she hadn't eaten so much lunch; it sat heavily on her stomach.

 

“Please sit down, Mama! I don't know when Daddy's going to come back, but you know standing around isn't good for you!” She looked around, and then assured her mother, “I'll be right back, okay?”

 

Kagome began to wander the terminal, determined to find a place for her pregnant mother to sit down. Her mother had been prone to overheating lately, and before he left, she had promised to take good care of her mother in his place. He'd be upset with her if she failed!

 

The girl saw two men sitting in chairs near an oscillating fan. `That's a good spot for Mama.' As one of the men shifted, a ray of light glinted off his hair. It wasn't grey like she had first thought, it was silver! Kagome couldn't tear her eyes off of the pretty young man.

 

As if feeling her eyes on him, the man looked up. He looked heartbroken, and his voice was gruff. “What are you looking at, wench?” The man's eyes were gold! She drew closer, slowly, as though she was being pulled by a string. This man… he felt so safe…

 

She stopped as the man sniffed, then his face fell. “Oh, no…”

 

A second man looked up, locking eyes on the now bashful 6-year-old. “That can't be… Is that-?”

 

The silver-haired man nodded. “Where's your Mama, wench?”

 

Kagome bit her lip, looking back at her mother, who had slumped against a wall. Her heart thumped painfully, realizing her Mama was crying again, arms wrapped around her belly as though she were hugging her unborn child. Resolve strengthening, she turned back to the two men, who were staring at her.

 

“Um, `scuse me?” The second man had dark purple eyes, filled with tears but looking at her kindly enough to encourage her to continue. “My Mama's pregnant, and's got nowhere to sit down…” Her voice trailed off as the golden-eyed man's face hardened. “Daddy told me to take care of her while he was gone.” She looked at her feet, scuffling her sneakers on the floor, “Um, do you think Mama could sit down in a chair for a minute? I don't know when Daddy will be back…”

 

Her head shot up as the golden-eyed man groaned, his head sinking to his hands. “Kami, I never did ask her what had happened.” Kagome cocked her head curiously. `What is he talking about?' she wondered, `And will he let Mama have his seat?'

 

The man stood, holding his hand out to the little girl. `Take me to your mom, Kagome. She can sit over here with us.'

 

She could have sworn she heard the violet-eyed man sob as the other person said her name. She didn't ask how he knew, just thankful that she was taking good care of her Mama.

 

**********

 

Kagome gasped. “Oh, no! Rin and Kohaku?” Miroku nodded glumly. For somebody who had lived more than 500 years, eight wasn't nearly enough to get over the pain of losing somebody you loved.

 

“Uncle Kohaku and Aunt Rin were headed to the United States with their family to visit Shippou. All five died in the crash.” Tears sprung to Kagome's eyes for the sake of her friends who had suffered so as Hitomu admitted what Miroku had a hard time expressing.

 

Looking up, she realized the vehicle was coming to a stop. Miroku turned. “Listen, Lady Kagome-”

 

“Will you drop the `lady' bit? This isn't the Feudal Era anymore and you're old enough to be my several-times-great grandfather!” Kagome protested.

 

Miroku smiled a tiny grin, nodding once, “Kagome, then. There are some things we can't tell you, because even we don't know what happened. All we know is that you never came back. We don't know why, although I guess we'll see soon enough.”

 

Getting out of the car, she gaped at the huge building her friends called home. Miroku had continued talking; she guiltily tore her eyes away to focus on what he was trying to tell her. “InuYasha is-”

 

“Is right here, bitch.” Kagome's head shot up, eyebrows arching at the hated nickname. Arms crossed, the hanyou was leaning against the building, looking to the entire world as though he was ready to rip a hole in something. She was blown away by the animosity in his expressive eyes.

 

“InuYasha?” She took a few steps toward him, hesitantly. All her instincts were screaming at her to take off, to go somewhere safe. Her beloved hanyou was a ticking time-bomb, just seconds away from exploding. She knew this, knew him almost better than she knew herself. The ring, still firmly lodged on her finger, was sending her waves of turbulent emotions. Want, need, anger, hurt, sorrow, the deluge was almost too much for her to handle. Her second thought was to soothe those pains away, to wrap her hanyou in a blanket of security and love until he was at ease again.

 

All those thoughts faded as he snapped at her again. “What the fuck are you staring at? You go waltzing off to live your life and think you can just come here uninvited?”

 

Kagome leaned back, stung, feeling as though he had slapped her. “What do you mean, uninvited? It's not like I snuck into the vehicle! Miroku picked me up; Hitomu, Tsukiyoshi and Sarah invited me here!” The miko could hardly wrap her mind around what was happening. In the span of two days, her worlds had collided, like somebody trying to jam two mis-matched puzzle pieces together.

 

InuYasha had turned his anger on the three teens accompanying her. “You didn't think to ask first? You bring a non-pack human to the den? A miko, at that?”

 

Sarah bristled, “Non-pack? What are you talking about?”

 

“Runt, I don't care what your grandfather says, but-”

 

Kagome broke into what she was sure was going to be a long-winded angry rant. She was becoming furious. “Honestly, InuYasha, make up your mind! On Sunday, you were beginning me to stay and requesting to come with me. Now you want me to leave?”

 

“I'm not the one who left, you did, bitch!” InuYasha bellowed, eyes flashing red for a second, jagged stripes beginning to form on his cheeks. On her finger, Kagome's ring flared red, then pink as it reacted to his youki.

 

Kagome bit back an animal-like snarl, “I left to go to school, baka! I'm still planning on going back on Saturday!”

 

“Yeah, well you WON'T!”

 

“I will, too, baka!”

 

“Bitch!”

 

“Osuwari!”

 

Three pairs of eyes widened as InuYasha was unceremoniously slammed into the unforgiving concrete of the driveway.

 

“Oh my. I had heard the stories but…” Hitomu trailed off, looking as though he were trying to contain a peal of laughter. Low growls and grumbles grew louder as the spell loosened its grip.

 

“Fucking bitch!” Miroku looked pleadingly at Kagome, willing her to forgo the subduing spell again. InuYasha had 500 years of alpha status; making him submit to somebody he viewed as a traitor grated harshly against his ingrained, buried desire to protect the young woman. The monk knew it was time to step in.

 

“Kagome, you cannot return on Saturday, not now. It'll change the past!”

 

The miko stamped her foot down, fists clenched tightly at her side. “I don't care! I'm going back on Saturday, whether you like it or not!” She turned angrily to InuYasha, whose ears actually flattened at the reprimand, hurt, and anger in her voice. “I don't know what's wrong with you. I promised to stay by your side as long as you let me. I haven't broken that promise yet and I don't know why you're so willing to accept the idea that I would. I am going back!”

 

Turning to Sarah, turning her back on InuYasha, Kagome stifled a sob. How had things gone so wrong? Why was he so mad at her? How could he believe she would leave him so easily?

 

Worst of all, why did she still have that unsettling feeling that everything was going to go wrong?

 

A/N:

 

I know people are reading (according to page views), so please stop and let me know what you think! Are you bored? Are you confused?

 

Major shout-outs and thanks to everybody who's reviewed so far. For the last chapter, specifically -

Sovereignty, Inuyashaloverr, Kokoronagomu, Xochitl, Pokiepal, Kodiaqkitten

 

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the anime/manga. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.