InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reminescence of A Samurai ❯ Journey's End In Thankful Memories ( Chapter 1 )

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

Author’s Notes: I've been around a very long time, reading other people's fanfictions since 2003. I have to say I've enjoyed reading them for quite a while. It inspired me to try and write my own, I'm sorry if you don't like it but it's my first time. So flame me as much as you want,critism is my best friend. Anyway, this story will be very dark in future chapters, warning for lemons and bad language, so youngsters don't read this, but I can't stop you, so just please do as I ask.
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi's characters do not belong to me but the story does. I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times before but it's in the rules and I have to anyways, enjoy!
Chapter One: Journey's End In Thankful Memories

It was a rainy day in the meiji era of Japan. Demons and monsters showed themselves less for the fear of being hunted and slain. The population of demon sightings had gone down incredibly since the new order and new beginning of the age without Samurai and magic. Still the ones who were aloud in the human society did well to behave themselves and fallow pursuit with the laws. A man standing at a grave in the old Japanese traditional kimono still kept true to the average old age dressing but had surrendered his sword to the Emperor and had left the renegade assassins called the Takagawa in order to sustain his own life.
This man was in fact no man, for he had silver hair that reached past the length of his thighs. He had golden hued eyes that no human could ever genetically have. Most of his life he’d been ashamed of his birth right of being a hybrid, beared between a human mother and a very powerful father that was once known as a great dog demon who use to rule the Western lands of Japan. But now all that was behind him, he once tried to forget about the person that had changed everything for him, but to no content. He’s love for her had run deep within his heart and had shattered all the walls he had once created to desolate himself.
He scoffed at his own week delay of emotions surging through him, even tell this very day the blame for her death still burns him to the core of his soul.
‘ If only I hadn’t been so stupid and seen things clearly, I would have been able to protect her! I broke my promise to her! It’s unforgivable . . .
For a man who once stood tall in the battle fields and was formally legend to have never had regrets for what he had done in the past killings of man now stood pretty well without the strength to continue on with only the slightest hint of faith that he’d one day reunite with her. The only words that kept him going with just a gleam of hope of survival and courage in his life were her last words she had told him the exact night before being brutally murdered.
Her words were:
“We all eventually lose the ones we love, sometimes it’s US they lose, either way we all end up dying one way or another. But when that happens, the only thing left to do for the ones who were left behind is to either willow in pain and continue to grieve wasting the rest of there lives alone and afraid to love again or simply pick up the pieces of your shattered world and simply move on knowing that the one you love will always be with you through spirit and ever lasting love. The basic point is that they only want you to be truly happy and live on to keep alive the memories they shared with they’re loved ones.
Before leaving the twenty-year-old grave, he left cherry blossoms before walking down the old tattered and withered rocky stone floor back to his Ronin journeying for the rest of the years that he’d ever live. Sure he thought of trying to love someone else again, but people had become too judgmental and discourteous of him which later caused him to swear off women for good. Choosing only to keep the person’s memories of the one person that was worth his wile in the deep debts of his heart. The only remnants of her that had remained, was the ring she had given him the night she had accepted his proposal and the memory of her bright smile. How he missed her sent of jasmine and hilarious moments of her own klutziness. He continued to think of old memories as he had just finished walking out of her grave sight. He looked behind him one last time before turning and continuing with his life long journey of salvation and forgiveness for once taking the lives of innocent men.
Inu Yasha’s POV
I was heading toward a tavern for the night after I’d finished visiting her grave. It was only raining a little, until it started soaking hard and I had to try and find a good place fast or be stuck again sleeping outside and catching a cold. I was careless during my little visit not to have brought a stupid new invention. The low life Americans had brought to my homeland called “umbrellas”some thin like that. Even though I’ve given up my old ways, I hate having to use technology to this very day.
That’s when I spotted a tavern. I practically ran inside getting a few stares and a glare from the cleaning lady. I looked at the ground and saw immediately what the problem was, I’d brought in a lot of mud inside and footsteps were behind me.
“Oops sorry about that, wasn’t looking where I was stepping Heh.”
I tried pulling the innocent “I’m so sorry how can I repay you” act, but it just didn’t work for these people. So I just ignored everyone’s stares of disapproval like I had done so many times in the past and just asked for a drink of sake.
‘ Note to self, make sure no residues is left on your feet before entering a public place . . . Better yet, get off your ass and pick up a damn umbrella to avoid further situations like this.’
I mentally kicked myself in the head remembering just how much that women’s changed me
‘ She’s a dead rotten corps by now and she’s still able to make me try to be more polite toward people. Damn . . . ’
Then I sighed remembering just how much I loved her for doing that.
‘ Heh, that’s why you fell in love with her in the first place smart ass.’
I finished my drink and paid for it while asking for a room to stay. Truth is, the only good reason why I had a lot of money was because of all the gambling I did. Unfortunately for me, I’d lost all of my money in poker game against three women. The next day the cleaning lady turned out to be the owner of the tavern and payment for me sleeping two nights were to keep her children busy while she tended to her other daily work. At first when I saw the little twerps, they were going crazy. To say the very list, a woman’s advice on how to take care of children was to treat them like grown up adults and give them respect or try to get their attention by telling a story. Then it hit me that I could probably tell them about my story.
‘ Maybe it will put some damn good facts that they could relate to in their future and have future advice on how it was back then. If I don’t tell ‘em, then who the hell will?’
I sat on the wooden floor while siting on my knee’s. I was starting to get impatient with the brats for not paying attention when I sat down.
‘Their per pusly ignoring me . . . ’
My eyebrow started twitching in annoyance and my index finger kept silently taping on my hakama waiting for them to stop screaming and running around in circles. After a twenty minutes, my temper blew. I got up angry and started shouting.
“SHUT UP!”
All the children stopped dead in their tracks and looked at me, the room stood in complete silence, I could hear the noises of crickets.
I glared at them but lowered my voice but high enough for all twenty-four of them to hear.
“Sit down and keep quiet or you’ll live to regret it . . . ”
They all sat down very quickly, I sat down after but turned my glare toward a little girl looking at me menacingly. So I retorted.
“ WHAT! Never saw a half demon before! Well now you have so stop staring!
Unfortunately she hadn’t taken that comment to well and started crying and screaming for her mother. I literately jumped back in surprise only to get up and look toward the door to make sure their mother hadn’t heard the fuss. I quickly grabbed the kid and held her mouth closed, she tried struggling to get free as I heard her mother yell from the other room.
“ Is everything all right in there Inu Yasha?”
I called back while the girl started kicking me.
“Ow. Yes! Everything is just peachy . . . ‘Feh . . . Yea right . . . ’
“Oh all right, Continue on what your doing then.”
That’s when the girl bit my hand and I let her go while grinding my teeth in pain as my hand pulsed painfully where she had bit me.
I glared at her planning my revenge of what I liked to call “The Tickle Torture of Death.” It had worked plenty of times on the woman who’d stolen my heart. I was about to pounce on the girl when I was distracted by another child beside her.
“Can you tell us a story Mr.?”
I stood in the same position as I had when I’d first entered the room while thinking if I really should after all the trouble they’d gave me only seconds ago.
“ Well . . . ”
They all gave me the sad puppy eyes as if they were ready to cry.
“ Please.”
I was about to cave in when the same little girl that had bit me earlier stoke her tong out at me.
“ No. Not until that little brat apologizes for biting me.”
I crossed my arms turning sideways to try and prove my point.
Some of the kids sweatdroped while the little girl chose to be stubborn and put her nose up in the air refusing to apologize
“ I’d rather be thrown in a pit full of demons and be devoured alive then ever have to apologize to such a mean overgrown idiot like you!”
I fell over with my legs twitching in the air before I got up about to respond but then scratched my head confused feeling a sudden moment of deja vu.
‘I could have sworn I’ve heard those words from someone else before . . . Oh yea, her . . . ’
My thoughts were interrupted when another little girl beside the one I found very annoying elbowed her in the ribs.
“Come on Sio, say you’re sorry. It’s not like it i’ll kill you!”
She sighed in defeat.
“ Fine . . . I’m sorry.”
Happy with the apology, I sat down again for the last time beginning my story.
‘Come on Inu Yasha. Think of a good name for the story, you never know it could be passed down from generation to generation... Oh who the hell am I trying to kid?’
But what I didn’t know is that it would. I thought about it and something catchy came to mind.
“ The story is called Reminiscence of A Samurai. It starts in the beginning of the years before all
of you were born when there still was some Samurai and people who practiced magic left, but in groups of rebels trying to kill all as many people that were in their way. This story happened when I use to be a rebel samurai.”
I was cut off by one of the children who looked at me with big eyes.
“ You were a Samurai!”
I could feel my pride being stroked and nodded my head in response.
“Amazing!”
The rest of the children replied except for the one girl who’d given me trouble before.
“Yea right . . . You’d all believe him if he said that you’d all join Buddha in paradise by jumping of a cliff.”
Everyone screamed all at once for her rude reply.
“Sio!”
She looked at them baffled then went quick to defend herself.
“But it’s true!”
I was getting angry again at her constant annoyance.
‘She reminds me so much of . . . ’
I snapped myself out of that last thought and glared at the kid.
“You want me to keep telling you the story or what!”
Everyone else nodded as Sio rolled her eyes. I’d ignore that slip and continued on.
“Anyway as I was saying . . . ”
Sun beams entered a room from a small open window. The light reached a girl no older then fifteen years of age, her eyes slightly moved as she turned the other way in her slumber. Unfortunately, the sun’s beams shined through that side with a hire intensity making the girl open her eyes and cover her face with her arm
“Stupid sun . . . ”
She’d murmured to herself before turning her head toward the sliding doors of her room. A woman with a very pale figure and robes that were used to dress a servant, every design was the same. A short kimono which ever the colour that suited them the best, this girl’s kimono was green. Meanwhile, she walked in front of the sleepy girl with a smile.
“Rise and shine Lady Kagome!”
Kagome grumbled to herself pulling the covers over her head trying to block out the servant girl’s voice and the sun brightening the room. The servant girl huffed as she was use to Kagome’s usual response to getting up early in the morning to tend to her usual practice rounds with her eldest sister Kikyo.
She crouched down beside her master and pulled the blankets leaving a slightly annoyed and
groggy Kagome who then sat up.
“Nazuna, do I really have to get up?”
Nazuna sighed again before responding
“ You know that answer better then anyone else Lady Kagome. You have to wake up every morning after dawn and go practice your skills and then do your daily duties.”
She then went and opened a chest revealing silk and satin made kimonos and yukatas galore.
But Nazuna pulled out the traditional red kimono and white hakama of the priestesses and kneeled down beside Kagome putting the clothes in her bed.
“And this morning your going to do your usual archery training with Lady Kikyo like any other day.”
Kagome took the robes and frowned at them before turning to look at Nazuna as she was heading toward the exit of the room.
“Lady Kagome.”
She sighed once more turning around to look at her.
You really do have to train you know, who is going to be our savior and fulfil the prophecy if you’re not ready yet?”
Kagome rolled her eyes remembering what her magic teacher Stubaki had told her that she was the only one to fulfil the prophecy and save the rest of Japan.Of corse she didn’t believe a single word of it, but she definitely wasn’t about to tell her father wrong for what his beliefs were his whole life. Who was she to do that?
She retrieved her robes and dressed herself, as she was tying her sash, Nazuna reappeared in the door way with another smile before kneeling to the floor bowing. She raised her head looking at Kagome with a smirk that she caught on very quickly too.
“What is it now, Does my father want me to go see hi? But that will make me late for Kikyo’s practice rounds?”
“ Your already two hours late but your father does want to see-”
Kagome was already up running through the open door before stopping and responding to a bewildered Nazuna.
“I better go, sorry I have no time to eat or it’s my head! And please you don’t have to bow to me when were alone and I’d really like it if you just called me Kagome. We’ve been friends since we were very little, you don’t need to address me like a princess.”
Before Kagome could hear her reply, she scrammed out another one of the sliding doors and out of the castle. Nazuna was still baffled and replied slowly taking in what had just happened.
“Okay Lady Kagome. . . Shoot she didn’t let me finish, I guess I’ll have to tell her father she didn’t have time.”
She then got off the wooden floor and walked over to her bed and returned to her daily chores.
Kagome was running through a crowd of servants, visitors and vassals. She scrambled away from the frightened and puzzled face’s looking at her. Her only response was a muffled
“Sorry! Excuse me!”or “Coming through!” She was a little worried to what consequences Kikyo had in store for her for being so late. Kikyo was usually the one to be very forgiving for her sister’s tardiness, but two hours! She was going to crucify her this time. Kagome dreaded and slowed her pace as she reached the orchard, but past it was an a shooting range for
practice of shooting arrows.
Kikyo was siting down her hair blowing in the wind with the same traditional robes Kagome was wearing. Beside her was Keade holding onto what looked like a stack of arrows as Kikyo had the bottom tip of her bow stuck in the ground. Keade jumped up from where she was formally sitting and gave Kagome her tong before scolding her.
“We’ve been waiting here for two full hours! Do you know how hungry we are? Your lucky Kikyo didn’t just leave.”
Kagome rolled her eyes at her younger sister trying to imitate Kikyo.
‘She must be tired of Keade always fallowing her . . . ’
Kagome ignored her little sister and walked beside Kikyo without saying a word. She’d learned over the years that if Kikyo was very angry with her, the best thing to do was to sit beside her and keep quiet. She’d be the first one to start a decent conversation. Kikyo stood up from her position and took her bow throwing one behind Kagome knowing she’d catch it.
‘She hasn’t looked at me once since I came here.’
Kagome thought fear rushing through her thoughts that Kikyo might never speak to her again. Kagome was the first to speak.
“I’m sorry Kikyo for being late. I really am! I just can’t help waking up early in the morning like you and Keade. If you never want to talk to me again, I’ll understand . . . ”
Kikyo turned around with a smile on her face before her and Kagome broke out laughing.
“It’s all-right Kagome that was the best apology I’ve heard yet. By the way happy birthday.”
Kagome was baffled as Kikyo walked over to her to hand over a stack of five arrows tied to hold them neatly together.
‘I’ve completely forgot that is was my own birthday! Oh no... Dad was probably waiting for me to get there to surprise me with something. But then why would he have let me sleep in. That was probably his gift. Then it’s not a surprise he was going to give me if I would have seen him. Then what about?’
She and Kikyo started practicing for two hours and a half before Stubaki came into view furiously.
“Lady Kagome Higourashi! Your half and hour late! What is the meaning of this?”
Kagome immediatelymissed her target as Stubaki disrupted her focus and the arrow headed sideways and landed between a flock of hens. A sweatdrop came over her head but quickly turned to Stubaki with a fake smile.
“Oops...Heh...Heh...Heh...”
Kikyo stopped practicing as well and headed towards Stubaki.
“ I’m sorry, Kagome was two hours late so I kept her to regain the time she’s missed in her archery lesson. I think you should do the same on your brothers time.”
Stubaki nodded before bowing and glaring in Kagome’s direction. Kagome gulped.
“Well then Kagome lets go see if you’ve done what I’ve asked of practicing your spells.”
Kagome walked after Stubaki for another endless to hours of training.
After Nazuna had finished taking care of Kagome’s room, she headed straight for the throne room. She bowed at the guards as she did to Kagome before getting back up and greeting the
two woman.
“Good morning Ayumi, Eri.”
Both woman bowed to her in return saying pleasant greetings in return before asking of her business for wanting to see the king.
“Good morning Nazuna.”
They both responded in unison before Ayumi took the conversation in her own hands.
“ Lady Kagome isn’t with you, did she not want to see her father?”
Nazuna shook her head before sighing and smiling.
“ She didn’t want to miss her daily schedule, I bet she’s even forgot it’s her birthday today. I’m going to have a real nice time telling that one to Lord Onigumo, he’s usually always in a grumpy mood. Bet today’s no different.
Both girls looked at each other smirking to each other knowingly. Before noding there head in agreement turning back to Nazuna.
“ Well it’s your duty to inform him so...”
They both grabbed her by her arms and slowly opened yet another pair of sliding doors still grinning and wishing her the best of luck.
“Wait what are you two doing, aren’t you going to at list try and help me!”
Nazuna said in frantic worry that she would somehow regret walking into his throne room. Before throwing her in they tried to tell her words of encouragement that didn’t quite work out to well.
“Hey wait!”
As they threw her in, she landing in the proper bowing position in front of the king scaring him out of his wits receiving questioning looks from the buddhist monk known as Miroku and Hiten, the kings personnel body guard and his lordship.
“I’m am sorry to inform you Lord Onigumo that Lady Kagome chose to continue on her daily duties instead of coming with me to see you as you had requested of me. Please forgive me!”
Onigumo had been the king of the Higourashi lands for quite some time, he married a high priestess named Kome. Once married, she’d lost her abilities and was cursed from then on after having a third child, she would suffer a horrible death. She ignored the warnings and gave birth to Kagome. The woman that had cursed her because of her jealousy towards her powers being far greater then her own had appeared killing her with the bite of a scorpion. The only thing he had left was Kikyo, Kagome and Keade to remind him of the love he once had. Onigumo grew lonely and distant from his people, he became miserable towards the servants but was still kind on certain days. Luckily for Nazuna, today was one of those days.
“ Never mind that Nazuna, she’ll come once ready, but after her lessons I would like to see her, make sure she comes this time. Thank you, now you may leave and attend your other duties. I heard Yuka complaining that Koharu made a mess of things again.”
Nazuna was very thankful for his good mood but wondered what was so urgent for Kagome to talk to her father in private. She bowed before responding and standing up.
“Thank you my Lord, I will do of what you have asked of me immediately.”
With that she left the throne room sighing at what kind of mess Koharu had managed to do this time as the king was left thinking of very important manners with Hiten and Miroku at his side.