InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Returning Home ❯ Hitomi ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any characters there in.

 

Chapter 14: Hitomi

 

“It's just for a little while!” Kagome threw up her hands in exasperation. She was standing next to the well with her bag waiting on the rim.

 

“You can't go running around your home like that!” InuYasha growled. They had already wasted enough time waiting for her to recover from the transformation.

 

“I can disguise myself.” Kagome crossed her arms and leaned back in a confident impatient pose, “It's not like I'm going anywhere. There won't be any important tests for weeks still, but I need to get supplies…. And I need to face my family.” She finished nervously.

 

InuYasha's scowl remained in place and his body stayed in its arrogant pose, but in truth, that was the main reason he worried about Kagome returning home. He didn't want to find out that Kagome's family would reject her, or see how she would deal with it.

 

“Akira's bringing his sister by today.” Miroku came up to stand next to InuYasha.

 

“So?” InuYasha frowned at him.

 

Miroku sighed, “So we can't go traveling today or we'll miss them.” He said to InuYasha, “And likewise Kagome can't go home or she'll miss what information she has.”

 

Kagome and InuYasha were both quiet for a moment. But Kagome recovered first.

 

“I'll just pop over there, grab some supplies, a few changes of clothes, and pop right back!” She said brightly.

 

InuYasha frowned at her, “You'll fall asleep or something and I'LL have to go get you. Like I always do.”

 

Kagome frowned at him, “You do not! I come back on my own all the time! YOU just try to pull me back early.”

 

“You always want to stay the night! And you over sleep and we're always late leaving!” InuYasha yelled back.

 

“I do not!” Kagome shouted again, “How can we be late? We usually don't have an agenda!”

 

“Maybe if we got there earlier less people would be dead waiting for you to catch up!” InuYasha shouted back.

 

“InuYasha! I will not be….” Kagome flexed her claws unconsciously in her anger, “I won't be blamed for stuff we don't know is going on!”

 

“You know the jewel is out there!” InuYasha yelled at her, “You know what it can do! But you're too busy sleeping and taking tests to think about how many lives it's ruining!”

 

“INUYASHA!” Kagome panted in ragged breaths, she couldn't take any more of this. She had sacrificed so much of her life to this quest that she had trouble keeping her place in her time. If she didn't go home every now and then to get some relief from the chaos and heartache of her life in this time she probably would have had a breakdown… or killed InuYasha. Right now, that didn't feel like such a bad idea.

 

Without warning, or thought, Kagome leaped forward knocking InuYasha down. Her claws embedded themselves in his jacket over his heart as they fell, and she subconsciously adjusted her landing so that she would be kneeling straddling his torso. Miko energy had begun to concentrate in her hands as InuYasha hit the grass with an “oof!”, but dissipated when she realized that the small growling sound was not coming from InuYasha, but from her.

 

InuYasha looked up at her, amused after his initial shock. Actually he thought it was the cutest thing he had ever heard. Kagome withdrew her claws from his clothes and sat back on his stomach. Her eyes were wide and one hand flew up to her touch her now silent neck.

 

InuYasha laughed, he couldn't help it. Her shocked expression after that cute little feminine growl overwhelmed both his sense of self -preservation and his deep rooted wish to appear unfazed and angry to the world. But that wasn't unusual when Kagome was around.

 

“Kagome! That was cool!” Shippo chirped as he bounced to a spot next to Kagome, “You knocked InuYasha over! And you're growl was really … cute!”

 

Kagome looked at Shippo and blinked her eyes, still confused and alarmed that she had attacked InuYasha, and growled. When his words registered she jumped up and shouted, “I AM NOT CUTE! And I heard you laughing InuYasha. I'll deal with you when I get back.”

 

She jumped from her position over InuYasha to the well and then down to her time with her bag.

 

InuYasha gave a barking laugh when he sat up and looked at the well.

 

“What did I say?” Shippo asked curiously, but he got over it quickly. The faster Kagome over reacted, the faster she got over whatever upset her. “Hey InuYasha, look at that! Kagome poked holes in your clothes!”

 

InuYasha looked down at his at his haori. There were ten little picks in the material. Curious, he loosened his shirt. Shippo jumped into his lap and looked down the gap to see what InuYasha saw.

 

What they saw were ten little scratches that were obviously left from Kagome's claws.

 

“Wow,” Shippo said as he looked InuYasha in the face, “Kagome's claws must be really sharp.”

 

“What is it Shippo?” Sango asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

 

“Kagome scratched InuYasha.” Shippo said, “She scratched him through the fire rat and made him bleed.”

 

“Feh.” InuYasha commented as he stood, causing Shippo to fall off his lap, and turned to walk to the god tree.

 

*

 

Kagome remained on the bottom of the well, afraid to venture out. She took a deep breath and grabbed the ladder. She had to get out of the well, even if she decided to run back to the feudal era, she still had to leave the well. Slowly she peered over the lip of the well as if looking for danger.

 

She sighed. This was ridiculous. Her family wasn't going to attack her…probably. They loved her. They could accept her. Right?

 

She took a deep breath. The smell of the wood and stone of the shrine above a backdrop scent of acrid metal and gases surprised her. Now was not the time to think about these things, however, now was the time to deal with her family. She took another deep cleansing breath and walked up to the kitchen door, where she stopped. Maybe she should make herself appear human first…

 

Kagome wasn't given the chance to put her disguise up before her mother opened the door.

 

“Oh Kagome!” her mother smiled at her, “You're back early, we weren't expecting you for another week.”

 

“Uh, something happened. We're back at Keade's for a while.” Kagome hesitantly entered the house.

 

“Is everything alright?” Her mother looked at her more closely, “You look much better than when you left.”

 

“Oh, Yeah, I feel better.” Kagome smiled at her mother nervously, “but, um, there was this… thing. Don't you notice anything different about me?”

 

“Oh? You mean the ears?” She grinned at her daughter, “Are they real?” she raised her hands to Kagome large black fox ears and gently rubbed them between her thumbs and fingers. Her eyes widened slightly, “They are real.” She breathed, and gave Kagome a curious look, “What happened?”

 

“That's it?” Kagome asked softly, not wanting to startle her mother into a normal reaction, “I leave a human girl and return a kitsune hanyou and you're fine.”

 

“I don't know what happened yet.” Her mother smiled at her, “Wait, I'll make some tea and you can tell me how this happened.”

 

*

 

While Kagome was having tea with her mother, the others gathered under the god tree to wait for Akira and his sister.

 

“Why did Kagome react like that when I told her her growl was cute?” Shippo asked once he grew bored.

 

“How do you feel when Kagome calls your growl cute?” Miroku answered. He sat under a tree near the god tree, which InuYasha was sitting under. Sango leaned against another tree across from them and Shippo was standing next to InuYasha, with his hands on InuYasha's knee.

 

“But that's different, Kagome's a girl.” Shippo reasoned, then laughed, “I still can't believe that Kagome attacked you like that.”

 

“Feh.” InuYasha responded.

 

“That was out of her usual character.” Miroku nodded wisely, “Why didn't she just use the subduing spell to shut you up?”

 

“Keh!” InuYasha pouted.

 

“He can't be that mad because Kagome wounded him!” Shippo looked into InuYasha's face, shocked.

 

“I'm not wounded!” InuYasha shouted, causing Shippo to fall back on the ground, “The… scratches are gone already.”

 

“He's worried about Kagome.” Sango said quietly.

 

InuYasha turned his attention to Sango, was he that easy to read?

 

“Kagome left home a Miko and is returning a hanyou.” Sango continued in a small worried voice.

 

Miroku nodded again. Shippo jumped onto InuYasha's knee and caught his attention, “Do you think her family will be upset? What will they do?”

 

InuYasha was silent for a moment, he lacked Kagome's belief in humans, but…, “Kagome's family's weird.” Was all the encouragement he could give the kit.

 

Shippo nodded sadly, “Well, if they don't want her around anymore she'll be with us all the time.”

 

“Shippo!” Sango admonished, “That's terrible!”

“Just looking on the bright side.” Shippo defended himself, a little sadly.

 

They fell into silence and waited. And worried.

 

“I am the kitsune that you were sent to find.” A young girls voice came out of the shadows of the forest to Miroku's left, and a small kitsune youkai an inch or two shorter than Shippo, and more sleek in build, stepped out into the dim light, and stood still for a moment staring straight at the god tree. She was wearing a simple blue cotton kimono of a style that children often wore. Her red hair was cut short and fell straight to her shoulders allowing only the very tips of her pointed ears to stick out. Her wide eyes were a soft blue and contrasted sharply with her stark white irises. She took a few steps forward as she began to speak again, “You were sent to me for guid-”

 

She tripped over the end of Mirokus' staff and fell to the ground with a sharp yelp.

 

A cruel, brotherly laugh foretold Akira's arrival, “So much for a grand entrance.”

 

The kit growled at him.

 

“Calm down Hitomi.” Akira leaned down and picked her up, “She's not here anyway.”

 

“Put me down!” Hitomi squirmed in her brother's hold, “I remember this place!”

 

Akira frowned, “You'll tear your kimono.”

 

“So?” Hitomi pouted.

 

Akira sighed and put his sister down near the god tree.

 

Hitomi turned around and stuck out her hands in front of her. She waved them a bit as she searched for some scenery. It wasn't long before she ran into one of the roots and gained her bearings.

 

“You're blind.” Shippo stated, “That's why you won't see us!”

 

Hitomi turned her head in his direction and nodded, “Destiny says she didn't have much time in that girl's body.”

 

“What? Who's Destiny?” InuYasha scowled at the Hitomi, “Why did she send us to you?”

 

“…” Hitomi appeared to be listening to something, “Destiny is a little presence, almost a voice, in the back of your head that tells you what to do. She is a sister to the fates and on the side of the greater good.”

 

“… Huh?” InuYasha replied intelligently.

 

Hitomi sighed, “She is the presence in your head that tries to get you to do things so that the plan of the fates can be unobstructed. Even if it isn't the best thing for you, it's the best thing for everyone else. She is the one that tells you to turn your back on an old well, even though you know the noise wasn't caused by the cat. She's the one that tells you not to say a name out loud.

 

“But she isn't alone in there.” Hitomi continued, “She wouldn't be needed if there wasn't a being like her telling you to do the wrong stuff.”

 

“I don't hear anything.” InuYasha huffed.

 

Hitomi continued sadly, “Destiny says you stopped listening a long time ago. She had to tell you to do too many things you came to regret. But, destiny says that you also stopped listening to the other one too. So you're all alone in there.”

 

“I thought the idea of “fate” and “destiny” precluded free will,” Miroku leaned forward, into the conversation, “that they were unchangeable futures. But what you are saying suggests that we have free will.”

 

“Humans think a lot of things.” Hitomi scoffed, “Destiny says that if there are things out there trying to maintain order, and subsequently are out side their own influence, it stands to reason there are things out there trying to break the order down or make it suit them better. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here for Kagome.”

 

“Ah,” Shippo blinked at her uncertainly, “So… why does she cry?”

 

Hitomi was silent, again she appeared to be listening, “Destiny says that Kagome is reliving her life while she sleeps, to condition her new heart.”

 

“New heart?” Miroku asked uneasily.

 

Hitomi nodded, “Destiny says that Kagome's heart is only half human now, it's also half youkai. Kitsune youkai actually. So she needs to feel her past with her new heart.”

 

“What does this mean for Kagome to have a partially kitsune youkai heart?” Miroku asked with trepidation.

 

“…Destiny says that it probably won't mean much, once she's calmed down.” Hitomi answered, “You probably don't know this, but Youkai hearts are much more brittle than human ones. Or at least that's the way it seems. And they heal much slower. But the joys and heartbreaks that Kagome is reliving in her sleep should remain as memories. Destiny says that she's almost done.”

 

*

 

“I was given the option of leaving it alone and turning into a horrible demon that feeds off of people or… putting my trust in… something.” Kagome trailed off again, she had been doing that a lot while she told her story. She hadn't gone very deep, only explaining that Sorrell had tricked her, not how, or what she was becoming, “But… I felt I should take that risk, that I should stay in the quest and trust… that … thing.”

 

Kagome's mother nodded, “And that's when you became a Kitsune hanyou?”

 

Kagome nodded sullenly.

 

“That's good then.” Her mother smiled brightly at her, “I would hate for you to become something you hate. And now I won't have to worry about you as much. Right?”

 

“I guess, maybe.” Kagome frowned into her nearly empty cup, “What about Souta and Grampa?”

 

“Don't worry about them, they're not here right now.” She waved off the subject, “How long are you home this time?”

 

“Not long,” Kagome smiled wearily, “I'm just here for supplies and some new uniforms.”

 

*

 

“Why a kitsune?” InuYasha scowled fiercely at the little fox girl, “why did you make her a fucking kitsune?”

 

Hitomi looked toward him curiously, “Did you want her to be your sister?”

 

The scowl on InuYasha's face faded into a shocked, confused look, “Uh…”

 

Hitomi shook her head, “Destiny says Kagome's attitude and miko instinct, no matter how well buried, goes in line better with Kitsune magic than it does with the more battle oriented inu's. Besides they could never have gotten permission from your half-brother to do it, while Kagome has been accepted by Shippo's family since she risked her life for him.”

 

“Oh.” InuYasha sat back.

 

“Why don't you like Kitsunes?” Hitomi asked innocently.

 

“I don't, not like kitsunes.” InuYasha answered haltingly, normally he wouldn't bother, but she was looking at him with those big blind eyes asking why he didn't like her, “I, just don't like Kagome being a kitsune. She's free thinking enough, and she already gets in trouble if I don't watch her. How the hell am I supposed to protect her now?”

 

“… I don't know.” Hitomi replied, sounding her age again.

 

“Don't look at me.” Akria shrugged, when everybody did, “I have enough trouble with this one.” He nodded at Hitomi.

 

Hitomi gave them a troubled frown, “Where is Kagome?”

 

*

 

Kagome pulled herself over the edge of the well easily, but hesitantly. She had wanted to try jumping, but the over stimulation from her senses was still making her nervous.

 

Her grandpa and little brother hadn't come home during her short visit, and her mother said that she would try to break the news to them before she came back. Until then she just had to master being a kitsune and do some preliminary studying before school started up again. With her new strength she had managed to squeeze in some school books this time.

 

Once she was sure she was alone she sat back on the rim of the well, eyes closed, ears relaxed, enjoying the smell of the sun drenched clearing. The grass, flowers, trees, the hot old wood under her. The cool shadows under the trees she could smell on the slight breeze that brushed her face gently. The slight smell of wet earth and decay rising from the well didn't take away from her experience at all, in fact it seemed perfectly natural and calming.

 

“Hey.”

 

Kagome nearly jumped out of her shoes, “INUYASHA! Don't do that!” Kagome panted as she turned around to face him, “You almost gave me a heart attack! How'd you do that anyway?”

 

“I'm upwind.” InuYasha dismissed, “you should have heard me coming.” He added as he sat on the ground next to her, his back against the well.

 

“I wasn't listening…” Kagome thought back, she was so wrapped up in all the smells she hadn't been paying attention to any other senses, “I was smelling.”

 

“You can't just do one.” InuYasha scowled, eyes closed, “you've got to do it all or something will sneak up on you. You got to … feel too.”

 

“Hey! That's a lot of information to take in.” Kagome crouched next to him, “I'm still getting used to it. Why are you here anyway?”

 

“My well.” InuYasha answered simply.

 

“No,” Kagome corrected impatiently, “my well, your tree.” She pointed back to the crown of the god tree above the canopy.

 

“My land.” InuYasha opened his eyes only the smallest amount and smirked infuriatingly.

 

Anger balled up inside Kagome and her fingers alternately curled and stretched, “My RAMEN!” she shouted before throwing her bag on her back and running at her increased speed toward Keades. She was so angry she was lightheaded and she didn't know why.

 

Suddenly she felt very light as her feet left the ground. She was suspended from her shoulder straps as InuYasha lifted the bag up to the branch he was squatting in.

 

“Fine.” He said, “Your well.” And he put her back down.

 

She stumbled slightly while she regained her balance. Her anger was gone, “Um… Ok… good. Where is everyone?”

 

“Back at the god tree.” InuYasha dropped down next to her, “Come on, the Kitsunes sister's waiting for you.”

 

*

 

“Can't you just tell us a little?” Shippo was sitting in front of Hitomi, trying to get her to answer more questions, she had refused to do so after she had explained the fates' choice of forms for Kagome. Insisting that she was here for Kagome, not for them.

 

“I don't know anything!” Hitomi threw her arms up in the air, “I only know what Destiny tells me, and what I see. And she hasn't told me much.”

 

“… I thought you were blind.” Shippo stated uncertainly.

 

“I am.” Hitomi crossed her arms in annoyance, “I can only see the memories the land shows me.”

 

“Ah…” Shippo replied.

 

“Kagome's here.” Akira announced quietly.

 

Hitomi looked up and sniffed around, “Kagome?”

 

Kagome walked up to the girl and knelt next to Shippo, “Yes. You've been waiting for me?”

 

“Yes Kagome!” Hitomi jumped up and hopped forward, putting her small hands on Kagome's knees, “I'm here to help you, but, I want to travel with you. I want you to help me learn to be a miko!”

 

Akira slapped his forehead soundly, “Hitomi…”

 

“Not a real miko, I know.” Hitomi continued despite her brother, “But you can show me how to be kinder and nicer than my family can. You can teach me how to help people!”

 

“I thought you were supposed to help her.” InuYasha stated from just inside the clearing.

 

“I am, so I've got to come with you anyway. For a bit.” Hitomi's jaw took on a stubborn pose, “But Kagome can help me too. A blind being is as good as youkai chow, and rarely lives long without something special going for them.”

 

“But… Hitomi,” Kagome spoke carefully, “I'm not much of a miko myself.”

 

“That's Ok.” Hitomi grinned, “Destiny says your instincts should strengthen with time, and lessons learned by past lives will quicken the process. There are many miko's in your past Kagome.”

 

“Well, I guess, if you're coming any way….” She looked at InuYasha, who scowled.

 

“She's your responsibility Shippo.” InuYasha growled.

 

“What! How did that happen?” Shippo turned to InuYasha.

 

“Kagome can't keep track of both of you.” InuYasha walked up to Shippo and stared down at him, “You have to keep an eye on her.”

 

“I don't know why he's saying all that,” Sango whispered to Miroku, “One of us will just end up carrying her like we do Shippo.”

 

“Hey, uh, do I get any say in this?” Akira asked casually.

 

*

 

A/N: Not my best chapter, but info chapters never are.

 

As I mentioned in another of my stories, all my stories take place in a universe that fractures sometime shortly after the first Kouga incident, because that's when I first started writing it.

 

I'm sure Kagome love InuYasha as he is and I'm also sure InuYasha loves Kagome as a human… but would he only love her if she were human? Would he stop loving her if she changed? These are the questions, and more, that will be answered in this fic. Seriously though, the fates weren't worried about InuYasha when they offered Kagome a way out and Kagome certainly wasn't thinking about her “relationship” with InuYasha when she took it.

Thanks for all your reviews and please review now.