InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Battle of Heart and Land ❯ The Messenger ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Gettin' the ball rollin'! Here's to chapter one! :) I did not properly proof-read the first version, so here is the updated one. My apologies. Please read and review. -MissKatt

The Battle of Heart and Land

By MissKatt

Chapter One: The Messenger

“Keh! What is taking you so long, woman?” The silver haired hanyou tapped his foot impatiently, arms folded over his chest as he watched the college student scramble to stuff things into her `magic yellow bag', as he called it. She was wearing her odd dark pants, jeans his minded remembered, and a white plain t-shirt. Her black hair was loose and draped down her back to rest a couple inches above her waist. She had let it grow since she had been in Edo. He sighed and closed his eyes; she was reminding him more and more of Kikyou every day.

Kikyou…

“Hush! I'm trying to hurry! We are all out of medicine, food, water, and I need new…stuff!” Kagome said, trying to be vague as possible when it came to her feminine needs. Inuyasha snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her.

“I can catch all the food we need and water is what streams are for! And what kind of stuff?” Inuyasha asked curiously. She blushed and kept her face away from him as she shuffled around the kitchen, going through the fridge and cabinets.

“For one, your precious ramen,” She began, holding up several cups of the hanyou's favorite food. His ears twitched and she swore she saw drool begin to dribble out from the corner of his mouth. “And the soda is for Shippo and the others, they love it!” She said, trying to fit everything into her bag. She grunted as she struggled to fasten the bag shut, her muscles burning at the effort. Boy was she out of shape. She just had to get a bigger bag next time she came back to her era.

Whenever that was.

Kagome sighed softly. They had only been here for two days. How much longer would it be until she's home again? And how long has it been now since they had defeated Naraku? She technically had no other reason to stay in Feudal Japan. She belonged here, in Tokyo, didn't she? She thought that by some miracle of fate, Kami-sama would have somehow sucked her back into the Bone Eater's well and sealed it for go since she had `done her job' as she said. But obviously, as she dragged her bag to the door, that didn't happen.

“Give me that!” He snapped, grabbing the bag and she struggled to drag it to the front door.

“Fine! But you don't have to be so mean about it!” She snapped back, placing her hands on her hips.

“Kagome-chan?” A soft voice came. The black hair beauty turned towards her mother and immediately regretted it. She hated the way her mother looked at her. The worry, disappointment, and love were always the most prominent in her mixed expression. “You're…going back…? So soon?” Her mother had expected her to stay now that the “bad guy”, as she said, was defeated. She didn't understand why Kagome continued to stay on the other side. She feared that her daughter was confusing just which of the two was reality. Both were reality. Weren't they…?

She wasn't too sure. Yes, she had her second family over there: Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Inuyasha were only a handful. She had developed another life. She always knew it was temporary, but she wasn't ready to give them up yet.

“Yes, mama,” She spoke softly, not looking at her mother. She couldn't see her face fall even more. It killed her to hurt her mother. She had already put her through so much. “Gomen.” She whispered. She felt her mother sigh and walk closer before wrapping her arms around her daughter.

“I understand, Kagome. Just take care of yourself.” She said softly. Kagome buried her face in her mom's shoulder and held her breath to try and stop the tears that came every time she had to leave again. She nodded and gave her a tight squeeze before releasing her.

“You have no reason to worry, mama! I have Inuyasha after all, remember?” She asked and tried to force out a laugh. It wasn't very convincing. Her mother just gave her a small smile and followed the two out the door. Her mother wasn't naïve; she knew how things were between the two.

“Good-bye, Kagome-chan! Inuyasha-san! Be safe!” She repeated as she watched them walk towards the well house.

“Bye, mama! Tell Souta and Jii-chan I said bye!” She called, waving her hand at her mom as Inuyasha slid open the wooden doors.

`Souta,' she thought, thinking about her little brother who was now almost done with middle school, high school just around the corner. `How did I miss him growing up so fast?'

“Ready?” Inuyasha asked. She nodded and gave him a small smile before leaping into the well with him. As they were sucked in to the other side, Inuyasha focused on the weak smile she had given him.

`Kikyou had given me that look before she died.' The half demon thought sadly.

Kagome glanced at her companion. What was the sad look for? It wasn't like he was leaving his family or anything. She immediately regretted even thinking that, knowing Inuyasha didn't really have any family besides their friends. They touched down on the other side and both seemed to clear their heads on unwanted thoughts. He hoisted her onto his back and leapt out of the well and towards the village. When they arrived, they were greeted by Sango and Shippo.

“Kagome-chan!” Shippo called happily, leaping into her arms as soon as she dismounted from Inuyasha's back. He was in his normal attire from when she had first met him. She made a mental note to look for clothes his size next time she was home.

`Home,' she thought with a frown. `Which one was exactly `home' now?' she shook her head. She wasn't going to let her mind start going on about that again.

“Shippo-chan! I missed you!” She said, giving him a tight hug. “I brought more lollipops and soda!” She laughed when he let out an excited squeal. “Sango-chan! How are you?” She asked, smiling at her best friend. She was dressed in her casual clothes, hiraikotsu nowhere to be found. It was odd, Kagome thought, how much everyone had grown laid back since the defeat of Naraku. Before, Sango wouldn't be seen without her massive weapon, now she only carried it on expeditions.

“Great now that you are back!” The other woman smiled at her and the two began to catch up on their gossip as they walked through the village. Inuyasha ignored their girly banter and went to find Miroku. He wasn't surprised to find the monk trying to swindle a man into giving him a barrel of rice for a sealing prayer.

“Oi! Miroku!” Inuyasha called and walked over to his friend. The monk bowed to his customer and then smiled at the half-demon.

“Ah, Inuyasha. How was the stay in Kagome's time?” He question and absently mindedly rubbed his right palm as he waited for his friend to answer. Inuyasha watched his friend massage the place where his wind tunnel used to be. He found it odd that Miroku had still not grown use to the fact that it wasn't there anymore. But then again, he found it odd that he was still not over Kikyou. He hated to admit it, but thought that was the first step to recovery. Right? “Inuyasha?”

“Eh?” His ears twitched when he heard the monk say his name.

“How was the stay in Kagome's time?” He repeated, eyeing his friend questionably. It was never good when Inuyasha was distracted.

“Keh, whatever. It's so weird over there. Everything is so loud and obnoxious!” He complained, folding is hands behind his head as he walked. Miroku was rolling the rice barrel towards their hut. Kaede was nice enough to give Sango and Miroku a rather large hut for their family to live in and another small hut for Kagome and Inuyasha to stay in for whenever they were there. Recently, though, they had nowhere else to go. After the death of Naraku, all demon activity had pretty much settled down. Every once in a while they would receive word of a petty demon tormenting villagers a few miles away, but they were easy to dispose of. Life was almost too easy for Inuyasha.

“Hah, I suspect that is because your senses are highly more sensitive than ours.” He commented and rolled the barrel into his home. He kicked off his shoes at the door and swooped up his son into his arm, beginning to talk baby to the one year old.

“Daddy!” The twins beamed, but didn't move from their spot next to Kagome. “Welcome home!” She chimed in unison.

“Welcome back, Kagome-san!” Miroku said, smiling at the younger woman. “I hope they aren't being too much of a handful.” Kagome waved a hand at him.

“Not at all! I love them,” She said and winced as they pulled her hair a little too tight as they practiced their braiding. “And they apparently love my hair.” She had definitely noticed that her hair had grown quite a bit during her years here in Edo.

Miroku flopped down next to Sango and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Kagome quickly looked down as he did, feeling embarrassed for intruding on their personal time. Miroku handed her the two year old and went to start a fire so he could begin supper. The twins went over to their mother and began to take turns trying to teach the baby how to walk and talk. Shippo attempted to help, but just ended up getting his tail pulled. The miko glanced up for a moment and watched Miroku begin to add the rice to the boiling water. She let her eyes roam around the room at the happy family and felt a twisting knot in her stomach.

`God,' she thought bitterly, looking back down at her jeans. `What am I doing here? This is their life. I don't belong here. I'm not part of their family. I'm just a burden.' What was wrong with her?

“Kagome-chan?”

“Huh?” She snapped her head up and looked up at Sango. “I'm sorry, Sango-chan. What did you say?” Sango furrowed her brows and looked down at her outstretched hand. It was just then that Kagome realized she was being offered a bowl of rice with dried fish. Had she really been stuck in her mind for that long? She gingerly took it from the former Taijiya.

“Kagome-chan, are you ok?” She asked softly. She felt seven pairs of eyes fall on her. She put on a big, fake smile.

“Yes! I'm fine! Thank you though! Hey! This looks great!” Kagome spoke hastily and then began to pick at her food. Slowly, the eyes backed down and she felt less pressured, but the nagging feeling was still pulling at her stomach. She suddenly felt the need for fresh air, but she didn't want to seem rude. She hurriedly scarfed down the food without tasting it and sat up.

“Well, I'm going to excuse myself! I'm going to go take a walk to digest all of that yummy food!” She stated with over enthusiasm and slipped on her shoes before exiting the hut.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the bright sky with her blue eyes, watching the puffy white clouds as they slowly moved by. The wind blew gently, making it a perfect autumn afternoon. She grabbed the hair that flew over her shoulder and brought it closer to her face, gazing down at its length. The ends were almost perfect, which was a plus from being in Edo. In Tokyo, she would use a blow dryer and the occasional flat iron to fix her fly aways, which always caused damage to her hair. She suspected that was why it growing so fast.

The priestess walked down to the stream and gazed down at her reflection. She barely recognized herself anymore. She looked much older than the fifteen-year girl who first traveled through the Bone Eater's well and freed the oh-so-feared half demon from his imprisonment. She was now twenty, but felt much, much older. All the battles, wounds, scars, deaths, and heartache had taken its toll on her.

Heartache.

She still didn't know what was going on with her and Inuyasha. She thought that when he found her in the Shikon no Tama, that they were going to be in love together forever. But, things just seemed to be worse than before. He seemed to have grown, bored. Bored with her, with the village, and with life in general. If that was the case, then why was she still here?

She sighed and kicked a rock into the stream.

Because she still had hope.

How much hope could she possibly have left? And patience? She wondered.

Kagome looked up when the padding sound of hooves reached her ears. She climbed back up the grassy hill to the dirt path and looked at an oncoming horse.

`Traveler?' She thought and then watched as the youkai rider rode past her and deeper into the village. As he passed by, she saw he wore armor with a crescent moon symbol on either shoulder pad. Where had she seen that before?

“Inuyoukai.” Inuyasha's sudden voice made her jump and let out a short scream. She placed a hand over her racing heart and turned to punch him in the arm. He jumped back from her. “Oi! What was that for?!”

“Don't sneak up on me, dammit! I've told you this countless times!” She barked, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from him. Normally, he would start provoking her further; making faces at her or call her names. What did he do just then? Turn towards the traveling youkai and begin to walk towards him. She watched him go from the corner of her eye.

Really? Kagome felt a sigh escape her lips. Everything was wrong.

Inuyasha then leapt up and landed in front of him. “Can I help you with something?” He asked rudely, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The demon pulled back on the reins and gazed down at the hanyou in front of him. The man that spoke had short, messy white hair and bright blue eyes that bore down at the half breed. He had a piercing in his right ear, a white feather hanging from the hook.

“Hanyou Inuyasha. Son of Izayoi and the great Inutaisho.” They were more statements than actual questions. Kagome soon joined Inuyasha at his side and looked up at the dog demon stationed on the horse.

“What is this regarding?” She asked, wondering how he knew Inuyasha's mother's name. He then turned his attention on her.

“Miko Kagome. Family, none to name.” He stated once again and then seized her up and down as if rethinking his accusation. “Or am I incorrect? I was informed you would be with Inuyasha-sama, but you do not dress as a miko.”

`Well, that isn't an entirely true title, but I won't bother to correct him.' She thought and then nodded to him. `Whoa! Wait, Inuyasha-SAMA? What is going on here?'

“Yes, how can we help you?” She asked and pursed her lips together when the demon leapt off of his horse and looked at the two. He completely shocked her when he bent in a low bow to both of them.

“Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-sama, I am here representing the Kingdom in the West. I have been sent to ask for your assistance in an upcoming…event.” Event? Kagome raised a brow at his vagueness.

“Keh! What event? You expect me to just waltz into that asshole's trap so he can kill me off once and for good?” Inuyasha asked, turning his head away from the messenger who quickly snapped straight up. He narrowed his eyes at the hanyou.

“Inuyasha-sama, I must ask that you kindly do not insult my lord in front of me. He is my lord and I am his ever faithful servant.” He said through gritted teeth. Kagome was utterly confused.

“Asshole? Lord? Who are we talking about?” She asked and turned her blue eyes on Inuyasha, expecting an answer. When she received an answer, he didn't turn to look at her. Instead his golden eyes were pinned on the demon in front of him.

“Sesshoumaru,” He said bluntly. She blinked slowly.

“Sesshoumaru? Why would he want you to come to his kingdom? He hates you, doesn't he? And an event? What kind of event?” She asked, now looking at the messenger. The two stared at the demon.

“Unfortunately, I cannot disclose that information. The Lady has requested you come in person so she may speak to you in further detail.” He spoke softly, wanting no one else to hear except for them.

“Lady?” Kagome asked again. She definitely felt out of the loop. Inuyasha gave her a very audible annoyed sigh and crossed his arms.

“Sesshoumaru's mother.” He growled which caused her to flinch. She let her eyes roam over his face, searching for something, a clue even to why he was acting this way towards her, but he still wasn't looking at her. The youkai looked between the two and decided not to question the coldness.

“Where are your other two companions?” He asked, looking around the village. By now, villagers were peeking out of their huts and stopping on the streets to gaze at the strange demon.

“They're over-” Inuyasha began, but Kagome stepped on his big toe. He yelped and began hopping up and down on one foot, trying to rub the pain out of his toe. “OI! What was that for!?” She ignored him and looked at the messenger.

“I'm sorry, but if we go, they can't come. They have a family. A two year old son and two five year old daughters. They can't just leave because the Lady of the West requests it.” She said. She vaguely wondered if he had a family and understood what that meant. Her mind then went on a tangent and she wondered if she would ever have a family. With Inuyasha…? She glanced at the fuming half breed. Not at this rate.

“So, will you two accompany me to the Western lands?” He asked, studying the two. Inuyasha looked back at the demon and nodded.

“I suppose I can listen to what the bitch has to say. If I don't like her request we'll just leave!” He said and stretched his arms out, pain now long forgotten. Kagome saw the demon tense as Inuyasha insulted his Lady. She bowed to him.

“Forgive him. He has no mouth filter.” She offered. The messenger was stunned and he quickly bowed back to the priestess.

“All is forgiven, miko-sama. And please refrain from bowing to us servants; it is unbecoming for a Lady to do so.” He said and then straightened up. She nodded and gave him a smile. “Are you prepared to leave immediately?” he asked. Kagome glanced at Inuyasha and then back to the demon.

“Yes, let us just grab our supplies.”