InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Bliss of Nights Forgotten ❯ A Tale of Three Sisters ( Chapter 13 )

By: EvilNekoEatsYourSoul

Last time: "Yukiko!" the girl fainted, but opened her eyes before even hitting the ground. The innocent brown eyes were gone, replaced by gray ones that were filled with knowledge and wisdom. When she opened her mouth to speak, the voice was calm and soothing to hear.

"Hello," she said, "I don't believe we've met. My name is Chikako."

Chapter 13: A Tale of Three Sisters

~*~

"What was that all about?" Miroku stood looking towards the garden where Kagome, Sesshoumaru and Yukiko had gone.

Inuyasha frowned, scratching his head in a thoughtful manner. After a minute or so something seemed to click in his head.

"Feh!. . .who cares about that weird girl anyways." With that said, he jumped into one of the trees surrounding the garden and made his way towards the conversing group to eavesdrop.

"What a baka!" Shippou said hopping onto Sango's shoulder and watching Inuyasha.

"Rin wants to know what happened." Rin stated, standing next to Miroku and looking up at Shippou.

Smiling, Miroku looked down at the little girl and kneeled, taking her hands in his. Sango twitched, knowing very well what that pose meant.

"Hello, Rin, that is your name right?" the little girl nodded and smiled at the funny houshi.

". . .Exactly how old are you?" before the confused girl could answer, hiraikotsu came smashing down on the perverted monk's head.

"Don't even think about it houshi!" snarled a very angry Sango.

Rin giggled, and she and Shippou ran off to the kitchen in hopes of getting a snack.

~*~

"What? Yukiko. . . you lied about your name?" Kagome looked confused, while the Lord of the Western Lands just watched the distraught miko.

"No. . . Her and I are not the same person. In fact, the girl you know as Yukiko, her soul is separate from ours."

". . .Ours?" The look on Kagome's face was one of utter confusion. If it wasn't for the fact that they were not on good terms, Sesshoumaru would have smiled.

"We have decided to tell you of our existence because things even we do not understand are starting to happen. Since you are a miko of considerable strength, we think you may be able to help us."

". . .We?" Kagome still hadn't gotten over the fact that there was more then one being within Yukiko's frail body.

The girl sighed, a slight frown curving her lips.

"Perhaps I should start from the beginning." Slowly, Kagome nodded and she began the story.

~Chikako's Story~

About forty years ago we were all individual entities. We are three sister's, once the guardian's of a forest. For many centuries we guarded the forest from humanity, being sure to keep the land clean of their presence. As long as the people meant no harm to the forest it's self they were allowed to enter.

For a while we lived at peace with the surrounding villages, we kept to ourselves, and they entered the forest only to gather what supplies they needed. But being that human's are greedy and are constantly in desire for more, one day they began to cut the trees at our forests' edge to give themselves more land. Angered by their lack of respect for the forest and it's guardians, we three went to punish their impudence. Using our human forms, we entered their camp and warned them to leave the forest alone or dire consequences would fall upon them.

As was to be expected, they scoffed at three human female's telling them what to do. It was then that we changed into our spirit forms and took it upon ourselves to slay the leader of these men. Predictably, the rest of them fled to their village. However, quite unpredictably, a powerful miko was residing in that village. Fearing for their lives, the villager's begged her to rid the forest of spirits such as us.

Unbeknownst to them, this woman was a kuroi miko whose specialty was casting curses. Although each of us has our own talents and strengths, none of us had the ability or power to turn a curse. So it was, that the kuroi miko was able to curse us and throw our spirits into. . . a cherry.

For a long time we were held in that cursed fruit and the kuroi miko was able to draw power from us. So days, weeks, months and years passed by and we could not escape. Eventually the kuro miko hired a young woman to help her in her daily doings.

The young woman was pregnant at the time, and she had asked the dark priestess to help her. Just like every mother, she wanted great things for her child. She desired that the child should be beautiful, wise and strong to ensure that these qualities should be embedded in her child she made a deal with the miko.

In exchange for the miko's help the girl would serve her unquestioningly. Also, to ensure her privacy the girl's voice would be taken. She willingly agreed and so the kuroi miko bid her to take the cherry in which we were trapped and swallow it whole.

The woman did this, never guessing at the miko's true intentions. What her real goal had been was to put our combined powers into the woman's child and then to control that child. Fortunately for us, her plan failed. Our spirits were not absorbed by Yukiko.

~*~

"Although, we are trapped in her body we are at times able to come to the surface and control her body as we would our own. Especially now, the bonds that hold us have grown weaker since coming into contact with Kagome. That is why we think you can help us." The gray eyes looked solemnly at Kagome.

"A cherry?" Kagome asked, she recalled the dream she had the previous day. `In my dream the voice of the shikon no tama said it was a jewel we were supposed to get.'

Looking defensive, the gray-eyed spirit crossed Yukiko's arms.

". . .It's not just a regular cherry, actually it's the ruby which was held in the center of the fruit that's holding us."

Kagome nodded, looking thoughtfully up at the tree Inuyasha was sitting in.

"There are three of you?" questioned the black haired miko.

"Yes, I am the eldest, the voice of wisdom amongst us. Would you like to meet the others?"

Kagome nodded, curious to see the differences between them. The other girls' eyes closed and her head went limp. When she raised her head and opened her eyes, they were now an icy blue color that sent shivers down her spine. The smile which curved the lips was cold and menacing.

"I am Takehiko, of the dark flame. I am the strongest of the three."

Kagome bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment, recognizing the eyes from yesterday. This had been the sister who accompanied her to rescue Inuyasha.

"Arigatou Takehi-" She started to thank the spirit, but was cut off.

"I sensed a powerful fighting spirit in the hanyou and felt the danger, that is why I helped to save him. I respect strength."

With that said, the eyes once again closed and her head fell forward. This time when they opened the eyes were a sultry green that burned with passion, the smile was a seductive grin. The eyes were not focused on Kagome, instead they looked behind her where the youkai lord was standing.

`So this is the one who was in the hall with Sesshoumaru. . .' thought Kagome, she turned her head slightly to see the youkai's expression. None was present. Kagome turned to the giggling girl in front of her.

"No need to be jealous Kagome, he doesn't seem to be very interested in me" she winked at Sesshoumaru who ignored her. "It's too bad though. . . It would have been fun. . ."

Kagome's cheeks became flushed, whether it was due to jealousy or embarrassment at the girl's words, she wasn't sure. She tried to salvage the situation by starting a conversation.

"And your name is?"

The spirit looked momentarily startled before her smile was replaced.

"Gomen, my name is Kumiko. I am the beauty and grace of the group. . . Although it is hard, with this body" she said, motioning at herself.

This one Kagome didn't like at all and she could feel her eye starting to twitch in annoyance. She heard the girl sigh.

"Don't be angry Kagome, besides Yukiko was quite taken with that. . . hanyou." Apparently not expecting to hear any mention of him, the said hanyou fell out of the tree he had been perched in.

"Inuyasha, are you alright?" Kagome questioned. Behind her she heard Sesshoumaru growl. Exasperated and confused with everything that had happened so far, she turned on him and began to shout.

"Enough Sesshoumaru! Stop egging him on, this is neither the time nor the place to start a fight! And you!" she said turning to the other girl. "Bring Chikako back out, now!"

Just as Inuyasha was about to say something Kagome turned to glare at him. Suddenly, the hanyou had nothing to say.

"Something wrong?" the gray-eyed girl asked.

"All of this needs to be explained to Yukiko, and I have no idea what you expect me to do. I have no solution for this. But I will consult the shikon no tama." Kagome pulled the jewel out from under her shirt. There was a gasp.

"You. . . you are the protector of the shikon no tama?" Kagome nodded.

"Then, I am convinced. You are the one who can help us, I know it!"

Not convinced that this was her job, Kagome shrugged and started to walk away from the group. Throwing a comment over her shoulder.

"I'm going to eat my breakfast now, after that I'll talk to Yukiko."

~*~

"What? I don't understand, how is that possible?" Yukiko sat on her bed, looking frightened. The miko had been assuring her it was the truth for the last fifteen minutes but she was unwilling to believe Kagome's words.

"I don't know, but it is the truth. It has to be, I've talked to these other spirits and your eyes change, and it explains a lot of strange things about you. You said yourself you have fainting spells for days and weeks with no memories. And also. . ."

"Also?"

"There's also my dream. Chikako said they were trapped in a jewel. . . in my dream the shikon no tama told me about a jewel. . ." it had also said that it was Inuyasha's destiny to help the girl, but she left that part out for now.

Kagome sighed, the day was only half done and she already felt exhausted. Worse yet, she still owed her friend's an explanation of everything that had happened so far. They had come all this way for her so it was the least she could do. She needed sleep, she wanted to get out of this room away from Yukiko, away from everyone and just rest.

"Listen, Yukiko don't worry about it all right now. Nothing is certain right now let's just leave it as it is until I think of something, alright?" The girl nodded, not looking at all comforted. But Kagome was too tired to care, and stood up to go to her room and take a nap.

~*~

The silky platinum strands shifted against his back as he walked away, but before he could get far she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Onegai. . . don't leave yet." He paused in his footsteps but didn't look back at her, he stood perfectly still beneath her touch.

She leaned her forehead against his back, taking deep even breaths. Even this small amount of contact was stealing her breath away and it took effort to remain calm.

"I. . . I'm sorry," she whispered, knowing he would be able to hear with his youkai ears. "I never meant for it to end up like this. . ."

He remained still, not saying a word or even twitching an ear. He remained calm as usual. At his lack of response a tear fell from her eye and trailed slowly down to her lips where she took the salty drop onto her tongue. If she couldn't find happiness with him then the next best thing would be to stay in that position forever. To be near him, to touch him and rest her weary head on his back that is what she desired if happiness could not be hers. It didn't matter if time stopped, or the world revolved around her or left her behind. To be near him was enough to keep her heart from crumbling into nothing.

But it wouldn't stop; nothing would stop for her, least of all him. She could feel the impatience growing within him as he tired of her company. Just as their time ended, she whispered to him one more time before he began to walk away.

"Aishiteru" she said, watching his retreating form. She wouldn't run after him, he didn't want that and it would only make her grief increase.

It was one of those days, where the wind scattered leaves and shook the branches of trees. The cherry blossoms fell gently, creating intricate patterns throughout their descent. They caught in the ebony strands of her hair and aided her tears in hiding his image from her eyes.

Abruptly the dream ended, sending her into the darkness between sleep and consciousness. There she was greeted by the voice of the shikon no tama.

"The kuroi miko," it said, "destroy her to destroy the curse." And suddenly she was awake, with the scent of fresh tears and sakura blossoms invading her mind.

~*~

"I have nothing more to teach her at the moment, I think Kaede-sama would make a better sensei anyways. If you want her to truly become a miko than I will take her there to finish her training. She is the woman who taught me about my miko abilities."

Sesshoumaru nodded, considering the miko's words. Actually, Rin's training was not what was on his mind. He was wondering if he should say something to her; perhaps tell her to stay. . . Maybe tell her the truth. But she didn't seem to be thinking of anything but Rin at the moment.

"I'll give you time to think about it. But in truth you could just take Rin to her in a year or two, she's still a bit young to learn some things. It'll be better that way, I think." Kagome stood to leave but the youkai grabbed her wrist with gentle force.

"We need to talk." His eyes sought hers to convey the emotions he couldn't voice, but stubbornly she looked away.

"I don't think there is anything left to say between us." Her voice was unsteady and she kept her eyes riveted to the floor.

"Look at me." She refused to meet his gaze, afraid of what she would find. He held her wrist, willing her to look into his eyes and read the truth there. Yanking her arm away, she ran out of the room leaving him alone once again.

~*~

"We'll leave tomorrow, and then I'll tell you all what happened. Alright?" Accepting her decision, the group nodded.

"Yukiko, if you're well enough, you should come too." Not one to argue, she quickly agreed.

"It's settled then, we leave for the well tomorrow morning."

`But more importantly, back home.' Thought Kagome, `Mama, Souta, Jiichan I miss you all so much!' the thought of her true home and family helped to ease the pain in her heart, although nothing could erase it. She was sure it would be there for a very long time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~