InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Edge of Resistance ❯ The Aftermath ( Chapter 26 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Edge of Resistance
Book Two: The Dissidents

“Oh, look what you’ve done,
You’ve made a fool of everyone.” – Jet

Kagome sat listening to the soft sighing of the rain. It was almost midday, but the light in the  kitchen was still gray and wan. Outside it was cold, but not as cold as it had been and she would have opened the window, if not for Rin.

Rin lay beside her on a makeshift bed, reclining on a pile of pillows. She was sleeping, but she seemed restless and uncomfortable. She shifted her weight, furrowed her brows, and occasionally whispered and moaned in her sleep. The sound of her fitful rest, of the gentle rain and of the small cooking fire, were all the company Kagome would have this morning.

Last night everyone slept in the kitchen, which Kikyou sealed off by nailing heavy blankets over the doors and windows. With her customary stern countenance, she instructed them all that under no circumstances was Rin to be left alone or allowed to catch a draft or chill. Jaken blustered, but a steely glance from Sesshoumaru stifled him.

That was the last time Kagome saw the master of the house. In the months she had been living here he had paid almost no attention to her, for which she was grateful. She could almost pretend that her present circumstances were not connected to him at all—that she, Kikyou, and Kohaku were living in an old house that echoed with emptiness, a temporary arrangement.

But yesterday, when she returned to the land of the living again the first thing she saw was Kikyou’s face, ravaged with weeping. The next thing she saw was Sesshoumaru looking down at her, and the look he gave her left an indelible mark of dread and anxiety in her heart. Now she sat next to Rin, listening to the rain, fidgeting her hands, and wondering, obsessing.

What was it? That look. What’s the matter?

But the moment was brief and then he was gone.

She had been dead. No one wanted to talk about it, not even Tamotsu, but it was irrefutable. She could try and pass it off as a dream, but she knew better. For some immeasurable period of time, she had walked in the afterworld. Like the odd look of Sesshoumaru, the memory of Izayoi’s gentle sorrow still haunted her.

Kagome let her body sag against the wall.

“Jii-chan,” she whispered.

***

Commander. That’s what Death had called her. Commander.

How can something so vital be so small and frail?

Sesshoumaru stood on the terrace that faced the northern plains. The ghost of the wolf demoness stood next to him, straight and determined as an arrow. Most of the evidence of her violent death had faded and she was now just a mild shade. The rain fell on his head and turned his hair to a gray, damp silk, but she remained dry.

“Can you talk yet?” he said aloud.

She did not reply.

“Maybe it is that you will not talk to me,” he suggested.

She still did not turn her head, but a sardonic smile touched her lips.

What do you plan to do about it? Kill me?

“Maybe you hate me,” he went on. “Either you will, or you will not. There is nothing I can do about it now.”

No response.

“I have many questions. Can you answer them?”

This time, she gave a slight shake of her head.

“Then why are you here?”

Silence.

“I do not intend to offend you. I only ask…” he trailed off, overcome for a moment by the notion that he was an absurd spectacle, most likely appearing to any onlooker that he was talking to empty air.

He pressed his lips together.

No one is here to see anyway.

In his mind he heard the words of Death again.

“A wise decision, General.”

Nearby, his mother had been weeping.

“Was it really all in vain?” he did not realize that he had spoken out loud until the sentence was gone.

She did not move, but he heard her words in his head.

Those who are fighting against Naraku do not fight to survive, as some of you think, or even for a higher cause, as you all think, but you all fight and lose for the same reason: pure and simple pride.

But of course, you already know this.

Sesshoumaru was silent. The words did not surprised him in the least, but he had expected their deliverance to be virulent with anger and blame. That was not it at all. He understood at last that it was never, had never, been about that at all.

“If I knew then what is so…” for a moment he trailed off lamely, before he found his voice again. “…what seems so obvious now, you would still be here.”

She did not respond, but now Sesshoumaru sensed a growing frustration, as though she wanted to reach him but was prevented from doing so.

Where are the answers?

***

In a dark and isolated corner Kikyou sat staring out with bloodshot eyes at the gray veil of drizzle. The window was open only a small crack, but the air coming in was frigid, each breeze reminding her that she was now a normal, human woman, as vulnerable to the cold as any girl thinned by months of worry and privation. The sake she was consuming, however, cup after cup, was doing a decent job of shirking the chill.

She had been sitting there, alone, since before dawn, after spending the long watch of the night staring into the fire in the kitchen until it died, listening to Rin’s traumatized lungs fight to recover.

Before she left the room, she gave Kagome firm instructions to stay with Rin. She did not know where any of the other inmates of the Hyouden were, and she did not care. Not after three cups.

She failed. There was no escaping that fact, or at least four cups was not enough to elude it. She did all that she should. She surrendered to destiny, to her duty, time and time again. Kagome’s beating heart called to her and she answered. Midoriko told her not to leave her, so she stayed. With painstaking care, she rendered the madhouse livable, and oversaw Kagome’s recovery and education.

All for nothing. Kagome lived again, to be sure, thanks only to Sesshoumaru’s unspeakable sacrifice, but how long before she failed once more? And next time, there would no recourse.

Her mind replayed the image of Sesshoumaru, tossing away his sword. Forsaking it.

“A wise decision, General.”

Kikyou still winced at the mere memory of the voice of Death.

Bridges burned.

Cup five.

“An attack could come again.”

She turned too quickly and had to grab the window sill because it seemed certain that her head would just roll right off. Tamotsu stood staring at her with his arms crossed. She turned her back on him.

“Go away.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it look like?”

He picked up the half-empty jug. “It looks like you’ve had enough.”

She glared at him.

“The day I am chastised by a demon,” she snatched the bottle away.

He stared at her. “Oh, I see. A demon is not good enough to advise you, but good enough to support you.”

“Support?” she demanded.

“Yes, support! You are completely ignorant of what Sesshoumaru and I have done to make it possible for you live here, in idle luxury.”

“Ha!” she mocked him, and waved her hands over the cold floor and barren walls. “Yes! What luxury!”

She threw the jug at him. He dodged it easily and it crashed into the far wall. The fragments scattered and the remaining saki disappeared into the wood.

“Have you lost your mind?” he turned on her.

“Hasn’t everyone?”

“If Sesshoumaru hears you destroying his crockery, he may decide you are no longer worth the trouble.”

She laughed at him scornfully.

“Yes, now he will be fed up. Not when he was nearly ruined by rain, not when we took over his house, not when his lands were overrun by vermin, not when he surrendered his birthright. No, it will be the pottery that pushes him over the edge.”

“Don’t take him for granted, woman,” he said to her coldly. “Midoriko said—

“Damn Midoriko! Damn Sesshoumaru! And damn you too!”

He was on her. Her back collided with the wall, and the edge of the window sill dug into shoulder blade. Kikyou grit her teeth.

Opposing forces met in a white, electric edge that appeared between them.

“So you’re going to purify me now?”

“I’ll purify something,” she declared, “if you do not release me.”

“So you want to live then?” he asked. “Funny.”

His grip did not relent, though his hands began to singe.

“Things will not always go your way, Kikyou. You cannot win every battle.”

“You know nothing—

She started to retort, but he clamped one hand over her mouth. She glared at him, and the assault of her inherent power strengthened. He winced and let her go, pulling away quickly and shaking his hands as if to dry them.

“Now is not the time to give up.”

She turned her back on him.

“Leave me alone, Tamotsu.”

***

On any other day, Kohaku would be long gone by this time. This morning he woke up in a hall of the Hyouden, sitting on the floor with his back against a door, with Kirara curled almost all the way around him. He found that there was a heavy blanket draped over his shoulders and he surmised that Kikyou had done it.

For a few precious seconds, his mind was protected by the sleepy clouds of morning. Then it all came back to him, a swell of terrible visions that could not be shrugged off as nightmares.

The heads and limbs of those men, pouring out blood and soaking the dead garden. Blood freezing on the ground. Blood pooling on the stone floor of the baths. Rin’s blue lips. Midoriko’s wringing hands. Chiyoko’s dismay and confusion.

“It’s Death!” Jaken had whispered to his lord. “Death has come!”

The feeling of endless, inevitable, and undefeatable cold.

He saw Kikyou kneeling before Sesshoumaru, bending and pulling aside her hair to reveal her white neck.

“Go ahead,” she urged him. “Get it over with.”

“My son would never do that!”

“My lord…” It was Jaken again. “Don’t.”

Kohaku shut his eyes and lowered his head. Kirara nuzzled closer to him.

She must be wondering why we’re not out hunting.

Then again, maybe not. Kirara knew full well what happened last night. To her keen nose, the house still reeked of it.

“Kirara,” he said softly. “Maybe you should go. Try to find Sister.”

Kirara’s throat rumbled. She lowered to the ground and closed her eyes. Her tail lashed around her.

“I guess that’s a ‘no’,” he said. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Kohaku shifted his weight restlessly. Sitting on the floor of this hallway, as he had been all morning, was more than a little boring. But there would be no hunting today. He had seen enough blood already.

***

Jaken searched the rooms upstairs. His bare feet did not make a sound on the wood planks. Sometimes a door, not opened maybe for decades, squeaked in protest and then sighed in surrender, leaving behind a frozen echo. He was looking for blankets. Humans, he told himself, were so weak, they could never have enough.

On this morning nothing was more important than keeping Rin warm and dry. Second to that, was keeping his mind occupied.

The memory of his lord, standing above the recently not-dead-anymore woman, bereft of his heritage, stripped of his birthright…

Jaken swallowed hard, smothering the fear that fluttered like a moth trapped in his ribcage.

Not for the first time that day he told himself: of his own free will. He gave it up of his own free will.

Did that make it better or worse?

He could not let anything happen to the women. That one thing must be prevented at all cost. So much had been paid already.

“More blankets,” he muttered to himself in his distracting fumbling. “I need more blankets.”

With a tenuous hold on a swaying pile that reached well over his own head, Jaken made slow progress down the stairs, and nearly broke his neck tripping over Kohaku. Kohaku stumbled over himself apologizing, and he hastened to open the door. Jaken pushed through the hanging curtain. He took a few steps into the room, trying to crane his neck to see where he was going. He was surprised when most of the articles were taken from him and he found himself looking up at Kagome. She clutched the covers in her arms and stared at him with wide eyes.

“They’re for all of you,” he said.

She nodded and turned away, depositing everything in a pile in a corner.

Compared to the rest of the house, the air in the kitchen was warm, almost suffocating, and Jaken wiped his brow. He went to Rin’s bedside and sat on the floor. Kagome sat down on the opposite side, still looking at him.

“What is it?” he growled.

She jumped. “Ah! It’s nothing! Just…”

“Just what?”

“I…I’m glad you’re here.”

Jaken’s little hands gripped his knees a little tighter, and he pressed his lips together, almost in a grimace. He could not look at her, let alone answer, so they sat in silence, listening to the soft rain, so much softer than Rin’s labored breathing.

***

Tamotsu found Sesshoumaru standing on the terrace in the rain.

“Damp, isn’t it?”

Sesshoumaru did not answer. Tamotsu stood beside him.

“I think it’s just ordinary rain,” he said. “If that’s what you’re worried about. It’ll pass. It won’t be like last time.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

Tamotsu smiled. “I really believe it.”

“That makes one of us.”

Tamotsu sighed. “So I’m off.”

He stood on the terrace wall.

“I think it’s best that you stay here.”

“I am aware of that.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Tamotsu waved a short kind of salute and then he was gone.

Sesshoumaru stood watching his silver light disappear across the land. The rain tapered off.

The wolf demoness remained standing beside him. He could feel her laughing at him, gently, as the rain stopped altogether. He was about to say something, when a strange presence somewhere nearby announced itself with a buzzing rattle in his ears. At first, he almost waved it aside, but then he felt it again, and this time it was louder.

From inside the house he heard Kagome’s voice ring out.

“Kikyou!” she called in alarm.

What in the hell could be the matter now?

***

Kagome flew into the room, panting.

“I know, I feel it too,” Kikyou said.

“It’s near,” Kagome said. “Or…it’s very large.”

“I think it is more likely the latter.”

“But there aren’t any shards left but Kohaku’s and Kouga’s,” Kagome said. “Naraku has the rest.”

“Correct.”

Rin, meanwhile, was looking back and forth at them. She was still in her warm bed, not having been permitted to rise yet. Jaken sat in the corner.

“What is it?” she asked them. “What’s the matter?”

“We sense a jewel shard,” Kagome answered. “A large one.”

Jaken scurried to his feet. “Are you sure?”

Kikyou gave him a withering glance. “Of course I am sure.”

“Does that mean Naraku is coming here?” Rin asked.

“I knew it!” Jaken wailed. “I knew this would happen!”

“Please remain calm,” Kikyou said. “We did not say Naraku had it. I would sense that demon if he were anywhere near.”

“But—

“I do not have an explanation, but I know it is not Naraku.”

“We must tell Sesshoumaru-sama,” Jaken said.

Rin nodded.

Kikyou closed her eyes for a moment.

“There is no need,” she said after opening them.

“What?”

“He is gone.”

“Gone?” all three of them exclaimed.

“I think he is moving in that direction.”

“He has already sensed it himself and taken steps,” Jaken said proudly. “There is no need for us to be concerned then.”

Rin seemed in agreement with this as well.

“That’s Sesshoumaru for you,” Kagome said, sitting down again. “Always showing the initiative.”

Kikyou sighed. “We will just have to wait for his return.”

They did not, of course, have to wait long. Kagome and Kikyou knew even before he landed on the terrace again that he was carrying a small, but precious, cargo.

“Oh, shit,” Kikyou murmured. “We are in for it now.”

A half a minute later, Sesshoumaru strode into the room. He held out one white hand.

“Which of you will take it?”

“Kikyou, of course!” Kagome exclaimed, rather quickly.

“Do not be absurd,” Kikyou responded.

Sesshoumaru gave them a level gaze.

“Kikyou!” Kagome said. “Come on, you’re the protector of the jewel.”

“I was. Then I died, remember?”

“Oh, that is low!”

“Besides, are you not the Everlasting Light?”

“I don’t even know what that means!”

Sesshoumaru evidently did not feel the need to observe this exchange. He simply went to Kagome, who was standing closest to him, and deposited the chunk of rock in her hand. She stared up at him, startled, but he turned his back on her and moved toward the door.

“Wait!” she said. “At least tell us what happened. Please, Sesshoumaru. It could be important.”

He turned back and looked at them all. A brief flicker of irritation cross his features.

“Very well,” he said at last. “You may be correct. I took the jewel fragment from a demon, who was traveling, alone, across the southeast borders of my land.”

“What sort of demon?” Kagome asked in a small voice.

“A large one. He smelled of humans, and he reeked heavily of Naraku. I interrogated him, but he was disinclined to converse with me. When I informed him that he was trespassing, he put up some…resistance.”

Sesshoumaru flicked his wrist and a few droplets of black blood sizzled in the kitchen fire.

“It was short lived,” he said.

Kagome shuddered.

“This is quite strange,” Kikyou commented.

“Definitely strange,” Kagome said. “This is not all the jewel that Naraku had. He must have split it again.”

She fretted and furrowed her brow.

“Why would he do that?” she wondered. “Why would he then give it to a demon that could so easily be defeated.”

“Easily defeated by Sesshoumaru-sama,” Jaken interjected.

“Yes, but Naraku would have known that.”

“He must have been forced to,” Kikyou said.

“By what?”

“I have no idea, but it had to have been dreadfully important to him.”

“Either that,” Jaken said, “or his hubris was his undoing, as I have always said it would be.”

“Naraku is not dead yet, Jaken-sama,” Kikyou said.

“No, but he has far less of an advantage, I would say.”

“Jaken is right,” Kagome murmured.

The little demon puffed himself up.

“Naraku has lost a great deal lately,” she went on. “Besides this Jewel shard, he was injured on the Plateau, of that I’m sure. I also know that he lost Kagura and cannot regain her.”

“What?” Jaken and Rin exclaimed. “How do you know that?”

“I freed her,” Kagome looked up at them surprised. “At least, that’s what Midoriko said. Didn’t I mention that?”

“No!”

“Oh, well, I did,” Kagome mumbled, distracted. She turned the stone over in her hand. “The trouble is, other demons will sense that it is here.”

She was about to say something to Sesshoumaru, but he had left the room unnoticed.

***

Later that day, Kikyou came across Kohaku in the hallway.

“Why are you here?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Nothing else to do. Kagome-sama and Jaken-sama are inside with Rin-san.”

“Come with me,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He stood and fell in beside her. They walked down the hall to the front entryway and out of the house. He could hear the distant booming of the sea below.

“I’m so relieved that the rain stopped this time,” Kohaku said.

“Yes,” Kikyou nodded. “Maybe things are returning to normal.”

“I…I don’t know,” he said. “What would normal mean? The three of us living with Sesshoumaru-sama?”

Kikyou did not answer.

“I heard Jaken-sama saying that Kagome-sama had managed to free Kagura,” he said. “Is that true?”

“So it would seem.”

“But then, do we know where she is? I mean…” Kohaku sighed and shook his head. “Is she alive? If she was freed, meaning that Naraku can’t control her directly, then…”

He trailed off and for a moment Kikyou was alarmed by the look in his eyes.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Kikyou-sama,” he looked into her eyes and now spoke with clear determination, “if that is true, then he will never stop hunting her!”

Kikyou frowned. “Yes, I suppose you are right. He is not the sort to let go.”

She gave him a direct look.

“You care about her?”

“Without a doubt,” he answered. “I don’t mind telling you, she means a great deal to me. Kagura was, for a long time, my only friend. She protected me. She took a great deal of hard punishment on my behalf.”

Kikyou looked up at him in surprise. “Is that so?”

He nodded.

Kikyou sighed. “Well, I do not think she is dead. From what I understand, she is one of those who has a destiny that is intertwined with ours.”

They fell silent and continued walking around the house to the back gardens.

“Why did we come this way?” he asked her, curious.

“We must not use the kitchen door that leads to the outside of the house,” she answered.
“It will allow cold air to chill Rin-san, which could be very dangerous.”

“Oh. That makes—

He stopped. They had come to the spot where they were attacked only yesterday. The blood stains on the dead grass were crystallized in the cold, but the body parts were all gone.

“Jaken-sama buried them,” Kikyou said, as if answering his thoughts. “Or got rid of them in some way.”

“Oh.”

Kikyou took his hand.

“You had to, you understand?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “I don’t know if I can say they deserved that.”

Kikyou looked at him for a moment.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But you know more than anyone that we do not always get what we deserve.”

He nodded, but his eyes were bleary and his jaw clenched.

“Kohaku-kun,” she sighed, and pulled him into an embrace.

They sank onto the ground and she put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his head.

“I know. I know,” she whispered as he soaked her shoulder, his whole body shaking. “It will be alright.”

She looked up and saw that the sky was still a dull gray.

***

Night came early. Kikyou returned to the kitchen to prepare supper, with Kagome’s assistance. Kohaku ate with them, but then immediately left the room again. Jaken remained in his corner, and Sesshoumaru did not make an appearance. Rin, Kagome noted with gratitude, ate well. Color was returning to her face and her eyes were alert, though still a little feverish. Kikyou and Kagome cleared away the remains of their meal, and then Kikyou left the room as well.

“Where are you going?” Kagome asked her.

Kikyou stopped and looked at her. Her dark eyes a mystery.

“Stay with Rin-san,” she said.

“But Kikyou…wait!”

She was gone, leaving Kagome alone with Jaken and Rin.

“Kagome-chan?”

Kagome turned to Rin. “Yes?”

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing.” Kagome came to her side, sat down, and patted her hand. “Kikyou’s just acting a little strange lately. But she’s always been a bit odd, so I guess it’s nothing to worry about.”

“I think she’s very troubled.”

Kagome gave her a sharp glance. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s a just a feeling I get.”

“Do you know why?”

Rin looked away, and began to fidget.

“Rin,” Kagome took her hand. “What happened in the baths? Do you remember?”

“I…I…” the young woman stammered, and her eyes filled with tears.

“It’s alright. Take your time.”

“It was late…after supper. You were in the baths already, and I came in. I asked you about the training with Kikyou, and you said you felt stronger.”

In her mind’s eye Kagome saw the glowing reflection of Rin’s bare feet on the wet stone floor. She heard the trickle of water.

“We were singing one of your songs.”

All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.

“You…you didn’t even have a chance to scream. He came in so quietly. You were dead before you hit the floor!”

Kagome closed her eyes and repressed the urge to scream.

“I heard the sound of his knife go into you. When I turned around I saw him looking at me. He was looking at my body. I thought…it was strange, it was as though I knew something, that I hadn’t known before. Then I saw you, lying on the floor. There was so much blood.”

Kagome felt cold creep over her.

“I knew I should scream, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. I remember thinking…it was all for nothing, and now I’ll never be happy again.”

“Then he lunged at me. Then I did try to scream, but he had his hands around my throat before I could. I expected to be stabbed, but instead he dragged me under the water. I remember trying to tear his hands away, and looking up at the surface of the water. Everything seemed so far away. The next thing I remember, I was on the floor, with Tamotsu. I was crying, because I was so scared!”

The girl began to cry weakly. Kagome put an arm around her shoulders.

“It’s alright now, Rin-chan,” she said. “You’re safe.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Jaken come to the other side of Rin, and take one of her small hands in his own.

***

Kikyou retreated into herself again. She sat on the floor in an empty room upstairs, looking out a window that faced north across the valley of the river below. A small fire flinched and hiccuped in the center of the room, casting fitful shadows on the bare walls. Sometimes she would cast her eyes about the room, wondering what its purpose had been in the past, and why it was empty now.

Of course, much of the house was empty. It was evident that it had built with more people in mind than the two demons and one human girl who occupied it now. Even with the addition of Kagome, Kohaku, herself, and occasionally Tamotsu, the place felt like an abandoned shell, as though a curse had been placed upon it.

The thought of Sesshoumaru’s vagrant cousin made Kikyou look out the window again. It was only open a few inches, because the night air was biting, but she looked out at the black landscape and wondered where he was.

He was right, of course. Kikyou was wise enough and mature enough to admit that to herself, in private. Attempting to drown her troubles in rice wine had been foolish, and she was paying for it now with an aching head, burning throat, and touchy stomach. It occurred to her that she would feel better if she drank water, but she chose not to.

To think, a year ago she could not even taste food and drink, and now she was hung over. It was almost funny.

At last, she was forced to close the window. She took one last glance at the faint glitter of moonlight on the shallow river. Tomorrow, there would be no moon at all, and she thought of Inuyasha.

You can’t get here fast enough.

Kikyou closed her eyes. She attempted to sense something of his presence, in the hopeless hope that he was nearby. The first thing she encountered with her searching thought was Kagome’s beating heart, but that had become a constant melody in her life. Next she felt the solid pressure of Sesshoumaru’s presence, towering but contained. She brushed against Jaken and knew he was near Kagome. She felt Kirara not far from them. Pushing her mind beyond the confines of the house, she could sense nothing at all, only an empty, black canvas.

Just when she had decided to give up the effort, something new appeared, like a single star in the dark. For a second she held her breath, then exhaled and opened her eyes. It was only Tamotsu.

She was thinking about returning to the kitchen when the door opened. She looked up, startled, thinking it must be Kohaku or Kagome, but she saw instead that it was Tamotsu himself.

“I saw the firelight in this room before I got to the house. Why are you here, alone?”

“Why are you here?” she returned.

“The monsters seem to be distracted elsewhere at the moment. I am taking the opportunity to relax.”

“Monsters?”

“Yes, the spider-like demons that Sesshoumaru and I have been fighting off.”

Kikyou’s hand froze for a moment, then she continued feeding sticks into the fire.

“Spider-like?”

“That’s right.”

“How many are there?”

“More than the stars,” he said simply.

“I see,” she sighed.

“They are easy to kill, but we never seem to have an effect on their numbers.”

Kikyou did not say anything, only looked into the fire.

“You know where they come from, don’t you?”

He knelt in front of her, hooking a finger under her chin and lifting her face. She jerked it away.

“I suspect,” she answered. “I am sure Sesshoumaru-sama has similar theories.”

“Indeed. This Naraku of yours, must be powerful indeed to create so much life.”

“He creates only death,” she said sharply. “But yes, you are right. He is powerful.”

He sat down beside her.

“I was just about to leave,” she told him, painfully away of her fidgeting hands.

“Stay for a little while.”

For a moment she was silent. A lump had begun to form in her throat and at the bottom of her stomach. Irritated with herself, she looked him full in the face.

“Why do you not just say what is on your mind, my lord?”

He smirked at her, and she returned a look that was cool and unaffected.

“Be careful what you ask for,” he said.

“I am sure I cannot be perturbed by anything you would have to say.”

Now he laughed out loud.

“OK then. I was just thinking that it’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman.”

She stared at him.

“It’s the Rains you see, and the monsters. There used to be villages around here where some of the girls were tender and obliging.”

“And now they are all gone,” she said. “How tragic.”

“Yes,” he said, not taking his eyes off her. “Unfortunate.”

Kikyou endured his gaze, and told herself that if she blushed she would not be allowed to eat for a day.

“There are no tender and obliging girls here,” she made her voice as stern and cold as possible.

He smiled. “Are you sure about that?”

“Quite.”

She did not foresee what he would do next. Before she knew he was moving, his hands were holding her face, and he pulled her toward him. Her body went rigid and she tried to pull his hands away.

“Stop this,” she hissed.

“What do you think they’d do, if they found you out?” he asked, his voice quiet and calm.

“What?”

“You are so protective of your façade, but you are not deceiving me.”

“You are a fool. What are you babbling about?”

“You, my sweet Kikyou, are probably the most tenderhearted woman I have ever known.”

Now she struggled harder to pull away from him, but he would not relent and she slumped her shoulders. Her head started to droop but he held her up.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked morosely.

“I already said. I’m a wee bit lonely.”

“I…I can’t. I—

“He is not here.”

She stared at him helplessly.

“Look around Kikyou,” he whispered. “No one is here. No one will care. No one will even know.”

She was still for a moment, then she shook her head again, hard. “Let me go, or I’ll—

“I’m not asking for forever. I only want tonight. I only want one tiny piece of that immeasurable affection in your heart.”

“You are such a fool!”

“You said that already, but I’m only being honest. I’m not trying to cajole you with promises and flattery. Who cares about yesterday and tomorrow? We’ve got tonight. Let’s use it.”

Kikyou’s heart was pounding. He brought his face close to hers and gave a tiny smile when she did not try to pull back.

“Besides, aren’t you just a little curious?”

She furrowed her brows but refused to look at him.

“You haven’t had this body for very long. Don’t you want to give it a test? Make sure all the parts work?”

She gasped and knew she was blushing now.

He let her go, but she only pulled away a little.

“I’ve said it all. Now I’ll beg you, if you want. Kikyou, my sweet, won’t you please stay?”

Kikyou glanced at the door, then at the fire, then down at her hands. She held them closer to the fire, and felt the numbing cold being burned away. She did not get up.

Tamotsu placed himself beside her, and she let him loosen the front of her haori and kimono, let one smooth, warm hand dive inside and cup her flesh. She gasped and threw back her head, surrendering her neck to his mouth.

One last time, she thought of Inuyasha.

I know, I am sorry. When it was you, I understood!

***

Kagome told herself she was being an idiot, but once the thought entered her head, she was unable to shake it off. She had the distinct impression that Jaken would say more to Rin, that somehow something more would pass between them, if Kagome was not hanging over them. She had been in that room all day anyway; it was a relief to walk out into the cooler air of the hallway. On the floor, Kirara was curled around Kohaku, and they were already asleep.

At first, she thought what she was hearing was her own heartbeat, but she soon realized that the soft thudding came from outside her body. She thought it might have been Kirara’s heart, but when she put her face against the large cat’s body, she saw straight away that it was not. She held her breath and listened.

It was coming from upstairs. Now she understood. It was Kikyou’s heart.

Kikyou had always said that she could hear Kagome’s heart beating. It was only reasonable that Kagome would be able to hear hers. A lantern sat on the floor near the sleeping boy and was still lit. Kagome picked it up and held it in front of her, making her way down the hall to the stairs.

She climbed the steps and passed over the spot where Sesshoumaru had picked her up, months before, when she was too weak to get back to the top of the stairs by herself. That seemed like years ago. At the top of the stairs she turned to the right, but quickly felt that this was incorrect, and she turned back to the left, following the lull of Kikyou’s heart. Her hand reached out to knock on the door to a room she had never entered before. As far as she knew, it was never used. Why was Kikyou there?

“Miko.”

Sesshoumaru’s voice seemed to glance in the dark like a keen knife and she jumped violently. A brief image flew through her mind, of the lantern crashing into the wall and setting fire to the whole house. She steadied it upright again, even as she held on to the wall.

“For heaven’s sake!” she hissed. “You scared the hell of me!”

“Indeed.”

He was staring at her with flat eyes, his face a perfect mask of boredom.

“I’m not sneaking around,” she said, a trifle defensive. “I’m just looking for Kikyou.”

This statement had no impact on him. He continued to stare at her.

“Well?” she said with some exasperation. “What is it? What do you what?”

“You speak as if I am imposing such an unreasonable burden on you, here in my own house.”

Kagome realized that this was the first time they had really spoken, as far as she could remember, since she was brought here. It did not appear to be going well.

“You’re not imposing anything,” she answered. “You would have to actually say what you wanted in order to impose upon me.”

He inclined his head, but was silent. She endured the silence, telling herself that if he did not say anything else within five seconds, she would turn around and go back to the kitchen, where it was warm.

“I require your time and attention,” he said.

She gaped at him.

“That expression makes you appear like an idiot.”

She clamped her mouth shut, then her eyes narrowed.

“So…then you think I am not, in truth, an idiot?”

“Come with me,” he instructed, turning around.

Kagome sighed and followed him down the hall.

Kikyou would tell me to mind my manners, she told herself. So would my mother, come to think of it.

***

The fire had been allowed to dwindle to almost nothing, and Kikyou pulled on her clothing in haste, her breath steaming in the air.

“Cold already?” Tamotsu’s voice was amused. “I had hoped the warmth would stay with you a little longer. How disappointing. I suppose I shall have to try harder…next time.”

Kikyou shot him an irritated look. He was still lounging on the side of the fire, without a stitch of clothing.

“Should you not get dressed?” she said pointedly.

He shrugged. “I’m comfortable.”

“You have no shame.”

He only grinned at her.

She was about to say something else, when she froze. Tamotsu noticed that her face had gone deathly white.

“What is it?”

“Sshh!” she whispered.

Outside the door he heard soft footsteps, and the muffled voice of Kagome, calling out Kikyou’s name in a low whisper. Kikyou looked like a mouse in the icy stare of a serpent. To Tamotsu’s sharp ears, it seemed that Kagome was very near the door, but then he heard her speaking with someone, and he sensed that it was Sesshoumaru.

After a few tense moments, he said, “She’s gone.”

Kikyou let out a long breath. She lowered her face into her hands.

“What’s the matter?”

She did not answer him.

“I am such a fool,” she murmured to herself.

She straightened and lifted her chin, then walked to the door with determined steps.

“Kikyou,” he called out in a sharp whisper.

She turned to look at him.

“All the parts work fine, just so you know.”

With a toss of her glossy hair, she turned her back on him and left the room.

***

Kagome sat on the heels of her feet, across a small fire from Inuyasha’s brother.

Half-brother, she corrected herself.

“My name is Higurashi Kagome. I was born in a city not far from here, almost five hundred years in the future.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze did not waver, and so she continued. He had instructed her, somewhat imperiously of course, to tell him everything, and refused to elaborate on what ‘everything’ meant, so she was determined to give him his fill of ‘everything’.

“Five or six years ago, I passed through an ancient well on my family’s shrine, and came here, to the past. The first person I saw was Inuyasha, though he did not see me, not then. He was enspelled.”

A small flicker lit up in his eyes, and Kagome assumed he was annoyed at hearing his brother’s name. In truth, Sesshoumaru was recalling his visit to the strange house with the large courtyard. He remembered the boy with the bloody forehead, lying on the ground.

“You have a brother…younger. There is a large tree in a courtyard. Your house has two levels.”

Kagome took a sharp breath and her eyes widened.

“How…?”

“That is not important.”

“Oh, I disagree! How could you possibly know what my world is like?”

“I have been there.”

“That’s not possible!” Kagome leaned forward.

“The time-traveler has decided to lecture me on what is possible and what is not.”

“Yes, well, that’s different.”

“How so?”

“The well has only ever allowed me and Inuyasha to travel through,” she insisted.

“In the first place, you cannot be certain of that, unless you have watched the well for every moment of its existence. In the second, even if that were so, it would not eliminate all possibility of others traveling through at any future point.”

Kagome sat down, flustered.

“Your thinking lacks discipline, Miko.”

Kagome sighed. “My name is Kagome. I don’t call you ‘Dog Demon’, do I?”

“'Lord of the West' would be more appropriate.”

Kagome laughed. “Come on. Be serious.”

His eyes narrowed but he said nothing.

“Did you pass through the well or not?”

After a moment of silence, he said, “I did not. I went there…in a dreaming state.”

She peered at him curiously. “By whose design? Who took you there?”

He gazed back at her but said nothing.

“You may as well tell me,” she said. “You know I’ll find out, sooner or later.”

“What is it like to be dead?”

The question took Kagome off guard. For a fraction of a second, she thought she was going to cry again.

Am I still mourning for myself? The thought flitted through her mind like a startled bird, and was gone.

“At first, I didn’t know I was dead,” she began, “because I never saw the attack. But then, I felt warm, really warm, like warmer than I have felt since before I came here. I was sitting on the banks of a river. A woman’s voice spoke to me, and at first I thought it was Midoriko—

“Why did you think it was her?”

“Because…because last time, it was Midoriko that I spoke with, so I just assumed…”

“Last time?”

“Well, I guess I wasn’t dead then, just…” Kagome trailed off.

“You are referring to when you were asleep, during the Rains.”

Kagome nodded.

“You spoke with Midoriko then. What did she tell you?”

“I…I’m not sure if that’s for me to say.”

“As you say, you must know that I will find out, eventually.”

“Maybe. But maybe Midoriko plans to tell you in her own way, in her own time, as she did me.”

He appeared about to speak again, but she stopped him.

“Please, it’s late and I’m tired. I’m not like you; I need to sleep.”

He regarded her for what felt like a ridiculous amount of time. She looked down at her hands and tried not to squirm under that hard stare.

“One more thing then. If it was not Midoriko, with whom you spoke yesterday on the banks of the river, who was it?”

Kagome hesitated, then swallowed hard. Her mouth and throat felt parched.

“Izayoi.”

“I see,” was all he said. “Very well. You may go. We will speak tomorrow.”

A sullen, sarcastic response came to Kagome’s mind, but she bit her tongue and simply said, “Good night” instead.

When she got to the kitchen, Kikyou was under her blankets, appearing as though she had been there for some time, fast asleep.

***

For the next week, Kagome spent most of her time sequestered away from the others, in a room alone with Sesshoumaru. It was a very trying time for her.

She strove to answer his questions honestly, while still avoiding subjects she was convinced would upset or at least irritate him. Whenever he accused her of being evasive, she fell back on the excuse that she was obeying Midoriko, and tried to appeal to his sense of honor and duty. Her days turned into long rearguard maneuvers of sidestepping and changing the subject.

She soon discovered that, in spite of himself, he shared his cousin’s curiosity about her own era, and she used that to her advantage. A little nagging voice told her that it was unwise to divulge so much about the future, but if it kept her alive…

Just call me Scheherazade.

“How can such a device stay in the air?”

Kagome stammered, then fell silent.

“You do not know.” It was not a question.

“Most people don’t.”

“What you are saying, is that you allow yourself to be carried through the sky, miles above the ground, and you do not have any idea how the device propels itself and does not plummet to destruction.”

“Yes, alright? That’s true,” she answered, exasperated. “But I do know that it does work. People have been using them since before I was born. Just like I know you could carry me through the air, if you had a mind, but I don’t know how you do it.”

“I am a demon.”

“That’s 'what', Sesshoumaru, not 'how'.”

He appeared annoyed, and Kagome thought of a way to change the subject, again.

After three days, Kagome began putting some of her mental energy into thinking of ways out of these daily visits. Everything about being near Sesshoumaru made her unhappy. He reminded her of where she was, and how long she had been there. His personality, and his flinty regard for her, was a constant rebuke to what she knew Midoriko and others wanted of her. His yellow eyes and white hair made her think of Inuyasha, and she wept in secret from the pain of longing. Hardly an hour passed in any day when she did not sink in self-recrimination.

Every day she feared that some demon, or demons, would sense the jewel and come to claim it for themselves, but that never happened.

During this time Kohaku grew less remote, Kikyou grew more silent, and Rin grew stronger. After being bedridden for four days, Kikyou declared that her fever had broken, and that it was now safe for her to leave the bed. However, she was still forbidden to leave what they had come to refer to as the 'hot room'.

Rin’s temperament did not handle confinement well. Normally cheerful and complacent, she became sullen, temperamental, even obstinate. Kikyou was immune to her moods, but Jaken grew waspish with her. On several occasions, Kagome would flee into the hallways and empty rooms to escape Rin and Jaken’s bickering, only to be caught wandering by the master of the house and questioned, examined, and re-examined without mercy.

On one particular evening it was only a few minutes short of midnight before she was released from a particularly trying session with his Implacableness, and when she came into the kitchen she began rummaging through the cabinets without even trying to be quiet.

“What are you doing?” Kikyou’s muffled voice sounded irritated.

“Looking for saki,” Kagome answered. “I know we have some in here somewhere.”

“We do not. I drank it all.”

Kagome stopped. “You did what?”

“You heard me. You will not find any. Go to bed.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Then kindly allow the rest of us to do so.”

“But—

She was cut off by a garble of mumbled swearing. Jaken emerged from a hive of blankets in a corner. He yawned and scratched one ear.

“How the hell is anyone supposed to sleep around here? Just because you can’t sleep, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to!”

“Well I’m sorry, Jaken-sama,” she retorted. “But since you’re up anyway—

“Yes, yes, there’s more in the cellar. Come on then.”

He walked out of the room, lifting the blanket as he went into the hall. Kagome stared after him for a moment, then quickly caught up with him. In the hall, Kohaku did not stir but Kirara lifted her head, blinked at them, then returned to her slumber. Kagome shivered and pulled her coat around her tighter. They came to a heavy, wooden door, which did not slide but pushed open. The cellar stairs were steep and narrow and the heavy blackness threatened to smother their puny light. The floor at the bottom was bare earth, and the room smelled like wet clay.

“Most of the stuff down here was ruined when the Rains flooded the place.”

“Really? The water came in here?” Kagome asked curiously, looking around.

“Yeah. Almost to the ceiling. The saki jars are probably alright. Stay here.”

Kagome stood still as he moved away, taking the little light with him. She watched it dance in the dark like a lonely firefly. Shuffling and jostling noises came from somewhere ahead and the right. Then there was strange, rattling rumble. Finally, the light came closer and she saw his little green face, distorted by the shadows. Not until he was only three feet away did she see that he was rolling a barrel in front of him.

“You expect me to carry that?” she asked, suddenly understanding why he wanted her to come along.

He sneered at her. Even in the weak light she could see his gleaming eyes and teeth.

“You wanted it.”

She threw up her hands.

“Geez, why did you bring me here? You must know that I can’t carry it!”

“It’s not that heavy,” he answered. “Stop being such a baby!”

“I’m not!”

“You expect everything to be handed to you.”

“That’s not true!”

“Yes it is,” he hissed at her. “Kikyou, me, Kohaku, Tamotsu, Rin, even Sesshoumaru-sama, even that cat, you treat us all like your servants. Like you’re the princess of this house!”

“Oh, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes I do! You don't give orders maybe, but in the end it’s the same thing isn’t it? Ever since you came here it’s been 'poor, pitiful Kagome'.” He mocked her voice, “'I can’t walk, I can’t carry that, I need someone to help me, I need someone to feed me, I know I should try to find my friends but oh, I’m so weak, I just can’t be bothered'.”

Kagome took a step towards him, her fist clenched. “Shut up, Jaken!”

“Or what? You’ll whine me to death?”

“You have no idea what I’ve been through!”

“Don’t be so stupid! I know as well as anyone. I was there, you ungrateful wench, when Sesshoumaru-sama dragged your sorry self here. I saw what you looked like.”

“Then—

“That was six months ago. I couldn’t believe that a human could survive that and I was beginning to think you were stronger than I thought, but since then you've done everything possible to prove otherwise.”

“Just forget the damn saki,” Kagome snapped. “I'm going to bed.”

“Do whatever the hell you want,” he shrugged and turned away from her, leaving her in the dark.

She had to run to avoid being left in the cellar. When they came back into the kitchen, Kikyou sat up.

“I thought you were getting saki?”

“What's the matter?” Jaken snickered. “Need more already?”

She ignored him.

“Just forget it,” Kagome muttered.

She burrowed into her blankets and pillow by punching them a few times.

“Everyone, just go the hell to sleep.”

“Yes, your highness,” Jaken’s mocking voice came from the corner.

Kagome clenched her teeth. Kikyou shrugged and went back to sleep.

***

“What did Izayoi say to you?”

“Well, honestly, not much. She said she was only there to keep me company while I waited.”

“Waited for what?”

“For you, I think. She said you may be able to bring me back, but it would not be as easy as it had been for others. She said something may have to be sacrificed, but she didn’t say what, or why. Then she left.”

“Left? Even though she was only there to keep you company?”

“At that point, she was…she was making room for someone else who wanted to speak with me.”

“And who was that?”

“My…my grandfather.”

***

“Don’t you think we should continue my training?”

Kikyou, who was sitting by the fire mending a tear in one of Rin’s kimonos, looked up from her work, then shook her head and kept sewing.

“I have taught you everything that I can,” she answered. “You know the exercises, if you want to practice them. How much stronger you get at this point is up to you.”

“I see,” Kagome murmured.

They were alone, except for the sleeping Rin. She had no idea what Jaken and Kohaku were up to, but Kagome could hear them walking up and down the halls and across the floors above her head. She felt the presence of Sesshoumaru and Kirara.

“Kikyou? Why have you stayed here?”

Kikyou looked up again.

“What do you mean?”

“If someone had said to me a year ago that you would be with me this long, I would have said they were crazy. I would have expected to you leave a long time ago.”

“And go where?”

“I don’t know. Where do you usually wander off to?”

“Are you wishing to be rid of me?”

Kagome sighed in frustration. “I didn’t say that. I’m just trying to understand…why everything has changed…why you seem determined to stick to me.”

“Perhaps it is my…our fate. Perhaps because I am a normal woman, and I feel the need for company, and I have a connection with you.”

She snapped the end of the thread with her teeth and set the garment aside. After threading the needle, she pulled something from another pile, a white sock. Kagome sat down near her, drawing her knees up to her chin.

“You mean because we shared a soul?”

“That is not entirely accurate you know, but yes, that is part of it.”

“Is that why I can follow your heart beat?”

Kikyou stopped and looked up at her with a  level gaze. “Can you?”

“Can’t you?”

“I have since I woke up that day, but I did not know you had learned how.”

“I didn’t really learn, per say, it just…happened.”

“Hmm,” Kikyou continued sewing.

“You said that it was only part of it. What’s the rest?”

“We are connected in many ways. Our soul, our bodies, our powers as mikos, our connection to the Sacred Jewel. Naraku is our bitterest enemy. Then there is Inuyasha.”

Kagome turned her face away.

“We are both mikos, our fates are tied to the Jewel, and we both lost our virginity to the same man.”

Kagome’s blood froze and she tightened her grip on her legs. She did not dare look up.

“It is alright, Kagome. I have known for a long time, and it is alright. I know your feelings, and I do not blame you. I would have done the same, in your place.”

“No,” Kagome whispered, shaking her hanging head. “You wouldn’t have. You would never do something so…stupid.”

Kikyou did not look up from her sewing, but she sighed.

“It was not stupid. You were young. Your feelings were pure. Things might have gone better for you, if not for me.”

Now Kagome put her feet on the floor and sat up straight, looking at her.

“You surely don’t feel bad for me?”

“More than a little.”

“But…you’re the one who—

“Let us not go through this,” Kikyou cut her off.

The room was silent for some time. Kagome listened to the crackling the fire. A gradual sound took over and Kagome was startled to realize that it was Kikyou humming to herself in a low, quiet tone. With a start, she recognized the melody.

“All you need is love, love, love is all you need,” Kagome sang in a whisper.

Kikyou laughed, a short, wry sound. “It is a silly song.”

“Yes, you’re probably right.”

They fell silent again. The growing dark was now noticeable and the weak light of the cold afternoon was fading under the freezing night.

“I wish things had been different, for everyone,” she said.

“I have wished that every day that I can remember,” Kikyou replied.

“Do you think it will ever get better?”

“I do not know, Imouto, I really do not now.”

***

“What is the nature of your relationship with the other miko?”

“You mean Kikyou?”

“Yes.”

“She is a friend.”

“Is that all?”

“She and I share a common bond. We’re linked to the Sacred Jewel and to Midoriko, and to each other.”

“How so?”

“I’m sorry, Sesshoumaru, but that really isn’t any of your business. And you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

***

“Kagome-chan, would you sing one of your songs for me?”

Kagome twitched from a shallow doze. She was leaning against one of the wooden beams in the kitchen, near the fire. Rin was the only other person in the room. She had no idea where Kikyou or Kohaku were lurking, as she had not seen them since breakfast.

“What was that?” she murmured, blinking in the orange light.

“A song. Would you sing a song for me, please?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Kagome straightened and licked her lips.

Oh, the moon is rising high in the depths of night, Silent is the ruined site lying on the ground,
“No, no,” Rin interrupted. “One of your songs.”

“Oh. Right. Well, let me think.”

As she searched her mind for a tune she felt like singing, she found that the searching turned up some surprising sensations. She felt the demonic presence of Sesshoumaru, Jaken, and Kirara, but to her surprise, she felt Tamotsu, and he was somewhere near Kikyou.

Kagome furrowed her brows. If she concentrated, she could almost sense them as though they were in the same room with her. She could almost hear their thoughts…

Kagome gasped, and her fingers flew to her mouth.

“Kagome-chan? What’s the matter?”

“I’ll be back,” Kagome said in a brisk tone.

Much to Rin’s astonishment, she ran from the room.

Kagome flew up the stairs and around the corner, heedless of the dark. Her senses brought her straight to the door of one of the eastern rooms. She banged on the wooden frame with her fist.

“Kikyou! I know you’re in there. I’m coming in on the count of three. One…two…three!”

The scene that greeted her should not have surprised her, considering what she had sensed from the kitchen. Kikyou, her face flushed and her hair wild, was yanking her kimono closed, but what shocked her was that Tamotsu was making no effort to cover himself. He got to his feet, making it painfully obvious where his interest in the situation lay. Kagome cried out in dismay and turned her back on him, her hands covering her flaming face.

“That’s no way to behave if you’ve come to join in,” he laughed.

“Shut up, Tamotsu,” Kikyou snapped.

“Kikyou!” Kagome exclaimed, hovering on the edge of panic. “What in the name of all the demons in hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I thought that was obvious,” Tamotsu snickered.

“Shut up, Tamotsu!” Kikyou said again. “Listen, Kagome—

“No!”

Kagome turned on her, being careful to keep her eyes away from Tamotsu.

“You listen to me! You have clearly lost your mind.”

“So…I take it the fun is over.”

“Shut up, Tamotsu!” they both shouted.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Pulling a robe around his shoulders, he walked to the door.

“Fine,” he said, his tone somewhat bitter. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

Waiting until he left the room, Kagome turned on Kikyou again.

“Really, Kikyou!”

“Let me make this clear,” she responded, her voice chill. “I do not explain myself to you.”

“Oh, I see. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“Get your shit together,” Kagome told her. “We’re leaving.”

“What? Now?”

“Yes, now. It’s obviously not a moment too soon.”

Kagome stalked out of the room, with Kikyou hurrying after her.

“We cannot leave in the middle of the night, Kagome,” she said. “Be reasonable.”

“Ha!”

They burst into the kitchen, still arguing with loud voices. Rin and Jaken jumped and stared at them in amazement. Kohaku curiously poked his head in the door.

“I’ve known for a long time that we should be gone, but it was apparently more urgent than I thought.”

“Keep your voice down,” Kikyou hissed, casting glances around the room.

“Whatever. They don’t need to know why.”

“Why what?” Jaken demanded.

“We’re leaving,” Kagome answered shortly.

“In the middle of the night?” he was incredulous. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Hasn’t everybody?” she returned.

He peered at her closely, then clamped his mouth tight and scurried out of the room.

“Where is he going?” Kikyou wondered.

“Who cares?” Kagome shrugged.

“Kagome-chan,” Rin’s quivering voice piped up. “I don’t think this is good idea.”

“Rin-chan, do you know of any sacks or packs that can be spared? And blankets?”

“I…I think so.”

“Kagome… Imouto…” Kikyou even reached out one hand.

“Don’t call me that right now, you’re just sucking up to me.”

“I do not know what that means,” Kikyou said in a prim tone, “but it sounds offensive.”

“Why don’t you see if there’s any food we can—

“Are we in a hurry?”

The three women spun around. Sesshoumaru’s tall figure was bearing down on them, striding into the room like an oak among willow saplings. Rin took one look at him and retreated to a corner. Kagome, however, after seeing one dog demon in his birthday suit, was not inclined to be intimidated by another. She stood in his path and crossed her arms.

“Have you come to help us pack?”

“That will not be necessary.”

“Whatever you say. You wouldn’t miss a few blankets and a little food, would you?” Kagome laughed. “Surely, it’s worth it to get rid of us, right?”

“I cannot disagree with that,” he answered in a placid tone. “However, unfortunately for me, you are not leaving.”

Kagome grew still.

“I see. Perhaps his highness knows something I do not.”

“Perhaps he does,” Sesshoumaru’s face did not change, but his voice had a slight edge to it.

The two of them eyed each other, until a movement caught Kagome’s attention. Jaken was listening furtively behind the blanket that covered the door, daring to peek in only a tiny bit. Kagome glared at him.

“What do you want from me?” she turned back to Sesshoumaru. “Why do you interfere? I don’t want to be here anymore. Don’t you understand? I don’t like it. I’m sick of this place, I’m sick of that sneaking, busybody little toad, and I’m sick of you!”

Sesshoumaru took two steps toward her so she had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. He peered down on her as though she were a wayward child.

“You?” he sneered. “You? Sick of me?”

Kagome took a step back.

“Who saved you from death, twice? Who gave you sanctuary? Who has kept you safe? Who allowed other humans to come here for your sake? Who has brooked your every bit of nonsense and ill breeding?”

“Ill breeding?”

“Yes. An ill bred girl with no manners, no family, no title, no meaningful accomplishments. I have seen peasant girls in the rudest villages behave more seemly than you.”

Kagome flushed, but she did not back down.

“To think,” her voice grew louder, and more indignant, “that I would live to be reprimanded on my manners by Sesshoumaru, a dog demon, who has waded through blood all his life and now skulks about an empty house long stripped of any grandeur.”

She heard both Jaken and Rin gasp, and she sensed Kikyou’s fear. Sesshoumaru’s eyes glinted. Kagome tensed herself for a fight. The little pessimist that never left her told her in no uncertain terms that she was about to perish as the biggest moron in history.

Hope you’re ready to die again! the voice in her mind laughed almost maniacally.

Unbidden, Midoriko’s words returned from beyond six months or more of confusion and loneliness.

“You are not endowed with enormous fighting powers, sacred or otherwise, but your strength lies elsewhere.”

She felt the demon that was Sesshoumaru, always so contained, come at her in waves, like heat from a kiln. Yet she knew it was still chained. He could release it all and obliterate her and everyone else, probably the whole damn side of the house, like the wall of burning ash that avalanches from a volcano.

Holy crap! she thought, this is what she was talking about! I shouldn’t be doing this. It’s wrong! If Midoriko were here, what would she say? I’m about to throw it all away!

“Compared to some.”

Kagome’s stammering voice broke the charged silence, and everyone stared at her.

“Compared to some I guess I am just a stupid girl.”

Her one solace was that not only did Sesshoumaru’s power retreat again, but for a moment, a tiny fraction of a second, his eyes widened in pure shock.

“I do my best but I’m made of mistakes,” she continued, sinking to her knees.

A long silence followed this unexpected display. Jaken stood stupefied. From Kikyou, she sensed only relief.

“Are you still set on leaving?” the master of the house asked her.

“No,” she answered. “But…but in the end we may discover that I should have.”

“In the end?” his eyes narrowed. “We may never get there to prove it.”

Kagome stood up again and looked him in the eye.

“Well, let’s not waste our time thinking how that’s not fair.”

From behind her, she heard Kikyou take a deep, shuddering breath.

Sesshoumaru looked at her for a long moment. She thought perhaps he was trying to puzzle something out but, then again, he was as impossible to read as always.

“Be comforted, miko,” he said, as he turned away. “You are wiser than previously thought.”

After he was gone the air in the room seemed cold and stale. Kagome flopped down on a bench against the far wall with a heavy sigh. Kikyou sat down beside her, silent. Rin sat on the floor in front of them, near the fire. For a while, no one spoke. Jaken and Kohaku looked at each other, shook their heads, and wandered away.

“Kagome,” Kikyou said at last. “Please, do not do that again. I nearly had a heart attack.”

Kagome glanced at her for an instant, then closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

“I’m still not talking to you.”

Kikyou sighed.

***

“You do know that other demons may come for the jewel?”

“I am unconcerned.”

“Of course you are.”

“Besides Izayoi, and your paternal grandfather, did you see anyone else?”

“One other. Your mother.”

“My mother?”

“At the end, right before I woke up and saw you and Kikyou. She stood over me and reached out her hand. I told her that I didn’t understand, but then she said…”

“Yes?”

“She said: 'Beloved, I have suffered through centuries of untold loss and grief, far beyond your understanding, to see you through this. Don’t waste it. We must go now.’”

For once, Sesshoumaru had nothing to say.

***

It was morning and the cold seeped into her bones. It made the very wood of the house shiver. Kikyou fed more kindling into the fire, fighting the urge to pile every scrap of furniture upon it. That morning she had given Rin leave to move about the house, and the girl had jumped at the chance.  Kikyou was alone in the room with Kagome, who was still making a point of not even looking at her.

“Are you going to tell Inuyasha?”

Kagome looked up at her, surprised. Then her face grew set.

“No, of course not.”

Kikyou was silent. She wanted to say that she was grateful, but was unsure how it would be received.

“But I think you should tell him yourself.”

“Do you truly?”

Kagome looked at her again, then looked away. After a few moments, she sighed.

“No, I guess I not.”

“I did not intend to upset you, or to disappoint you,” Kikyou went on. “But I…”

“You don’t really have to explain,” Kagome cut her off. “I can hear your thoughts from here. I guess I shouldn’t judge you so harsh.”

Kikyou blew into the burning embers at the bottom of the fire pit.

“Has it continued?”

Kikyou smiled wryly. “I have not seen Tamotsu since. I think you scared him off.”

“Do you still love Inuyasha?”

Love? Was it ever that simple?

“I…do not know.”

“You’re not sure?” Kagome peered at her.

“I am not sure if I know what love is.”

Kagome laughed, a short and bitter sound.

“Funny. Me either.”

The fire finally grew up, crackling and leaping fitfully.

“Would you care for some tea?”

“Huh?” Kagome turned back to her, her eyes distant. “Oh, right. Yes.”

“What is on your mind?”

“I was just thinking that, I wish I knew more.”

Now Kikyou laughed. “Funny. Me too.”

“I mean about what Midoriko is doing. Sometimes she referred to some other power…an authority higher than herself.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Kikyou said, carefully hanging the kettle over the fire. “She is, after all, only a human.”

“I wish I could meet them, or it, or whatever. I wish I knew what they wanted. And most of all I wish…”

“Yes?”

“I wish I knew what gave them the right to do all this.”

Kikyou was about to advise her not to rail against her fate when, to her surprise, the girl was not there.

“Kagome?” she whispered.

She had not heard or seen Kagome stand up, let alone walk out of the room.

“Kagome?” she called out, louder.

She closed her eyes, but was horrified to find that she could not sense the girl. The absence of her beating heart made the silence seem loud and terrifying.

Kikyou turned about the room, on the verge of sheer panic. Then she did the only thing she could think of.

“Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!”

He was there so quickly that she wondered if he had come through the walls and floors.

“What is the matter?”

“She is gone!”

“Who is gone?”

“Kagome!”

“She left?” his expression darkened.

“No, no, you do not understand. She is just gone. She vanished! She was here one minute, then she vanished into thin air!”

Sesshoumaru looked around and his eyes grew distant. Kikyou knew he was searching for the sense of Kagome’s presence.

“What happened?” he demanded, turning back to her with accusing eyes “Before she disappeared?”

“Nothing! We were talking.”

“Talking about what?”
“I was going to make tea. She said she wanted to know how Midoriko was getting her instructions. The power behind her. Do you see what I mean?”

“I believe so,” his eyes narrowed. “It is not an unreasonable desire. I have given it much thought myself, as of late.”

This time, there could be no mistake. Kikyou was looking directly at Sesshoumaru when he simply ceased to be in the room. Nothing remained where he had been standing, and all sense of his demonic presence was erased.

Kikyou took a step back.

“What’s happening?” she whispered to the room that now contained only her.

“It is alright.”

Kikyou jumped and cried out in dismay. Midoriko was sitting in front of the fire, warming her hands as though it was the most normal thing in the world, as though she had just come in from tending the fields and feeding the livestock.

“Oh thank goodness!” Kikyou exclaimed with relief. “What happened? Where are they?”

Midoriko looked up at her and smiled.

“Walking with gods.”

***

Tamotsu made rare appearances at the house during this period. Since it was necessary for one of them to stay at the house to prevent future disasters, Tamotsu spent all of his time fighting off the spider demons. He only came back during the rare moments when the demons seemed scattered and sparse. Sometimes their numbers would dwindle and they would pull back. More often than not during these times, Tamotsu would notice a great deal of commotion to the north, in the range of the Hakusan. In the evenings he would sometimes see the twinkle of a multitude of small fires. During the day, when the wind was moving just right, once or twice he heard the cries of battle. More than once he was tempted to investigate these phenomenon, but the sounds were always just a little too far away, and he did not dare let the Hyouden out of his sight. So he fought, all day every day, snuffing out the lives of the monsters like ants and thinking of Kikyou’s hair falling across his chest.

Once he learned of the recovery of a large part of the Sacred Jewel, he feared, like Kagome, that strong demons would appear in masse to attempt to claim it. This fear was never realized. He wondered where all the demons were.

Where is everybody?

Almost two weeks after Kagome’s temporary death, he caught a lucky break. It just so happened that he was finishing off a small party of Tsuchigumo, which had strayed away from the battles in the northern hills and wandered into the valley, when he saw a dust cloud that could only mean the movement of a large number of persons of some sort. Concluding that it was more Tsuchigumo, he went straight to it, on the other side of the valley near the southwestern edge.

It turned out to not be Tsuchigumo at all, but the herds of the Karauma. They moved in orderly columns, broken into groups of several dozen. At the head of this parade, Tamotsu spotted a female, dressed in simply clothing but with a regal bearing. She sat astride a gray horse that was bearing its heavy armor with little effort. Beside her, a soldier carried a green flag with a white horse running across the field.

That must be the queen of the horses I’ve heard of, he thought to himself. In moments, he placed himself directly in their path. When she noticed him, the queen smiled, and bent her head, her long hair sliding over her shoulder. When she was closer, she dismounted.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me,” he said.

She only smiled at him. Behind her, the columns came to a gradual halt.

“So then, I guess you know why I’m out here. What’s your story?”

“The same as yours, my lord,” she answered, “except further away.”

“What do you mean?”

“You, and our lord Sesshoumaru, have been valiantly constraining the activities of the enemy in this area.”

He nodded his head. “We do our best.”

“But further to the north, it is quite different.”

“Yes, I have caught wind of that. Do you know something about it? Are you willing to share your information?”

She bowed again. “For a kinsmen of the Lady of the Hyouden, no favor is too large or too small. It is needful, moreover, that you bring this information to your cousin.”

“I guess it’s no coincidence then, us meeting here.”

“I do not believe in coincidence,” she smiled.

He shook his head. “I guess I don’t either, not anymore,” he sighed. “What do you have to say?”

“To the north, a great battle rages. Many demons, and humans, are fighting for survival. Some of those that are heavily involved, are very familiar with your cousin, and with the Beloved.”

“Beloved?”

“Ah…&# 8221; the queen hesitated. “I never learned her mother-name. But in the prophecies she is the Beloved, and the Everlasting Light.”

Tamotsu thought over it for only a second. “You must mean Kagome. Wait,” he started, “are you saying that some of Kagome’s friends are up there? Fighting Tsuchigumo?”

“In the end, we are all friends of the Beloved.”

“Umm…yeah,” Tamotsu thought of something. “Did you know about what happened? A couple of weeks ago.”

The queen nodded, her face sad.

“Did you foresee it?” his voice took on a very slight hint of threat.

“No, my lord, I do not see all things. I did sense it coming, however, that day.”

Tamotsu furrowed his brows. “Oh, I get it. You were the one who warned Sesshoumaru.”

“That is correct.”

Tamotsu remembered the vision of the woman who came to warn him (whom he later realized had been Midoriko). He recalled rushing towards the Hyouden and seeing his cousin hurrying in the same direction.

“I’ve been wandering about that,” he murmured.

Tamotsu scratched his head, glancing involuntarily towards the north, then back in the direction of the Hyouden.

“You must not leave them,” she urged him. “The battle will come to you. That is what you must tell the General.”

“I see,” he answered, not bothering to ask who she meant by ‘General’.

Tamotsu was silent for a moment. Then he bowed to her.

“I won’t keep you any longer then. Good luck on your march and may fortune follow you into battle.”

She smiled and bowed, then remounted her horse. She clicked her tongue and the animal resumed its regal canter. It seemed to Tamotsu that the rest of the column began moving almost at the same moment, without any signal.

“May you go with all the love and protection you deserve,” she called back to him.

Tamotsu watched them go until they were only a dust cloud again, disappearing into the northern foothills. By then the cold sun was sinking into the west.

“I’m not blind,” he whispered. “I can see it coming.”

[End of Chapter 26]

[Next chapter: We Go to Battle]