InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ THE MIRROR OF SOULS ❯ CHAPTER 5 A FAMILIAR STRANGER ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

As Bakusaiga's lethal length was swiftly unsheathed Sesshoumaru prepared to confront the threat even before the light dimmed. Though the fleeting touch of the energy coil was benign, one cannot be too trusting as to let one guard's down. A warrior is a warrior.

He tried to will his youkai eyes to see past the blinding light his stance automatically taking in Rin's position on his left flank. He cannot spare a glance at his daughter, as a split second lapse of attention could be fatal for her.

Damn this infernal light! Damn that infernal racket! The taiyoukai was dismayed that instead of diminishing the sound continued. It abused his sensitive ears.

Just when the taiyoukai was considering initiating his attack the harsh light and sound seemed to be pulled in on itself. Suddenly normal was back. But is it?

The Lord of the West blinked at the change his golden eyes widening. He took a cautious step his sword held at ready.

Rin blinked to clear her eyes and realized her father has left her side.  She ran to catch up with him.

Kagome opened her eyes to a different location.

"Huh? What the hell?" She's in a forest? What happened to the desert? "Sesshoumaru?" She gasped.

The taiyoukai was standing swords-length away. His attention riveted at something. Kagome followed where his eyes were glued at and she gasped despite herself.

Kagome and the hummer were in the forest. How she and the jeep got there she had no idea. Kagome knows her jaws were hanging open. Consternation etched on her face. "What the fuck?"

Suddenly Bakusaiga was pointed at her.

"Who are you?" The tall taiyoukai demanded.

"What? Hey, don't point that at me! Sesshoumaru, don't you know me? Hey, it's not that long since you saw me!" The youkai's eyes became deadly looking.

"And when was that?" The hand holding the sword did not even waver.

"Gosh, three years ago! Don't tell me I changed that much? It's Kagome!"

"You lie." Kagome was reminded how fast he was when suddenly his hand was around her throat.

"Yeah, I missed you too! Stop that!" She clamped her hands over his to ease the pressure but she was surprised to find that she could pry his fingers apart from her throat. The taiyoukai was as surprised as her until Kagome noticed her hands.

"I have claws?! What the hell?" She turned her hands and with a start she saw the pale skin, the blue tattoos…she scooted to the rearview mirror….arctic-blue eyes, Kanna's miniature mirror tatooed on forehead, elfin ears, silver hair and fangs…! "NO FUCKING WAY!" She screeched and started to hyperventilate. "This isn't happening…I'm dreaming…wake up Kagome! Wake up!" The woman slapped her cheeks a couple of times.

"Who are you?" Another voice cut in as Kagome went through the throes of full-blown panic attack.

Kagome turned, her panic attack momentarily forgotten. "Who…?" She gasped at the young woman. Only one female human was always with Sesshoumaru with adorable brown eyes. "Rin? RIN?!" The older girl was suddenly glad of seeing another familiar face. "It's me, Kagome-neechan!" She held out her arms to the younger girl.

"Kagome-neechan?! Oh, Kami!" Rin squealed and held out her arms for an embrace but she was held immobile. "Chichiue?" The taiyoukai was holding the back of her armor.

"Rin, stay." Kagome rolled her eyes at the familiar command.

"Chichiue, that's Kagome-neechan! Don’t you recognize her voice?"

Sesshoumaru ignored his daughter's words, his attention locked at the strange youkai in front of him. "You will prove to this Sesshoumaru of your identity." The sword arm was unswerving in its pose, prepared to deliver swift death.

Kagome opened her mouth but realized that she was still sitting in the jeep all this time. Giving a statement to the local authority while sitting in the jeep looked ridiculous to her. She decided to ….very…slowly move so as not to spook the locals, she held up her hands as she unfolded her legs out of the jeep.

Kagome shifted her eyes from Sesshoumaru to Rin trying to gauge their reactions. She breathed a small sigh of relief when both youkai and human didn’t make any hostile moves on her.

"Oo-kay." She said slowly as she stood her ground beside the jeep.

Sesshoumaru took in the appearance of the pale taiyoukai, his whole body perfectly balanced to move on the least provocation. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the woman's strange clothes; she had an upper garment that was short, white and tight fitting, the black bottom garment was thick but equally tight like the upper garment, her legs encased in gray boots that reach mid-leg and long black coat that reach past her knees. A tall pale creature in dark raiment…she looked beautifully dangerous.

"Kagome-neechan, you said that you were here three years ago?" Rin took it upon herself to begin the interrogation.

"Yeah, I was here with Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Shippou. We…" She indicated Sesshoumaru. "…we fought Naraku…we defeated him then I wished on the Shikon no Tama and the stupid well closed and I can't come back here…but you were just a kid then…and now you're not and you're wearing armor…." Kagome's words trickled to a crawl when a realization hit her. "Uh…how old are you now Rin-chan?"

"I'm now 16 years old, Kagome-neechan. I was eight years old when I last saw you." Kagome paled at the young woman's words.

Damn! Eight years! I was here eight years ago! Kagome slapped her palm on her forehead when it dawned on her dense brain certain details that she should have noticed in the first place.

"Woman, what is this well that you speak of?" Sesshoumaru steered the interrogation to its right path.

"Argh! It's Kagome! KA-GO-ME! Jeesh! It's been eight years and you still call me that!" Kagome threw her hands up in the air.

"You will answer the question, KA-GO-ME." The cold taiyoukai returned sarcastically.

"Still the same as ever." Kagome held up her hand when she heard a growl from the inu-youkai. "Okay! Okay! There's a well at Inuyasha's Forest, its called the Bone Eater's well. It allows me to travel 500 years from the future and back here." She twirled her fingers to indicate the present time.

"Kagome is human. You are not." The taiyoukai lord declared succinctly.

"I know that!" Kagome said with arms akimbo. She perched herself on the jeep's front bumper. "I was actually in Egypt…its another country far away from here, from the future…" She waited until she got a curt nod from the youkai. "I was in the desert and this mirror started acting up.." She snapped her fingers. "Right! The mirror!" She quickly ran to the left passenger side of the jeep to fish the mirror from its floor.

"A mirror, Kagome-neechan?"  Rin asked.

"Yes! This mirror is the culprit for…for this!" Kagome pointed at herself meaning her transformation. She looked at two pairs of doubtful eyes. "This mirror was from one of Naraku's incarnations, her name was Kanna. When Inuyasha defeated Kanna this mirror was broken…" Kagome suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, she grabbed at the handlebars for support.

"Kagome-sama!" Rin hastened to her side.

Kagome tried blinking her eyes to focus them. She sat on the jeep to steady herself. After a few minutes her world slowed its spin.

"Are you all right?" Kagome nodded.

"Damn! That was awful!" She swallowed a few times to keep the bile down. Taking deep breaths helped to drive away the nausea. Must be stress. "I'm okay. I'm okay." She looked in the back of the well stocked jeep, certain that the canteen of water was just behind the front seat. She drank a mouthful, silently thanking Elena for being so obsessive compulsive about being well prepared.

"Father, perhaps we should bring Kagome-neechan back to the castle? We can find out more about her story back there."

"Hn." He nodded. The taiyoukai lord was silent throughout the entire time, all this time observing the creature talking to his ward. When she began to get dizzy her smell changed to a more familiar scent that he often associated with his half-brother's miko. He was perturbed at the change but it solidified her story about her identity. He didn't detect any lies the entire time. But questions remained about the nature of her transformation and how it came about.

"Come." The youkai lord turned his back at the two women. He was startled when a loud growl came from behind him. He whipped around in thought that there was a large youkai or the woman had attacked his child. He saw Kagome on the thing again. The growling sound was coming from it.

"Hey Rin, hop in!" Kagome threw her backpack in the back of the Hummer with the mirror now safely inside it. She felt Sesshoumaru's presence on her left.

"Woman, what is this 'thing'?" Indicating the big jeep.

"This is called a Hummer, we call it a machine in my time, it carries people to places. It's made of metal." She tapped the dashboard. Kagome patted the front seat for Rin. The younger girl hesitated a little bit and copied Kagome's action in getting inside. "Wanna ride?" Kagome turned to the youkai and thumbed the back.

"Hn. This Sesshoumaru doesn't 'ride'." He sniffed at the idea.

"Suit yourself." Kagome slipped on a pair of dark glasses. Sesshoumaru's eyes met hers from behind it. "Shall we go?"

"Stop at the edge of this forest." The Western Lord turned and streaked away. Fortunately the trees weren't too closely spaced for the hummer to go through, with a roar the great metal beast followed the trail.

Jiro had never thought his jaw could drop that low. When Lord Sesshoumaru came out of the forest he told the men to 'stand down' and 'move aside'. He was about to wonder where the captain was when he heard a low growling noise emerging from the trees. His heart skipped a beat, it sounded like a big animal or youkai. He glanced at his Lord and was perplexed at the taiyoukai wearing a smug expression. "Ah," Jiro thought. "The lord would be battling this youkai."

The strange apparition that emerged from the trees astounded the men. The men looked at their lord for orders to attack but the tall taiyoukai was relaxed.

The noisy beast was careening straight to them but Jiro and the men stood their ground. A hundred meters away from where the Lord was standing the beast slid to a sideways halt spraying grass, dry dirt and dust. A pale figure stood up and jumped down.

A female taiyoukai! They felt the same aura of youkai/miko from the taiyoukai as she strode to the Inu-youkai Lord. The female removed something dark covering her eyes and they beheld ice blue orbs. A strange circular tattoo on her forehead. Jiro has never felt such power before. She looked so beautiful and dangerous. Her strange clothes and boots were cut differently but bespoke of quality Jiro caught a whiff of leather from the long robe.

As his lord and the female taiyoukai faced each other Jiro suddenly felt a surge of youkai from his master. It is saying to the other inu-youkai's: "I'm interested. Keep away."



She thought about all the souls that Kanna had trapped into its depths. What has happened to them? Did they escape the mirror when Inuyasha broke it and destroyed Kanna? She shook her head at he

Converting /tmp/phpsf2q3t to /dev/stdout