InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Kirara's Guilt ( Chapter 20 )

Recap: Kirara fled from breakfast with Sesshomaru when she found she was unable to behave like the lady he expected her to be. When she left the castle, Kirara found Kagura trying to kill Jaken and abduct Rin. Saving the duo, Kirara was left battling Kagura, who easily over-powered her. All hope seemed lost until Sesshomaru came to Kirara's rescue; but when Inuyasha showed up with the Tetsusaiga, was Sesshomaru's rescue in vain?

 

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Chapter 20 - Kirara's Guilt

 

“Kagura!” Inuyasha yelled, dropping down behind Kagura, clutching the Tetsusaiga in both hands. “Die! Wind Scar!”

 

“Inuyasha, no!” Kirara screamed.

 

But it was too late. Inuyasha swung his sword through the Wind Scar, five blasts of energy firing out towards Kagura, Kirara and Sesshomaru. Kirara gasped, closing her eyes instinctively against the bright glare of the Wind Scar. A second later, something hard collided with her, and she was thrown back, the static of an energy wave crackling around her.

 

“Damn it, she got away again!” Inuyasha groaned.

 

Inuyasha began to hoist his Tetsusaiga up to rest the blunt end of the blade on his shoulder, but before he made it that far, Sango's Hiraikotsu smacked into his back, a blow that was feeble compared to Sango's usual attacks with the weapon, but was forceful enough to hurt badly and send him flying to the ground, his sword slipping from his grasp and landing on the ground a short distance from his side, powering down to its diminutive disguise of a rusty, worthless old blade.

 

“What the hell did you do that for?” Inuyasha groaned as he slowly pushed himself up.

 

“You idiot, Inuyasha!” Sango yelled at him, tears in her eyes as she spoke. “Didn't you see Kirara?”

 

“Kirara?” Inuyasha echoed.

 

Inuyasha turned his head in the direction Sango was pointing, starting in alarm as he saw Kirara lying flat out on her back, her eyes closed, and Sesshomaru lying splayed on top of her.

 

“What the hell?” he muttered, struggling to his feet.

 

“Kirara, are you alright?” Sango called, running towards her friend.

 

Kirara turned her head towards Sango, slowly nodding her head.

 

“I'm fine?” she said, her words coming out as more of a question than a confirmation in her confused state. “I was hit head on by the Wind Scar though, why am I still alive?”

 

Sango shook her head to tell Kirara that she did not know the answer to her questions, but that she was glad that all was well. Sango slowed as she neared Kirara and Sesshomaru, but she stopped abruptly when Sesshomaru lifted his head from Kirara's chest, turning towards her and growling, his eyes glowing red.

 

“What happened?” Kagome asked, stopping by Inuyasha's side.

 

“Kagura was here,” Inuyasha replied. “I tried to get her, but she got away again!”

 

Kirara turned her head to Sesshomaru, frowning at what she saw. The sheath of his Tenseiga lay horizontally across her chest, with no sign of the sword itself. Sesshomaru slowly turned his head towards her, the red fading from his eyes. He faltered slightly as he moved his badly bloodied right shoulder, and looking down to his hand, Kirara saw that he had somehow managed to un-sheath the Tenseiga, and he was still clutching onto it.

 

“You nearly killed Kirara, you damn fool!” Sango roared at Inuyasha.

 

“Don't be so stupid!” Inuyasha grumbled, retrieving his weapon.

 

Kirara moved her eyes back to Sesshomaru, his uncharacteristically dishevelled appearance leaving her speechless. He tried to lift his hand again, and again she saw his face flicker in a small admission of the great pain he was obviously in.

 

“You used the Tenseiga to save my life,” she said softly.

 

“Fool,” he growled out, clenching his teeth together. “I used the Tenseiga to save my own life!”

 

“Huh?”

 

Kirara watched on helplessly as Sesshomaru snarled, his demonic aura rising, his eyes once more glowing red. He somehow managed to rise to his feet, his arm hanging limply at his side. Kirara pushed herself up onto her elbows, her face twisting as she saw more blood seeping down over Sesshomaru's hand.

 

“Get off of my land, now,” he growled, standing over Inuyasha aggressively.

 

“I never wanted to be here in the first place, you stupid jackass!” Inuyasha shot back, standing as upright as he could with the pain he had been left with in his lower back after Sango's attack.

 

“Just get out, and don't ever come back,” Sesshomaru snarled. “And if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to kill you. And I mean all of you!”

 

Kirara gasped as Sesshomaru turned sharply, narrowing his still reddened eyes at her. The gang watched silently as Sesshomaru marched back towards the castle, moving far quicker than he normally did.

 

“What the hell is his problem?” Inuyasha grumbled. “Stupid jackass!”

 

Kirara turned her attention back to the Tenseiga's scabbard, which rested on her thighs. She slowly picked it up with one hand, pushing herself to her feet with the other.

 

“He looked badly hurt,” Kagome pointed out. “What exactly happened out here?”

 

“Never mind about Sesshomaru, look at Kirara!” Sango said. “Kirara, how long were you fighting with Kagura?”

 

“Why didn't you ask us for help, Kirara?” Miroku asked her.

 

But Kirara ignored them all, her eyes studying the sheath she held.

 

“I've had it with him!” Inuyasha said decisively, replacing the Tetsusaiga to his side. “He keeps getting in the way all the time, and I've had enough of it! I can't kill him with my Tetsusaiga as long as he owns the Tenseiga, so it's pretty obvious what I have to do now.”

 

Inuyasha started to march towards Kirara, much to the confusion of the others.

 

“What are you doing, Inuyasha?” Sango asked him.

 

“What does it look like I'm doing?” Inuyasha sneered. “I'm going to steal the Tenseiga from Sesshomaru. He doesn't even like the damn sword, and I'm sure we could use it a lot more than he could! Gimme that, Kirara.”

 

Inuyasha grabbed a hand at the scabbard in Kirara's hand, but she pulled it back out of his reach.

 

“What the hell?” he muttered, frowning at her.

 

“You're not stealing anything for anyone, alright?” Kirara snarled back at him through tightly clenched teeth.

 

“What's your problem?” Inuyasha snorted. “With the Tenseiga, we could save Kohaku!”

 

Kirara did not answer Inuyasha, but she did not offer him the sheath nor lose any of the aggressiveness from her demeanour either.

 

“Besides, you heard what that jackass said!” Inuyasha added. “He said he'd kill us the next time he sees us! And I might not always be there to protect you Kirara, so hand it over already!”

 

Inuyasha started to reach for the scabbard again, but was thrown back a step as Kirara punched him hard in the jaw.

 

“What the hell was that for?” he snarled, rounding on her as he touched a hand to the small speck of blood at one corner of his mouth.

 

“Learn some damn respect!” Kirara replied, throwing down the sheath and turning her back on him and then marching stiffly away from the group.

 

“What?” Inuyasha echoed, frowning after her in confusion.

 

Sango hurried after Kirara, touching a hand to her shoulder.

 

“Kirara, you're hurt,” she reasoned. “Let's just leave this place and get your wounds properly tended to.”

 

“What about the jewel shards?” Kirara asked. “Kagome said there were jewel shards southwest of here.”

 

“It was Koga,” Sango replied.

 

“Koga? What was he doing in these lands?”

 

“I don't know. Let's just go. It's for the best.”

 

Kirara slowly nodded her head, and the two turned back to the others.

 

“Your belongings, dears,” Rinko greeted them.

 

Kirara raised her eyebrows in question, surprised at just how quickly a team of Sesshomaru's staff had appeared with their remaining possessions.

 

“Let's just get the hell out of here,” Inuyasha grumbled, grabbing up his own clothes. “This place always did bring me down.”

 

Inuyasha marched off towards the barrier wall, followed gradually by the others once they had retrieved their own belongings, until only Kirara remained. She turned to Rinko, who put on a sympathetic smile for her benefit.

 

“Oh now my dear, don't look so sad!” she said. “But do you know dear, I think my late master, Lord Inutaisho was right. Cats do bring nothing but bad luck.”

 

“Hey!” Kirara yelped indignantly.

 

“Come now dear, look at all the trouble you've caused for Lord Sesshomaru already,” Rinko pointed out.

 

Kirara could not really deny that she had appeared to bring a lot of bad luck to Sesshomaru, particularly since her arrival at his home; but she would never outwardly admit to such a thing.

 

“The truth about cats and dogs is that they are long-standing enemies, dear,” Rinko continued. “There will never be any trust between the two, they are both so very different. Obviously you forgot that for a brief moment my dear, and who could blame you, the Lord is such a charming, handsome young man, but always so out of your league my dear. You must remain positive: after all, Lord Sesshomaru has let you go with your lives!”

 

“Shut-up, old woman!” Kirara snapped. “I'm not in love with your stupid master! I never was! I despise the man! He is nothing more than a selfish, arrogant, cruel, and aloof dog! I never had any plans to be his, and I was brought here against my will! I wasn't even conscious when I arrived here!”

 

Kirara grabbed up her sword, moving to replace it to its sheath at her side, but pausing as Rinko began to talk again.

 

“Oh now dear, you have to remember that you are nothing more than a lowly-”

 

“Shut your mouth, fox!” Kirara yelled, turning her weapon towards Rinko. “Or I shall cut you a new one!”

 

Rinko obediently clamped her mouth shut, her eyes doubling in size in an expression of her fear.

 

“And don't concern yourself,” Kirara added moodily, replacing her sword to her side. “You have my word that you will never see me in this place again. Ever.”

 

Kirara turned her back on the castle then and marched off after the others.

 

`I won't ever come back here, and I doubt I'll ever see Lord Sesshomaru ever again,' she thought to herself, pausing by the edge of the barrier to take one last look back at the castle. `Although not by choice.'

 

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

 

More than two weeks after their visit to Sesshomaru's castle, the gang found themselves back at Kaede's village. Sango, Shippo and Miroku were playing cards, Kaede was tending to her herb plantations and Inuyasha was perched on the wall of the well, peering down it all day and night as he waited for Kagome to return. She had gone home for another test, and this time she seemed to be taking longer than usual, making Inuyasha more unbearable than usual.

 

Since leaving Sesshomaru's castle, the gang had found no more shards and learned no more about the whereabouts of Naraku. Apart from twice tracking down traces of jewel shards and finding Koga at the end of their search, very little had transpired during that time.

 

“What's wrong with Kirara?” Shippo asked, rolling his eyes skywards.

 

“Women's problems,” Miroku replied, placing down a card.

 

“What does that mean?” Shippo asked.

 

“I'll explain it to you when you're older,” Miroku replied.

 

Sango sighed, looking up at Kirara for herself. Kirara was balanced on top of the wooden gate at the bottom of the staircase behind Kaede's hut, pacing back and forth along the top beam. Given Kirara's un-catlike clumsiness, Sango was partially amazed that her friend had not yet fallen; but Kirara seemed to be determined, and was muttering something to herself as she walked.

 

“Kirara talks to herself all the time now,” Shippo pointed out.

 

“Shippo's right Miroku,” Sango responded, turning to Miroku. “Maybe if you talked to her again-”

 

“I don't think that's the right thing to do,” Miroku interrupted her. “I think that whatever it is that's bothering Kirara, it's something that she needs to work out for herself. This is just one of the challenges she will face with her new human form. It's very important that she learns how to conquer it herself.”

 

“I suppose so…” Sango mumbled, looking down at the cards in her hand.

 

Meanwhile, Kirara was still pacing back and forth, completely oblivious to her friend's conversation about her. She was deep in thought, as she had been for many days.

 

`Naraku in his truest form,' she thought to herself. `Kohaku free with Shippo. A red and a white priestess. Me returned to the form of a small cat. What do these things mean and how are they all connected?'

 

“I don't want to be a little cat again,” she muttered aloud. “Surely the spell is broken now? But how can I be sure?”

 

Despite wanting to focus her attention on the other elements of her dream message from Midoriko, Kirara could not concentrate on anything but the thought of being trapped as a cat again. What if the next time it happened, it lasted for all eternity?

 

“Not good enough!” she said loudly, leaping from the gate to the roof of Kaede's hut.

 

Sango, Miroku and Shippo turned to watch her scurry over the roof and drop to the ground, landing in Kaede's field.

 

“Priestess Kaede?” she called.

 

“Aye, child?” Kaede responded, continuing to pick and prune her herbs as she spoke.

 

“I have a question,” Kirara continued, carefully stepping over the plantations to walk towards Kaede.

 

“And ye think that I am the best person to answer ye?” Kaede mused.

 

“Yes I do,” Kirara replied firmly. “As you know, I was under a spell until very recently.”

 

“Sorry child, but there isn't anything I can do for ye.”

 

“But I haven't even asked the question yet!”

 

“The question is about the power of the spell placed upon ye, yes?”

 

“Well, sort of, but-”

 

“The priestess who placed that spell upon ye possessed powers far in excess of my own. I could neither undo any spells cast by such a powerful priestess, nor could I replicate her spells. If ye seek such assistance, and your causes are indeed genuine, ye should speak with Priestesses Momiji and Botan.”

 

“Priestesses Momiji and Botan? The red and white priestesses, of course! Thanks, Priestess Kaede!”

 

“You're welcome, child.”

 

Kirara leapt over the fence of Kaede's field and began running across the village, streaking past her friends.

 

“Kirara, where are you going?” Sango called after her.

 

“I won't be long!” Kirara called back over her shoulder. “I'll be back before Kagome, and if not, just carry on without me, I will find you!”

 

“But Kirara!” Sango cried.

 

Sango groaned in defeat as Kirara leapt into the air, a burst of flames erupting around her. She emerged from the flames like a Phoenix being reborn, in her fire-cat form, flying up and away into the sky.

 

“Let's hope she can find some peace of mind after this little trip,” Miroku said, without looking up.

 

“I hope so,” Shippo sighed. “She was starting to scare me!”

 

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

 

“Be-gone from here, demon!”

 

Kirara hurriedly dropped to one knee, bowing her head low.

 

“Priestesses Momiji and Botan,” she greeted the red and white priestesses before her. “Please, I have come here for your assistance in a matter of great importance.”

 

“We do not assist demons!” Botan yelled.

 

“We slay them!” Momiji added.

 

“Please, I am a servant of Priestess Midoriko, and I have come here to ask for your help to decipher a message that she left for me,” Kirara insisted.

 

“Priestess Midoriko?” Momiji muttered, lowering her staff and frowning.

 

“She is the priestess who created the Shikon Jewel,” Botan whispered to Momiji.

 

“Yes, but she died many centuries ago!” Momiji whispered back. “How can it be possible that this demon could know of her?”

 

“Demons are immortal, Momiji!” Botan pointed out.

 

“I don't trust her,” Momiji insisted. “I say we kill her.”

 

“I agree that we should not trust her, but I must hear what she has to say,” Botan argued. “Perhaps this message she speaks of can be of assistance to us all.”

 

Kirara pursed her lips to suppress a smile. The young women obviously thought that she would not hear them if they whispered, a common assumption humans incorrectly made about demons.

 

“Alright demon!” Momiji called to her. “You may enter our temple.”

 

Kirara rose to her feet, smiling and bowing her head.

 

“Thank you,” she said politely.

 

Kirara marched confidently towards the two girls, only to yelp in shock and break into a run as they began to pelt her with a course salt.

 

“What are you doing?” she yelped as she stumbled into the courtyard of the temple.

 

“Purification salts,” Momiji tightly replied, as she closed one gate.

 

“We had to be certain your intentions were not bad,” Botan added, closing the other gate.

 

“Now, let me see…” Momiji muttered, gripping Kirara's chin between her thumb and the knuckle of her forefinger.

 

She turned Kirara's head until the two had locked eyes, holding Kirara's gaze until Kirara began to squirm.

 

“I see…” Momiji mused quietly, releasing Kirara.

 

“Let me determine her purpose,” Botan said, stepping forwards to grab Kirara's chin in the same manner Momiji had.

 

Kirara silently allowed Botan to glare at her for a moment, sighing in relief when she finally released her.

 

“Priestess Midoriko cast a spell on me,” Kirara began.

 

“She bound you to the form of a cat,” Momiji cut in.

 

“Yes,” Kirara agreed. “But the spell was broken recently.”

 

“Your friend Sango made a wish that set you free,” Botan offered.

 

“Yes,” Kirara said, her voice a little slower as she began to worry that the priestesses had managed to somehow read all of her innermost thoughts.

 

“You are worried that the spell has not been fully broken,” Momiji said.

 

“Yes,” Kirara agreed. “Can you tell me if it has?”

 

“No,” Botan replied honestly. “But we can help you with your other problems if you like.”

 

“My-my other problems?” Kirara echoed. “What other problems?”

 

“You wish to learn how to behave like a lady,” Momiji said.

 

“No I don't!” Kirara snapped.

 

“That was not what I saw,” Botan said. “I saw that she wishes to increase her powers.”

 

“No, she wishes to understand the power of another,” Momiji argued.

 

“No, she wishes to understand the heart of another,” Botan argued.

 

“No, but maybe you agree that she is the victim of an unrequited love?” Momiji asked.

 

“Oh yes!” Botan agreed.

 

“What?” Kirara snapped.

 

“Definitely,” Momiji said firmly. “She is in love with one she can never have.”

 

“All the signs are there!” Botan agreed.

 

“The five signs of a broken heart,” Momiji sighed.

 

“Five signs of nothing, I love no-one!” Kirara snapped. “I am a warrior, and my purpose in this life is to oppose injustice wherever I find it and to assist humans in need of my guidance and counsel!”

 

“Sign number one: denial,” Botan said smugly.

 

“Stop that!” Kirara roared. “Just because you looked into my eyes does not mean that you looked into my heart or my soul! You know nothing of how I feel! I only wish to fight!”

 

“Sign number two: anger,” Momiji said, folding her arms in self-satisfaction.

 

“I'm not angry at anything!” Kirara argued. “And besides, he's already promised to another. A haughty, rude, pompous, self-centred, vain little mutt from the Northern Lands!”

 

“Sign number three: jealousy,” Botan sighed.

 

“I'm not jealous of her!” Kirara said, waving a hand dismissively. “She's more than welcome to him, I would rather have my freedom, anyway! Why would I want to be enslaved to a life of living by his ridiculously high standards when I'm perfectly happy the way I am?”

 

“Sign number four: bargaining,” Momiji sighed.

 

“Would you please stop that?” Kirara begged. “I feel bad enough thinking about him as it is! I almost cost him his other arm, and I endangered the lives of his ward and his servant! I brought him nothing but bad luck, just like his father said I would. I'll never see him again, it's all over.”

 

“Sign number five: grief,” Botan said.

 

“My, she is a quick healer!” Momiji remarked. “She went through all five stages at once!”

 

“Then we have successfully helped her recover!” Botan pointed out.

 

“I didn't come here to ask for your help to recover from anything but Priestess Midoriko's spell!” Kirara snapped irritably. “I couldn't care what has become of Lord Sesshomaru!”

 

“Ooh, Lord Sesshomaru!” Botan cooed. “He's a Lord! Momiji, you were right! She does wish to become a lady, to please her Lord!”

 

“What?” Kirara yelped. “Don't be so ridiculous! Lord Sesshomaru is a dog demon. A dog demon! I am a cat demon? It could never be between us.”

 

“Botan!” Momiji said. “You were right too! She wishes to increase her powers to impress the powerful dog demon and win his heart!”

 

“You two are really starting to try my patience…” Kirara growled.

 

“And you were right about her wishing to understand his powers, Momiji!” Botan added.

 

“And you were right about her wishing to understand his heart, Botan!” Momiji replied.

 

“Alright, you were both partially right with those last two points, I'll give you both that…” Kirara said slowly, walking away from the two priestesses.

 

“We were right!” Botan squealed.

 

“I wish to understand the full extent of the power of both the Tenseiga and the Tokijin,” Kirara continued. “And I wish to understand how Lord Sesshomaru was able to control the evil aura of the Tokijin when no other being could.”

 

“I was right!” Momiji rejoiced.

 

“And I wish to know why Lord Sesshomaru, who despises mortals, has taken in a young human girl, and is caring for her as if she were his own child,” Kirara added.

 

“I was right too!” Botan cried.

 

“And you are harbouring feelings of guilt,” Momiji added.

 

“Yes, guilt,” Botan agreed.

 

“I already explained that,” Kirara said dully. “He saved my life from another demon, but almost lost his one remaining arm in the process. If he had lost it, I don't know what I would have done.”

 

Kirara sat down onto the ground, crossing her legs in front of herself and hanging her head.

 

“Although, after having given the events of that night much thought, I do now realise that it was never his intention to save my life,” she added morosely. “He came to save Rin. That was why he took the Tenseiga, and that was why he threw himself into harm's way. He only sought to look after Rin and his own life. I was just lucky to get in the way of his efforts. My stupidity almost cost him his arm. What would I have done if he had lost his arm?”

 

“Well you would have come to us, of course!” Momiji said, eying Kirara over as though she had just said something terribly stupid.

 

“I would have?” Kirara asked, tilting her head to look up at the red priestess.

 

“Of course you would have!” Botan replied. “Seeing that your intentions are good, and since this dog demon you speak of is obviously also good, we could lend our assistance!”

 

“You would do that?” Kirara asked, turning to the white priestess.

 

“Of course we would!” Momiji replied. “Provided your intentions are good and his heart is true, there is not a problem!”

 

Kirara paused, a small voice inside her head warning her that Sesshomaru did not exactly have a true heart, but she quickly silenced that thought for fear that the priestesses would hear it and respond unfavourably.

 

“But what can you possibly do to help?” Kirara asked.

 

“Well for a start, why don't we take a look at this Lord Sesshomaru?” Botan asked.

 

“An excellent idea,” Momiji agreed.

 

Kirara frowned, but both girls held a hand out towards her, smiling amiably. Kirara took each of their hands, allowing them to pull her to her feet.

 

“Once we are done, I shall work on her elegance,” Botan remarked.

 

“And I shall work on the spell,” Momiji added.

 

“And I shall work on the plot to conjure him,” Botan replied.

 

“Perfect,” Momiji said with a nod of her head.

 

Kirara glanced back and forth between the two priestesses, her confusion rising with every word they uttered.

 

“This way, demon!” Botan said.

 

“M-my name's Kirara,” Kirara nervously replied, more than a little wary as to where she was being taken.

 

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

 

Botan tilted her head to one side, her eyes widening. Momiji took a deep breath as though was about to speak, only to release the air in a heavy sigh, her brow settling into a frown.

 

“I must have failed,” Botan said despairingly. “This is not the demon you told us of, Kirara!”

 

Kirara laughed nervously, wincing as Sesshomaru flicked his wrist, a deathly, acid-laced whip of energy extending from his fingertips and slicing through the kneecap of a desperate-looking human male.

 

“He is cruel, cold and evil, Botan!” Momiji exclaimed. “What were you thinking?”

 

Botan hung her head in shame and Momiji shook her head, averting her eyes; but Kirara could not look away from the liquid-like apparition Botan had conjured up before them. Using some sort of sacred water, some herbs and an incantation, Botan had managed to create a sort of window that apparently showed where Sesshomaru was at that exact moment and what he was doing. Kirara had always imagined that such sorcery required a strand of the person's hair, or one of their toenails or something, but apparently not.

 

The priestesses had convinced themselves that “Lord Sesshomaru” was as good as a saint, and so when Botan's spell displayed a cold, calculating demon tearing humans to shreds with a mere wave of his hand, the two priestesses refused to believe that the demon before them was the one they knew as Sesshomaru.

 

`Why is he killing all those men?' Kirara asked herself. `He normally never bothers with humans, since he thinks they are so far beneath him. I don't understand this at all.'

 

Kirara began to contemplate that perhaps there had been some sort of mistake made in Botan's spell, and that perhaps what was happening before them was nothing more than an illusion, and not the replica of real life it ought to be; but then something flicked in the bottom corner of the image, and Kirara sat up alert.

 

“Wait!” she said, causing both girls to turn back to the image. “Look closely!”

 

The two priestesses leaned forwards, their faces twisting through expressions of fear, disgust, horror and anger as Sesshomaru continued to shamelessly slice and dice the human men around him.

 

“Look!” Kirara insisted, pointing at a point behind and beyond Sesshomaru himself.

 

The priestesses both squinted at the point Kirara pointed at, neither responding at first.

 

“A little girl!” Momiji eventually said.

 

“She's crying!” Botan added.

 

“The demon is killing her family!” Momiji concluded.

 

“Oh, how awful!” Botan wailed.

 

“No!” Kirara said hurriedly. “You don't understand! He isn't killing her family! He is her family!”

 

“What?” Momiji echoed.

 

“You mean she is a half-demon?” Botan asked.

 

“No, she is a mortal,” Kirara replied. “Her family was killed, and this demon has adopted her as his own. Watch closely.”

 

The priestesses obediently edged closer still to the image hanging in the air.

 

“The men this demon fights are all bandits,” Kirara explained. “Just look at their clothing, and the stolen artefacts they carry with them. And you see the girl's clothing is torn. They attacked her. The demon has come to rescue her.”

 

“Oh,” the two girls said in unison.

 

Kirara began praying to every god she could think of that Sesshomaru would finish avenging Rin. He seemed to be deliberately picking off each man one by one, making sure it took at least three shots from his whip to kill them. He was being unnecessarily cruel; but again, this only proved that he was capable of feeling: he was acting out of anger and vengeance for the hurt that had been caused to one he cared about.

 

`He didn't take the Tenseiga to save me that night,' Kirara thought miserably to herself. `He took it to save Rin.'

 

As they watched, Sesshomaru eventually finished his annihilation of the bandits, walking over to Rin. She gladly grabbed her fists into the folds of his hakama, burying her face against his thigh. He gently touched his hand to her head, his expression softening ever so slightly. The change in his expression was so slight, Kirara was sure the two priestesses would not notice it - to the untrained eye and one who was not familiar with the demon lord, he was merely an expressionless, cold-hearted killer - but Kirara could see the slight shift, the lightening of his eyes, the upwards twitch of his brow and the straightening of his typical displeased, downward scowl.

 

`He loves her,' she thought to herself. `He truly does love her just as if she were his own child. He's so tender with her. How stupid was I to believe that he came to my rescue? His only concern was for Rin. After Kagura had threatened her, the stench of her tears and her fear hung thickly in the air. He smelt it and came running. I never even crossed his mind. That crazy old fox was right, I do have a lot to learn about life.'

 

“Please,” Kirara said softly.

 

The two priestesses turned to her expectantly, but Kirara kept her eyes fixed on the scene before her. Rin stepped back from Sesshomaru, rubbing at her eyes with her fists. Sesshomaru turned his back to Kirara, touching his hand to Rin's back, his fingertips barely touching her between her shoulders. The two then began to slowly walk on. After a few moments, Rin skipped away from Sesshomaru, running over to a tree and disappearing around the back of it. She emerged a few moments later, staggering after Jaken, her arms locked around his neck as he tried to escape her hold; obviously he had been hiding back there throughout the whole affair like the coward that he was.

 

“Please,” Kirara said again, her voice louder and clearer as she spoke with more conviction. “I am indebted to this demon. He saved my life, whether it was intentional or not. He risked his own safety for my sake, and now I am tied to him with the bond of my debt. I wish to repay the debt, to sever the bond and to forget about him. Please help me.”

 

Momiji and Botan exchanged thoughtful looks before Momiji rose to her feet.

 

“I shall start work on the spell,” she said decisively.

 

“And I shall conjure him,” Botan said, standing opposite Momiji.

 

“Thank you,” Kirara said, standing and bowing her head politely to each girl in turn. “But first, please let me leave this place.”

 

The two priestesses frowned curiously up at Kirara, but she ignored their questioning eyes, turning and heading back to the courtyard.

 

`I can't be here when he gets here,' she thought to herself. `I can't ever see him again.'

 

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

 

Next Chapter: People are acting strangely around him, and nothing seems to be making any sense to Sesshomaru; is it all just a trick of his mind, or did that thorn really just pierce his skin? As Sesshomaru questions his sanity, Kirara receives a visit from her (least) favourite parasite who comes bearing a message for her… Chapter 21 - Myoga's Warning.