InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time After Time ❯ Tempt the Apocolypse ( Chapter 13 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: kanna37 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 03.17.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 460 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 03.17.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 460 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 13: Tempt the Apocolypse
Kagome's ears almost hurt at the sounds of metal against metal, curses, roars, and explosions as she climbed in a panic from the well, and as she crested the edge, she stopped in stunned horror – this was worse than she'd thought it would be. Far worse.
Sugimi was almost completely lost to his youkai blood, his youki swirling around him in crimson and gold, and the feel of it battered her senses until she was almost numb. Finally, she managed to wake up from her shock enough to lever herself over the edge of the well just as Sesshoumaru streaked into the clearing, face stoic as always, but aura showing his consternation.
As she pulled herself to her feet, the rest of the group raced into the meadow, and everyone stopped, just as stunned as she herself at what they were seeing.
It was an apocalypse – and it's only victim was Inuyasha.
It was immediately apparent that the only reason he was even still standing was because his youkai blood had taken over. Even at that, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before he was down permanently, because he was no match for his powerful father whatsoever. It appeared as though even Sesshoumaru was taken aback at the ferociousness of his father's attack on Inuyasha, and Kagome couldn't keep herself from interfering – if she didn't, Inuyasha was dead.
Screaming bloody murder, she threw herself into Sugimi's way, instantly wrapping a barrier around Inuyasha as she did so, so that his father wouldn't reach him – and so that he wouldn't reach any of their friends.
The moment he felt her barrier go up, he whipped his head around to stare at her, snarling out a demand to her to submit. “You will back down, Kagome, and drop your barrier, now!”
She refused. “No! I will not submit until you calm down and stop trying to kill him! I will not have my best friend killed because he acts stupid sometimes, Sugimi. If you want me to submit, then calm down, and let me return him to his normal state so that he can be taken to Kaede's and treated. Only then will I do so.”
Eyes flashing dangerously, he gritted his teeth as he fought for control, and then with a sharp, angry nod, he stepped back and waited for her to deal with a still youkai Inuyasha.
Uncertain he would stay there, but not having any choice but to hope he would, she turned and concentrated on Inuyasha, feeding her barrier with enough purifying energy to begin to reverse his transformation. It was a delicate operation; too much, and she would turn him temporarily human, which in his state would be a disaster, and not enough, and it wouldn't cool his heated youkai blood.
Watching carefully, she began to pull her energy back from the barrier as his stripes began to fade. Within moments, it was over, and her impulsive best friend fell over, his body practically shredded. She'd never seen him look worse except the time that Kanna had turned the Wind Scar back on him. Rushing over to him, she frantically beckoned Sango and Kirara over. They needed to get him to Kaede.
Sugimi stalked over, eyeing his son critically, he spoke. “He will be fine – give him two days, and he will be back on his feet.”
Kagome looked up at him, frustration clear in her eyes, but nodded. “Thanks for telling me that. Still, he needs to be taken care of. Will you please place him on Kirara's back?”
Nodding curtly, he picked the pup up and set him atop the fire-cat, and then stepped back as Sango and Kirara, followed by Miroku, left the meadow heading for the elder miko's hut. With a crisp tilt of his head, Sugimi directed his eldest son to leave, and Sesshoumaru turned and disappeared without comment.
Thankful that the children had not been here to see what had happened, Kagome turned upset eyes on the daiyoukai that had decided to court her, and with a sigh, swept her hair off to the side, baring her throat, she tilted her head back and waited for him to acknowledge her submission.
In a matter of seconds, Sugimi was hovering over her, nuzzling all over her face, hair, and neck, letting out throaty growls of displeasure. It took a moment, and then Kagome was abruptly and uncomfortably aware of just what it was that he was so upset about.
Inuyasha's scent from when he'd kissed her.
Oh, boy... I was so worried about Inuyasha coming back here, that I didn't even think about the scent thing...
“Why is his scent covering you so strongly, Kagome?” he rumbled.
Unnerved, she froze, wondering how to handle this. If she told him what had happened, he might just go right back off and finish killing his son, and she desperately wanted to prevent that. But before she could come up with something to say, he spoke again.
“Do not think to lie to me – I can scent when you do.” His eyes flashed a deeper crimson for a moment, and then with an obviously herculean effort, he contained his angry blood, his eyes fading back to gold. “I will not harm the boy any further, but I will know what he did, Kagome.”
She nodded uncomfortably. “When I got to my room after spending a little while talking to my mother, Inuyasha was there. I tried to get him to leave, but he refused, and we exchanged words.” Turning her eyes away from him, she shrugged. “Then he kissed me,” she said hurriedly as he growled. “I used my reiki and pushed him away, then sat him, and kept him subdued so that I could inform him that he had lost any chance with me a while ago and that we would only ever be friends. Then he took off and came back through the well.”
“I must ask you to go home and bathe his scent from you, Kagome, if you want me to maintain my temper, and not lose to my desire to make Inuyasha pay for touching what is not his to touch.” His eyes were deadly serious; Kagome merely nodded, not even thinking to argue.
“You won't hurt him any further?” she asked, wanting to be sure.
“As long as you go now, I will not.”
“O-okay, then, I'll be back in two days at sunset – will you be here?”
He nodded, and she didn't take up anymore of his time, she turned and headed for the well, wanting to get away so that he wouldn't lose to his youkai blood and go after Inuyasha again. Without another word, she disappeared into the depths of the well, and Sugimi gave a sigh of relief – he'd been very close to losing it again, and was glad that she'd left.
He was also glad that she'd managed to get him to stop – he really didn't want to kill his own pup, but the boy was making it difficult. He could only hope that this reality check would help open his eyes, and that he would finally at least begin to grow up.
With an aggravated sigh, he turned from the well and flashed into his light form, needing to release a bit of energy so that he could relax.
-sSs-
Kaede shook her head and pursed her lips as the limp form of the hanyou was brought into her hut. “What did he do now?” she asked.
“Well, we hadn't really had the chance to tell you, but Sugimi-sama has settled a courting claim on Kagome; apparently, one of the rules is that no other male can be alone with Kagome without his permission. Inuyasha was told this – but he-”
“-he disobeyed and followed her to her time,” Kaede finished for Miroku wearily. “The boy is so impulsive and stubborn – if he is not careful, it will be his downfall.” She gestured towards the futon rolled up against the wall. “Miroku, open the futon, and then help Sango get him into it. I will see what I can do to make him comfortable while his body heals.”
Twenty minutes later, the still-unconscious inu was cleaned up and bandaged and resting comfortably, and the three companions spent the rest of the afternoon in desultory conversation.
It was just at dinnertime that Inuyasha finally woke, with a long moan, his eyes fluttered open, and he squinted painfully at his friends that were hovering over him with concern. He frowned, confused.
“W-what happened?” he got out on a pained gasp as he shifted in the futon, trying to get more comfortable.
The three exchanged concerned looks. “What do ye remember, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked.
“Feh,” he whispered weakly, “I remember fighting with Kagome in her time, and then coming back through the well... and that's all.” He turned his head slowly to face the wall as he remembered the substance of that fight with the little miko, hurt flooding through him.
She doesn't love me anymore... she doesn't want me. I didn't think something like that would hurt so much. Did I really push her away so hard that I lost her?
A very subdued hanyou kept staring at the wall, unable to even face his friends.
Miroku winced sympathetically; it wasn't hard to figure out that Inuyasha had finally found out that Kagome was no longer his, that her heart had moved on. As much as he really deserved to feel some of the hurt he'd dished out to Kagome over the years, the monk really hated to see him like this – it was like his spirit had been sucked right out of him.
While the group had always wished that something would temper his spirit, they'd never wanted him to lose it entirely. He glanced up and met Kaede's wise old eye, she nodded – she understood what had happened as well.
“Would one of ye please take my bucket and gather some water from the river?”
Sango stood up immediately, grabbing the wooden bucket up on her way out. “Sure thing, Kaede – I'll be right back.” She stepped out of the hut briskly, needing to get away for a moment. It was too intense in there – Inuyasha's pain was palpable, and it saddened her.
He'd finally woken up to the fact that he'd lost Kagome.
“What be the problem, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked quietly.
“Everything,” he said in a pained whisper. “Everything's wrong. And it'll never be right again.”
-sSs-
Sugimi paid little attention to where he was going, simply allowing himself to lose his frustrations in the sheer joy of movement. Things were becoming much more complicated; his son's actions and attitude were not making things any easier.
Perhaps it would be a good thing to set the block on his son's ability to talk about his presence with anyone outside of the pack now, and then allow him to start seeing the undead miko again. The woman had drifted her way back towards the village, and maybe her presence would take the pup's attentions away from Kagome, allowing things to calm down.
It was certainly something to think about.
With a shake of his head, he sighed, and turned back towards the village – Sesshoumaru would keep watch, but with the undead one back in proximity to the pack, it was only a matter of time before she reported their appearance to Naraku, and he wanted to be there to counter any spying measures the spider tried to set up.
He especially wanted to meet the one known as Kanna; he had been told that she was a void demon, her mirror the void she was in control of. But he didn't believe it – if it were truly a void, then it would be infinite, and it would have been able to suck Kagome's soul in, no matter how big it was. Nonetheless, she apparently made a very good spy – but if he could destroy her little mirror, then her usefulness in that respect would end.
That would leave the spider with only Kikyou, and his saimyousho to fall back on, and the saimyousho were easily taken care of. That would then leave only the undead miko as a source of information about the pack – and he could funnel all the false information he wanted through the woman, tying Naraku up in knots.
Landing two miles out from the village with his aura, scent and presence completely concealed, he concentrated, scanning the entire surrounding area using nothing but the magical currents of the lands themselves, ensuring that there would be nothing of him to trace. He was not surprised to find Kikyou in position near the village; she was well aware that the group was back, and would be trying to find a way to get her claws in Inuyasha.
He was, however, a little surprised, and a lot pleased, to find the presence of the one youkai that he'd just been thinking about, and in an instant, he was near to where she hid, watching the comings and goings of the villagers – and the pack.
Grinning, he watched the little youkai, all the while examining her mirror, once again using the innate magics and powers of the lands beneath his feet to tap into the power of the glass. He was intrigued; it seemed to be a smaller, limited, more stable version of the wind tunnel that the monk carried in his hand – that was a true void, unlike Kanna's mirror. After a few minutes, he pulled the power back, and thought about what he'd found. There was really no use for her mirror; using it to feed Naraku false information was possible, but would take too much time and effort to truly be worthwhile, and so he decided to simply destroy it.
Reaching out with his mind, he once again tapped into the energy source found here – a strong ley line of magical energy flowed through this area, and would be perfect for what he needed.
Sure, he could break that mirror even easier with his own power, but that would leave a signature that could be traced back to him. This way, he was using the power of the earth, he was only directing it, and so Naraku would never be able to trace him this way.
Twining the energy around the tiny youkai, he tied it off, immobilizing her; the only reaction she gave was a slight widening of her eyes as she realized that she couldn't move. Once that was done, he directed the building energy into the mirror, and as the power began to be sucked into it, the mirror began to glow, brighter and brighter as it reached its limits...
Until it burst outward in a shower of glass fragments, and the frame dissolved into dust, leaving the child with nothing to use to steal souls or spy. Without a word, Sugimi disappeared, leaving the girl behind to make her way back to her master, completely unaware of who or what, had broken her mirror.
He smiled, finally relaxed...
That had been far too easy.
-sSs-
Kagome sighed as she stepped into the well-house, and set her bag down for a moment; as peaceful as it had been the last couple of days here at home, she almost didn't want to go back and deal with all the hassle and stress between Sugimi and Inuyasha.
She also knew that Sugimi was probably going to get very angry at her – she was early, but she just couldn't put it off any longer... she was worried about Inuyasha, and wanted to get back to the past and find out how he was.
Firming her resolve, she picked her pack back up and smoothed her miko clothing – she'd given up on wearing her modern clothes there in the past, as it just caused too many problems. But she refused to wear the same colors as Kikyou; instead, her hakama were sapphire blue, with the traditional white chihaya. They looked better on her, anyway, these colors – or so she'd been told.
Finally, nervous twitching aside, she jumped into the time-stream, and let it carry her back to the era she was so much more at home in, anymore, smiling as it deposited her gently at the bottom of the well back in the feudal era. With a light laugh at the fresh scent of the air, she started climbing, hoping that Sugimi could be persuaded to fight with her about returning early another day when she was already in a bad mood.
She got a shock, however, when she crested the top of the well; she wasn't alone in the clearing.
Kikyou stood before her.
Settling tentatively onto the lip of the well, and clutching her bag with one hand, she watched suspiciously as the older miko eyed her and her outfit, her lip curling in a sneer.
“So you now attempt to emulate my clothing, save color, hoping that Inuyasha will turn to you? Did you think that you could become me in his eyes?”
Kagome blinked in shock, and then flushed with anger. “No! Inuyasha is only a friend, nothing more, and I no longer even want anything more. I'm wearing this because I need to start wearing more appropriate clothing here. The blue is because I didn't want to be mistaken for you – by anyone,” she finished fiercely.
Kikyou narrowed her eyes. Perhaps that voice was right, then. Maybe she doesn't want him – but I still need to get rid of her. That way Inuyasha doesn't try to keep her. “It really doesn't matter, Kagome, whether you want Inuyasha or not, because as long as you are around, he will not be fully mine.”
The older woman rushed forward, then, and before the astonished Kagome could react, Kikyou pushed her back into the well, chanting a spell as she did, and the normal blue light flared up, changing to violet as Kagome fell backwards into the time slip.
She screamed out in denial as the beautiful blue skies above her faded out, leaving darkness to overtake her vision.
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Kagome's ears almost hurt at the sounds of metal against metal, curses, roars, and explosions as she climbed in a panic from the well, and as she crested the edge, she stopped in stunned horror – this was worse than she'd thought it would be. Far worse.
Sugimi was almost completely lost to his youkai blood, his youki swirling around him in crimson and gold, and the feel of it battered her senses until she was almost numb. Finally, she managed to wake up from her shock enough to lever herself over the edge of the well just as Sesshoumaru streaked into the clearing, face stoic as always, but aura showing his consternation.
As she pulled herself to her feet, the rest of the group raced into the meadow, and everyone stopped, just as stunned as she herself at what they were seeing.
It was an apocalypse – and it's only victim was Inuyasha.
It was immediately apparent that the only reason he was even still standing was because his youkai blood had taken over. Even at that, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before he was down permanently, because he was no match for his powerful father whatsoever. It appeared as though even Sesshoumaru was taken aback at the ferociousness of his father's attack on Inuyasha, and Kagome couldn't keep herself from interfering – if she didn't, Inuyasha was dead.
Screaming bloody murder, she threw herself into Sugimi's way, instantly wrapping a barrier around Inuyasha as she did so, so that his father wouldn't reach him – and so that he wouldn't reach any of their friends.
The moment he felt her barrier go up, he whipped his head around to stare at her, snarling out a demand to her to submit. “You will back down, Kagome, and drop your barrier, now!”
She refused. “No! I will not submit until you calm down and stop trying to kill him! I will not have my best friend killed because he acts stupid sometimes, Sugimi. If you want me to submit, then calm down, and let me return him to his normal state so that he can be taken to Kaede's and treated. Only then will I do so.”
Eyes flashing dangerously, he gritted his teeth as he fought for control, and then with a sharp, angry nod, he stepped back and waited for her to deal with a still youkai Inuyasha.
Uncertain he would stay there, but not having any choice but to hope he would, she turned and concentrated on Inuyasha, feeding her barrier with enough purifying energy to begin to reverse his transformation. It was a delicate operation; too much, and she would turn him temporarily human, which in his state would be a disaster, and not enough, and it wouldn't cool his heated youkai blood.
Watching carefully, she began to pull her energy back from the barrier as his stripes began to fade. Within moments, it was over, and her impulsive best friend fell over, his body practically shredded. She'd never seen him look worse except the time that Kanna had turned the Wind Scar back on him. Rushing over to him, she frantically beckoned Sango and Kirara over. They needed to get him to Kaede.
Sugimi stalked over, eyeing his son critically, he spoke. “He will be fine – give him two days, and he will be back on his feet.”
Kagome looked up at him, frustration clear in her eyes, but nodded. “Thanks for telling me that. Still, he needs to be taken care of. Will you please place him on Kirara's back?”
Nodding curtly, he picked the pup up and set him atop the fire-cat, and then stepped back as Sango and Kirara, followed by Miroku, left the meadow heading for the elder miko's hut. With a crisp tilt of his head, Sugimi directed his eldest son to leave, and Sesshoumaru turned and disappeared without comment.
Thankful that the children had not been here to see what had happened, Kagome turned upset eyes on the daiyoukai that had decided to court her, and with a sigh, swept her hair off to the side, baring her throat, she tilted her head back and waited for him to acknowledge her submission.
In a matter of seconds, Sugimi was hovering over her, nuzzling all over her face, hair, and neck, letting out throaty growls of displeasure. It took a moment, and then Kagome was abruptly and uncomfortably aware of just what it was that he was so upset about.
Inuyasha's scent from when he'd kissed her.
Oh, boy... I was so worried about Inuyasha coming back here, that I didn't even think about the scent thing...
“Why is his scent covering you so strongly, Kagome?” he rumbled.
Unnerved, she froze, wondering how to handle this. If she told him what had happened, he might just go right back off and finish killing his son, and she desperately wanted to prevent that. But before she could come up with something to say, he spoke again.
“Do not think to lie to me – I can scent when you do.” His eyes flashed a deeper crimson for a moment, and then with an obviously herculean effort, he contained his angry blood, his eyes fading back to gold. “I will not harm the boy any further, but I will know what he did, Kagome.”
She nodded uncomfortably. “When I got to my room after spending a little while talking to my mother, Inuyasha was there. I tried to get him to leave, but he refused, and we exchanged words.” Turning her eyes away from him, she shrugged. “Then he kissed me,” she said hurriedly as he growled. “I used my reiki and pushed him away, then sat him, and kept him subdued so that I could inform him that he had lost any chance with me a while ago and that we would only ever be friends. Then he took off and came back through the well.”
“I must ask you to go home and bathe his scent from you, Kagome, if you want me to maintain my temper, and not lose to my desire to make Inuyasha pay for touching what is not his to touch.” His eyes were deadly serious; Kagome merely nodded, not even thinking to argue.
“You won't hurt him any further?” she asked, wanting to be sure.
“As long as you go now, I will not.”
“O-okay, then, I'll be back in two days at sunset – will you be here?”
He nodded, and she didn't take up anymore of his time, she turned and headed for the well, wanting to get away so that he wouldn't lose to his youkai blood and go after Inuyasha again. Without another word, she disappeared into the depths of the well, and Sugimi gave a sigh of relief – he'd been very close to losing it again, and was glad that she'd left.
He was also glad that she'd managed to get him to stop – he really didn't want to kill his own pup, but the boy was making it difficult. He could only hope that this reality check would help open his eyes, and that he would finally at least begin to grow up.
With an aggravated sigh, he turned from the well and flashed into his light form, needing to release a bit of energy so that he could relax.
-sSs-
Kaede shook her head and pursed her lips as the limp form of the hanyou was brought into her hut. “What did he do now?” she asked.
“Well, we hadn't really had the chance to tell you, but Sugimi-sama has settled a courting claim on Kagome; apparently, one of the rules is that no other male can be alone with Kagome without his permission. Inuyasha was told this – but he-”
“-he disobeyed and followed her to her time,” Kaede finished for Miroku wearily. “The boy is so impulsive and stubborn – if he is not careful, it will be his downfall.” She gestured towards the futon rolled up against the wall. “Miroku, open the futon, and then help Sango get him into it. I will see what I can do to make him comfortable while his body heals.”
Twenty minutes later, the still-unconscious inu was cleaned up and bandaged and resting comfortably, and the three companions spent the rest of the afternoon in desultory conversation.
It was just at dinnertime that Inuyasha finally woke, with a long moan, his eyes fluttered open, and he squinted painfully at his friends that were hovering over him with concern. He frowned, confused.
“W-what happened?” he got out on a pained gasp as he shifted in the futon, trying to get more comfortable.
The three exchanged concerned looks. “What do ye remember, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked.
“Feh,” he whispered weakly, “I remember fighting with Kagome in her time, and then coming back through the well... and that's all.” He turned his head slowly to face the wall as he remembered the substance of that fight with the little miko, hurt flooding through him.
She doesn't love me anymore... she doesn't want me. I didn't think something like that would hurt so much. Did I really push her away so hard that I lost her?
A very subdued hanyou kept staring at the wall, unable to even face his friends.
Miroku winced sympathetically; it wasn't hard to figure out that Inuyasha had finally found out that Kagome was no longer his, that her heart had moved on. As much as he really deserved to feel some of the hurt he'd dished out to Kagome over the years, the monk really hated to see him like this – it was like his spirit had been sucked right out of him.
While the group had always wished that something would temper his spirit, they'd never wanted him to lose it entirely. He glanced up and met Kaede's wise old eye, she nodded – she understood what had happened as well.
“Would one of ye please take my bucket and gather some water from the river?”
Sango stood up immediately, grabbing the wooden bucket up on her way out. “Sure thing, Kaede – I'll be right back.” She stepped out of the hut briskly, needing to get away for a moment. It was too intense in there – Inuyasha's pain was palpable, and it saddened her.
He'd finally woken up to the fact that he'd lost Kagome.
“What be the problem, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked quietly.
“Everything,” he said in a pained whisper. “Everything's wrong. And it'll never be right again.”
-sSs-
Sugimi paid little attention to where he was going, simply allowing himself to lose his frustrations in the sheer joy of movement. Things were becoming much more complicated; his son's actions and attitude were not making things any easier.
Perhaps it would be a good thing to set the block on his son's ability to talk about his presence with anyone outside of the pack now, and then allow him to start seeing the undead miko again. The woman had drifted her way back towards the village, and maybe her presence would take the pup's attentions away from Kagome, allowing things to calm down.
It was certainly something to think about.
With a shake of his head, he sighed, and turned back towards the village – Sesshoumaru would keep watch, but with the undead one back in proximity to the pack, it was only a matter of time before she reported their appearance to Naraku, and he wanted to be there to counter any spying measures the spider tried to set up.
He especially wanted to meet the one known as Kanna; he had been told that she was a void demon, her mirror the void she was in control of. But he didn't believe it – if it were truly a void, then it would be infinite, and it would have been able to suck Kagome's soul in, no matter how big it was. Nonetheless, she apparently made a very good spy – but if he could destroy her little mirror, then her usefulness in that respect would end.
That would leave the spider with only Kikyou, and his saimyousho to fall back on, and the saimyousho were easily taken care of. That would then leave only the undead miko as a source of information about the pack – and he could funnel all the false information he wanted through the woman, tying Naraku up in knots.
Landing two miles out from the village with his aura, scent and presence completely concealed, he concentrated, scanning the entire surrounding area using nothing but the magical currents of the lands themselves, ensuring that there would be nothing of him to trace. He was not surprised to find Kikyou in position near the village; she was well aware that the group was back, and would be trying to find a way to get her claws in Inuyasha.
He was, however, a little surprised, and a lot pleased, to find the presence of the one youkai that he'd just been thinking about, and in an instant, he was near to where she hid, watching the comings and goings of the villagers – and the pack.
Grinning, he watched the little youkai, all the while examining her mirror, once again using the innate magics and powers of the lands beneath his feet to tap into the power of the glass. He was intrigued; it seemed to be a smaller, limited, more stable version of the wind tunnel that the monk carried in his hand – that was a true void, unlike Kanna's mirror. After a few minutes, he pulled the power back, and thought about what he'd found. There was really no use for her mirror; using it to feed Naraku false information was possible, but would take too much time and effort to truly be worthwhile, and so he decided to simply destroy it.
Reaching out with his mind, he once again tapped into the energy source found here – a strong ley line of magical energy flowed through this area, and would be perfect for what he needed.
Sure, he could break that mirror even easier with his own power, but that would leave a signature that could be traced back to him. This way, he was using the power of the earth, he was only directing it, and so Naraku would never be able to trace him this way.
Twining the energy around the tiny youkai, he tied it off, immobilizing her; the only reaction she gave was a slight widening of her eyes as she realized that she couldn't move. Once that was done, he directed the building energy into the mirror, and as the power began to be sucked into it, the mirror began to glow, brighter and brighter as it reached its limits...
Until it burst outward in a shower of glass fragments, and the frame dissolved into dust, leaving the child with nothing to use to steal souls or spy. Without a word, Sugimi disappeared, leaving the girl behind to make her way back to her master, completely unaware of who or what, had broken her mirror.
He smiled, finally relaxed...
That had been far too easy.
-sSs-
Kagome sighed as she stepped into the well-house, and set her bag down for a moment; as peaceful as it had been the last couple of days here at home, she almost didn't want to go back and deal with all the hassle and stress between Sugimi and Inuyasha.
She also knew that Sugimi was probably going to get very angry at her – she was early, but she just couldn't put it off any longer... she was worried about Inuyasha, and wanted to get back to the past and find out how he was.
Firming her resolve, she picked her pack back up and smoothed her miko clothing – she'd given up on wearing her modern clothes there in the past, as it just caused too many problems. But she refused to wear the same colors as Kikyou; instead, her hakama were sapphire blue, with the traditional white chihaya. They looked better on her, anyway, these colors – or so she'd been told.
Finally, nervous twitching aside, she jumped into the time-stream, and let it carry her back to the era she was so much more at home in, anymore, smiling as it deposited her gently at the bottom of the well back in the feudal era. With a light laugh at the fresh scent of the air, she started climbing, hoping that Sugimi could be persuaded to fight with her about returning early another day when she was already in a bad mood.
She got a shock, however, when she crested the top of the well; she wasn't alone in the clearing.
Kikyou stood before her.
Settling tentatively onto the lip of the well, and clutching her bag with one hand, she watched suspiciously as the older miko eyed her and her outfit, her lip curling in a sneer.
“So you now attempt to emulate my clothing, save color, hoping that Inuyasha will turn to you? Did you think that you could become me in his eyes?”
Kagome blinked in shock, and then flushed with anger. “No! Inuyasha is only a friend, nothing more, and I no longer even want anything more. I'm wearing this because I need to start wearing more appropriate clothing here. The blue is because I didn't want to be mistaken for you – by anyone,” she finished fiercely.
Kikyou narrowed her eyes. Perhaps that voice was right, then. Maybe she doesn't want him – but I still need to get rid of her. That way Inuyasha doesn't try to keep her. “It really doesn't matter, Kagome, whether you want Inuyasha or not, because as long as you are around, he will not be fully mine.”
The older woman rushed forward, then, and before the astonished Kagome could react, Kikyou pushed her back into the well, chanting a spell as she did, and the normal blue light flared up, changing to violet as Kagome fell backwards into the time slip.
She screamed out in denial as the beautiful blue skies above her faded out, leaving darkness to overtake her vision.
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