InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Together in Tokyo ❯ Unpleasant Truths ( Chapter 8 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: SilentTaiyoukai 
Kagome learns some truths she wasn't quite ready for.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.22.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.5K | Visits: 554 | Status: Work In Progress
Kagome learns some truths she wasn't quite ready for.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.22.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.5K | Visits: 554 | Status: Work In Progress
To say the moment that passed between them when he opened the door was awkward was a gross understatement. Neither one could find anything to say, and it wasn’t until Sesshoumaru simply turned around and went back inside, leaving the door open for her to follow, that they made any progress.
Kagome definitely did not expect the mess she walked into. Whenever she thought of Sesshoumaru she had always pictured clean white silks and elegantly combed hair. She could never imagine him being a slob, but there was no other explanation for what she was seeing.
There were papers and books piled on every available surface. Even the top of the television was stacked high with paperbacks. Huge rolls of parchment were leaning up in one corner, along with a large easel. Splotches of paint graced the tile floor beneath the artwork sitting there. It was a naval scene, a wide open ocean with a battleship and the orange glow of the rising sun in the distance.
Blankets were thrown haphazardly over all the couch. Sitting regally atop of the blanket pile was a huge dog with sleepy eyes. It was a white German Shepherd dog and he huffed slightly as Kagome approached him. Kagome sat down next to the dog, laughing as he nosed at her hand. She patted him on the head and he rolled onto his back and into her lap. He kicked his leg as she scratched his belly, and it as only when Sesshoumaru cleared his throat that she looked back up at him.
Now that she was able to get a good look at him, up close and sans shirt, Sesshoumaru looked like quite the mess himself. Even though it was well into the afternoon, he looked as though he had just rolled out of bed and hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. It looked like he hadn’t eaten breakfast, or anything else, in quite some time. He was…well, lanky, and it wasn’t at all how she had thought he would look like under all that silk and fur. She found herself a bit horrified that the idea of what he looked like under his thick clothes even crossed her mind. She turned away from him and continued petting the Shepherd.
“What’s his name?” she asked.
“Taka,” he said. He sounded annoyed, bored, and completely uninterested.
The whole situation seemed quite surreal. With his aloof glances and quiet arrogance, there was no mistaking that the man in the room with her was Sesshoumaru. But without his markings, his aristocratic clothes and silver hair, she could have walked past him on the street a thousand times and never thought twice about him. She could have spent her life living right across the road from him and never known it, had he not let his youki flare on the train, and if she had seen the shadow if gold behind his brown eyes.
“Sesshoumaru, you really don’t want anything to do with me, do you?” she asked.
“Not particularly,” he said.
“Then why did you help me on the train?” she asked, an anxious edge cutting into her voice. “Why did you even let me know who you were?”
“I keep my promises,” he said simply.
Kagome’s brow furrowed. “What?”
She watched as Sesshoumaru drifted away from her. He moved from leaning on the arm of the sofa to stand by the glass doors leading to the balcony. He looked out at the city as he spoke to her.
“After the dark hanyou was gone, the violence did not stop,” Sesshoumaru said. “I battled for many years, and I promised two of my soldiers that I would protect you here in this era.”
Kagome’s hand stilled in the dog’s fur. To think that all along he had been in Tokyo, watching over her. A silent protector who had known the course of her life even before she was born. It was hard to fathom that he was still honoring a promise that had probably been made centuries ago.
She was reluctant to ask just who he had made such a promise to, though in her heart she knew it was obvious. The implications of what his promise meant ran through her mind. If he was the only one who could protect her…
They were dead. All of them, and they always had been. Even in their days of battling Naraku they had been dead. Every time she had jumped through the well and gone home, she had leapt into a time where they all had gone to their graves. And even Inuyasha, the only one who could follow her through to the other side, had been walking in a time that wasn’t his to see.
Whenever she thought of her friends, she had always remembered them just as they were when she last saw them. Now all she could see was gravestones and dust in the wind.
“What soldiers?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“My brother. And the kitsune, though he was dead before the promise was made.”
Kagome gasped, and Sesshoumaru peered over his shoulder at her for only a moment. Inuyasha. She had expected such from him. But Shippo? Her little fox kit couldn’t have been a warrior. He was only a child when she left him, so innocent. He could not have aged much in the years she had been away. He must have been barely out of childhood when he had died. Kagome’s eyes began to sting with unshed tears.
“Shippo? He fought with you?”
“He was young, but he was tenacious. He insisted.”
Kagome’s face dropped into her hands, and tears ran through her fingers. Even the cold nose nudging at one of her hands did not bring her out of her silent sobbing.
“They asked one other thing of me,” she heard him say, and found the strength to lift her head.
“What?”
“That you would know what happened to them, and all the rest.”
“I--I don’t know…” Kagome began, but could find no words to say. “Oh God.”
He did not seem to notice her distress, or if he did he paid it no mind. She listened with a heavy heart as Inuyasha and Shippo met their deaths all over again in Sesshoumaru’s retelling. When he finally left off with the life slowly draining from his brother’s eyes, Kagome’s sadness had turned into rage.
She was angry. Furious. She jumped off the couch and went to him, placing herself just inches from his back. When he turned around, she found herself toe to toe with him. She couldn’t see anything in his eyes. No sadness, no grief, no sense of loss at all. She slapped the scowl right off his face.
He growled, and Kagome took a step away. It was an intimidating sound, not at all human. His hand wandered up to his cheek. Long, elegant fingers tipped in blunt human nails ran over the reddened flesh. She noticed fleetingly that there was a large ring on his finger.
“I keep my promise to the half-breed only to be assaulted by his wench,” he hissed.
“You had Tenseiga! You could have saved both of them!”
“It was too late for the boy. When I found him his soul had already been taken,” Sesshoumaru said irritably. He moved toward her and Kagome backed away. She found herself caught between him and the side of the couch.
“What about Inuyasha? He was still alive when you found him! Why didn’t you save him?”
“So he could live just to die again? To live out the rest of his days with only memories of loss and death? He was only hanyou. He would have never lived to see this era. He would never have seen you again even if I had resurrected him,” he said, and he moved to stand by the sliding doors again. His fist came down on the wall beside them, leaving a dent in the plaster. “His heart was dead. He lost you and had nothing left to live for. I understood that, and so did he and Tenseiga. The sword would not have called him back even if I had tried to use it.”
Kagome’s head began to spin, and she slowly slumped down onto the floor. Taka jumped off the couch and curled up next to her.
“Sometimes I believe he fought at my side only searching for an excuse for death,” Sesshoumaru said, and that was when Kagome lost her reserve completely.
Kagome definitely did not expect the mess she walked into. Whenever she thought of Sesshoumaru she had always pictured clean white silks and elegantly combed hair. She could never imagine him being a slob, but there was no other explanation for what she was seeing.
There were papers and books piled on every available surface. Even the top of the television was stacked high with paperbacks. Huge rolls of parchment were leaning up in one corner, along with a large easel. Splotches of paint graced the tile floor beneath the artwork sitting there. It was a naval scene, a wide open ocean with a battleship and the orange glow of the rising sun in the distance.
Blankets were thrown haphazardly over all the couch. Sitting regally atop of the blanket pile was a huge dog with sleepy eyes. It was a white German Shepherd dog and he huffed slightly as Kagome approached him. Kagome sat down next to the dog, laughing as he nosed at her hand. She patted him on the head and he rolled onto his back and into her lap. He kicked his leg as she scratched his belly, and it as only when Sesshoumaru cleared his throat that she looked back up at him.
Now that she was able to get a good look at him, up close and sans shirt, Sesshoumaru looked like quite the mess himself. Even though it was well into the afternoon, he looked as though he had just rolled out of bed and hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. It looked like he hadn’t eaten breakfast, or anything else, in quite some time. He was…well, lanky, and it wasn’t at all how she had thought he would look like under all that silk and fur. She found herself a bit horrified that the idea of what he looked like under his thick clothes even crossed her mind. She turned away from him and continued petting the Shepherd.
“What’s his name?” she asked.
“Taka,” he said. He sounded annoyed, bored, and completely uninterested.
The whole situation seemed quite surreal. With his aloof glances and quiet arrogance, there was no mistaking that the man in the room with her was Sesshoumaru. But without his markings, his aristocratic clothes and silver hair, she could have walked past him on the street a thousand times and never thought twice about him. She could have spent her life living right across the road from him and never known it, had he not let his youki flare on the train, and if she had seen the shadow if gold behind his brown eyes.
“Sesshoumaru, you really don’t want anything to do with me, do you?” she asked.
“Not particularly,” he said.
“Then why did you help me on the train?” she asked, an anxious edge cutting into her voice. “Why did you even let me know who you were?”
“I keep my promises,” he said simply.
Kagome’s brow furrowed. “What?”
She watched as Sesshoumaru drifted away from her. He moved from leaning on the arm of the sofa to stand by the glass doors leading to the balcony. He looked out at the city as he spoke to her.
“After the dark hanyou was gone, the violence did not stop,” Sesshoumaru said. “I battled for many years, and I promised two of my soldiers that I would protect you here in this era.”
Kagome’s hand stilled in the dog’s fur. To think that all along he had been in Tokyo, watching over her. A silent protector who had known the course of her life even before she was born. It was hard to fathom that he was still honoring a promise that had probably been made centuries ago.
She was reluctant to ask just who he had made such a promise to, though in her heart she knew it was obvious. The implications of what his promise meant ran through her mind. If he was the only one who could protect her…
They were dead. All of them, and they always had been. Even in their days of battling Naraku they had been dead. Every time she had jumped through the well and gone home, she had leapt into a time where they all had gone to their graves. And even Inuyasha, the only one who could follow her through to the other side, had been walking in a time that wasn’t his to see.
Whenever she thought of her friends, she had always remembered them just as they were when she last saw them. Now all she could see was gravestones and dust in the wind.
“What soldiers?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“My brother. And the kitsune, though he was dead before the promise was made.”
Kagome gasped, and Sesshoumaru peered over his shoulder at her for only a moment. Inuyasha. She had expected such from him. But Shippo? Her little fox kit couldn’t have been a warrior. He was only a child when she left him, so innocent. He could not have aged much in the years she had been away. He must have been barely out of childhood when he had died. Kagome’s eyes began to sting with unshed tears.
“Shippo? He fought with you?”
“He was young, but he was tenacious. He insisted.”
Kagome’s face dropped into her hands, and tears ran through her fingers. Even the cold nose nudging at one of her hands did not bring her out of her silent sobbing.
“They asked one other thing of me,” she heard him say, and found the strength to lift her head.
“What?”
“That you would know what happened to them, and all the rest.”
“I--I don’t know…” Kagome began, but could find no words to say. “Oh God.”
He did not seem to notice her distress, or if he did he paid it no mind. She listened with a heavy heart as Inuyasha and Shippo met their deaths all over again in Sesshoumaru’s retelling. When he finally left off with the life slowly draining from his brother’s eyes, Kagome’s sadness had turned into rage.
She was angry. Furious. She jumped off the couch and went to him, placing herself just inches from his back. When he turned around, she found herself toe to toe with him. She couldn’t see anything in his eyes. No sadness, no grief, no sense of loss at all. She slapped the scowl right off his face.
He growled, and Kagome took a step away. It was an intimidating sound, not at all human. His hand wandered up to his cheek. Long, elegant fingers tipped in blunt human nails ran over the reddened flesh. She noticed fleetingly that there was a large ring on his finger.
“I keep my promise to the half-breed only to be assaulted by his wench,” he hissed.
“You had Tenseiga! You could have saved both of them!”
“It was too late for the boy. When I found him his soul had already been taken,” Sesshoumaru said irritably. He moved toward her and Kagome backed away. She found herself caught between him and the side of the couch.
“What about Inuyasha? He was still alive when you found him! Why didn’t you save him?”
“So he could live just to die again? To live out the rest of his days with only memories of loss and death? He was only hanyou. He would have never lived to see this era. He would never have seen you again even if I had resurrected him,” he said, and he moved to stand by the sliding doors again. His fist came down on the wall beside them, leaving a dent in the plaster. “His heart was dead. He lost you and had nothing left to live for. I understood that, and so did he and Tenseiga. The sword would not have called him back even if I had tried to use it.”
Kagome’s head began to spin, and she slowly slumped down onto the floor. Taka jumped off the couch and curled up next to her.
“Sometimes I believe he fought at my side only searching for an excuse for death,” Sesshoumaru said, and that was when Kagome lost her reserve completely.