InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomaru's Story ❯ Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 

As Inuyasha continued to slash and fight his own sword, now wielded by his older brother, Sesshoumaru could not seem to find it in his usually cold heart to slay his half-sibling.

 

What in Kami's name is wrong with me? This fool is nothing more than a menace to the lives of everything in his path. I should kill him, just to get him out of the way. Why can't I?

 

A slight tug on his haori gave him the answer. The miko. For some strange reason, he felt unable to slay the hanyou with her watching. She, who had given up everything to save his half-brother's miserable life, was now clinging to his back, enabling him to wield the Tetsusaiga, which had rejected him for so long.

 

The girl who always seemed to sacrifice everything for everyone else, never caring about her own needs or wants. What was it about this ningen that puzzled him so?

 

Fully irritated at his sudden appearance of compassion, the tai-youkai dodged a claw attack from his brother and landed a well-placed punch to the hanyou's face.

 

Inuyasha went down, out like a light.

 

Kagome peered over Sesshoumaru's shoulder. “Did… did you…?”

 

“No, miko. I have not killed the insolent whelp.” He did not turn his head, but his golden gaze looked over his shoulder at her anyway. “Yet.”

 

“Sesshoumaru!”

 

Kagome slid off the tai-youkai's back, looking at the source of the voice. Sure enough, Miroku and Sango were hurrying over, with Kohaku following close behind.

 

The inu-youkai gazed coldly at the humans. “Speak.”

 

Miroku bowed respectfully. “We… we think it would be best, now, if Kagome were… to return to her home. Then Inuyasha would not be able to get her.”

 

The look on Sesshoumaru's face never faltered. “Highly improbable. He would hunt her down.”

 

Sango exchanged a look with Miroku. She nodded. They had to tell him.

 

“Kagome… well, she's…” the monk paused, unsure how much the tai-youkai would believe.

 

“She's from another time.”

 

“Is she, now?”

 

Kagome stepped forward, next to Sesshoumaru and looked up at him. “Um… yes. I come from 500 years in the future. Through a well.”

 

His blank, unresponsive gaze traversed her body, taking in her white and green school uniform, so different from the usual kimonos that females wore- youkai and ningen alike. “Imagine that.” He turned towards her, giving her his undivided attention. “And you believe that Inuyasha will not follow you?”

 

Miroku cleared his throat. “We think that once Kagome goes through the well, it will close and she'll be safe in her own time. Inuyasha would not be able to follow her anymore.”

 

“Show me.”

 

All four humans jumped, startled. Sesshoumaru scooped Kagome up in his arm and took to the sky, leaving Miroku, Sango, and Kohaku staring after them in shock and Inuyasha still unconscious on the ground.

 

Sango turned. “Kirara!”

 

The twin-tail hurried out of the trees, flaring into her larger form as she approached her friends. The three humans hurriedly mounted the large cat, who then swiftly took to the skies after the Inu no Taishou.

 

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“Where?” The word was a command.

 

Kagome gulped. “Um… Inuyasha's Forest. Where he was pinned to that tree for fifty years? Do you know…?”

 

“Indeed, I know the location.” Harsh words cut her off. He headed in the direction she had given him, flying swiftly on a cloud as only he could.

 

Trippy… never thought I'd be able to fly like this without either an airplane or some really strong medication. She looked down at the world below, marveling at how rich and green the landscape looked here in the past. In her own time, there were so many people and cities the green was almost gone.

 

Suddenly he descended. She dug her hands into his haori in fear, her eyes wide at sudden plunge. When Sesshoumaru's arm tightened around her waist, she looked up at him, startled to see his golden gaze fixated on her.

 

“I will not drop you, miko.”

 

She blushed and looked away, loosening her grip on his haori. His strong hold on her waist did not lessen, however, until they were firmly on the ground. Only then did he release her.

 

She blinked. The Bone Eater's Well was only a few yards away. How had he known…?

 

“You mentioned a well, I believe,” he said, his voice velvety smooth as he gazed at her. “This is the only one I know of near the tree where that half-breed was sealed.”

 

“H-hai,” she stuttered, walking slowly toward the well.

 

She had reached the well and had leaned over to peer inside. She turned her head to look back at where Sesshoumaru had been, only to be face to face with the yellow and purple sash the tai-youkai wore around his waist.

 

She yelped, straightening up and taking a half-step backwards. Her leg came up against the side of the well, causing her to fall.

 

Right into the well.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly as the miko stumbled and fell backwards into the well. He reached out with his only arm and caught one of her hands, preventing her fall.

 

Kagome looked up at him, flushing furiously. She dangled in the well like bait for a fish. “Um… arigatou, but this is how I get home.”

 

“By falling backwards through a dry well?”

 

She blushed harder. “Not usually backwards, but hai, that's the basic concept.”

 

He held her for a moment, eying her with a hint of skepticism. “Very well, then.”

 

He released her hand and she stifled a gasp of surprise as she fell the few feet towards the bottom of the well.

 

Instead of being engulfed by the usual pink light, Kagome landed with an “oof!” and a cloud of dust and dirt on the dry bottom of the well. She blinked several times, wondering if she missed something. She looked up at the top of the well, seeing the clear blue sky instead of the wooden roof of the well-house.

 

Sesshoumaru's expressionless face appeared over the edge of the well. He narrowed his eyes when he saw her standing there with a confused look on her face.

 

“It would appear that your well trick did not work, miko.”

 

“No!” she cried, falling to her knees, digging her fingers into the dirt as tears sprung to her eyes. “It has to work! I have to go home! I have to see my family!”

 

The scent of the girl's tears wafted up from the depths of the well, making Sesshoumaru pause. Why was the ningen crying? Wasn't this just a fabrication she made up?

 

He straightened up to watch the taijiya's twin-tail land nearby with its burden of the other three humans. Quickly they dismounted and rushed to the well.

 

“Sesshoumaru! Has she gone back already?”

 

The tai-youkai regarded the monk. “If you will look down, you will see that your miko is still here.”

 

Disbelieving, Sango and Miroku peered into the well, Kohaku remaining by Kirara. Sure enough, at the bottom of the well was a dirty and crying Kagome, trying vainly to dig through the dirt.

 

“Kagome!” Sango called down to her. The younger girl looked up, her face streaked with dirt and tears. “What went wrong? Can't you get home?”

 

Kagome shook her head slowly, her gaze going vacant again. First she had to watch Inuyasha die, face his ire when she revived him with the Shikon no Tama, then he transformed and tried to kill her, and now she couldn't get back to her own time.

 

What in Kami's name was she supposed to do now?

 

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Sesshoumaru watched as the miko allowed herself to be pulled out of the well by her friends. The girl looked completely forlorn and lost, not to mention covered in dirt and dust.

 

“Kagome? What happened?” The taijiya put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder in concern.

 

“The well. It… it's closed. I can't get home,” the miko replied in a quiet monotone, as though she couldn't believe it. Miroku tightened his grip on his staff.

 

“You are stuck here, it would seem.”

 

Three faces turned to look at the tai-youkai, who returned their gazes with no expression.

 

“I thought you didn't believe us,” Miroku countered.

 

“It would explain quite a few things,” Sesshoumaru replied dryly.

 

Kagome began to shake as the shock set in. “Oh, Kami… my mother… jii-chan… Souta… I'll never see them again…”

 

“Not to mention the fact that Inuyasha's still after you,” Miroku added softly. Sango cast him a glaring look that made him cringe. “Gomen…”

 

Sesshoumaru turned and began to walk away. Kagome looked up and stared after him. She shot to her feet. “Wait!”

 

He paused, not bothering to turn completely around. She took a step forward, hesitantly.

 

“Are you going to kill Inuyasha?”

 

He faced forward again. “He needs to be stopped.”

 

“Don't…”

 

This time he turned halfway around to look at her. “You still harbor feelings for that worthless hanyou.”

 

“He's not worthless!” she yelled back. Then she fell to her knees in defeat.

 

“I… I know he needs to be stopped. There are so many lives at risk now…”

 

“The choice is simple: Inuyasha's life, or the lives of the many he will end up killing before he is killed by something else. Either way, he dies.”

 

The miko looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. He froze, not that anyone would've noticed. Those eyes…

 

A much younger, smaller face entered his mind, bearing the same tear-filled eyes. Please, Sesshoumaru-sama?

 

Rin.

 

He mentally sighed. Any weakness was a potential threat, especially a weakness of the Inu no Taishou. Yet he silently admitted to himself that he could not handle a female's tears.

 

Even if she were ningen.

 

Perhaps that was because she was ningen. Female youkai usually cared nothing for anyone or anything but themselves. Humans, he had discovered, could and did care for others. Especially his Rin.

 

And, obviously, this miko as well.

 

The two females were much alike, he admitted to himself. All purity and innocence- not wanting any evil to befall those they cared about, regardless of the sacrifices they had to make. They even resembled each other in the flesh as well as the soul.

 

Sesshoumaru walked back to the miko and crouched before her. She looked into his molten gaze, trying vainly to hold back tears. She blinked, causing a single tear to slide down her cheek.

 

“Onegai… don't make him suffer.”