InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unbridled, Unvoiced Passions ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Sadly, no, I am not the great Takahashi-san. Sorry!

Unbridled, Unvoiced Passions

A bittersweet love story

In the depths of a hidden room, a library aged with the written works and family trinkets of a long forgotten tale. Scrolls, held captive from the brutal maturity of paper, told the secrets of lost time, of forgotten battles, of legends and myths, but mostly of his unbridled, unvoiced passions.

The room, sealed by an ancient magic, is opened after nearly three centuries of dormancy. A girl's curiosity and utmost respect for all things lost to time discovers the secrets of the hidden chambers; a secret she was unknowingly a part of. However, opening the chamber just might have been the biggest mistake of her life.

Chapter 2

When the world settles and darkness lays it's blanket over the still of the earth and the stars sing their lull to pacify nature's bustle, all creatures take their places to dance in the spaces of their dreams. Unfortunately, that calm in life leaves ample room for the loud thoughts that crash in when no one else is listening.

For Kagome, sleep was an unwelcome visitor. And though she wanted rest as much as her body demanded it, her mind was relentless in its line of reasoning.

During the night, no one could disturb her; she could explore to her hearts content. There was a mystery waiting for her; how could she just lie there and ignore that?

Her thoughts drifted in and out of reality, different possible scenarios playing out like a film behind her eyes. Within an hour, she had entertained nearly every possible, and impossible, reason for the small gap beneath the wall.

What a spectacular thrill she got just from thinking about it. Her options were obvious then; she could do only one thing. Kagome had a date with mystery, and she did not miss a date.

The light tap of wood against wood was heard in the echoes of her hallways. Years of practiced silence kept her footsteps from being heard, but the damn stilted contraptions were a loud buzz in her wake.

She left the wooden inconveniences at the house where she had retrieved a candle and holder. This was so much easier to do without those confounding crutches; she was not weak.

A single candle was lit as she made her way out to the forest behind her ancestral home. There, hidden just to the left of the middle, rested her treasure of time frozen still for her and her alone.

She had been here before, never taking notice of the well-hidden site. Trees embraced a few wooden posts that were covered in moss from years of solitude. Between the posts, draped vines veiled a small hole that lead far into the ground, pausing only for a wooden door with a small keyhole. How her grandfather had found this place was another mystery she would have to solve, but that one could wait.

The rusted and chipped key that was entrusted to Kagome was obviously old, but very decorated. It had a standard skeleton key end, with the exception of the pointed tip and satirical bar, but the handle was something else entirely.

It reminded her of something from the past, something she refused to voice for fear that it would be true. There were two small ruby's separated by a curved sliver of an opalescent stone that looked a lot like a crescent moon. The implications of those symbols were frightening and exciting all at the same time.

Kagome shook her head to ward off the path her thoughts had taken and deftly realized that she was standing just before the curtain of vines. She reached up slowly and watched as the light of the candle disappeared into the small, cavernous walkway.

She stepped through the vines and walked to the wooden door her grandfather had shown her not a day earlier. After opening it, she placed her candle in the small holder to the left of the door inside the room and proceeded to investigate.

Before inspecting the mysterious gap, Kagome needed to find a larger source of illumination. All she could find, however, were old scrolls and garments; she couldn't very well burn those. Then she remembered a scroll from her first encounter with this room.

She searched, almost frantically, in the back corner for the large parchment that caught her eye before. When she had first seen it, there was nothing but a few small words written on the top left.

It was traditional in form for the Japanese language, but the words themselves were not anything Kagome had seen in this time. They were, however, traditional within the higher circles of the demon race from back in the feudal era. This small detail only served to fuel her fears for the creator of this place more.

Her blood raced when her fingers skimmed the soft parchment. As before, Kagome delicately lifted the piece and laid it across the table to her right.

After clearing the table, possibly a bit too hastily, she unrolled the rice paper and ran her hand across the open parchment. During her last visit, Kagome had discovered that her priestess powers were a sort of counter magic for whatever spell kept the ink at bay. That and every time she touched the paper she seemed to understand what the visible characters meant.

Kagome wasn't sure how she knew what the characters read; she just did.

"Secrets of old, time frozen still, open your magic now to be told."

Kagome watched the ink appear before her as though someone were writing on the paper right before her eyes. With a quick glance, she realized that it was a sort of blue print for the room she was in, along with another she had yet to see.

Earlier that day, when she had figured out how to reveal the secrets of the parchment, she had only noticed that the print had shown a way to allow the moonlight to illuminate the room. She had been interrupted then and made to put it away again without discovering the secret of the light.

Now, however, she realized that the moonlight was the key to opening the secret room that she wanted so desperately to see. She realized that the small gap and the adjoining room in the drawing must have been one in the same. This gave her direction as to the top and bottom of the makeshift 'map'.

After repositioning the paper so that she could face the yet to be revealed room, Kagome looked down and followed the spot she presumed the moonlight would hit to the place in the ceiling where said light should come from.

Closer examination of the ceiling revealed nothing. By all rights there should be a sliver of light, or even a split where a window may have been boarded up. Then it hit her; the forestry was blocking her view.

Kagome counted her steps as she exited the room and reentered the forest. The moonlight was slight, but beautiful; it was just enough to illuminate the underground room.

She turned full circle and found a small path to her left that led to the top of the small mound the hole was ground into. After following the path, Kagome saw the tip of the entrance and stood above it, thankful it held up.

Kagome did an about face and counted the forty-two steps she had estimated and paused. There was nothing really significant about the specific spot she was looking at. She glanced around her a bit and found herself in awe.

The field she was in must have somehow missed her eyes during previous visits here; though how something this beautiful could be overlooked is anyone's guess. It was gorgeous; hundreds of flowers spread throughout in a mix match pattern of reds, gold's, whites, and even blues. There were so many different flowers that Kagome almost forgot why she was even up there.

She turned away from the scene as though startled into her plan again and searched the ground for any clues. Her mind kept drifting to the entrancing beauty of the field. She decided it was necessary to visit this place during the day so that she might see the magnificence in sunlight.

The flowers had to be breathtaking during the day, even with the funny little yellow weeds intertwined. Faintly she thought, 'The weeds almost seem intentional in design'.

"There"

She took two paces to the right and knelt down into the thick grasses and flowers at her feet. Her hands roamed the shorter patch before she realized that the entire piece was covering the area she needed.

After a bit of digging, and a lot of tugging, a square patch of grass came up neatly, revealing a dusted and moldy old piece of wood. Kagome carefully retrieved the board and lifted it away to reveal another hole in the ground.

Kagome peered into the hole and, after noticing it was at an angle, stood to calculate the moon trajectory to see if it would need more room to glow inside. She was lucky enough to find that the moon would cross paths with the hole in a short hour or two.

"Damn astronomy classes. I shouldn't know this crap."

Kagome laughed at her own words; it was her idea to take the astronomy class as her junior elective. She had wanted to see if she could point out all of the constellations and heavenly bodies to her comrade's back in the feudal era. They spent so much time under the stars that she thought they might enjoy making pictures appear in their mind's eye when gazing up.

Kagome shook the thoughts from her head and made her way back to the entrance of the mysterious room. Just before entering, she looked up and watched the stars wink at her from above.

"I wonder which stars they're watching tonight."

With that she went in.

It had to have been at least two hours by now. There were many things to look at here, but when something so enthralling was just beyond your grasp everything else just seemed, well, dull and she was beginning to get a little impatient.

Kagome sighed and peered up at the hole in the 'ceiling'. She saw a sliver of the moon come into view and would have jumped in apparent joy, were it not for the blasted cast of hers.

She waited for the moon to cover the rest of the hole, watching with a baited breath as the moonbeams spread further into the cavern. It seemed like eternity to her, as the light spread across the room, splaying blue silver over her body.

When the light reached the small gap at the wall, Kagome saw a silver light shine from inside the other room. The light of the moon climbed up the wall, the silver holding its hand the entire way. When the moonbeams seemed to reach no further, the silver magic carried it to the top and shot out at the room.

Kagome covered her eyes from the sheer strength of luminosity, watching her shadow cast out behind her with a sideways glance. When her shadows lie low again, Kagome cautiously lowered her arm and peeked over to the wall.

It was amazing. What was once a wall of dirt had become a door with a single crescent moon and two starburst symbols. She ignored the symbols as if they were merely decoration and pushed the wooden obstacle aside like a shoji screen.

"Wow"

Shelves went on forever in this hidden place, piled with books, scrolls, single parchments, any and everything you could think of to write on; there were thousands of writings. The floor was a traditional wooden base littered with old trinkets and a few cushy looking pillows around a single lowered table.

Her hands shook as she held onto the doorframe and gently stepped into the room. There was dust everywhere, but the room's contents still looked enchanting and beautiful, like something from a castle in the past.

She set to work immediately to find the first piece of interest, though everything in here was fascinating to her. The search was short as she found a few items that piqued her curiosity the most. Generally they meant nothing to just anyone, but she had seen hairpieces and necklaces like these on a few of the royal in the feudal era.

The thought stilled her then that this place was sealed with the remnants of that time and status. It was strange though, because she hadn't seen anything in the past to indicate that this room would be here. Did Inuyasha do this after she had gone? Was she not going to be in the past forever?

She had tried to avoid the thought, but it was painfully obvious now. Inuyasha did not follow the symbol of the crescent moon, Sesshoumaru did. Her head spun with the idea that he had built and kept a room on her ancestor's property, and then sealed its contents away for no one to see.

"He always was so secretive."

Kagome's mind reeled with reason and indecision. She wanted, no needed to know more about this room, but did she really want to know that much about Sesshoumaru? She was positive this was his room, and from the looks of it, a personal study for the reticent demon lord.

Then there was the relationship with Inuyasha to consider. There could be a clue in here to their apparent falling out. But would Inuyasha hate her for prying like this? He should be the one to tell her that secret if he wanted to, right?

It was all so confusing, all the things she had ever wanted to know about the brother's relationship and past was quite possibly hers for the taking. But her sense of friendship stayed her decision. Could she really do that?

The temptation rode her mind while her reasoning kept her hesitation. Throughout the inner battle, she had failed to notice her wandering hands.

They moved as though of their own accord, taking in every detail of the treasures before her. With swift and steady movements, her body progressed through the entire room in mere minutes.

Kagome snapped to attention when she realized that she was holding a piece of paper up to read. She glanced around frantically, expecting to be near the door of the room, and found herself in the back corner.

Her eyes fell on the paper again, but she refused to read it, her mind still battling the boundaries of friendship. In an attempt to sway temptation, Kagome looked around for the resting home of the paper she was holding. It was painfully obvious, as it was the only clean spot in the room.

She glanced back at the paper and hesitated. It was much too dusty, the room was still too dark to read, and a glance at her watch told her that she should be getting back to the house soon.

Without thinking about it, Kagome turned heel and made for her bedroom as fast as her broken leg could carry her whilst tucking the paper into her pocket.

Kagome stared at the forest from her bedroom window. Since visiting the place, she could spot the exact point of entrance even from there.

She sighed and moved from her window back to her bed. The room was still as much a mystery to her now as it was yesterday. Actually, her deductions from earlier had only raised her curiosity more.

Kagome swung her legs up onto her bed and leaned down to pull the covers up. However, when she did, she heard a crinkling that sounded suspiciously like paper.

Her eyebrows scrunched together as she patted her bed to find the culprit of the noise. When nothing was found, she reached for the covers again. The crinkling ensued once more, but this time Kagome felt the stab of one of the corners on her hip.

She moved her hand to her hip as though she were in a trance and felt the thickness through her pajama bottoms. Slowly, her hand moved inside her pocket and grabbed hold of the intruder.

Her eyes went wide when she realized just what it was she was holding onto. When she pulled it out, her hands shook with a wild tremor.

Whether it was fear or adrenaline Kagome would never know, but as soon as she saw the paper she leapt up, dusted it off, and laid it out on her desk while using some old photo frames and books for paper weights.

She turned on her lamp and sat down. There in front of her was that strange writing again. The prospect of reading something personal from Sesshoumaru was exciting and foreboding all at once.

But the room was on her property; she had a right to read it now, right? That being settled, she closed her eyes and ran her hand over the paper.

This time, instead of seeing the words as though she knew them, she saw a hand. It was deathly pale with two magenta stripes and a fine set of claws.

She watched as the hand dipped a feather into a small bottle set over a fire. It wrote, and somehow it was as though she was writing, as though she were the one thinking of the words.

I saw him again today. Another battle, another retreat. I don't like this search and retreat tactic, it hasn't gotten me anywhere. The moon has passed its cycle fourteen times since he was woken from that tree and I am still no closer to understanding.

That priestess was there to save him again, that woman that is human, yet more. Why is she with him?

Kagome's hand shot away from the paper, afraid to read more. Beads of sweat rolled from her forehead as she stared at the wall.

He was writing about her, that much was obvious, but why?

She counted the time on her hands and guessed that this was written just a few months after her sixteenth birthday. How many times had they encountered him by then? Hundreds, that was certain, but did he always write after each one. Was she always in them? She had to know more, so she placed her hands back on the paper and let the magic do its work.

I don't understand why she follows that half-breed. Loyalty? Honor? Duty? Why? She deserves so much more than that life which he gives her. I wonder…does she love him?

It doesn't matter, none of it does. She doesn't understand that the whelp will never see her as more than just a copy, a replacement for his dear Kikyou; that dead whore that will do anything in her power to drag my brother to suffer her fate in hell.

She should leave him; finish her journey somewhere else…with someone else. But her loyalty would stay her place beside him, if not her friendship, just as his loyalty would drag him to hell. Can she not see him for who he really is? He doesn't deserve her, he never will.

Kagome sat for a while, stunned beyond belief. She wasn't just a passing subject in his writing that day; she was all of it, his purpose for writing that night.

Now more than ever, the need to read more was a call she could not ignore. Tomorrow would be a busy day for her. For tomorrow she was going to find every journal like entry she could, and put them into the best order possible.

She was going to spend the next six months figuring out the demon lord that left her a room. It was as though she had her own heirloom from the royal dog demon clan.

Kagome woke with a rushed breath and jumped out of bed. After bathing, she threw on some old clothes and went downstairs for breakfast.

Her mind was so caught on the room that she hadn't noticed how fast she was eating, or the stares of her family. Her grandpa just watched in amusement and shook his head when she nearly turned over the table from jumping up.

She scrambled out of the room with her crutches, only pausing at the door for a moment before racing off into the forest once more. As she made her way down the steps, she tossed a departure over her shoulder.

"I'll be back for lunch!"

Kagome spent hours searching and dusting, dusting and searching. She had found literally thousands of papers, with the aid of the sunlight filtering in through her 'window' from the ceiling. They all held one thing in common with the entry from the night before; one thing that tied them all together was the small 'x' with a period next to it on the bottom right corner of each page.

There were so many papers that she actually thought there might be more than one journal she was holding in her hands. There was only one way to find out so, after gathering as many papers as she could, Kagome left the sanctity of the cavernous rooms and found a cozy spot in the mystical field above to begin her research.

There was one thing all the documents seemed to have in common in respect to order. When placed together, the markings in the right corner shifted place from page to page.

At first, the transition seemed unimportant. However, after flipping through the pages in frustration, Kagome noticed a sort of pattern. The markings moved until they made a continuous loop, then a line and then a loop again.

Using this technique, Kagome placed the documents to the side and filtered through the few pages that seemed to be out of place. Carefully watching the cycle, she was able to situate the missing pieces and return them to their rightful order.

Her heart raced with excitement, her body screaming with renewed adrenaline. She feared what she would discover, but more so, she feared having the resources and not utilizing them.

Kagome turned her attentions to the sky and realized that it was lunchtime, past actually, but she could always blame the confounding crutches for her tardiness. She stood up and gathered her treasure in her arms before making her way down the hill and out of the forest.

The prospect of reading an entire journal written by Sesshoumaru was so great that when Kagome reached the house, she went directly to her room rather than pausing to eat. Her mother watched half amused, half worried, but her father had said she was merely sating her curiosity for the past.

Mrs. Higurashi was no fool; she knew her daughter was in love with the past. She had known that Kagome would do great things since she was born, and her sanction in the past was proof.

It wasn't that Mrs. Higurashi didn't want her daughter to return, but the day that Inuyasha had come out of the well carrying a bloody Kagome, her fears of never seeing her daughter again were reinforced. Even with her amazing priestess powers and her strong band of battle friends, Kagome was very much mortal and that was a scary thought.

Mrs. Higurashi knew that Kagome would find a way to return to the past before her year was up. The fact was, Kagome wasn't a little girl anymore; she grew up a long time ago, and even here she was considered an adult and very much capable of making her own decisions. There's only so much a mother can do before they realize that their child has to be set free.

That day was approaching with a quick vengeance and Mrs. Higurashi was going to make sure that she strengthened the bond between her and Kagome before it was too late. They had spent the last three and a half years playing with time and the threat of Naraku was coming out with the reality of Kagome's mortality.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed in short resignation before taking hold of Kagome's food and making her way upstairs. Her daughter really was absentminded at times.

Kagome was so engrossed in the paperwork before her that she completely missed the soft knocks and calls of her mother. Only when she felt a hand on her shoulder did she jump to awareness.

Her mother laughed at her surprise and reached over her to set the bowl of oden next to the papers.

"What are you doing?"

Kagome gave her mom a sheepish grin and tried to think of a good explanation that didn't give away too much, but she couldn't lie to her mom.

"Reading"

Her mother simply shook her head and smiled. Sometimes you just have to let them be.

"Alright, I know when to pry and when not to."

Mrs. Higurashi left the room but stopped just before closing the door.

"I'll pry later"

Kagome laughed with her mom and gave her a smile.

"Thanks for lunch mom."

Her mother just smiled and left the room without another word.

Kagome watched the door for a bit with a grateful smile. Her lunch smelled wonderful and the journal was giving her a headache; for some reason she couldn't read it today.

She decided to eat first, and then she would try to unlock the mystery of the journal. Some things were better on a full stomach anyhow.

After lunch Kagome had studied the papers and the strange markings on them. She had even written down a few from the first paper and tried to find the code that would unlock the words. There had to be a way to translate the papers without using her priestess abilities.

Hours were spent on the documents, but when her mother came to retrieve her for dinner Kagome could do nothing more than sigh. The journal had a mind of its own and today it was being a royal pain in the ass, literally.

Once dinner was done, Kagome decided to stay downstairs and help her mother tidy up before bed. It was a long day, and though her curiosity was nagging at her like a toddler on a sugar high, Kagome's eyes were tired of looking at the same papers and seeing nothing.

Her grandfather and Souta had gone off to talk about the shrine since Souta had been working the booth lately, leaving Kagome and her mother to talk. Kagome grabbed a plate from her mother and began drying it.

"So how have you been lately?"

Mrs. Higurashi laughed at her daughter's obvious lack in conversational starters, but complied nonetheless.

"I'm doing fine, honey. Work is the same and your grandfather seems to be enjoying the new tourists this year."

"That's good. What about Souta? How is school for him?"

Mrs. Higurashi stopped washing and looked up at her daughter. At first Kagome thought something bad had happened, but when she looked up, the overabundance of mirth in her mother's eyes made her laugh.

"It's the last year of elementary. He's the oldest at school now, and believe me he knows it. You remember what it felt like, don't you?"

Kagome nodded and laughed some more. She missed that feeling actually; this was her last year in school unless she went on to college.

Mrs. Higurashi noticed her daughter's sudden change in moods and wondered what she was thinking about. Kagome could jump from one subject to another in a matter of moments; her mind would have been a track star if it were its own person.

"What's wrong dear?"

Kagome smiled half-heartedly at her mother and returned to drying the dishes.

"I just miss school is all! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the past and all my friends there. It's just that… school is a once in a lifetime thing that everyone does. I just feel like I'm missing out on so much here."

Mrs. Higurashi dried her hands on her apron and pulled Kagome into a hug that was returned full force.

"There are a lot of things in this world that we take for granted, don't let this be one of them. You have an opportunity far greater than any school building could provide. You're education isn't being shirked for your duties, and no one but you could learn to live both here and there at the same time. Don't be sad for what you've missed, be glad for what you've received; you're a very lucky girl Kagome Higurashi."

Kagome wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. Her mother was right, she had missed a lot of things here in her time, but she had gained all of that and much more in the past.

She knew that school wasn't her only reason for melancholy, but she didn't want to burden her mother with her thoughts; more or less it was because deep down she knew that her mother felt the same as she did. The past, though it was something she could never give up, had greatly hindered her relationships with her family and friends.

True, she had gained strength in some areas of their relationships, and her friends from the past weren't to be under spoken, but she still couldn't help that pang in her chest for the loss of normalcy in her life.

Her mother must have noticed that her mind had wandered off again because she sent her to bed with a smile that made Kagome wonder if her mother could read minds.

After a goodnight to her family, and a quick wrestle with Souta, Kagome retreated to her room for some much-needed rest.

Once in bed, Kagome spared the journal a quick glance before turning off her light and climbing under the covers of her childhood comfort. The mystery of the royal dog demon clan would have to wait until another day when she had more energy to spend on the frustrations of secret spells.

Just as she was drifting off into the realm of dreams, the moon sent light streaming onto her desk and cast out a silver light into her room. Kagome shot up and stared at the journal on her desk.

For some reason, the papers had decided to come alive with words. They crashed in on Kagome's mind like cars passing by on a frantic freeway.

She braced herself for the onslaught of images and words that hit her. They played in a sequence that grew like time.

Her accursed arrows nearly ripped off my other arm today.

She left again. When she goes, it's as if she never existed.

Her powers are growing; she's becoming a powerful priestess.

'a hand traced along the paper'

Midoriko would be proud.

There was only a single wound, but he couldn't move, why?

'the fireplace burned in anger'

She saved him again. This time it was his own hand to be stilled.

He can't see her. Why does she endure this?

'his hand dipped into the ink again'

She won't survive.

The battle is too much. Her powers are too much.

'the images moved faster as his hand raced across the papers'

She's becoming too powerful.

She'll die like this.

'his fingers flexed with ferocity'

The half-breed will die tomorrow.

At least we fight as allies.

She needs more help.

'golden eyes flashed in the light of the fire'

She won't survive this; she can't control it.

She's the key; she has to finish this.

'red eyes glowed in the dark'

She's going to die.

'a hand raced across the paper. Furniture was overthrown.'

Why? Why did she have to die?

She didn't even know. I never got the chance to tell her.

'Poison burned through the paper. Ink was thrown across the room into the fireplace.'

Kagome gripped her sheets, trying to feel her body as it returned to her commands. Her eyes were wild with fear, the images and words having been burned into her memory. Sweat rolled from her body as she cast the journal a fearful look.

It was about her, it was all about her. The fact that he dedicated so much time to her was not nearly as scary as what he had actually said.

Her death. She was staring at the words that held the key to her death.

There was only one way she could think of to be sure of the reality. She ran to her desk and tore through the papers. The last image was a paper with her death on it, and he had burned a good portion of it with his inherited poison.

If that paper was there, then these were the works of her death in writing. If it was there then…

Her hands trembled as they skimmed a paper, rigid and torn, burnt. Slowly, as though her death would come just from the sight of it, Kagome looked down to the paper in question.

There, in her hands, was the key to his life and her death. Breathing was suddenly a very labored task for her, the clenching of her heart from fear making it increasingly difficult to draw in air. Finally, when her body couldn't stand it any longer, she collapsed with her fate written in the palm of her hands.

You wanted more, I wrote more. Let me know what you thought.