InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Windows on the West ❯ The Bamboo Judgement ( Chapter 21 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer:  I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

-oOo-

“... and so, the palace was destroyed the night the fair hime gave birth to the hanyou.  The youkai that had taken the maiden returned to steal away with the child, but was stopped by a brave warrior, who fought the youkai, taking them both to their deaths.”

Kagome frowned, rather annoyed at the load of crap the old man was telling, giving it out as truth.  She looked around at the small shrine that stood atop the remains of Inuyasha's birth place, surrounded by a veritable forest of bamboo, and thought about what had brought them here.  

They were on a shard hunt, having heard about a youkai with a shard that Naraku had to have given it, since he had most of them – but when both the brothers had seen where they were, they refused to step foot into the forest, instead allowing Sango, Miroku, and Kagome to enter and head for the shrine to ask about the rumored youkai.  She was, however, beginning to wonder if it was a dead end – there was no sense of a shard, and no youki anywhere near save for the youki of their own companions.

The old priest finally stopped talking for a moment, and immediately, the group began to move back towards the entrance where their companions waited, the elder following along behind spouting nonsense about the legend of the Hime and the Youkai.

Finally, just as they reached the road, Kagome had had enough, and rounded on the man in the same instant he caught sight of the youkai that were awaiting the travelers he'd been speaking to.

“Listen, you've got the whole story wrong, okay?  The hime wasn't taken against her will, and the youkai, and their hanyou son were not evil.  You can't lump every youkai into one pot and call them all evil – they are just the same as humans – some are evil, and some aren't,”  she said exasperatedly.  “Honestly, what is it with you people here?”  

The priest looked taken aback, and even horrified at her words, and her companions.  “How can you, a miko, say something like that?  Of course youkai are evil!  That's why those youkai-”  he pointed a shaking finger at Sesshoumaru, and Inuyasha,  “-didn't come into the shrine!  Because the bamboo kept them out!”

She narrowed her eyes on the elder.  “I know, because bamboo keeps evil out, ne?”  As the priest nodded vigorously,  Kagome smiled.  “Then how do you explain the fact that the youkai in the legend, who was called Inu no Taisho, by the way, got into the shiro to get to his hime?”

At that, the priest sputtered, not knowing how to respond, and the rest of the group watched with differing expressions.  Inuyasha, with a rather knowing smirk, along with Miroku and Sango and even Shippo, were not really surprised at Kagome's words, already knowing how she felt about such matters.  

Sesshoumaru, though... he was surprised.  And it even showed, just a little bit, in the raised brows, and slightly less icy glare than was usual for him when dealing with beings he considered beneath him – which was pretty much everyone, of course.

Kagome shook her head, and sighed.  “It's sad when people can't even get their stories right.”  She raised a hand and pointed at Inuyasha, holding the shocked priest's gaze.  “This is the hanyou that was born that night in that shiro.  His name is Inuyasha – and that guy-”  she pointed next at Sesshoumaru,  “-shared the same father as Inuyasha.  And neither of them are evil, either.  Would you like to see them walk into the bamboo forest?  I can assure you, they've both been here before... so it wouldn't be much of a hardship for them to do it again.”

The elderly man grabbed a bamboo stalk and clenched onto it as though he were afraid if he were torn from it he would die, and glared at the youkai brothers.  “They will not be able to pass,”  he shrieked.  “Evil will be repelled!”

With a disgusted look at the rather crazy old man, Kagome motioned to both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, and said,  “Are either of you worried about walking into the shrine?”  

Inuyasha simply scoffed.  “Ain't like I ain't been here before, since it's where my old man died.  Came to pay my respects over the years a few times, so it won't bother me to go in.”

Sesshoumaru looked even more taken aback at Inuyasha's words.  He apparently hadn't known of his brother's visits – or his reasons for them.  Nonetheless, he turned to Kagome and answered her.  “There is nothing that would keep me out of any place that I chose to go, miko, and you know this.  I see no reason, however, to enter at this time merely to prove a moot point to an incompetent human priest,”  he said scathingly.

She tilted her head at him knowingly.  “But this is also a good time for both of the Taisho's sons to pay their respects to him, together.  Much as you dislike calling Inuyasha what he is, do this not for him, but for the respect of your father.  He would want to see you both working together, wouldn't he?  Or did I just imagine what happened after you both fought Sou'unga?”  she asked softly.

The daiyoukai stared at her, annoyance sharpening his gaze, before turning that same gaze on the priest that was still clutching protectively to the bamboo.  It irked him that he knew she was right – this would please his father's spirit... but at the same time, he was well aware that the miko was managing him – and the only thing that would save her from a bloody end for it was her status, given by him, as his pack's alpha female.

I had forgotten what having an alpha female would mean, he thought, disgruntled.  She is only fulfilling her position, and I cannot punish her for that.

With an inward scowl, he spoke to his brother.  “Come, Inuyasha.  We will do this, and then we will leave.”  He strode forward to the encouraging smile on Kagome's face, even as Inuyasha shadowed him – and the priest stared in shock and horror as the brothers penetrated the barrier of bamboo surrounding the shrine with no problems... proving, by his own standards, that neither of them were evil.

The bamboo had spoken.

Miroku stepped forward as the priest half-collapsed against the mature trunks of bamboo, and helped the elder to regain his feet.  “Take the lesson you have learned here today, my good priest, and study it.  For Kagome-sama is correct – a being's nature is either good or evil by choice, not by an accident of birth.  I have personally seen humans do such horrible things to other humans, that even youkai were sickened by it.  And I have seen the highest of honor from youkai, when that honor was not even deserved by those it was bestowed upon.”

Kagome didn't pay any attention to Miroku's discussion with the priest, simply staring into the entrance to the shrine, waiting for the brothers to come out.

Just as they did, Kagome could feel the presence of one she'd only felt once – and that being was pleased, his spirit calm and content with the simple bit of unity shown by his sons.  She smiled, and whispered,  “I hope to bring them back again someday, Taisho-sama – and maybe then, they'll even be content to be here together.”

There was a tiny flurry of wind around her, whipping her hair about wildly for a moment even as she felt the presence circle her, touch against her cheek... and then disappear.

From the look on Sesshoumaru's face, she knew that he was well aware of what had just happened, and who it was that had visited her.  It was also just as obvious, that he didn't know what to make of it.

However, Sesshoumaru being who he was, didn't let it hinder his actions, and within moments, he'd ordered the group on its way, and they moved out. They left behind a priest that had had all his beliefs about youkai challenged and destroyed in one momentous afternoon.

It would take the man some time to reconcile himself to the things he'd learned that day.

Sesshoumaru, however, was left with more questions than answers... and he still didn't know how to handle the fact that his father's spirit had welcomed Kagome in such a manner.

Because he could tell what his father's spirit had done – he had embraced the little miko as though she were a daughter, and a well-loved one, at that.

Does this mean that you want Inuyasha to mate the miko?  His eyes narrowed angrily as he thought about it, his back going so stiff as they walked that the entire group could tell something was wrong.  No.  You are no longer alpha, father, and I will never allow the whelp to have her.  She is my pack - never his.  

Never.

And somewhere far above in the heavens, a great dog demon looked down on his eldest son as he surreptitiously watched the tiny human woman, and smiled.

Daughter she will be, Sesshoumaru... but it will not be Inuyasha that makes her so to me.  She is meant for a far more stubborn dog than Inuyasha could ever be.

-oOo-

A/N:  This little one-shot came from the meaning of bamboo in Japanese culture.  In the Shinto belief, bamboo was seen as something that kept those of evil nature out of shrines and holy places, and so many of those types of places were surrounded by bamboo as protection.

In the third movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler, the shiro where Inuyasha was born was shown as being within a bamboo forest, and that imagery just struck me.  I figured a small shrine built atop of the burned out ruins of the palace wouldn't be out of place in my tale.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys!

Amber


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