InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Y Cyfnewidiad ❯ y darganfyddiad ( Chapter 1 )

Y Cyfnewidiad

Cyhiraeth

Story Summary: Sesshoumaru has always looked down upon humans, but what happens when by some cruel twist of fate, he is forced to become one. And as for Inuyasha, is this a dream come true, or his worst nightmare? Sess/Kag

Chapter Summary: Kagome returns to the Sengoku Jidai, and she and the gang are about to get a big surprise...

I've never before kept a diary. I can't explain why I've started now, except... I guess I had to. Maybe it will help me better understand what has happened, and what to do now.

It might seem kind of melodramatic, but it still feels like only yesterday that our lives were torn apart. I know that I should start at the beginning of the story; I would, but I don't have the time. Tonight I have to return to the past and finally put an end to this whole story.

It still seems impossible that it actually happened. But I guess that's how it always works when you find yourself falling out of love with one person and into love with someone else. Some people might say when you're a teenager, love isn't even real. But it felt very real to me. It was like a betrayal when it happened, and I guess in some ways, it still is. I can still remember the look in his eyes when I told him...

I don't think that I will ever forget.

But I won't think of that. Not today. I don't think that I even can. I still can't even decide whether I should wish it had never happened, or should thank the gods every day that it did.

Tonight I will go back, and end this for better or worse. I know that it won't be easy, but it has to be done.

After all this time, we have finally figured out what happened, and now can do something about it. But I'm more afraid now than I've ever been in the past. I've been through countless dangers, faced threats to my life and soul itself. But this is a far different threat, and one I'm am not nearly as well prepared to handle. It's my heart that's in danger now.

My first love, I know that I can never win back his love, not after what I have done. And my second? Once everything is back to normal, will he even remember who I am?

Chapter 1: y darganfyddiad

Nervously, Kagome chewed on the tip of her pencil, staring at the test questions sitting on the desk in front of her. With a growing sense of dread, she flipped through the pages, wondering when exactly she was supposed to have learned all of this. Optimisation? Integration? What did those words even mean?

With a sigh, she flipped back to the first page, hoping that there was something in this test she could actually do. Not likely, she realised. As it was, she had always been a poor math student, and should have never taken calculus in the first place. It almost made her miss her old geometry , which she had passed by some miracle. Or maybe not quite a miracle, since it only landed her here. She knew nothing of calculus. And of course most recently, she had been learning things that were far removed from calculus and school in general.

Inuyasha would never need to know anything about calculus, Kagome decided, her mind turning away from the unpleasant topic of math tests and towards her friends in the Sengoku Jidai. Ever since she had fallen into her shrine's well and ended up five hundred years in the past, her life had been more complicated, more dangerous, and far more rewarding. I wish mom would have let me stay home today, instead of making me come in to take this stupid final exam.

If there was anything life in the Sengoku Jidai had taught her, it was that wishing was useless. She couldn't count the number of times she had wished that the Shikon no Tama was complete, that Naraku was defeated, that the whole nightmare was over, that...

...that she knew what Inuyasha's true feelings were. Kami-sama, she thought to herself with a rueful laugh, I don't even know what my own feelings are. Is this... could this possibly be love? She pulled the pencil out of her mouth and looked down at the test again, though her mind was far, far away. What would happen when all of this was finished? The Shikon no Tama and the defeat of Naraku was her reason for being in the Sengoku Jidai, once the reason was gone, would she even be able to get back there again?

Will it even ever finish? Or at least, will the end be good? Of late, her dreams had made her wish she didn't have to sleep. Would they all survive this? Kagome knew that in her age, Miroku and Sango were dead, but did they even live out full lives? Did they ever get married? I know how much they truly care for each other. Were they able to figure it out for themselves, or did they not even get a chance?

And Inuyasha and Shippou? What happened with them? Kagome didn't even know if youkai still existed in her era, and feared that something had happened to them in the time between. It wasn't Naraku. It couldn't be.

"Higurashi, your test," her calculus teacher demanded, and Kagome jerked from her reverie and stared up into the professor's slightly annoyed face. She looked back down at the test paper and smiled weakly. She had only finished the first three pages of the test completely, and wasn't even close to sure of her answers. Kami-sama, what was she going to get on this test?

She handed the test to the teacher and walked out of the door, quickly beginning her walk home before her three friends could catch up to her. Usually, she enjoyed their gossip on at least one level, but today she was far too depressed and worried. It's the new moon in the Sengoku Jidai, she realised, I should be there for Inuyasha. I know how he gets when he becomes fully human.

"Mom! Grandpa! Souta!" she called out, throwing open the door to her house and tossing her book bag onto the table. "I'm home!"

Her little brother's head popped out from the hallway, and with a particularly mischievous smile, he commented, "Well? How was calculus?"

Shutting her eyes, Kagome fought down the urge to scream. Suddenly, a rather disturbing picture entered her imagination: Souta taking the math test in her place and getting a higher score. I don't see how he could get lower, she reflected, finally admitting to herself that she would never be a good student. But she doubted that anyone in her school was a better archer, or had stronger miko powers-not that she knew how to use them.

"Are you going back to the Sengoku Jidai?" Souta asked, quickly turning the conversation away from math.

"Right after dinner," she replied. Unless Inuyasha came to get her before that, at least. She doubted that would happen, he had told her that she had until tomorrow night to return, and I know that he would rather I not be around when he becomes human. But that was the night she wanted to be beside him most. Kagome didn't feel that the danger was any greater on this night than on any other. Not that the danger's not always great.

"Is Inuyasha going to come?" Souta asked, not bothering to disguise the hope in his eyes. Kagome smiled slightly, knowing that Inuyasha was Souta's role model.

"Probably not."

Seeing his disappointment, Kagome promised, "Don't worry, Souta. Maybe I can get him to come in a week or so."

Souta immediately brightened, and said, "Great! I wish my friends could meet him..."

"Souta..." she began in a warning voice, and the boy sobered quickly, "I know. I know. Demons don't exist in this era... But still, it would be so cool!"

Shaking her head, Kagome retreated to her bedroom and slung her calculus textbook onto the bed. It was a bit too late to study now, but maybe she could see whether or not she got any of those questions right. She flipped through the text, trying to see if optimisation was even in it. I thought I had studied this too, she thought despondently, finding the page that described that type of math. I never even got this far... too busy slaying demons-or running from them-I guess.

She slammed the book shut, knowing full well the possibility that she would soon be opening that same book again... next year, in calculus. Again. But for now, she could only hope that she didn't end up in another a second time. Kagome pushed the calc book away from her, and grabbed her biology text. This ought to be a little bit better. I think I've seen some of these organs first hand... Perhaps her life was more suited to biology than calculus after all.

"Kagome!" her mother called from the other side of the bedroom door, and she looked up from her studying and cried back, "Yes?"

"Dinner!"

"Okay!" she replied, closing the book and throwing it beside the math text before moving towards the door. "Are you planning on going back to the Sengoku Jidai tonight?" her mother asked her.

Kagome nodded, "Right after dinner."

"All right. Just... be careful."

Kagome's smile was cheerful, but fake. She could only hope that her mother didn't sense the fear that was behind her grin. "Don't worry about me, mom. With Inuyasha to take care of me..."

"Nobody can beat Inuyasha!" Souta called out gleefully from down the hallway, and Kagome had to smile despite herself. She knew the statement was false, but liked the unconditional admiration in his voice. If only Inuyasha could feel that way himself... especially tonight.

Their mother clearly didn't share Souta's sentiment. Her eyes showed the worry she felt, but she respected her daughter too much to restate her warning.

For that, Kagome was glad.

Throughout dinner, her mother kept watching her with those anxious eyes, her brother expressed his awe for Inuyasha, and her grandfather spouted off all sorts of ancient legends and myths. It was a typical dinner, Kagome decided as she grabbed her book bag and walked towards the well.

She jumped into the well and back into time, wondering distantly which time era was really her own nowadays. She might have been born in her present, but her heart lived in the past, with Inuyasha and her friends.

As she climbed out of the well, a high pitched squeal rang out through the clearing, "Kagome's back!"

With a smile, she ran to meet the young kitsune, "So, Shippou, how is Inuyasha?"

"Angry," he replied with a smile. "He won't be happy at all, though. He didn't want you to come back until tomorrow."

"I know, I know," she replied breezily. "And where are the others?"

Shippou hopped onto her shoulder and said, "Well, Miroku conned some lord into giving us a free room, and that's where everyone went. Except Inuyasha, who's hiding outside in a forest."

"So why are you here?" she asked, wondering how far away this castle was. It seemed they really hadn't expected her back until tomorrow.

"Sango and Miroku didn't want to leave the well unguarded if you came back, so I stayed. Inuyasha said it was a waste of time, but..." Shippou's grin grew to manic proportions, "I guess he was wrong!"

He was wrong, all right, Kagome thought with a smile. "So, Shippou. Where's this castle?"

"Oh!" Shippou exclaimed excitedly. "I'll take you there, Kagome. Everyone will be so surprised to see you!"

He was blind. He was deaf. He could smell nothing. Human weakness seemed to permeate his entire body, he could almost feel the rush of mortality upon him. A demon could be just beyond his meagre mortal senses, and he wouldn't even know. At least, not until it was too late.

After all these years, Inuyasha would have expected to eventually become used to his monthly transformation. But he now knew that he could never become accustomed to debilitating weakness. He had earned too many enemies over his life to be comfortable during this night. Sure, most of them were dead, but some still lived. If Naraku ever found out about this night, or if his brother did...

Assuming, of course, that Sesshoumaru didn't already know.

Inuyasha shook the thoughts from his head, knowing that he was worrying himself needlessly. Nobody of any real strength had ever attacked him on this night. At least Kagome's in her own world, where she's safe, he thought. Tomorrow he would have to get her so they could continue on their hunt for the jewel shards, but tonight he would not need to worry about her.

"Inuyasha!" a voice called out, and he strained his eyes to make out the form of a pink bicycle coming closer. Unable to believe what his eyes were telling him, Inuyasha squinted. Sure enough, it was Shippou... and Kagome. Damn that wench. She doesn't even know what's good for her. If she was actually smart, she'd know to stay in the other world, at least tonight. Aloud, he waited several moments until he was sure Kagome would be able to hear his rant. "Wench! What were you thinking, coming here tonight?! Don't you know it's dangerous, stupid girl!"

The smile that Kagome had been wearing vanished promptly as she jumped down from her bike. "You may be human tonight, Inuyasha, but those beads sure as hell still work," she informed him. "Sit!"

He felt the necklace pull him towards the ground, and wished that she had been wrong. "What the hell was that for, wench?!"

"Kagome," she managed through clenched teeth. "My name's Kagome. And you should learn to not be so rude."

"I wouldn't have to be rude if you'd just stay where you're supposed to be!"

"I'm supposed to be here, with you and the others, idiot!"

Off to the side, unnoticed by either, a young fox watched in exasperation. "Inuyasha! Kagome!" he finally called out, "Come on! Sango and Miroku are waiting for us inside!" The kitsune pointed towards the castle standing nearby.

Kagome broke off mid sentence and looked towards Shippou, as if she had just realised they had an audience. "All right, Shippou. Let's go," she agreed, and without sparing another look towards Inuyasha, she strolled off in the direction of the fortress.

"Keh," Inuyasha mumbled, flinging himself to the ground cross-legged. "Stupid wench," he hissed, looking up at the sky once more, hoping that morning would quickly arrive.

When morning arrived, something was wrong.

For a moment, Kagome stopped riding and just looked around, knowing that whatever was wrong wasn't going to just jump out of the forest and attack her. It didn't feel like a demon, not really... She couldn't say what it really felt like, since she'd never experienced anything like this before.

Maybe I'm just going crazy, she decided. After-effect of that calculus test, she mentally added, cringing slightly at the memory of yesterday's test. Still... the feeling of wrongness remained.

"Do you sense anything, Kagome?" Sango asked, turning towards her friend.

"Kagome?" Miroku prompted when the girl did not reply right away.

"Nani...?" Kagome started, snapping out of her daze and looking around blankly.

"What's wrong?" Sango asked.

"I don't know," Kagome finally answered, looking around at the other members of the group. Sango and Miroku, both travelling on Kirara's back, were watching her with concern. Shippou peeked out of the basket on Kagome's bike, his expression perfectly matching Sango's and Miroku's. To the side, stilling moving at a swift pace, was Inuyasha, who still looked annoyed over the night's events.

She turned her gaze back towards Sango and Miroku, knowing that she was unlikely to get anything out of Inuyasha. At least not yet. "I can't explain it. There's just something around here that feels... well, wrong," she concluded weakly.

"Wrong? Can you explain?" Sango encouraged while Miroku, with a thoughtful look on his face, commented, "I don't sense any youkai around, though I could be wrong..."

"No... I don't think it's a demon. At least, not exactly." Kagome sighed, wishing she had slept better the night before. Maybe this was all just a ridiculous hallucination. Kami-sama, Inuyasha is going to love this, she realised. If this was just a fantasy, it'd be a while before he'd let her live it down.

"What the hell are you people talking about?" Inuyasha demanded, coming back to meet up with them, still annoyed.

Kagome looked up with a sheepish smile, "I don't know. I just sensed something weird."

"A shard of the jewel?" Inuyasha decided, looking suddenly a bit less annoyed and a lot more eager.

"No, you idiot," Kagome yelled back, infuriated by his entire attitude. "A shard wouldn't be weird. This is like... I don't know! Okay?"

"Worthless," Inuyasha muttered under his breath before sniffing at the air cautiously. Only his next words saved him from another sitting, "Wait a minute. I think there is something. Come on!"

Grabbing Kagome-bike and all-he sprinted forward, quickly followed by Sango, Miroku, and Kirara. "What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Not sure," the hanyou admitted. "I smell humans, and something that could be a demon among them. At least one. Trouble, I'm sure of it. You sure there's no Shikon shard?"

"I don't think so," Kagome replied, shutting her eyes and concentrating. "No. I'm sure of it."

Kagome could practically feel him frown, "There can't be that many left," he thought aloud. "We've got some, Naraku's got the rest," he practically spat the name of their enemy. He shrugged after another moment, "We could always go after Kouga..."

"Don't even think about it," Kagome warned, her tone dangerous.

The hanyou's laugh was less than pleasant, "Shit, Kagome. If we don't take it from him, that bastard Naraku will. You want to see what'll be left of Kouga when he's done with him?"

Kagome paled obviously. The sound of a scream pulled her out of her morbid imaginings. "Look!" she finally managed, pointing somewhere in front of them, where a group of bandits were confronting several villagers who had clearly wandered too far from home.

"Feh. This should be fun," Inuyasha said, dropping Kagome on the ground next to her bike and running forward to challenge the bandits.

Kagome picked herself off of the ground and stared after her friend, wondering if perhaps this was more dangerous than he realised. They all seem human enough, she decided. But then what could it be that felt so wrong?

"Kagome, what's happening?" Miroku asked, catching up and coming to a stop beside her.

"Bandits. Inuyasha's decided to have some fun."

"Maybe it'll snap him out of his bad mood," Miroku decided. "As long as he doesn't lose hold of Tetsusaiga," he added unnecessarily.

"Are we going to help him?" Shippou asked, jumping back unto Kagome's shoulder and looking out towards Inuyasha, who was only now beginning to approach the bandits. He was taking his time about it too, since a group of humans was hardly a challenge for a half demon, no matter how powerful they were.

"Why bother?" Kagome asked the fox on her shoulder.

Sango put in, "He'd only get mad."

"Perhaps we should get closer, in case there is something more to this group of bandits," Miroku suggested, getting back onto Kirara's back.

Sango spared a glance towards the scene unfolding before them-Inuyasha seemed to be talking to several angry thieves, Tetsusaiga balanced on his shoulder and a group of villagers fleeing in every direction-and nodded, "Come on, Kirara!"

Kagome watched as the neko youkai jumped forward and picked up her bike again, "Well, we might as well catch up," she said to Shippou as she began peddling to join the scene. It wasn't as quick as Kirara or Inuyasha would have been, but it sure beat walking.

Kagome stopped peddling so abruptly that she almost fell off the bike. Regaining her balance, she blinked her eyes a couple of times and reached out with her senses. But I didn't sense any shards a moment ago... she thought, reaching out with her senses to double check.

Sure enough, the shard was still there, with no explanation.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, riding forward as quickly as possible. "There's a Shikon shard here!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, and the hanyou turned to see her peddling towards him on that ridiculous contraption. What the hell did she want now? "There's a Shikon shard here!"

A shard? "Why didn't you tell me earlier, wench!" he demanded.

"I didn't know!" Kagome yelled back, getting off the bike a couple dozen yards away from him and the few bandits that still surrounded him, eyeing them warily.

"You get more useless every day, don't you?" Inuyasha hissed angrily. "Fine. Where is it?"

"I... it's coming from... um, that wagon," she pinpointed, gesturing towards a half broken cart that was being guarded by the bandits that remained.

With a predatory smile, the hanyou turned back towards the bandits, "You getting out of the way, or do I rip you to shreds?"

He really had no intentions of following through on that threat, but didn't think that the bandits would call his bluff. From any other youkai or hanyou, they probably wouldn't have even gotten a warning. However, the bandits didn't seem very impressed. Several of them were whispering amongst themselves, and Inuyasha caught words such as "hanyou," "youkai," "dangerous," and "run," but at least two brigands seemed relatively unfazed by an attacking demon.

One of the braver ones stepped forward, "You better find an easier victim, demon. You don't want to anger our master."

"Really?" Inuyasha replied, somewhat amused. These humans were obviously stupid and audacious. "Why would I fear a human lord?"

A second thief smirked, "Who said she was human?"

"A woman?" Inuyasha knew that he looked amused by the idea of the brigands' master being female. It really didn't matter too much to him. Some of the strongest people he had fought were female: Naraku's incarnations, Kagura and Kanna, his own friends, Sango and Kagome. And Kikyou...

"What is she then, a demon?" Inuyasha asked, stressing the last word. He did not need to think about Kikyou right now. "And what would a demon want with a group of weak, useless idiots like you?"

The bandits didn't seem quite so pleased now, "Cross us and you'll be sorry."

"One last chance," Inuyasha informed them, flexing his claws and looking at the wagon and the promised jewel shard with anticipation.

The last of the bandits wilted before his eyes. Their bravado seemed to seep out of them, or what was less of them. Except for the two braver ones who had spoken, all the thieves had fled. The final two shifted their gaze between Inuyasha and his watching companions, looking less than pleased with their chances of success. Without a word, one of them sped off to find his already fled companions, and the other shot an angry glance at Inuyasha. "You'll regret this, half breed."

Then he was gone too, leaving Inuyasha's company alone with the wrecked wagon. "Do you think we should be worried?" Kagome asked.

"Over what? A bunch of idiot humans?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"I don't know, Inuyasha," Miroku began, moving forward to stand beside the hanyou. "There was that talk about a powerful demoness..."

Inuyasha snorted, "To a group of humans, any demon would be powerful. Maybe if she had the shard of the jewel, she'd be something to worry about. Not likely though."

"As long as you're sure," Kagome murmured.

"If she was a demon looking for a shard of the jewel, it is better that we took the jewel from her before she could get it," Sango reasoned.

Nobody could argue with that logic, and the humans followed after Inuyasha, who was already halfway to the wagon. He looked around the site and then turned back to Kagome, "Well, where's the jewel?"

Kagome ran to catch up and said, "Right there, inside." She jumped through the carriage's door, looked around for a moment, and called back out, "There's someone in here!"

"Not another bandit?" Inuyasha asked, jumping in next to her and looking down at the figure sprawled out on the floor. "I guess not," he murmured. "Does he have the shard?"

Kagome nodded silently, and Inuyasha smiled, "Then I guess I'll get to take it from him. About time we get our hands on another jewel shard."

"You can't just... Inuyasha, he's human!"

"What do you mean, I can't just? I damn well can! Why would a human want the Shikon Jewel anyway? Unless he's evil."

"Look at Sango and Miroku! Look at me! We're humans!"

The hanyou growled softly and then turned back towards the unconscious human. "It's not like I have to kill him or anything. He's probably better off without it. I'm guessing that's why the damned bandits took him in the first place."

Rather than grabbing the jewel right away, Inuyasha simply stared at the figure. There was something strange about this man, something he couldn't quite pin down. He smells strange. Almost familiar, but I can't figure out where I've smelled this before. Through narrowed eyes he took in the stranger's torn clothes and long black hair, wondering for a moment if he was a demon in disguise... No. I'd be able to tell. I'm sure I could.

Becoming annoyed again, Inuyasha flung the man onto his back and didn't even bother trying to swallow a curse.

Kagome looked up, "What's wrong?"

"Look at him!" Inuyasha cried, desperately trying to overcome the extreme sense of shock he felt as he stared at the all too familiar face. The countenance was undoubtedly human, though it possessed a beauty that seemed much more than mortal. A beauty that Inuyasha had always associated with a certain demon...

"Inuyasha. That... that's..." Kagome stuttered, her eyes wide.

That's what smelled familiar, Inuyasha thought to himself. But he smells different, more human. That's why I didn't recognise it at first. But Inuyasha knew he wasn't mistaken. There was no way the human in front of him could be anyone else. But how could he be human in the first place?

Finally, Inuyasha managed to simply finish Kagome's sentence:

"That's Sesshoumaru."