InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction ❯ Blood Duty ❯ To Be Remembered ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha nor the Dark Hunter series. Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while the Dark Hunter series belongs to Sherrilyn Kenyon. No profit or monies of any kind are made from this fan-created crossover. I do, however, claim ownership of the OC "Amaterasu-Oomikami".
Warnings: AR for Inuyasha; Set pre-Wulf's book; mature content; mature language.

It had been a month since she had been requested to head to America with her miko in order to help out Artemis with one of the humans she had taken under her wing. One month, and still very little had been revealed, but such was what happened whenever gods got together. Far too much posturing, too much unease, too much distaste... It meant that even when help had been requested of another god, it was not going to be the fastest process. As it was, it had taken a good four centuries for Artemis to even admit she needed help, and that had only been at the pestering of her most prized hunter. And at the same time, gods and the humans and other creatures they had taken under their wing had nothing but time on their hands.

And when one was immortal, it was hard to care about the passing of time.

Yet even Amaterasu was getting more than a little annoyed. Her miko was a little more upset than she was. The West was not entirely meant for them, as they were of the East. As Amaterasu-Oomikami, she was meant to be in Nippon.

It was why she had requested that Artemis bring her Acheron to her humble home where they could all meet and mingle. And hopefully the presence of Kagome and the other would speed up the process of getting answers.

"Is this acceptable, Amaterasu?" Kagome asked her, dressed in something more befitting her miko.

Earlier she had been dressed in the regular clothes of a miko, drab and unflattering. No matter how traditional they were, they were not acceptable for such a meeting. She had sent Kagome to change in to something more fitting, though that would not outshine either goddess at the same time. Amaterasu cared little if her miko looked better than her as she was not vain, but she would rather Kagome not upset the other goddess who was. Now she was wearing a simple kimono, bright in its whites and shades of gold, a perfect mold to who she served. Kagome turned in a circle, if not a little impatiently, waiting for approval.

Amaterasu hid her smile behind her hand, "Yes, this Amaterasu-Oomikami finds it acceptable."

Her ever-youthful miko sighed and sat down less than gracefully next to her, "Finally!"

The goddess smothered her chuckles as Kagome began to fuss over her hair and the ornaments in it. Ever since that first day they had arrived here, Kagome had been somewhat back to her old self. She knew the woman could never be back to her old self as time had made that impossible, but it was nice seeing some form of life and spirit back in her eyes and mannerisms. Immortality was not meant for all, especially not those who still had a soul. "Kagome, do you remember what this Amaterasu-Oomikami has told you?"

"Yes, yes," Kagome said as her hands stilled for only a moment. "I've hidden my bow, though I think it's stupid. I'm not to look at the man she'll be bringing directly, as she's too jealous and possessive and likely to be in a horrible mood. And I'm under no circumstances to speak without being spoken to, nor am I to make myself too noticeable to the goddess." She stopped fussing over Amaterasu's hair and placed her hands in her lap, "Even for a guest, that's too many rules about etiquette."

Amaterasu placed her hand on top of hers, giving the girl a reassuring squeeze, "You have become too far gone from your own society if you do not notice that the rules of etiquette have yet to change. This Amaterasu-Oomikami is only enforcing such rules given our guests. This Amaterasu-Oomikamki believes she has broken a rule between that god Artemis and her hunters, so it would be in everyone's best interest to be as gracious as possible."

She could feel Kagome's curious gaze, "If you are making her break a rule, why did she agree to it?"

"This Amaterasu-Oomikami is much older than that god Artemis. It is also that god Artemis who has requested help of this Amaterasu-Oomikami and Amaterasu no Miko. That god Artemis is obliged to curb her rules."

Kagome sighed and leaned back into the couch, "She has too many then."

"It would appear that way to you," Amaterasu inclined her head in agreement.

She knew she had caught Kagome's attention from the way she cast looks at her. It wasn't often, as their meetings were few, that Kagome was provided with such insight into the world of gods. The young woman also went out of her way to make sure she wasn't involved in their matters. "Does that mean you have too many rules as well?"

"Any god who dares mingle with humans in ways that this Amaterasu-Oomikami and that god Artemis has are required to have rules. That would cause many a catastrophe had we none."

Kagome smiled secretively, "And we all know you gods are more than capable of causing 'many a catastrophe' without the help of us humans."

Amaterasu laughed, the bell-like sound filling the room with pale light. It was one thing she always enjoyed about Kagome: the woman had a way of making her laugh at their every meeting. With dark eyes still twinkling with mirth, she tilted her head towards the door. "Kagome, our guests have arrived."

With her only sign of protest being a harsh sigh, Kagome stood and opened the door. She bowed immediately, not meeting any of their eyes, though leaving enough room for anyone to enter with no issue, "This lowly Amaterasu no Miko welcomes you."

As hoped, Artemis paid little attention to Kagome's bowed form. Amaterasu had heard far too many rumors and factual gossip to not be leery of the Western god, mainly about her predilection towards the humans, male and female, who were beautiful with exotic looks. Though she usually went for the taller ones, she had taken on a few who were shorter than her that she had liked. And it was not unheard of for a god to steal a human or two of another god. Knowing the kind of woman Artemis was, she wouldn't doubt that she'd try to steal Kagome if she had a chance to see and talk to the woman.

Were her presence unnecessary, Amaterasu would have sent Kagome out for the day.

"Artemis," Amaterasu bowed slightly towards the blond woman who wore dark colors like her blond Acheron. It seemed as if they were to match today; Amaterasu and her miko wearing golden colors and having dark hair, while Artemis and her most prized hunter wore dark clothing and had golden hair. It was an odd change in clothing and looks, one Amaterasu wasn't sure she liked entirely.

"Amaterasu," Artemis extended the greeting.

The haughty look and displeased set of Artemis' lips let her know this was not going to be the best meeting between them.

Kagome tried her hardest not to sigh or shift too noticeably in her spot on the floor next to Amaterasu. Artemis and Acheron had arrived in the darkness of the pre-dawn that morning, and it was now nearing the evening. The meeting between the two had reminded her exactly why she tried her hardest to stay out of such problems as it was too boring and filled with too much convoluted speech for her to be bothered with following. Instead she applied the useful technique of "selective hearing".

Through it she had deduced that Artemis' pets were called Dark Hunters, and she had discovered bits and pieces about why she was present, though she knew most of it. He was not a conventional Dark Hunter, having been tricked by a female dark hunter into trading souls with another Western god, called Loki, so that she may be free from being one. Yet it had been discovered and the souls traded back, with him becoming an actual Dark Hunter though Artemis did not have his soul. His soul was the only one she didn't have, though he was granted all the other gifts of being one of her hunters thanks to the strange situation. It made little sense to her, but she was not going to focus on it.

Instead, she focused on the sad curse it seemed to have afflicted him with. Though Artemis used the term "power". From the way Amaterasu and Acheron looked away, they did not agree in that assessment. She soon found out why: it was the power of amnesia. No human or animal could remember him five minutes after leaving his presence. Then Kagome had to agree; it wasn't a gift, but a curse. Being remembered by only gods was not as glamorous as many people would think: it led to a very lonely existence. Kagome knew it all too well, though she didn't know how it would feel to be unable to have no human remember her as she was not cursed in that way.

"Kagome," Amaterasu said, catching her full attention.

She shivered at the way Artemis looked at her, as if she was sizing her up. For once, she was glad she hadn't worn her bandanna to hide her mark. It stopped the goddess from doing much more than looking. At least as Amaterasu's pet she was able to have her soul. Bowing quickly, hiding her face from the view of Artemis and Acheron, she said, "What is it Amaterasu-Oomikami requests of her lowly miko?"

She hoped the feeling of her remorseful gaze was not her imagination. "This Amaterasu-Oomikami grants you permission to be taken by that god Artemis' Acheron to meet her hunter. This Amaterasu-Oomikami request that you do your best to fulfill the desire of that god Artemis."

Kagome bowed lower, "Of course, Amaterasu-Oomikami." Keeping her head down, she rose.

She could hear the sound of leather creaking as Acheron walked closer to her. She dared not look up in order to not offend either god, and also because she was sure she would stare a moment too long at him. Though deceptively human looking, Kagome knew he wasn't. And though she had come across too many gods and youkai to be impressed with another pretty face, there was something captivating about him.

Before she could open the door for him, he did for her. It was surprising enough that she almost looked up. And then the warning Amaterasu had given her about looking at him directly in front of Artemis. It was enough to keep her head down.

They walked in silence until they came to his car. Once the doors closed, it seemed as if the air changed completely. Though Acheron kept his eyes on the road, or so she assumed as he wore dark sunglasses, he spoke towards her, "You don't have anything to worry about from her. Only if you die and demand vengeance, then I'd be worried about what she could do."

Kagome sighed, glad to drop the stiff formal speech that she so hated, "That's what Amaterasu said to me, but it's still nice to be polite. I have a long streak of bad luck with the supernatural."

"Obviously," he quipped. "Bad luck is how we get into any mess involving gods."

Despite herself, she found herself smiling, enjoying the small talk. It had been a long while she had had someone other than a god to talk to. "Very true," she said before pausing. "Is Artemis always-..."

"A bitch?" he provided.

She bit her bottom lip, "I wasn't going to use such a word..."

He shrugged, "There's many other less flattering words we have for her."

She kept quiet, not wanting to say something that would make its way back to Artemis' ears. Knowing her luck, something would. After a prolonged moment of silence, Kagome ventured a change of topic. "Is this 'Wulf's power as bad as it was described?"

"Yes."

His blunt answer made her feel a little foolish for asking such an obvious question, but she still had one more question to ask. "Has anything been done before to counteract it?"

"I've had a few ideas on what to do to soften it, but I'd like to see what you may be able to do."

She looked down at her hands, not liking the faith they were putting in her. She had yet to meet their Wulf, had yet to see the extent of his power, and so had no idea if she could even do a thing for him. Perhaps she would even find herself subject to it and unable to remember him.

Only when the car slowed down did she look up, not recognizing any of her surroundings. The Twin Cities was not a place she was familiar with, especially at night, since she had been warned about stepping outside. It wasn't safe, not even for someone like her. It seemed normal enough, though. That same dark power from a month before hovered close by, but she quickly banished it from her mind before she could cause a scene similar to the one back then. She really didn't need to go around stumbling into perfect strangers.

Even though he wore dark glasses, she could tell Acheron was giving her a strange look. Her little use of her hama no reiryoku had caught his attention, though he didn't press her for information. Yet, her mind supplied.

They exited his car in silence and made their way to Wulf's door. They had used up all of their conversational topics already; it remained to be seen if new ones would be spawned from this trip.

However, Kagome was caught off-guard when the man she bumped into on the street a month ago answered the door. Could fate truly work in such overt ways? When she saw his eyes light up with a small hint of recognition that possibly mirrored her own, she considered the possibility that it could. She knew Acheron had caught the look, and was possibly wondering how they could recognize each other.

"It's you," she breathed. Her words probably didn't help Acheron's confusion nor her position in the situation much.

Three months was far longer than she had anticipated staying in America, but then she had underestimated the length of time it took gods to do things. Her very first month had been spent in limbo along with Amaterasu as they tried gathering all the necessary information, and trying to garner the permission needed for Kagome to meet the cursed hunter of Artemis. Then, the following two months were spent making sure her remembrance of Wulf was not just a fluke, but real.

Amaterasu and Artemis decided to try different ways of separating them. Sometimes for only a few hours, other times for many days. She had even been allowed to accompany Amaterasu back to Japan for a few days in order to inform the gods there of what was happening to see if the distance would affect it. But nothing did. Not even when she would hang around him for more than a day. Though she could easily get rid of the hold his curse had on her, she could not remove it from him.

And they knew; she had tried many different things under Acheron's watchful eye.

Yet nothing worked. Though with the way he would glance between the two of them, he had a plan formulating behind his dark glasses. Kagome had a nagging suspicion that he shared his idea with the two goddesses, given the way she would sometimes see them look at her. And Amaterasu was never good at hiding a secret, so she had been saying a few interesting things.

"This Amaterasu-Oomikami believes it to be in our best interest to cultivate ties with this Western World."

"This Amaterasu-Oomikami would not mind if you spent a few days keeping the young Wulf company. A sympathetic soul is often the best friend."

"Kagome, you should know better than to cause such worry to him. You are his only companion he is able to have contact with."

Had circumstances been different, Kagome would have not given her words or word choice a second thought. And coupled with some of the dirty looks Artemis would send her when Amaterasu was not looking caused Kagome to be highly suspicious. She would brush it off as too much change too soon after too many years spent with only a god for company if Wulf did not share her suspicions.

As it was, they spent many hours together and they had struck up an odd sort of friendship. They both were under no illusions as to why they were interacting, and they knew that as soon something had been figured out, Kagome would head back to Japan with Amaterasu. That was, if Artemis didn't bring some unfortunate accident upon her for getting so involved with one of her hunters.

Kagome huffed, sticking her hands deeper in coat pockets. It was another night she was left alone, told to spend it away from Wulf. Amaterasu was also gone, discussing things over with Artemis and Acheron from what she could gather. Whenever the goddess had something secret, she tried being as vague as possible to avoid giving anything away. And she knew she had been told not to wander much during the night, but honestly what did they expect? She was four hundred years old trapped in a sixteen year old's body and bored out of her mind. If they didn't want her wandering around, they would have given her something else to do to keep occupied.

Though she was beginning to see why they may have told her that. They all had, after all, explained to her about the Daimons and that they would especially be drawn to her because of her soul. That was all they really cared about. She just hadn't cared at the time because the threat didn't register to her. She had never come across anything she couldn't kill with her hama no reiryoku. Though when even Amaterasu had warned her because these creatures were one of the few things that could kill her, it had worried her. And it had thrilled her because she could die.

She looked behind her to see the three dark lithe figures following her. She had a feeling they weren't normal humans, but those Daimons. She had expected to feel thrill and adrenaline, yet only cold fear gripped her. It had been too long since she had been in a fight where she actually ran a risk of dying. And she had no clue how to fight like that anymore.

Taking in a deep breath of cold air to steel her nerves, she turned down a side street. And took off running down it. Focusing outside the sounds of her own breathing and her footsteps pounding down the street, she tried to listen for sounds of pursuit.

It didn't last long.

She swallowed her fear as she heard the telltale thuds of bodies hitting the ground. She only stopped when she heard three. And it was against her better judgement that she stopped as she had no desire to meet what had taken down her pursurers. Her heart that had become lodged in her throat agreed with her.

"You really can't stay away from trouble even if you tried, can you?"

At hearing Wulf's teasing, if not annoyed voice, filled her with more relief than she knew how to express. Had she been a younger woman, she was sure she could have cried in relief. Yet, she wasn't. And she was sure there was going to be more than one lecture waiting for her tomorrow. However a very valuable lesson had been learned from the experience: she was not going to be out during the night without someone ever again. At least not until she knew if she could use her hama no reiryoku to kill Daimons, as they were humans no matter how dark and cursed.

She turned and had issues trying to spot Wulf in the darkness of the night. His dark clothing and hair always made him hard to find on dark nights, though his fair skin usually stood out. This time she relied on the glint of light from his blades as he cleaned and put them away. With one long breath, she chuckled humorlessly, "Then how else would I be able to come across you if I didn't find trouble?"

She could hear his boots as he walked closer, and she was finally able to make out his figure. "We warned you against going out at night for a reason, Kagome. What would you have done if you couldn't kill them?"

Those words reminded her if her reasons for being around better than anything else, and she couldn't decide if she should feel angry or sad about it. Though they had an odd friendship, and she was sure she was developing some sort of hero-crush (if not a normal crush) on the beautiful cursed man, it hurt to be reminded of her only reason for having met him. He was the first man she had talked to in centuries, and he knew her loneliness as she knew his. And at the same time, she was possibly the only way for his gift of amnesia over everyone else to be lifted. It was too easy to forget that fact.

She settled on feeling both angry and sad, which she was sure showed in how she sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I'd have winged it?"

He grabbed her upper arm, pulling her close enough to see the worry and anger in his countenance, "You better think of a better reason to tell Amaterasu and Acheron by tomorrow."

Kagome sighed again before attempting to pull away, "Thanks for the advice, mother. I'll keep it in mind." She huffed and tried yanking her arm out of his grip, "Could you let go already!"

In response he grinned and pulled her close again, "What's wrong little priestess? Don't you know the magic word?"

Unwilling to play his games that night especially after everything that had happened, she glared, "Let go please."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"I said please already, so just... Just," she stuttered, unable to contain her frustration. It had been too long since she had last been in an actual fight, it had been too long since she had last felt fear, it had been too long since she had had a man play hero and save her. She knew she should be thankful, but at the moment, she just wanted to head back to the house she shared with Amaterasu and forget the night had ever happened.

Wulf's grip on her arm loosened, though he didn't let go. "Come on, I'll return you to your god tomorrow."

Her shoulders slumped, but she didn't offer any fuss. She was thankful he understood, he knew the pain of entering a lonely home and knowing it would be a while before anyone came to visit. The loneliness was more crushing than normal since she had come to know Wulf more. And she liked to think he felt the same at times like this.

Amaterasu-Oomikami: The beloved Shinto Goddess of the Sun
Nippon: official term for Japan, lit. The Sun's Origin
Amaterasu no Miko: the Shaman of Amaterasu
Miko: lit. Female shaman, shrine maiden, priestess, female spirit guide, etc...
Hama no reiryoku: lit. Purifying Spirit Power

yusukekuramasgirl: I hope this chapter met your expectations as well! And thank you for the review.
Ryukotsusei: I'm glad you're also enjoying this story so far! I can only hope this chapter is living up to everything you expected it to be as a bit does happen in this one. And thank you again for reviewing it.