InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Falling ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Falling

Chapter Four

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Kagome still wasn't sure why he wanted her here-there was obviously much more boiling beneath the surface of this town than she had originally thought. What did the youkai have to do with it? Why did they seemed to be the ones that were shuttered away? She had noticed as they had made their way down the last streets to the alleyway, that things were degraded in this district of town. Buildings were not as cared for-they had a well worn appearance and some were close to falling down. It was like being back home-the houses and businesses looked better off than what she was used to in 'her' part of town, but they were only a step or two away from meeting the same fate.

Inuyasha noticed where her gaze was drifting and answered her unspoken question about the area. "This is old town." He stated shortly. "Where youkai and humans used to live together before things erupted." His gaze was sour as they moved along the quiet streets. "There was a type of battle here-you can see where the scars of it are." His gesture indicated the whole area. "Not many people live here. Refugees and conspirators are the only ones-we've set base here. It's the safest."

Kagome was surprised at the temple that Inuyasha led her to. The place was in excellent condition-and the age of this place was the same as many of the buildings that were falling apart around it. It seemed like this place had either been rebuilt or somehow protected when the battle had been fought. She thought briefly of Inuyasha's home and wondered if it was the same magic. It seemed ordinary enough-shrine area and a small garden. There was a place to pray and a huge tree that graced the front lawn, a string of good luck charms wrapped around the trunk. She took this all in as they walked across the grounds at a pace almost too fast for her to keep up.

"Wait here." He muttered, gesturing to the low couch that was in the front of the shrine. Inuyasha vanished behind the rice-paper paneled shoji and soon not even his shadow was able to be seen. She heard another shoji slide open distantly and surmised that the temple area was quite large. She looked around, trying to find something of interest to mull over while she waited for Inuyasha to return.

The room wasn't over furnished. It was almost quite bare. There were a few hanging plants and some paintings on the wall, but other than that it gave no indication of being anything special. It was like a type of limbo waiting room. It was neither one thing or the other-giving no hints of what lay beneath the many paneled shoji.

It seemed like several hours of sitting and doing nothing when the shoji suddenly slid opened and Inuyasha and another young woman stood there. Well, she wasn't precisely a young woman-more along the lines of middle-aged but a well aged one at that. Scars laced up her arms from where her sleeves were pushed up over her elbows, and she gave Kagome a thoughtful look.

"I can see what you mean, Inuyasha-sama. She is very strong-we should get her dedicated right away so that there aren't any potential disasters. She might go back to them." Her gaze was steady on Kagome and the young girl started to squirm at the intense scrutiny. "Are you certain that she isn't a spy? She managed to get through that…miko's barrier."

Kagome stood up, glaring at the woman. "Excuse me! I'm no spy!" She thrust the small identification card at Sango. "I'm thoroughly registered and this is my only registration card." She sniffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Inuyasha coughed and looked at Sango. "I told you that she wasn't a spy, Sango. Does she even look like she could be a danger to anyone?" He looked amused at the thought and ruffled Kagome's hair, who glared at him.

Sango's lips turned up in a small smile as she handed the papers back to Kagome. "I don't care to see your paperwork, little girl. You could be laden down with all sorts of information saying that you belong on our side of the town, but you could still be gathering information for those on the other side-or the superiors that think they own the town here." She gestured for her to get up and follow them into the back rooms. "We have to dedicate you-to make sure that you won't be telling off our information to those that want it."

"You're going to brainwash me or something?" Kagome backed away more. She heard of drugs and ways of coercing people to follow a person. "Great way to ensure loyalty." Her voice was as sarcastic as she could make it but Sango simply rolled her eyes.

"It's not quite as bad as that." She said crisply. "We have to say a prayer and initiate you into our way of beliefs. You have your own free will, girl. No one is making you do anything. If you want to leave now, and go back to that other town, you can."

Kagome shook her head. Already things were obviously strained between the two races. She couldn't really place any judgment by what she had seen now, but if the future was any indication of how things were going to turn out-then she wanted to save what she could. She nodded as if confirming her own thoughts. "I'll join."

**

The ceremony wasn't what she expected. She thought that Sango would mumble a few words and that would be it. She had said as much-but Inuyasha had told her before that she would learn a detailed history of their people when she visited the temple. Kagome was learning just what that involved. Apparently there was much more to the history youkai than most humans knew.

First of all-the biggest misconception had to be dealt with.

"We're not demons, Kagome." Sango's face was earnest as she started to explain their history. I don't want you to think that we're inherently evil or inclined to go on killing sprees on a whim. If we do-it's the personality of the person, and not the youkai nature itself." Her lips thinned out in annoyance. "Humans kill as indiscriminately as youkai do."

Inuyasha leaned up against the wall and snorted. "Even more so. They wouldn't hesitate to kill you-even though you're human and originally under their protection, once you sign yourself over to us, you're in trouble and on their black list." His face had the same expression Sango's did. "Humans don't have the excuse of being evil-they mock us and say they're cleaning out the evils of the world."

Kagome kept silent, knowing the outcome of what happen. Humans would win the war, live in their fancy homes, while the homes that had once belonged to the wealthy and ordinary citizens alike of the youkai half would be destroyed in whatever battle was to come. She wished that things could be changed-this whole breathing, living society didn't deserve to have their life ended so ruthlessly.

Sango continued after a few moments. "We… we're not what they think us to be. We're much older than the demons of their imagination. We're born from the very nature around us. Our fathers and mothers were the spirits of animals, of lightning or wind. We're made up of the elements around us." A happy look came to Sango's face and her hands moved around with the rising over lowering tones in her voice as she described this to Kagome.

"Our parents placed us her, with flesh to blend in and to adapt to the humans that had started to settle. Some of us mated with the humans, and as a result a new race was born." She gestured at Inuyasha and herself. "There are many hanyous that are living in this town. We are the ones that decided to stay-were made to stay by virtue of the fact that we are only half of what we were originally created to be."

Inuyasha's eyes turned away as he continued the thread of conversation… explanation. "We lived and realized that we didn't have the mortal lives that part of our blood gave us. We watched our mothers or our fathers grow old and die. Our other parents leaving once the fancy hit them to move along once more. Find another human to bed." He sighed. "Some of them stayed-some found love and then found their mates would die before they had a chance to figure out what to do to stop it. Mortality was a new thing."

Sango bit her lip. "All this was several centuries ago. Humans continued to breed with the youkai, until almost all the youkai was drained out of some bloodlines. There came a few out of these and they were usually never aware that they had any youkai heritage at all." Her gaze focused straight on Kagome and her eyes widened in shock. "Y… you have to be kidding me!" She protested. "I'm… I don't have… I mean.."

"You broke the barrier." He pointed out. "Full youkai can't do it, and regular humans can't detect it. You knew it was there and brought it down." His gaze was kinder than Sango's, but no less direct. "You have some in your veins-probably not enough to brag about, but we can raise what you do have to the surface."

"I thought that I was just going to be scrubbing floors." Kagome remarked, raising an eyebrow at her 'employer'. Inuyasha smirked at her. "You will be. We're just… insuring your loyalty. I doubt that you'll be doing any battle, but some…covert operations wouldn't hurt any. Kaede shares the same blood as you do-she's a tough old hag."

Kagome blinked at the thought of Kaede skulking around corners and attacking people in the dark. The image brought a smile to her face. "Fine-tell me more so that I know exactly what's going on." She had a feeling that this 'lesson' would help her a lot. It was history and something that would explain what her present was like. What the future turned out to be.

Brisk again, Sango continued along the same lines she had been going before. "Anyways, the humans that have this blood are called mikos by the humans. We've kept that term-it still is a holy word and we're anything but evil. We still pray to our creators as the humans pray to theirs. You can still worship in your own way, Kagome. We're not forcing you to pray to the spirits of nature."

"Not that it wouldn't help." She paused and ran a hand through her hair. "At any rate-things got nasty for those human-hybrids in this town. The pure humans got a little.. upset and disgusted by what was living so close to them. They thought that we were demonic in nature and had to be eradicated from the face of the earth. So they bombed the town-destroying humans, hybrids, and youkai alike. They didn't care who they caught-buildings were destroyed, homes wrecked beyond repair, and so many lives were lost."

Inuyasha nodded and gestured outside. "I'm one of the few bloodlines from that original line that came down at first. After the town was wiped out, many full blooded youkai went into hiding-this was about one hundred and fifty years ago. I wasn't born yet, but my father was strong enough and lived in part of the human settlement. He… was high up in their offices and good graces for our family to be spared." His expression was slightly bitter. "After father died, I got the human home-Sesshoumaru, my brother went up to our ancestors home. Since he was full youkai, he could rule from there. I was stuck here on earth."

Sango patted his arm and gave him a soft smile. "We've finally expanded again-and we have two separate towns. We were only allowed this as long as we stayed separated and that the humans would 'keep an eye on us.' There were rules to be followed and orders they gave-" Her sigh was irritated. "We had no choice but to follow them because we were stuck. We had no allies and most of our people were gone. It took us a long time to build our people back up again-and our parents sent more children down here-to exile them or to simply have them guarding us. We're still not sure of that. You met Miroku, correct??

Kagome nodded, remembering the aura of power around that young man. "He's the one that gave me my paperwork and is head of the Registration Office." Kagome said slowly. "He seemed like a nice guy…" She left out the part of how she overheard him talking about women.

Sango grinned. "He is a very powerful man-he is the one that regulates who lives here-he had to make sure every last details is recorded and he brings it over to the head of the human side of town. They have to be satisfied with who we have here. And since he didn't know of your miko power at the time!" Her face was fiercely triumphant. "We get you and they lose out on another weapon to use against us. This time we can finally have the upper hand."

Kagome nodded, a bit uneasy about being 'used' but as she thought it over, it was part of her job. She didn't know when she had… fallen…that Inuyasha was part of some secret organization to save hanyous. It was part of what she agreed to when she signed herself over to him. And… this way she would be able to do something. With her knowledge of her future in mind, she steeled herself for the dedication.

**

It had her alone in a darkened room-Sango had left her there with an incense burner and some sweet smelling herbs in it. It wasn't anything that would make her dizzy or open any channels inside of her-it was just something that smelled almost like wild roses or lavender. Very pleasant, hardly mind binding. She was dressed in a red robe-the color of blood and sacrifice, the color of femininity. She was to simply let herself relax-Sango was doing something from another room. What is was, she wasn't sure of, but Kagome forgot everything outside of her sphere of being when something-someone appeared in the room in front of her.

It had the appearance of a young man-long silver hair flowed down his back and pointed ears poked up out of the strands that were framing the graceful face. There was a purple crescent moon tattoo on his forehead and two tattooed lines on each side of his face. There was a superiority and power about him that had Kagome staring for a few moments before she realized that it wasn't polite. Gold eyes narrowed at her and Kagome was suddenly reminded of Inuyasha.

"Yes, Inuyasha is my half brother." The youkai stated, the aura of power around him practically lighting up the room. "You are willing to bind yourself to him, be his servant and do all manner of tasks for him? Anything that he asks of you?"

Kagome shook her head. While he might want that type of undying allegiance to someone of his blood line, she wasn't going to lie just to make his ego puff up higher. It was clear that he was already swimming with his own importance as he looked down his nose at her. "No. I have my own mind." She snapped. "I won't be ordered around like someone that has no way of thinking for themselves. I'll do reasonable tasks, but nothing beyond that."

His eyebrows rose at the tone in her voice, but an amused, condescending smile crossed his face. "You just may be able to do some good for the bastard. Make his life more livable." His eyes bore into hers with amazing depth. "You are not from this time-you are from a darker period. You know what will happen to the hanyous if you fail."

Kagome gaped at him. "Now, wait a minute! I never asked to be some savior! I was going to help, yes… but I didn't exactly think I was pushed into this!" The youkai smirked and shook his head. "You were chosen by us in the higher realms. Do you really want to be sent back? Know that you could have helped and yet responsible for all those deaths because you simply did not want to do it?"

Mouth gone dry, Kagome shook her head. The guilt alone would destroy her within days-she thought of all those houses that were in ruins, the homeless people and the lives that were gone before the drifters moves in. All the destruction of an entire civilization of people. "Fine. I'll do it." She gave him a dirty look. "Tricking people into-making them feel guilty."

"I, Sesshoumaru will make sure that you get home safely once the task is complete. If you want to go home, that is." He gave her another measuring look before grabbing her neck. A design or pattern was pressed into her neck and then he vanished, only his voice echoing back slightly. "Accepted."

Sango rushed in the room a moment later, lighting the lamps that were positioned around the room. "I see that you are accepted by one of the lords." She smiled and indicated the mark. "You will now be bound to Inuyasha-it does have a few bonuses when we're doing undercover work."

Kagome touched her neck. "I… Inuyasha's brother appeared and told me…" Her throat closed up for a moment and she restarted her sentence. "He said that I was accepted and would do." There was a faint look of surprise on her face and her voice held the question as to if it was normal for Sesshoumaru to appear.

Sango nodded. "Oh yes-if there is family above that is still ruling, then they'll come down and examine them. Sesshoumaru never really cared much for Inuyasha. He calls him his father's mistake when he visited earth. His mother died so long ago, but occasionally his brother comes down here to taunt him with what he can't have. If he accepted you, then he must see a lot of potential."

Kagome nodded and went behind the screen to change into the clothing she had been wearing earlier that day and then met up with Inuyasha. He touched the mark on her neck, then nodded, satisfied. "You impressed him, good. I was worried over that." Inuyasha scowled. "He would've rejected you just to piss me off."

Kagome laughed and squeezed his arm. "Well, now that I'm yours officially, what's the first orders, commander?" He grinned down at the look on her face. He seemed more relaxed again now that he didn't have to worry about her loyalties.

"First thing is to get you home and in a uniform. Kaede will instruct you on your cleaning duties." Kagome groaned slightly. "Just for now-if I think you're smart enough than we can progress to less menial chores."

Wrinkling her nose, Kagome agreed with the plan. Just as long as she didn't have to be sneaking out of buildings and setting off bombs or something-she would be happy. She didn't want to be responsible for destroying lives. But what if destroying lives here meant she would save the ones in the future?

To be Continued.