InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Exchange ❯ Past Vision ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: Once again I've gone and updated with multiple chapters. 3 this time! I must apologise. ^_^













So ul Exchange

Past Vision

















How on earth was she supposed to work through this one? How was she supposed to make a guy who hated her fall in love with her. Not that she had to make him fall in love with her... but she at least had to befriend him in order to get the Shikon... and if he hated her then it would make the task ten times harder.

Kagome groaned as she rolled over in her large cushiony soft bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering about how on earth she was going to find the Shikon now. Maybe it was in his room... the room directly opposite hers across the corridor.

Either kill him... or get the jewel... kill someone... or steal something...

Kagome didn't really have to think very hard about that choice. Certainly she'd be taking the long way around by going after the Shikon... but at least her conscience would be cleaner. Though she would feel a little bad... the Shikon didn't belong to her... it belonged to Kikyo who had given it to a warlord to give to Inuyasha. But why had she given it to the warlord first?

Too many questions needed answering. She needed to know what the deal was with Kikyo. Everyone loved Kikyo... but around here? The Queen and Sango liked to tiptoe around the subject of the dead Miko... and so far Kagome hadn't had much time to engage Inuyasha in a conversation about Kikyo... not that she ever really would.

Just then her stomach gave a loud growl and she whimpered. "So... hungry..."

That ass of a Prince had deliberately cheated her of her food at the banquet... JUST because she'd stuffed a worm in his mouth - which had been by accident of course!

"Are you sure?"

Kagome yelped and sat up bolt upright to fix her gaze on Naraku, sat on the end of the bed. She breathed hard for a moment, trying to get over her initial start. "How did you get in here?"

"I go where you go Kagome," Naraku stood up and looked around the room. "Nice place you've fixed yourself up with..."

"They think I'm a princess..." Kagome ran a hand through her hair and tugged the covers over her body again.

"You're doing better than I thought." Naraku chuckled. "Now please tell me you've met him."

"I met him..." Kagome winced slightly.

"And...?"

Kagome didn't answer, just stared at blanket on her bed. One simple statement ran through her mind... 'He hates me'

"I see..." Naraku obviously didn't need to hear her speak to know what Inuyasha thought of her. "Well, that can always be overcome by... the power of love I suppose... don't make me say that again. After all, he hated Kikyo to begin with as well."

Kagome's curiosity was kindled and she looked up. "How did they meet?"

"Not important." Naraku said with dismissal. "I just came to tell you that you had better get a move on... I don't have forever you know. I have three months at the most to get my revenge on Inuyasha."

"Revenge for what?"

Naraku gave her a dry look and layered the sarcasm on nice and thick. "For stealing my clothes while I was bathing."

"That bastard..." Kagome gasped with conviction. "No, really, why do you want him dead?"

"Some things you don't need to know to do your job right. You don't need to know why I want him dead. Just kill him."

"He's strong..."

"That's why you have to get under his skin..."

"That's even tougher than attacking him straight off." Kagome argued, hugging herself. Besides... she kinda liked him. He may have hated her and all... but she'd seen a human side of him, literally... and she could almost sense that he had a soft side. Anyone with a mother as nice as his couldn't be a complete bastard...

"Just warning you..." Naraku said lightly. "Get moving."

He dissipated into shadows and Kagome sat for a moment thinking about what he said. No... she wasn't going to kill anyone, no matter how tempting it was. But she WOULD learn what was going on with everyone... Why Sango and Lady Inu disliked Kikyo...? how Kikyo had died...? why Kikyo hadn't given Inuyasha the Shikon directly...?

Too many questions... and she had trouble sleeping that night.





^_^





"I'm glad you seem to be taking a shine to the Prince, Kagome." Lady Inu remarked as she led the younger girl down the corridor. "Despite the incident at the banquet last night."

"I'm just interested in knowing about him..." Kagome tried to sound casual. "I'd love to get to know him better, even though we didn't quite get off on the right foot."

"He said you stuffed a worm in his mouth."

Kagome tripped over the hem of her kimono and stumbled a bit. "He told you?" That little squealer!

"That you met under the new moon, yes." Lady Inu looked back at her with a smile. "He said he saved a young Princess from a gang of fifteen brutes - who then proceeded to beat him senseless and took advantage of his weakened state."

"Um..." That didn't quite match Kagome's version of events. "Actually there were more like five big brutes... and I only attacked him in self-defence - he tried to strangle me!"

"He probably just thought you were Kikyo." The older woman shrugged and she entered the throne room and headed for her throne.

"He would have strangled Kikyo?" Kagome sounded a little worried.

"Possibly... they didn't part on good terms I hear." Lady Inu swept straight past her throne and stopped to look out through a large set of bay windows.

Kagome followed her and looked down to the grounds before the palace. She blinked in surprise to see several guards practising their fighting skills against one another with practice sword. It took her a moment to pick out Inuyasha from the others. He was practising archery.

"What are they all doing?" Kagome asked.

"Preparing for war against the North." Lady Inu raised her chin defiantly. "But we'll lose if it ever comes to that..."

"But they look pretty good..." Very fast actually... better than any human warriors she'd seen.

"The North have more warriors, and they're even better. They've been trained their whole lives by Sesshomaru." Lady Inu sighed. "He wants nothing more than to kill his own brother..."

"And his brother is...?" Kagome asked innocently.

"Inuyasha, of course." Lady Inu glanced at her. "Can't you tell?"

"But..." Kagome quickly looked back down at Inuyasha, trying to pick out the resemblance. There wasn't much... "Does that mean Sesshomaru is your son too?"

"No, they only share their father."

"And where's he?"

"He disappeared some six months back. He left the kingdom to Inuyasha... but Sesshomaru wants the South for the resources and claims that he's the heir." Lady Inu moved to sit down in her throne while Kagome stayed watching the scene below. "Inuyasha won't take the throne... not while he thinks his father is alive."

"Isn't he?"

"It's safe to say he's dead." Lady Inu sounded very tired all of a sudden as she rubbed her temples. "He went to pick up an item that had once belonged to Kikyo from a warlord in Inaki... he never came back."

"What?!" Kagome jumped around. "Inuyasha's father picked up the Shikon no Tama?"

"Yes..." Lady Inu looked at her with surprise. "How did you know that?"

"Um..." Kagome didn't want to explain that away just yet (in other words she couldn't think of an excuse). "So - tell me about Kikyo. How did she know Inuyasha?"

"She arrived here a long time ago with the Shikon in her possession." Lady Inu scowled slightly. "I always thought she was odd... the ONE girl who couldn't possibly suit Inuyasha... but he chose her above all the others I set before him."

"He chose her? As in marriage?" Kagome watched as Inuyasha let lose an arrow, hitting the target in the outer rings. He didn't look like a pro at archery...

"Yes... but like I said. Kikyo was a strange girl. She had her ideals, and she would put them before anything else. If anyone or anything got in the way of her beliefs... she wouldn't hesitate to eliminate it."

"So what happened?" Kagome tried hard not to giggle when Inuyasha let loose another arrow, and barely avoided hitting one of the sheep that was milling around eating grass. If he kept it up they would be having mutton that night...

"Inuyasha got in the way of her ideals."

Kagome looked back at Lady Inu with a frown. "What do you mean?" she hoped that wasn't as bad as it sounded.

"She was fooled by someone... or something... Sesshomaru maybe. But she got it stuck in her head that Inuyasha was fooling her - that he wasn't being true to her. She made an unprovoked attack on the palace... and she was killed... but not before she took half this throne room with her."

Kagome looked around. "She blew it up?"

"In a way..."

"What happened to Inuyasha?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"He wouldn't talk about it. He acted as if nothing had transpired... but you could see she hurt him deeply." Lady Inu sighed. "I TOLD him that would happen, but did he listen? No! Because mothers never know what they're talking about do they?" Kagome watched the woman grumble for a moment before Lady Inu finally let it go. "Then we learned that Kikyo had left a gift for Inuyasha with a warlord in Inaki - the Shikon jewel. His father went to fetch it, but like I said, he never came back."

Kagome nodded gravely. "So is that why Sango and everyone else is edgy around me?"

"They think you could be Kikyo." Lady Inu smiled however. "But it's clear you are not her. For a start - you smile!"

Kagome smiled.

"But... I would expect because of your relation to Kikyo, and your looks, Inuyasha will want to push you away." Lady Inu warned. "But that's just him. You'd have to forgive him for that."

"I will..." Kagome said quickly. "It's not like I particularly like Kikyo either."

"Then you two have more in common than Kikyo ever did with Inuyasha." Lady Inu stood and pointed behind her. "And if you could - could you please persuade him at some point to get to know that sword, Tessaiga, better?"

"Oh... ok..." Kagome nodded.

The doors to the throne room suddenly opened and two attendants looked in. "Your majesty - I think you may need to come and take a look at something."

Lady Inu sighed and smiled at Kagome. "Be right back, dear."

"Ok..." Kagome watched her leave until she was alone again. She went back to the window and looked down outside again. Inuyasha wasn't there any more, but she took her time surveying the land again. It must have been a really pleasant place to live... if it hadn't been under threat of war. And it wasn't just the North either that was threatening the land... it was Kouga's people too.

For a moment Kagome let herself sober at the thought of the young wolf demon. But only for a moment, before she quickly buckled it up and said loudly to herself. "I hate him!"

"That's ok, cause I hate you too."

Kagome spun around to see Inuyasha striding through the doors towards her.

"I didn't mean you!" She said quickly, wanting to slap herself for talking to herself.

"Then you must have meant Kouga." He smirked, dumping some of his training gear in the corner of the room.

"How... how did you know-"

"Oh it's obvious with all you damsels in love and distress." He rolled his eyes as he headed towards the throne. He spoke again, feigning a high feminine voice. "Oh I love that buff wolf boy - no I hate that asshole - no I love him - I hate him. Right?"

Kagome blushed heavily. "I don't sound like that! You're so rude!"

"I am rude because I am talking to a peasant." Spitting the P word again, he flopped down into the throne and sighed. "Oh yeah... I could get used to this..."

Kagome edged towards him. "You gonna be King soon?"

He snorted. "Hell no... this is just a comfy chair."

"You're mom wants you to take it for good." Kagome commented. "Why not take it?"

"Cause Pops is still alive." Inuyasha glowered straight ahead. He didn't like how his mother was sharing so much personal information to this girl.

"So?" Kagome stared at him. "If I were you I'd probably jump in that chair the minute he left the room."

"Well that's you. Hope you're so quick to jump into your grandmother's grave." Inuyasha slapped the armrests before jumping down out of the seat and moving towards the wall to pluck an old rusty sword down from two pegs.

"Tessaiga?" Kagome said, proud to show off her knowledge.

"Daddy's magic sword." Inuyasha flipped it in his hand and banged the blade against the wall, making it shudder. He shrugged at it.

"Hey - careful you don't break that thing." Kagome warned. "It's old."

She'd come too close up behind him and suddenly he swung around and placed the tip against her throat, making her freeze in her tracks. He smirked at her expression. "Old... but still strong and sharp..."

Kagome gulped audibly, leaning back a little.

"You look just like her, you know." He walked forward, quickly making Kagome walk backward unless she wanted her throat pierced. "It would be so satisfying to kill you... it would be just like killing Kikyo myself."

"That's nice..." Kagome whispered. "Do you really hate her that much?"

"Mm..." he hummed with a faint smile. "With all my heart. More's the pity that I didn't get the chance to kill her myself. You know... she died in this room."

"I know..."

"And I watched her..." Inuyasha sneered. "Talk about pleasure overload."

Suddenly Kagome seemed to seize up and her eyes glazed over. Inuyasha frowned and quickly pulled the sword back as she dropped bonelessly to the ground. "Hey... girl... what's the matter with you?"

Kagome didn't answer. She could hear him, but she couldn't see him any more. Inuyasha saw her sit up suddenly and look around with a bewildered expression. "Oh god..." she muttered.

Inuyasha looked around, trying to see what she was looking at... but all he saw was the empty throne room. "What?"

However, Kagome was seeing something very different. The room was in chaos and everything was in black and white. Guards rushed here and there, yelling and shouting as parts of the ceiling rained down around her. But what was weird was that she couldn't hear the chaos... but she could still hear Inuyasha's voice.

That's when Kagome saw her...

Kikyo, standing in the centre of the throne room as it crumbled around her and people raced for the exits while others went to rescue people who had been injured by debris. Kikyo was shouting something while being shrouded in the light of her own power. A wind seemed to be hurtling around the room, knocking over ornaments, tables and whipping everyone's hair this way and that. Kagome sat on the floor in the middle of it all and didn't feel a thing. She was just an onlooker.

Then there was Inuyasha... She saw him trapped beneath a slab of ceiling, but he seemed to pay no heed to this as he yelled out to Kikyo, his anguish plain on his face. He was scared... she could see that much... but he held his hand out to Kikyo and yelled some more things that Kagome couldn't hear. It was so eerily quiet that it disturbed her.

"Kagome?" She heard Inuyasha's questioning voice somewhere close beside her, but when she looked around she couldn't see him. The only Inuyasha she could see was the one trapped and wounded twenty metres away.

Suddenly explosive light engulfed Kikyo, before engulfing the entire room. Everything went white for a moment before it all snapped back into colour and Kagome found herself looking at an empty room again, with Inuyasha hovering close beside her.

"What's the matter with you?" Inuyasha yanked her to her feet the moment she focused her eyes on him.

"I just..." she stumbled slightly, feeling her knees buckle. "I just saw her death..."

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha scowled angrily at her. "What just happened with you?"

"I just had a blast from the past..." Kagome frowned at that before feeling weariness creeping over her. That flash of a vision had sapped her strength away and she slumped against Inuyasha in a dead faint.

Inuyasha held her for a moment, wondering what the heck to do with her before dropping her promptly and walking to set Tessaiga back on its stand. He'd go get Sango and let her deal with the girl. They were both female, and both human... Sango would understand her better.

He had training to get back to anyway.

Inuyasha grabbed his gear and walked back to the door, looking back with a frown at the unconscious girl. With a sigh he left the throne room and walked down the corridor. When he reached the end he spotted Sango walking away from him down another hall and quickly called out to her. "Sango - that Princess woman's fainted - she's in the throne room."

Sango turned at once and set down the tray of food that she'd been carrying. She hurried past him, only to be stopped as his hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder. She looked back at him quizzically. "What?"

"Take it easy on her, yeah?" he released her shoulder. "She's not Kikyo."

Sango stared at him a moment before nodding and running off to go help her.

Inuyasha hefted his bow over his shoulder and carried on towards the palace entrance to go practise his archery. It was his weak point... and he needed to work at it if he had any chance of defeating Sesshomaru in battle.













AN: Next Chapter - 'Sleeping Arrangements' Click the arrow ^_^