InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Years Pass On ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 7 )

Sorry for the lag in updates…it's really sad, and I'm sorry. I have a lot more of this written now, and will be periodically updating. I'm shooting for once a week, after I upload the chapters already written.

 

Disclaimer: Didn't write the original story.

 

 

Chapter 6

 

“What do you mean?” I asked carefully after a stunned silence of indiscernible length.

“I know what really happened.” She answered quietly.

I decided not to question that just yet. “Why do I have to swear an oath?” That part was a bit too theatrical, even for me.

“Because most people would think I was completely insane, but if the wrong person heard the story, I would be in far more danger than I am even now.” She answered without the slightest hint of untruth or embellishment.

I again decided not to ask for details just yet. I had something else at the moment that I was more curious about. “So why would you trust me with this story?” There was no reason that I could say. Of course, I would give a substantial part of my fortune to find out about that legend. It was the legend of my home, and I had always felt slighted to reside with the very people who had lived it and yet remain robbed of the true circumstances of the legend. But even if she did somehow have what I lacked, why would she share it with me of all people?

“I don't know really.” She told me. “You are different from other people.”

“I'm rich.” I replied in a self-mocking sort of way.

“It has nothing to do with that.” She said, looking slightly affronted. “I mean you aren't exactly human.” I opened my mouth to protest, hundreds of questions and not a few disturbing scenarios filling my mind. If it were found out that I don't age, the consequences would be dire. I would probably become some kind of lab rat. I had gone to great lengths over centuries to be able to escape detection and live as I wished, and suddenly, out of nowhere, this little girl had seen through the façade of half a millennium without the slightest effort. She held up her hand. “Don't take offense.” Obviously she hadn't realized what was going through my mind.

“If I'm not human, then what am I?” I challenged, trying to find out just how much she knew.

“I don't actually know.” She answered, looking thoughtful. “When I first met you, I thought that maybe you were a youkai with some very sophisticated spells concealing your true form. I can usually see through a youkai's disguise fairly easily, so I was a little worried, but as time went by, I realized that I had been mistaken. You aren't a youkai, or even a hanyou. In addition, you aren't a dead, because you don't feel anything like Kikyo did.” She was musing aloud to herself and didn't notice my reaction to the name of the long dead priestess of the Shikon no Tama. I didn't feel like Kikyo? “You feel exactly like a normal human, but there is a slight aura, and aura unlike anything I've ever seen. I have absolutely no idea what you are, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. You could be here to kill me, but somehow I don't think so. I've been carrying this story around with me for three years, and on seeing you, I realized that I've reached breaking point. I went through hell, and I'm very tired of being the only one who knows about it. How about it, Menachi Hideko? Can I trust you?”

She was willing to trust me, even though she didn't know what I was? I had never met anyone who was able to see straight to the heart of things like this girl. She didn't seem concerned with the fact that I wasn't exactly human, but whether or not she could - confide in me. I realized now that Higurashi Kagome wanted to confide in me about something, something very important. And what was that other thing? You could be here to kill me, but somehow I don't think so. What did she mean by that? Obviously she had already decided to trust me before I'd even shown up, but her tone as she had uttered these words had been strangely void of concern and emotion, as if she was used to people trying to kill her. My curiosity was increasing with every passing moment.

“Yes.”

~~~

She took me out under the Goshinboku. “How much do you know?” She asked first. “I want to know where to start.” She added when I just stared back at her.

“Oh.” I said. “There was a magical jewel, the Shikon no Tama, Jewel of the four souls. It had an immense power, and was sought after by many, mostly demons. But it was in the care of a powerful priestess named Kikyo. But her downfall came when a Hanyou named Inuyasha somehow stole the jewel from her. She used her last power to seal him to the Goshinboku tree, and then died. The Shikon no Tama was cremated with her and disappeared for fifty years.” I paused. “Am I right so far?”

She nodded. “There was a bit more to it than that, but it's all correct.” She told me, and indicated that I continue.

“Um- Fifty years later a girl who was supposed to be the reincarnation of Kikyo appeared. She got into a fight with a centipede demon just underneath the Goshinboku and the still sealed Inuyasha. The Shikon no Tama, which had been hidden in her body was torn out, and to save her own life, the girl released Inuyasha from the spell. He killed the demon, and then attacked the girl, though she somehow survived. Soon after, the jewel was somehow shattered into shards, which were hidden all over Japan. Inuyasha and the reincarnated priestess joined reluctantly together to repair the jewel. They managed to succeed with the help of a few friends.” I made a show of trying to remember. I wanted to be careful not to betray the fact that I had known their friends personally.

“There was a monk, I think, and a demon slayer, as well as a kitsune cub, and a giant cat demon.” I said slowly, and looked at her, pretending to wonder if I was correct. She nodded. “But after the jewel was completed, Inuyasha and the priestess disappeared. I've heard that he died.” Was I imagining things, or were her eyes shining with unshed tears? “That's really all I know. How much of it was wrong?”

“None of it was strictly wrong.” She answered slowly. “But there was a lot more to it than that. She stood up and pointed to the nick in the tree's bark that had provided me with that interesting vision. “This is where Inuyasha was sealed by Kikyo's sacred arrow. He did steal the jewel from her, but only because he thought that she had betrayed him. You see, Kikyo and Inuyasha were in love.” She paused and I wondered if I hadn't detected a little bitterness in that last statement. “That very day, she had taken the Shikon no Tama out to meet him. He was going to use it to become human, so they could be together. But an apparition called Naraku interfered. He appeared in the form of Inuyasha, stole the jewel and mortally wounded her. She made it back to the town where she sealed Inuyasha to the Goshinboku, and died.”

“Fifty years later, as you said, the girl who was the reincarnation of Kikyo appeared, released Inuyasha, and had the Shikon no Tama ripped from her body. Inuyasha vanquished the demon, but then turned on her. But the village priestess cast a subduing spell on him in the shape of a rosary. Whenever the girl said a certain word, he would slam to the ground, face first. So the reincarnated miko survived the night. That very next day, the Shikon no Tama was stolen by a crow demon. Though Kikyo had been a master archer, the girl wasn't. Since the Shikon gave the crow the power of instant regeneration, she took its foot, tied it to an arrow and let it fly. The foot guided the arrow back to the crow, but the girl's arrow also shattered the Shikon no Tama.” Kagome stopped. “Am I boring you?”

“Not in any way, shape, or form.” I answered. “Go on. This is the part where they team up, isn't it?”

“Right.” She answered. “The priestess could see the shards, and Inuyasha had the strength to fight demon's for them. Without one, the other would be lost. But immediately, they ran into complications. The girl had to return to her world often.”

“Wait. Her world?”

“Yes. She wasn't from feudal Japan, but somewhere else in time. In addition, Inuyasha's older brother, a full demon appeared, looking for his father's grave. Inuyasha was the guardian of his father's grave, though he didn't know it. The portal to the youkai's grave was hidden in his right pupil. His older brother wanted their father's sword, which was actually Inuyasha's inheritance. Tetsusaiga was supposed to be able to kill 100 demons with one swing. Inuyasha's brother tried to take it, but the barrier rejected him. It accepted Inuyasha, but he couldn't pull it from its pedestal. While the brother's fought, the girl happened to grab the hilt for balance and it slipped out. The girl gave it to Inuyasha, but Tetsusaiga was nothing more than a dilapidated Katana. But when Inuyasha used it to protect the girl from his brother, and the secret of the sword was found. Tetsusaiga was actually a fang, the fang of their father, and a powerful weapon, and Inuyasha used it to cut off the arm of his older brother.”

Kagome spoke for hours, telling me of the resurrection of Kikyo, the appearance of Naraku and the many battles they'd fought with him and his henchmen, about their friends, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara the two-tailed cat demon, and Myonga, the flea, advisor to Inuyasha. She told me of Kouga, the wolf demon, and how he fell in love with the girl, much to the irritation of Inuyasha, and of the continued contact with Inuyasha's brother, who changed as time went by. Where once he had held all humans in contempt, he began traveling with a small human girl. And, near dawn, Kagome reached the tale of the final battle.

“They won.” She said. “But they couldn't have if they hadn't worked together. When it was all over, Sesshoumaru healed Sango's brother, Kohaku, with the Tensaiga, which could save one hundred lives with one stroke. No one wanted the Shikon no Tama, because they had all seen the sadness it had brought. Inuyasha took it, and appeared to make a wish, though when he opened his eyes he looked disappointed. Then he made a decision. He gave the Shikon no Tama to the reincarnated miko, and then went to hell with Kikyo so that she could finally rest. “