InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tree Messaging ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

 

Hello again. Sadly, this might be my last update before Christmas, but I promise you, Chapter 6 will be worth the wait.

 

One note about this chapter:

 

Foehn Wind Phenomenon: These winds can bring hot weather to Honshu(the main island) during the summer. It occurs when a deep layer of wind travels over a mountain range; as the winds move upslope, it expands and cools, getting rid of any water vapor. When the winds travels down slope, the air temperature increases along with the air pressure, creating strong, gusty, warm and dry winds. Now, because Japan is made of 70% to 80% mountains, you can see why this phenomenon occurs.

 

Sorry if my weather report bored any of you. Now here's the chapter, enjoy...

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

 

For the second night in a row, Kagome wouldn't get much sleep. Thank goodness for her daily Biology nap. What she would do without it, she didn't know.

 

The night was yet again warm. The news said it was because of some foehn wind thing, but Kagome really wasn't paying attention at the time. The teenager stepped outside in her pajama bottoms and a tank top.

 

It was unusually quiet for the city. It was weird to hear silence instead of the Tokyo night life. Kagome looked up at the sky to see a bright, crescent moon. Towards the north, her eyes caught sight of dark, bilious clouds.

 

Kagome did not like the feeling she was getting. It was like the calm before the storm. Those clouds... something about them seemed…off.

 

She sighed. Before, she would have passed off the clouds as nothing more than a bad storm. Of course before she didn't believe in hanyou or that magical trees existed, and look at what she found. Could life, for just once, try to be simple?

 

Well, meeting Inuyasha wasn't that bad. Sure, his existence alone shattered all of her earlier beliefs and would probably shift the course of her future, but hey, the guy had cute dog ears.

 

She smiled. The dog ears weren't the only thing. The hanyou may try to act tough on the outside, but he had been nice to her a few times. And his eyes, Kagome had never seen anything like them; they were like molten pools of gold that would turn almost any girl into a pile of goop.

 

Kagome shook her head. She barely knew the man/hanyou, and yet she was falling head over heels for him. Her heart beat quickened as she approached the tree. Correction, she had fallen for him. She had only seen him twice and the one time she was half asleep! How pathetic was that?

 

She had to talk to him though. Something was going on that involved her, and he seemed to know what it was. Besides, he was the spirit of a hanyou trapped in a tree. There was no way they could have something more than a mild friendship.

 

She climbed over the small fence and sat down at the base of the tree. As soon as her body made contact with Goshinboku, she was brought into the tree. She opened her eyes to see a familiar blanket of snow surrounding her.

 

The feeling from being transported here felt strange. It was like she was being torn in two, but she still felt whole. Did Inuyasha ever feel like that? Kagome stood up and stretched her now aching back muscles. Leaning against the Goshinboku's hard bark did nothing to help them.

 

Tilting her head up, she saw a lump of red and silver lounging on one of the bare branches.

 

"Hey Inuyasha!" The hanyou slid an eye open and looked down to see Kagome shivering on the ground. He jumped from his perch and landed in front of her.

 

"Oi wench, don't you have anything better to wear other than a sleeveless kimono? A weak human like you could get sick." He shrugged his suikan off and wrapped it around her shoulders.

 

"I'm not weak. And what about you? Won't you get cold without this?"

 

"Keh, I'm built differently than you humans. A bit of cold air like this won't bother me."

 

Kagome looked confused, "You make being human sound like a bad thing..."

 

His eyes darkened, "Look, all my life I've been hunted because of my human blood. Most considered me weak because of it."

 

"I'm sorry..."

 

"Save your sympathy for someone who needs it."

 

A white figure appeared next to Goshinboku, 'Inuyasha, drop the tough guy act and tell her what's going on.'

 

"So Inuyasha, how'd you get here exactly?"

 

He raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know? You heard how the legend goes."

 

She seemed confused for a second, and then understood what he meant, "Oh, not about you and the miko-."

 

"Kikyo."

 

Kagome blinked, "Eh?"

 

"The miko; her name was Kikyo," his eyes saddened, which Kagome quickly picked up on.

 

"She was important to you, wasn't she?"

 

Inuyasha put his emotional defenses back up, "It was a long time ago. Don't bother worrying about it."

 

'I swear to the kami Inuyasha, if you don't tell her right now, I'll-'

 

The spirit was interrupted by the girl, "I'm sorry Inuyasha. I know it hurts for you to think about it, but I think the legend left a couple of things out... She hurt you more than you did her, right?"

 

Inuyasha looked at her with narrowed eyes, "How do you-?"

 

"I don't know. It's like an old dream that comes back once in awhile. I can remember this figure in red, which I think was you, feeling guilty for a black-haired woman in miko garb. Do you think that was Kikyo?"

 

Inuyasha nodded, "Yeah that does sound like her, but how do you know what she looked like?"

 

"No clue. But like I said, it's almost like a dream. The image is all fuzzy and I can barely remember any of it."

 

Aki, now settled down, thought for a moment, 'It looks like she may be remembering the journeys you had in the feudal era.'

 

"How can she remember them if she never experienced them?"

 

'It must be the combination of both the Shikon jewel and Goshinboku. No matter what world she's in, these two factors have always been present in her life.' Aki's eyes narrowed in realization.

 

"Wait, the jewel?"

 

"Inuyasha, what's going on? What am I remembering and what about the jewel?"

 

Inuyasha scowled, "Yeah, I'd like to know what she's talking about too."

 

'Inuyasha, you have to get unsealed soon. No, sooner than that, now! You have to get unsealed now! Kagome's powers are awakening along with the jewel. Youkai will begin to come after her for it. It's your duty to protect her, as you have before.'

 

"Yeah, and how am I suppose to get unsealed?"

 

'The arrowhead from Kikyo's sealing arrow is still lodged in Goshinboku. Tell Kagome to pull it out, and quickly!'

 

"Inuyasha?"

 

The hanyou grabbed Kagome by the shoulders, "Kagome, I know you're going to say I'm nuts and will most likely get the sitting of my life," she gave him a weird look, "but you have to do this. You have to go back to your world, and pull an arrowhead out of Goshinboku. You're in danger, and right now I'm the only one who can protect you."

 

"So by doing this, I'll unseal you?" He nodded.

 

Kagome thought for a moment. "You mentioned 'the jewel'. By chance would that be the Shikon jewel?"

 

Again, he nodded. "Where is it? Maybe we could hide it."

 

"No, youkai would still come after it. The only way to protect it is for me to protect you."

 

Kagome thought back to earlier when she had felt that strange presence within her aura. She closed her eyes and still found the foreign object inside of her.

 

"It's inside me, isn't it?"

 

He gave her a sad smile, "Yeah."

 

Maybe this was why she was having these weird feelings lately. Between the feeling of displacement and foreboding, she thought she was losing it.

 

"Ok, so the jewel is inside of my body and you have to protect it and me. Youkai hiding who knows where want it and will come after me to get it and you need to be freed from your seal. Anything else I should know?"

 

"You're a miko and the re-incarnation of my long lost love, Kikyo."

 

Kagome just stood there for awhile to let everything sink in. According to legend, the Shikon jewel led a dark path wherever it went. If youkai were to get their hands on it... no, she didn't want to go there. The legend had failed to say what had happened to the jewel after the miko died. Well, now that that question was answered, about a dozen more popped up, like should she really free Inuyasha? If youkai really were to come after the jewel, she'd have no way of protecting herself. He would be handy, not to mention cute. But that brings up two more questions; one, how would he go around modern day Japan with those dog ears? And two, if she really was the re-incarnation of Kikyo, were these feelings for Inuyasha her own, or her pre-incarnate's?

 

She shook her head. All of this thinking along with the lack of sleep were giving her a headache. But through all of the questions, one thing made sense; she had to free Inuyasha. It wasn't because she felt sorry for him, or wanted a strange looking guy with her, it's because she wanted to fix this problem. When Kikyo died, she tried to get rid of the jewel. How? Well, she'd figure that out later... Anyways, Kikyo's way of getting rid of the jewel failed so now the responsibility shifted to her. And somehow, she thought it would be difficult to get rid of the jewel if she had hordes of youkai breathing down her throat.

 

Kagome's attention turned back to Inuyasha, "All I have to do is pull the arrowhead out?"

 

He nodded, "Yeah, according to Aki. Wait, you're actually going through with this?!"

 

"This may surprise you, dog-boy, but I actually like living," she turned to get ready to go back to her world, but turned back, "Just promise me you won't go rampaging around the city."

 

"Whatever."

 

Kagome smiled and disappeared. She opened her eyes and found the empty shrine lay in front of her. The girl stood up and began to search the tree for any small holes. Finally, she found on at the top right-hand corner of the oval of exposed wood. She poked her figure into it and felt something cold and hard. Trying to get a second finger in to pull in out, Kagome found the arrowhead to be too deep to pull it out.

 

Maybe if I could find something sharp, I can dig it out.

 

She ran to the shed to find anything sharp enough for her to use. It was still dark out, but she was able to feel around and get her hands on a trowel. She ran back to the tree and began to pry at the small hole. The tree began to groan.

 

"I'm sorry if I'm hurting you, but I have to get this thing out."

 

The sound of metal hitting metal suddenly rang in the night. Kagome drove the trowel into the tree one last time before the hole was big enough to allow her fingers to reach in and remove the arrowhead.

 

The wind picked up suddenly and Kagome was thrown from Goshinboku. She landed clumsily on the concrete and had to shield her eyes from the bright light emanating from the sacred tree.

 

As suddenly as they had come, the wind and light disappeared, and the night returned to its eerie silence. Kagome looked up at the empty space in front of the tree. She clasped the arrowhead in her hand. It wasn't in Goshinboku any longer, he should be free.

 

"Inuyasha?" The silence continued as Kagome stood there and looked over at the black clouds as they drifted closer to her and the city.