The Path We Walk
Chapter 5: A Houshi, a Nomi and a Subeta Part 2
(A Buddhist priest, a flea and a sword)
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them. Only the story belongs to me.
AN: I'll take clichés for 5 please:
1. Sess talking with his inner demon or Kagome talking with her conscience in their mind, makes it look like their have multiple personalities to me.
2. Kagome becoming a demon for some odd reason, way too many Kagome turns into a demon or hanyou stories out there.
As Lilibeth pointed out is Sess raping Kagome and her becoming with child. This seems to happen a lot within Sess's mating season -normally wanting to get away from Rin so he doesn't hurt her and ends up finding Kagome- or Kagome being in heat -and Sess unable to resist her scent- I will be staying away from both of these.
A few hours before dawn, a few days later, Sesshoumaru was resting with his back against a large tree in the clearing he and his companions had made camp in last night, when he felt something biting his neck. Reaching up with his one arm, he slapped the biter away and looked down at his hand to find Myoga. "This Sesshoumaru has told you not to do that." Sesshoumaru reminded him as he squished him between his thumb and index finger.
"Lord Sesshoumaru 'squish' I have a 'squish' message from 'squish' Lady 'squish' Kagome!" Mygoa finally managed to finish as he started seeing stars and shook his head to try and clear it.
Sesshoumaru stopped for a moment before deciding to squish him once more. "Speak." Sesshoumaru commanded now that he was bored with his 'squish the flea' game.
"Lady Kagome said and I quote 'tell him if he wishes to demand I assist him in the matter of Tadashii that I will be here in Edo and would be more than willing to comply'" Myoga said hitting his head a few times to clear the rest of the stars and daze that had settled there.
"Kagome knows of Tadashii?" Jaken asked as he work up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes coming over to them so as to not wake Rin.
"Seems Lady Kagome had a run in with him in Edo." Myoga explained as he turned to look at Jaken for a moment before turning back to Lord Sesshoumaru.
Sesshoumaru leaned back seemingly getting lost in his own thoughts, wondering why the miko would want to help him against another human and why she invoked the challenge to do so. Deciding he would find out soon enough, Sesshoumaru stood gracefully and let the flea drop from his hand as he made his way over to the still asleep Rin and lifted her onto the back of Ah-Un.
Without a word, he turned and started away from the clearing knowing Jaken would follow and would tend to Ah-Un's reins. Jaken and Myoga exchanged looks before Myoga jumped up on him and Jaken walked over and started pulling Ah-Un behind him.
As Kagome was waking up to start breakfast she heard shouting coming from the village. Not bothering to get dressed, Kagome grabbed her bow and raced outside with a now awake Shippo and Kaede following after. "Youkai! Youkai!" a villager screamed as he ran over to them out of breath. Kagome merely nodded to him before she ran off the direction he had come from.
Raising her bow and getting an arrow ready, Kagome raced to the out skirts of the village and took aim at the demon the villagers were shouting about before noticing who it was. "Must you scare the villagers like that? It is far too early for this." Kagome complained as she lowered her bow and turned back to the scared villages. "Don't worry go back to your breakfast, he's merely here to drive me insane." Kagome assured them with a wave of her hand.
Sesshoumaru merely raised an eye brow at her -and the fact she was currently standing in front of him in pants and a shirt, that was obviously for sleeping, which were covered in small, white dogs- not that she could see it at the moment with her back turned, and watched as the villagers turned and went back to what they had been doing. "Have they eaten yet?" Kagome asked turning her attention back to Sesshoumaru and ignoring the look he was giving her. Seeing he was just going to stare at her and not answer, Kagome rolled her eyes and turn back toward the village. "Send them in and we can talk Lord Sesshoumaru." Kagome called back over her shoulder.
"I take it Myoga gave you my message." Kagome commented after she returned for changing into her miko garbs and passed out food to everyone but Sesshoumaru. After his slight nod she continued, "And I'm guessing you want to know how I know Tadashii?" Ignoring his growl at the name, she waited again until he gave her a nod and then sighed before continuing. "He showed up a week ago wanting me to join him in his quest to kill all demons. And I don't mean a few, I mean every last one of them. As you can imagine this didn't sit well for me and while I have no intention of killing him, unless he does not heed my warning, I would be more than happy to help you stop him from killing innocent demons."
Warning? Sesshoumaru wondered with a raised eye brow and was about to voice the question when he saw her look toward the kit with a saddened expression. "Go play Rin." Sesshoumaru commanded when he saw she had finished her meal.
"Hai Lord Sesshoumaru. Coming Shippo-chan?" Rin asked turning to him with a smile. He nodded and followed her out with Jaken close behind.
"I'll be in the village if ye need me." Kaede informed Kagome before nodding to Sesshoumaru and exiting the hut.
"Warning?" Sesshoumaru finally voiced and watched slightly amused as a look of fury crossed her features.
Kagome took a deep breath to calm herself before turning her attention back to the demon lord to answer him. "I warned him if he or his men attacked my son again or if I find out he was killing innocent demon children simply because they are demons that I will purify him." Kagome spat out, just thinking about that creep made her wish she had just purified him then and gotten it over with.
Sesshoumaru briefly wondered if she could in fact purify a human but waved that thought away. "Why invoke the challenge?" Sesshoumaru asked after a moment.
Kagome laughed for a moment before shrugging. "Figured it was the best way to get results and besides had I sent Myoga with a message asking if you needed my help you would probably kill him and then me for suggesting that the great Lord Sesshoumaru needed the help of a ningen." Kagome explained with a smile. "However this way we stay alive and you save face not to mention get a bit of submitting out of me by demanding I assist you. This way it's win/win for both of us." Kagome said with a smirk as she got up to clear the dishes and ready them to be taken to the river to clean.
"This Sesshoumaru could say no." Sesshoumaru reminded her as he followed her movements with his eyes, but otherwise looked bored with the whole thing.
"Hai you could Lord Sesshoumaru. The question is not weather you can say yes or no but rather if you would say no. The choices are say no and deal with him on your own, which I am sure you can, or say yes have assistance in the fight against him and get a point in the 'make Kagome submit' game. Which will it be Lord Sesshoumaru?" Kagome inquired as she looked over at him and smiled.
"You think to much of yourself miko, this Sesshoumaru has better things to do than waste his time on a challenge with a ningen." Sesshoumaru stated coldly turning his full attention to her.
"Very well Lord Sesshoumaru if you wish to admit defeat to this ningen than that is your right. Now excuse me I have dishes to attend to." Kagome replied with a slight bow before heading out of the hut before he had a chance to reply. She was gambling again and she knew it, he would either kill her for suggesting he had been defeated by a ningen or he would rise to the challenge and prove to her that he hadn't been beaten, but it was just too much fun to push his buttons to give up that easily.
"What is going on here?" Kagome demanded as she saw most of the village men heading toward the hut she had just exited and felt the presence of Sesshoumaru behind her meaning he had come out as well.
"You endanger this village by allowing that youkai to be here miko-sama." one of the men called out gaining the nods from the men around him.
"Lord Sesshoumaru is a taiyoukai I suggest you address him as such unless you wish to anger him and he is not a threat to you as long as you stay clear of him. In fact he probably doesn't see you as worth his time to kill. Go on about your day, you should know by now that I would not endanger any of you." Kagome replied as she moved the dishes to one hand so she could wave them away.
"He doesn't belong here and you, miko-sama, should not address him as lord or others may think you have allied yourself with demons." another villager called out seeming to forget her warning about angering the taiyoukai.
"Do you not address a lord from another land as such? Then why shouldn't I?" Kagome replied using her free hand to rub her temple as she felt the beginning of a headache coming on.
"Perhaps Tadashii-sama was right about you!" a third, and seemingly dumber, villager called out shrinking back a bit when Sesshoumaru growled.
Kagome turned to look at Sesshoumaru and gave him a look that said 'I will handle this' before turning back to face the villagers. "Perhaps you can tell me, who was it that spent the last four years protecting your village? Was it that poor excuse for a houshi that thinks he can justify murder simply because someone is demon, who's men attacked a little kid without cause simply because he was a demon, a little kid who has been your children's playmate for years. Was he the one that has protected you from demon and bandit alike?" Kagome asked looking at each of the villagers as she spoke.
"Or perhaps it was this miko who you seem so ready to turn your back on and who's word you ignore for that of one you just met. Perhaps it was I and a hanyou and a kitsune and a houshi and a taijiya and a neko youkai that protected you. Or did you already forget about all of them and all they went through protecting this village? Did you all perhaps already forget everything they went through for you and everyone else?" Kagome continued without giving them the chance to respond.
"And why? Was it because that pathetic man said all demons were bad? Tell me oh wise ones...my son is he bad? Is he evil like that houshi seems to think all demons are? Was Inuyasha evil? How about Kirara is she evil? Maybe one of you can tell me why you would take that man's word over mine when it is obvious what was he says is untrue. Anyone?" Kagome asked as looking around. Her only response was everyone having the decency to looked embarrassed.
"I didn't think so. Now if you will excuse me I have dishes to attend to and heed my warning as long as you leave him alone you are fine. However I will not take responsibility for what happens if you try this again." Kagome warned before shaking her head and walking past the villagers to head to the river to wash the dishes.
Sesshoumaru looked after her with a raised eye brow before turning back to the villagers and growled softly at them. He watched in amusement as their eyes became the size of saucers and they ran away from him back into their huts. He allowed himself a slight smirk before following after the miko.
"Sorry about the villagers, people seem to do stupid things when they feel threatened." Kagome called over her shoulder, not bothering to turn around, when she felt Sesshoumaru walk up behind her.
"Hn." was his only response as he sat on the hill behind her and watched as she continued to wash the dishes.
"I will show you a nice camp site before lunch since I doubt you would want to stay in the village and I would rather not have them killed, and judging by their actions earlier it won't take them long to get themselves killed." Kagome informed him as she finished the dishes and began gathering them up.
"Why do you no longer smell of death miko?" Sesshoumaru asked startling her with both his voice and question.
"Huh?" Kagome asked turning to him confused and stopping herself from dropping the dishes.
"This Sesshoumaru noticed the day he found you wounded that you no longer smelled of death as ningens do." Sesshoumaru told her and she wondered for a moment if that was the longest sentence she had ever heard from him.
"Oh I guess it has to do with the wish Inuyasha made." Kagome said with a shrug as she started back toward the village and headed into the hut to put the dishes away. She vaguely noticed Kaede had still not returned.
"Explain." Sesshoumaru commanded as he resumed his spot on the floor leaning up against the hut's wall.
"Very well." Kagome relented after a moment with a sigh as she sat down next to the fire and began preparing tea.
Flashback
"You're going with her to hell aren't you?" Kagome stated more than asked since she already knew the answer, it was written all over his face when he asked to speak with her in private.
"I have to Kagome, I owe her that much. Kagome listen to me." Inuyasha said softly as he reached up and wiped away a tear from her cheek before tilting her chin up so she was looking up at him. "You are my best friend Kagome and you mean the world to me. You were the first person to ever accept me just as I was and to truly care for me." Inuyasha said softly as he leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"But it's not enough is it?" Kagome asked looking into his golden eyes wondering if she had done any thing different if it would have been enough to get him to stay with her.
"Oh Kagome, it was more than enough and more than I deserved. I wish so much that I could stay here with you but to do that Kikyo's soul will never have the chance to rest and I can't condemn her to an eternity of suffering just to stay here with you. Kagome I want you to know that I love you, I know I have never really acted like it before, but I knew this day would come and I wanted to make it easier on you. I want you to promise me something." Inuyasha said as he pulled her to him in a warm embrace and ran a clawed hand threw her hair.
"I love you too Inuyasha what do you want me to promise?" Kagome asked softly as she felt the tears slide down her cheeks to land on his shoulder soaking his shirt. She understood why he felt he had to do this and as much as she didn't agree, she wasn't going to stop him. She had promised him long ago that she would stay beside him even if he chose Kikyo and she wasn't going to break that promise now even if it meant she would lose him forever. He had decided to do this and she would stand behind him and allow him to make his own choice.
"Promise me that you will be happy. I want to know that you won't let this hold you back and you'll move on with your life. You, more than anyone else, deserve to be happy and loved. Promise me you'll fall in love again and not stop yourself from being happy because of me." Inuyasha pleaded before placing a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"I promise Inuyasha." Kagome whispered with as much of a smile as she could manage and closed her eyes as he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. As they parted, Kagome reached up and wiped a tear from his eye with a smile. "What about this?" Kagome asked after a moment holding the Shikon no Tama up to him.
"I have an idea." Inuyasha said with a smile as he took the jewel and closed his hand around it. "I wish for Kagome to have the life span of a demon so Shippo won't lose his mother as well and so she will live to see her family again." Inuyasha wished softly as Kagome's eyes widened at every word, but before she could say anything, a bright pink light pooled out of the jewel and covered her.
When the light died down Kagome went to ask him why but before she could speak, he placed his finger on her lips. "It had to be selfless. Take care of our son, he will need you now more than ever." Inuyasha explained before kissing her lightly on the forehead again and letting go as he walked away.
Kagome watched after him as tears continued to fall down her cheeks unchecked and unnoticed. "I promise." Kagome whispered after him, both for her being happy and for taking care of their son. "I promise Inuyasha." Kagome whispered again before wiping away her tears, sighing deeply, and turning to head back to the village.
End Flashback
"I guess that's why I no longer smell of death since I am no longer dieing." Kagome said with a shrug as she turn away so she could wipe away a tear before he noticed it and thought her weak. Though it did no good, he could already smell the salt in the air but let her believe she had succeeded.
Pouring herself a cup of tea, Kagome's mind drifted back to that day once again and as she thought about the part she had left out of the story. She didn't think he would be too happy to hear what else had happened and she wasn't ready to deal with what would happen if he did.
Flashback
"I promise Inuyasha." Kagome whispered with as much of a smile as she could manage and closed her eyes and he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. As they parted, Kagome reached up and wiped a tear from his eye with a smile.
"Will you take care of this for me?" Inuyasha asked as he reached into his sash and pulled out Tessaiga (1) before holding it out for her.
"Are you sure Inuyasha? Wouldn't it be better with your brother?" Kagome asked after taking the sword and holding it against her body.
"No there is no better place for a sword that protects than with the one it protected. It is yours to do with what you want, and if you decide to give it to Sesshoumaru, that is your choice. But I leave it to you." Inuyasha said with a smile.
"What about this?" Kagome asked after a moment holding the Shikon no Tama up to him.
End Flashback
No if she told him about Tessaiga he would probably demand it and she would lose her last link to Inuyasha. She would give it to him one day since she couldn't use it either and it should remain in their family since it was their father's fang, but for now she could not stand to part with it
"I'll take you to that camp spot I was talking about earlier." Kagome said after a moment as she stood, grabbed her bag, bow and quiver and started out of the hut with Sesshoumaru following.
"Shippo come here!" Kagome called out as she spotted him not far away playing tag with Rin and Jaken.
"Yeah momma?" Shippo called back as they stopped their game and he rushed over to her.
"We're going to take Lord Sesshoumaru to the well so he can set up camp." Kagome told him and after he jumped up on her shoulder, she started walking again with the others following.
"Is this okay?" Kagome asked as they reached the clearing near the well. Sesshoumaru didn't bother answering her as he went and sat down leaning against a tree. "Guess so." Kagome said with a laugh.
"Are you staying with Rin?" Rin asked grabbing onto her sleeve to get her attention.
"No I think we will go back into the village, I'm sure Lord Sesshoumaru has tired of my presence by now." Kagome said with a laugh as Jaken started setting up a fire pit.
"Stay." Sesshoumaru commanded as he stood gracefully and disappeared into the trees before she could respond.
"What was that all about?" Kagome wondered looking over at Jaken.
"Lord Sesshoumaru went to scout the area." Jaken replied glancing over at her before going back to tending the fire.
"Okay, Master Jaken can you catch us some fish? And I'll make us some lunch." Kagome said with a smile as she walked over and set her stuff down next to the fire and began taking out what she would need. Jaken nodded and headed toward the river.
"Can you read us a story momma?" Shippo asked as he sat down next to her followed by Rin.
"Hai but after lunch." Kagome replied and gave them each a lollipop to hold them until lunch was ready.
Sesshoumaru flicked his sword away from himself to remove the blood from the youkai he had just killed and after re-sheathing it, he turned and headed back toward camp. He had felt the youkai's presence nearby after he had sat down and decided to deal with it before it got too close to camp. As he reached the edge of the clearing he raised his eye brow at the sight before him.
Kagome was sitting on the ground, with a child's head resting on each thigh, and she was reading to them from a book in her hand. Sesshoumaru wondered how the miko knew how to read and then listened in on the story. After a moment he decided the odd story, about a girl, a prince, and a glass shoe, was not worth his attention and figured it must be about ningens for surely no demoness would be baka enough to wear footwear made from glass(2) and walked over to sit and lean against a tree.
Kagome looked up briefly when Sesshoumaru entered the clearing but turned her attention back to the book and once she finished she placed the book on the ground and glanced down to find the children asleep. With a smile she moved them just enough so they were no longer leaning on her and stood up to stretch before walking over to her bag and pulling out her sleeping bag.
Noticing Jaken was laying out Rin's blanket as well, she walked back over to the girl and lifted her into her arms, bringing her over to lay down on the blanket, figuring Jaken wouldn't be able to do it without waking her. While he covered her up, she walked back to Shippo and laid him in the sleeping bag, covered him up, and walked back to sit next to the fire.
"We'll get out of your hair once he wakes Lord Sesshoumaru." Kagome assured him with a smile as she glanced over at him. She noticed Jaken laid down against Ah-Un, figuring the kids wore him out and he needed a nap as well.
"You can read." it was a statement and question at the same time and Kagome nodded but a raised eye brow informed her he wanted more of an answer.
"Hai where I'm from everyone is required to go to school to learn how to read and write among other things." Kagome explained as she tended to the fire.
Sesshoumaru was about to ask her more about this 'school' she referred to but the scent that reached his nose stopped him. "You're bleeding." Sesshoumaru pointed out coolly after sniffing the air and realizing it was coming from her.
"Ah it must have leaked through." Kagome commented more to herself as she turned away from him and started digging through her bag. Once she pulled the first aid kit out, she let her shirt slide down her shoulder exposing the bandage and removed the blood caked gauze. "Damn thing should have healed by now." Kagome grumbled to herself wondering once again why the week old wound hadn't begun to heal.
"It's poisoned." Sesshoumaru informed her after sniffing the air once again and catching another scent that he had been unable to detect when the bandage was in place. "How?"
"One of that houshi-baka's men did it."(3) Kagome explained as she began to wash off the blood. "And how can it be poisoned? If it was it should have caused an infection or other problems by now, all it has done is refused to heal." Kagome told him as she looked over her shoulder at him.
"Youkai blood, sword wasn't clean. Jaken will give you herbs to fix it." Sesshoumaru told her as he watched her try to bandage it back up with one hand and smirked inwardly when he saw she was having problems.
"Ah okay I'll ask him when he wakes then." Kagome replied as she fumbled with the tape trying to get it to stick and wishing Shippo wasn't asleep at that moment. Fingers touching her back startled her out of her thoughts and she looked over her shoulder to see Sesshoumaru pressing down the tape on the bottom of the bandage.
"The smell was annoying." Sesshoumaru offered as an explanation before moving back where he had been a moment before and sitting back down.
"Ah thanks." Kagome said after a moment shaking her head as she pulled her shirt back up and closed it. Turning back around, she put her stuff back into her bag and stared off into the fire.
"How?" Sesshoumaru asked again startling her and for a moment she was confused as to what he was referring to but soon figured out what he meant.
"I was taking a bath at the springs when I heard Shippo scream and when I ran back into the village I found one of the baka's men about to kill him. So I threw myself over him in time to take the hit but he wasn't able to pull the sword back entirely in time and I got cut. Just my luck the baka doesn't know how to clean his sword." Kagome grumbled the last part more to herself.
"Hn." was his only reply and Kagome had to force herself not to roll her eyes at him. After a few minutes he spoke and startled her again and wondered how anyone could be startled so easily. "At least you no longer look so indecent miko." Sesshoumaru had noticed she was no longer wearing her odd green and white kimono and hadn't had the chance to ask her about it before hand.
"It wasn't indecent it was my school uniform and since I no longer need it, I didn't see the point of wearing it anymore. Besides since I'm here as a miko full time now I figured I should at least look the part and draw less attention to myself." Kagome explained with a shrug.
Sesshoumaru thought about asking her what she meant by 'a miko full time now' but decided to file it away for a later date and instead turned to stare off into the trees.
1. According to Wikipedia this is the correct spelling of the sword rather than Tetsusaiga saying and I quote 'In the English and English-subtitled adaptations of InuYasha, Tessaiga is called "Tetsusaiga" due to an error in the translation of the sword's name. By the time Viz, the company that translates the anime and manga, had realized the error, it was too late.'. So this is where I got my info in case anyone was wondering or wanting to correct the spelling.
2. Obviously Cinderella and I have no idea if they knew what glass was back then but too lazy to look it up lol.
3. I used -baka as an insult applied normally where an honorific would go and I have seen others do this I am not sure however it -baka can be used that way or not.
Translations
Hai-yes
Kitsune-fox
Miko-priestess
Taijiya-slayer
Ningen-human
Neko-cat
Hanyou-half demon
Tessaiga-iron-crushing fang
Houshi-Buddhist priest
Shikon (no tama)-Jewel of Four Souls
Nomi-flea
Baka-stupid/idiot
Subeta-sword
Tadashii-righteous
Youkai-demon
Taiyoukai-demon lord
-sama-honorific used for respect or Lord/Lady
-chan-honorific used for younger children or girls/woman of equal standing.
AN: Well there's the next chapter. Please R&R, good and bad reviews are both welcome however I will just ignore flames. Let me know if it sounds to cliché so I can edit it correctly
