Inu Yasha is copyrighted to Takahashi Rumiko, not me. If I did own this wonderful creation, I would be very happy and have all the manga. ^__^ Please enjoy the story. Thank you!

 

 

The Truth

Part Three

By: Lazuli

lazulidreamer@yahoo.com

 

           

 

Yuka’s eyes grew wide when Kagome suddenly appeared in the well, holding something in her arms. She started climbing up the ladder on the edge of the well, and as soon as she made it over the edge of the well, Inu Yasha leapt out after her, his eyes angry.

            “You little traitor!” Inu Yasha grabbed the creature in arms, hitting it on top of the head.

            “Itai! Inu Yasha you bastard…” The creature twisted in Inu Yasha’s arms, becoming a giant pink bubble, its teeth munching on Inu Yasha’s head. Inu Yasha sighed, glared for a moment, and then smacked the balloon creature hard, sending it flying over to Yuka. It popped, revealing a small, furry animal with a bushy tail.

             Yuka stared. “What is… that?” She whispered. The creature turned around and smiled at her, revealing small, fanged teeth.

            “My name is Shippou. I’m a kitsune. Kagome never told you about us?” Yuka shook her head, feeling faint.
            “They only mentioned brief parts of a kitsune demon in the history books…” She turned to Kagome, who seemed to be battling with Inu Yasha over something. Inu Yasha’s eyes glared down at Kagome, and she was yelling at him about what an idiot he was.

            “How dare you do that to Shippou! I always come to your time. Always finding the shards of the jewel. Maybe it’s time that you saw what my life was like, and while I keep on running back here. I have friends.” She paused in her yelling to point at Yuka.

            “Friends who were concerned about me because they thought I was dying! They were worried for me, not because of some ability to see a jewel that is of no importance to me!”

            She turned to Shippou, who seemed rather bored at the two screaming at each other.

            “Does this happen often?” Shippou nodded and leapt on her head. “All the time. Hey, are you human like Kagome? You’re dressed in the weird clothes that she dresses in. Do all the girls dress like that here?”

            Yuka nodded, and wondered if she tried to get Shippou off of her head, if he would hurt her. He was a demon. Inu Yasha was a demon…

            She watched as Inu Yasha grabbed Kagome’s wrist and pulled her closer to him, his eyes glittering angrily, and his sharp claws visible. He was going to hurt her! She picked up a sharp piece of pottery and faced Inu Yasha with it. Demon or not, he wasn’t going to hurt her friend!

            They were still yelling at each other, and she walked up very quietly, so that she wouldn’t distract them.

            “If Kikyo could sense the jewel, I am sure that you would dump me quickly! There’s your perfect miko! Beautiful, calm, and so very willing to drag you down to Hell! I am sick of this, Inu Yasha! Why can’t you appreciate what I can do? At least respect me, damn it!”

 

 

            Inu Yasha sighed softly. Kagome had kept all of this in for so long. Loosening his grip on her wrist slightly, he stepped back.

            “I… I’m sorry, Kagome.” His face was turned away when he said that, his eyes have closed. He felt Kagome’s shock clearly.

            “You’re…apologizing?” He nodded. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. Even though it was your fault that the jewel shattered…” He caught a smack for this one.

            “I guess that I wish that you could stay with us. What do you want with this artificial world? Wouldn’t you like to live in my time?”

            Kagome’s eyes grew even wider. What was he asking? She looked over Inu Yasha’s shoulder, and shook her head.

            “Inu Yasha, why don’t we take a break? I’ll show you around my time some more… it’s not so bad to look at. The other times you were here were to fight the youkai or help me with Mayu-chan, so you didn’t really get to see what it was like.”

            Inu Yasha nodded and grinned at her. “Plus your friend is about to beat me over the head with that pottery in her hands if I don’t let go of you.”

            Kagome blushed and Yuka dropped her “weapon” while Shippou was snickering on the ground beside her. Yuka contemplated kicking the kitsune. He could have warned her that Kagome was in no danger. He saw her looking down at him and laughed again.

            “Inu Yasha’s always putting his foot in his mouth. He’s just lucky Kagome didn’t sit him until his back broke for what they were yelling about.”

            Yuka nodded. It was more of what Kagome was accusing Inu Yasha of. “Who is Kikyo?” She asked softly, hoping that only Shippou would hear. It had the opposite effect. Inu Yasha turned red, Kagome turned sullen, and Shippou looked amused.

            “Wrong name to bring up around these two. I can tell you who she is though.” Shippou started to take a deep breath when Kagome, one hand firmly across his mouth, muffling him, suddenly picked him up.

            “Let’s not talk about that, Shippou. It’s not very important.” Inu Yasha stood beside her. “It’s very important, Kagome. Why do you hate her so much? Is it because that she was you?”

            Kagome shook her head. “I hate her because she tried to take you away! She tried to drag you to Hell, or have you forgotten that? She tried killing you several times over! She tried to kill me, destroy our mission, and numerous other things! The Kikyo that you see is nothing more than a shadow of what she was before! That Kikyo that you knew in the past is dead! Dead, you baka! Can’t you see that? I don’t want you to die, even if you want to die with her.”

            Inu Yasha’s eyes grew wide with shock as Kagome shouted at him, tears standing in her eyes. She felt that way… he never would have guessed. He never said anything to her, never assumed anything because was afraid that it would turn into Kikyo all over again. The problems that he had with her, and the demand that he become human to live beside her, so that he would not see her age while he remained the same.  

            “Kagome…” He whispered. “I… I don’t love Kikyo. You are the only one that means anything to me. You are the only one who isn’t afraid of me or asking me to become human or youkai. You accept me for who I am, and you were the one who freed me even against Kaede-baba’s wishes. I do care what happens to you! I just want to bury Kikyo in the past where she belongs. I want to lay her to rest, Kagome. She did not ask to be reborn into that body of earth and bones. “

            “Maybe she didn’t, Inu Yasha, but she was sure as hell happy to stay there, and make your life a living hell. Do you know how close you came to death? And the fact that you wanted to go with her… that you were willing to follow her into death hurt me! It was like you had forgotten everybody! Miroku, Shippou, Sango… Kaede-san. Me… That you were throwing it all away to be with her!”

             

            Yuka watched the proceedings again, eyes wide. It was like a really good manga. The characters in conflict over a loved one from the past; it was so romantic. Inu Yasha didn’t normally fit the definition of a romantic manga hero… the generally didn’t swear that much, or have dog-ears, but she could tell that he cared for her.

            Kagome was never one to enter her mind to be the star of anything… she was always so concerned about studying, unless it came to that mysterious boyfriend of hers, which turned out to be Inu Yasha. She wondered about this Kikyo, and she realized that her question had never been answered, and she was being ignored.

            “HEY!” Inu Yasha and Kagome turned around and blinked in surprise at Yuka standing there, as if they had forgotten where they were.

            “Yuka-chan…” Kagome looked embarrassed. “Gomen! I completely forgot about you! I’m so sorry…after all of this…” Kagome shrugged helplessly.

            “I get it now. Kagome is consorting with demons, although she is from a well-known shrine family. She has to find pieces of a jewel that she broke, and at the same time avoid being killed by Naraku, or a crazed back from the dead Miko. The same said priestess, being one of her ancestors.”

            Inu Yasha looked shocked at this. “Ancestor??! I thought Kagome was only…” He didn’t complete his sentence, feeling that discretion would be wise here concerning reincarnations and who was who.

            “It’s rather obvious. This was the shrine that Kikyo had lived at, ne? Kagome… Inu Yasha? Wouldn’t you know that?”

            Kagome nodded slowly. Even thought it was vastly different from her time and the feudal ages, this was the same shrine.

            “Let’s look up your family history, Kagome. I bet we’ll find something there.”

            Kagome looked ill, and shook her head. “No more history… this was what started all this yelling again. The fact that the story of my life is being read and cherished by millions as some sort of tragic love story. Girl falls through well, falls in love with demon; demon blows her off for dead girlfriend. It’s a bestseller.”

            Inu Yasha stared at her even more surprised. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Or was this just something in the history book? It couldn’t be Kagome’s real feelings. She just cared for him, like she did Miroku or Shippou.

            Yuka’s eyes gleamed. “Wouldn’t it be neat to trace your path?” She asked. “Plus, Kagome, we do have to write about a significant part of history. Having something connected with your family is an added bonus.”

            Kagome rolled her eyes. “Somehow I don’t think they will buy the fact that I am the Kagome who jumps through a well to meet dog boy.”

            Inu Yasha looked insulted, and Shippou tugged on Kagome’s leg. “Kagome, can we go inside? Do you have any of that ramen stuff that you bring with you all the time? I’m hungry.”

            Kagome sighed and gave in. “Hai, Shippou-chan. I give up. I’ll go eat; I’ll research my family. Jii-chan will be more than happy to provide any details about this shrine. We’ll sit in the family room while I talk to Jii-chan.”

            There was a loud thump in the middle of her sentence, and they all looked to see Inu Yasha sprawled out on the floor, tapping the ground with his claws.

            “Ah! Gomen, gomen!”