Kaerizaku
Shinwa
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Kaerizaku:
Dreams of Past Forgotten
Wednesday found Kagome and Sango at the library bright
and early. Neither had classes until
the afternoon, so they chose to do more research for Kagome's project.
"Did you find it?" Sango asked, referring to a
book that had been recommended by a friend of Kagome.
"No. Knowing
this nut, it's probably a book published over fifty years ago and has been out
of print for thirty," she complained.
"I'll have to call my dear friend, who lives in the middle
of nowhere, and ask the recluse to send me a copy."
A blood red stain slowly spread across the sky as the sun
sank behind the mountains.
A field...A trap...The once long, rich green grass was
now trampled and turned crimson. So
surreal...The sky and ground covered in blood...
Hands...hands covered in blood...
The stench of blood and death was thick in the air.
quieter now, most of the threat had been destroyed.
In the darkening sky a full moon rose in the east...Soft
silver light cast the field in eerie shades.
Silver light...A flash of silver across the grass.
Him.
this the last stand. So proud they
were, not fighting togethet not not fighting against each other either.
A familiar cry rose over the din.
robes. She caught something only to
fling it once more. The man fought with
a staff that seemed to chime merrily, ironic given his circumstance...His
hand...Wind.
Kaze...The kaze
tsukai free from her 'father' and master, fighting against him now...
Tai...She
was once against him, the one with silver hair, and now was with
them...Twins...Iie, sisters, maybe.
One of the silver men fall wounded, the other soon after, distracted
protecting his kin.
My fault.
A pink glow...A dark comet coming towards her...
Kagome jerked up in her bed, gasping desperately for air,
tears coursing unchecked down her flushed cheeks. As the dream faded, the woman wrapped her arms around her stomach
and curled into a ball, crying still for a past she didn't know.
Myouga-sensei dismissed the class with a reminder
the propositions for the project were to be on his desk by Tuesday next.
Kagome walked out the door, soon flanked by Miroku and
Sesshoumaru. Without looking at either,
she held out two packets of paper.
"This is everything we've found at present.
legend but there are gaps. I'm waiting
for a book to come from a friend and any additional details the psycho sees fit
to tell me. In the meanwhile, I want to
look at your father's books." She
stopped to sit on a bench in the courtyard.
"When can we see them?"
"I have no more classes until Monday.
"I have religious studies and philosophy tomorrow;
the last class ends around two o'clock.
Tonight I have a study group at seven," Miroku said.
to get started without me."
"Slacker, you're just hoping we'll find what we need
so you don't have to do research."
"Kagome-sama, you wound me with your
words. I was planning to compare your
notes to mine between classes tomorrow."
She looked at him skeptically. "You read those books already?"
"Well, more like skimmed. However, I was online last night to find more accurate maps from Sengoku
Jidai for cross-references of locations mentioned in the legend and where
they are today. For instance, the
second to last miko who protected the Shikon no Tama lived in a
village that stood where the heart of Tokyo is now. As you undoubtedly know, right before her death she sealed a hanyou
who had tried to steal the tama to a tree. In one of the books this tree was called Goshinboku and
using that name I found one shrine in Tokyo that has such a tree on its grounds
that would've been both near a village four, five hundred years ago and already
old enough to have been named so honorifically. Interestingly enough that shrine seems to be kept by our lovely
Kagome-sama's family." He
wore a smug expression in answer to Kagome's awe. Sesshoumaru, though, was not impressed.
"Sama?"
"If your masculinity had been threatened by a woman
as she did you would call her -sama as well."
"This Sesshoumaru would never be in such a position
to be threatened in the first place," he drawled.
"Yo, Kagome!" Kouga called, running
across the grass. Kagome seemed used to
his unnatural speed when he abruptly came to a halt standing before her.
"Kouga-kun, what's up?"
smugly to Sesshoumaru.
"Sango-san told me you were playing this
morning; she doesn't think you got much sleep and frankly, after seeing you, I
agree." He sat on the bench beside
her, grasping her hands in his. "Mou
yume deshita ka?t;
Carefully extracting her hands she gave a small nod.
and immediately withdrew a small notebook.
"Could you?" Though
her partners didn't understand, he did; he accepted the offering with a grim
smile. "It might jump around, I
really don't know...Is this...Never mind."
"You know I'll help you any way I can," Kouga
spoke with such fervor the woman averted her gaze to her lap.
eyes; it didn't go unnoticed by Sesshoumaru or Miroku.
of worry and resigned love.
A Familiar
Tail
When he had parted company with Kagome earlier they had
agreed she would come to his apartment after her rehearsal, which she estimated
would be over around eight. She had
also insisted on bringing dinner, so it came as no surprise when she was at his
door at seven past eight, backpack slung over one shoulder, takeout in her
arms. What was a surprise was her
little entourage consisting of her fellow 'band' members.
Seeing his dubious look she hastened to explain.
look at your father's books Sango and Kikyou wanted to come too.
centuries ago they were elite taijiya and our darling Kikyou has almost
finished her training to become a miko and, therefore, finds the
prospect of these books fascinating.
Kouga wanted free food and InuYasha says he doesn't trust you farther
than he can throw you. So, here we
are," she cheerfully finished.
Sesshoumaru, being the brilliant strategist that he is,
realized it was all or nothing and stepped back allowing his sanctuary to be
invaded. InuYasha led the way to the
library, or study, whichever it could be called, and soon every surface was
buried under books, notebooks, and Chinese takeout. It had been amusing to watch home owner fret over letting them eat
while going through the books, some of which were hundreds of years old, not
that there was much to allow hey hey kind of just ignored him.
InuYasha was on his half-brother's computer where the
oldest texts had been transcribed to prevent further wear from handling,
gobbling down his first of many containers of ramen; Kikyou took notes when she
could understand her boyfriend's garbled dictation, but mostly scanned
pages. Kouga skimmed through books,
passing them on to some one else for more careful perusal when he found
something of interest and the rest took notes from these texts.
minutes later Miroku had joined the hunt, contentedly eating cold rice.
Another half hour had passed before anything of real use
was found. "'s
's
something," Kouga announced. When
he was sure of the attention he continued, "The miko who broke the
jewel, was believed to be the reincarnation of the previous miko who had
protected the jewel-"
"We know that, baka," InuYasha called
out from across the room.
Ignoring the interruption, he went on.
came from and nothing we've dug up has been able to tell us but there's a
riddle in this one: No matter the
distance one Walks, Nor the oceans one Crosses, Nor the mountains one Climbs,
Nor the places to where one may Fly, The only way to get there is to go
Forward. That sounds like something
the brat would say," he mused. The
longhaired man flipped the book to the front cover and started to choke.
"Kouga-kun!
Daijoubu desu ka?" Kagome asked moving over to him.
author's name.
"Nekami Kitsu," she read.
"What kind of name is Kitsu?" Sango
wondered aloud.
"Try reading it the Western way," Kouga
suggested when he could finally speak.
"Kitsu Nekami..."
mumbled around a mouthful of noodles, his fourth container but he was slowing
down now. Kikyou and Kagome exchanged a
look. When he realized the unnatural silence
in the room, the young amber-eyed man spun his swivel chair around to be
confronted by three feline smiles.
"Inu Kami-sama!" Kagome cried out
falling to her knees.
"Inu Kami-sama!" Sango immediately
followed.
"Inu Kami-sama!" Kikyou finished.
"Inu Kami-sama!" they all cried out,
bowing low to the ground, arms stretched towards him.
InuYasha watched slack-jawed at their antics.
"Who would ever worship you?" Sesshoumaru
asked. But having heard him, the
worshippers sat up, three of room's occupants sharing similar feelings.
to work?"
"I know someone who loves riddles, he should be able
to figure this out," Kouga volunteered.
"Ii desu nee," Kagome agreed.
share what we've pieced together of the legend and try to do it
chronologically."
"I'll start," Kikyou spoke softly.
shimasu," she added before he could protest, looking at him with large
brown eyes. She smiled when he grumbled
in agreement, putting aside his half-finished ramen. "Ok, roughly nanahyaku or happyaku years ago a
miko named Midoriko lived. She
was the most powerful one up to that point and for centuries after, believed to
have been able to purify the very soul of a youkai, as many as yon
at a time. It was this power that the youkai
feared and caused them to merge to become more powerful.
Midoriko-sama and it was this man's weak heart allowed the youkai
to attain their goal.
1'> "The battle lasted seven days and seven nights, and
towards the end the youkai were winning. Demo, Midoriko-sama drew forth the last of her
power and captured the youkai no tamashii and inadvertently trapped her
soul as well into a jewel that came from her heart: the Shikon no Tama."*
"From here the jewel bounced around amongst youkai
and evil humans for several centuries until a taijiya slew a demon
in possession of it," Sango picked up the thread.
to a miko in hopes that she could purify it; however, she died, betrayed
by her lover, before she could complete her task. She had sealed the hanyou to a tree called the Goshinboku
with the last of her strength and ordered the jewel be burned with her body.
"Roughly fifty years later a mysterious woman appeared,
woman, that is, in perspective to the period, she was actually in her
mid-teens. Suspicious of the gaijin,
the villagers captured her and took her to their miko, sister of the
late guardian, who determined the girl to be her sister's reincarnation.
girl, whom the youkai knew to have the Shikon no Tama.
where she had been caught, at the Goshinboku. Somehow, the hanyou had awoken and, in the confusion that
followed, the jewel was torn from the girl's side, she broke the seal, freeing
the hanyou who then destroyed the demon," Sango recited the
information dutifully. The tajiya's
descendant took a deep breath before continuing.
"The hanyou then turned on the late miko's
reincarnation to get the jewel, but he was subdued by another spell.
and, in an attempt to stop it, the girl shattered the jewel, which by that
point was inside the demon, with an arrow.
The hanyou and the girl who turned out to be a miko met a
young kitsune-"
"He got a sword first," Miroku interrupted.
"What?"
"The hanyou had a sword that only worked when
he would protect the miko."
"InuYasha..." Kagome murmured.
"What?
Kagome...Oi Kagome!"
"Eh? Oh,
sorry. The hanyou was your
namesake, InuYasha. The sword would
have been the Tessaiga and the half brother, Sesshoumaru, was the one
who found it, but, being that he was a full youkai, he couldn't touch
it. Given, then, that the hanyou
in the legend was InuYasha, the village was located outside of InuYasha no
Mori which was home of the Goshinboku...My family's shrine is smack
in the middle of where the forest used to be."
"Okay, so now we have a name, InuYasha," Miroku
said. "Now, moving along with the
story...After he got his sword they met a kitsune who wanted
their shards to avenge his father.
InuYasha did the avenging and the kid joined the hunt, having no one
else. The next part is still hazy, but
somehow InuYasha's lover-"
"Hey!"
"-was resurrected and then roamed the land seeking
to kill her betrayer. As the search for
the Shikon no kakera continued they met a cursed monk who was using the
shards as a lure for his enemy. For
some reason, probably the miko's kind heart, he also joined the group.
told the jewel originated. Upon
arrival, they discovered a slaughtered village. Though no one in the village lived, a group had been called away
to serve a troubled lord; of this group only one survived, a female taijiya.
destroyed her home and killed her people; however, that belief was corrected
and she traveled with the shard hunters, bringing with her a small cat-like
youkai, as it would seem that her enemy was also the houshi's and
the hanyou's enemy."
"Why?" Kikyou questioned.
"Um, why what?"
"Why was the tajiya's and the houshi's
enemy also InuYasha's enemy?"
"Uh, group togetherness? One for all and all for one, maybe?"
"It was a setup." Everyone turned to Sesshoumaru.
He sat looking through a book, saying nothing more.
"He's right," InuYasha exclaimed.
the young man in shock, he was hurriedly typing at the computer, occasionally
clicking the mouse. "Here!"
he crowed triumphantly. "InuYasha
didn't betray the guardian of the jewel, but a 'youkai, with the ability
to change his form, took that of the hanyou and attacked the
priestess. He then took the form of the
miko and attacked the hanyou.'
From there nature took its course, I guess. They each thought the other a traitor and took revenge as they
saw fit."
"How sad," Kikyou sighed.
beyond all doubt the other had betrayed them.
How must it have felt, to die thinking the one you loved didn't love
&quo" Her words hung in the air, a
strange foreboding lingering.
Kouga cleared his throat. "Going on now...Not much details are found, just random bits
and pieces, some places they went, but they made the village where the miko
first arrived their base." He
flipped through a thick book in his lap.
"Their shards were taken by the dead miko, given then to the
enemy...Some run-ins with Sesshoumaru, one of which led to InuYasha learning a
powerful attack of Tessaiga...
There was an encounter with an ookami youkai that resulted
the miko being kidnapped. She
helped the ookami with a bird problem, her friends come for
her...Another trick. InuYasha was setup
again to appear as though he killed a huge group of ookami youkai from
two tribes, one group being from the earlier tribe. A fight ensued between the hanyou and the tribe's leader
leading to the former's defeat, which allowed a lackey of the enemy to take the
latter youkai's shards. But
InuYasha protected him, or rather, InuYasha refused to be a pawn in the enemy's
plan yet again. He won...The sword
broke, InuYasha went insane (nothing new there), sword repaired, and sanity
wasn't…something about becoming stronger than the fang's originator.
human mate and, also, as a seal for InuYasha's demon blood," Sesshoumaru
said. "It was made from his fang,
so when it was broken, InuYasha's fang was used to put it back together.
by InuYasha becoming stronger than his father, illiilling the youkai
that had indirectly caused his death, Ryuukotsusei. In killing the ryuu youkai, InuYasha proved himself to be
stronger than his father thus resealing his demon blood and he also discovered Tessaiga's
ultimate attack, one that was said to use youkai no youki against
itself."
"...And you know this how?" InuYasha asked.
"Unlike you, I did not fall asleep when chichiue
told us of our namesakes."
"Feh," was his only response.
"They hurt him," Kagome succeeded in drawing
all eyes to herself. Reading from her
notes and a book on her lap she continued.
"The enemy took something of Sesshoumaru's, anticipating his
reaction to be along the lines of 'no one tells this Sesshoumaru what to do,
for this you will die.' InuYasha had
found a way for his sword to break through barriers and joined the fight
already occurring. Between the two
brothers and their swords, Sesshoumaru now having one called Toukijin,
they caused considerable damage to him before he fled.
"The shard-hunting party spent weeks looking for
him, before they ran into the Shichinintai, a group of seven resurrected
human mercenaries. They were a
diversionary tactic to allow the enemy the time he needed to finish
healing. Eventually all seven were
defeated, the enemy discovered only to flee, 'leaving our heroes in yet another
pickle-'"
"Our heroes in a pickle?" Sango asked, amused.
"It says right here," she pointed to the spot
as Sango leaned over.
"'...leaving our heroes in yet another pickle.'
She sat back down. "Who
wrote that one? It sounds like a comic
book."
"Ano, it's the Fox God again.
shibito no miko...how do you kill something that's already dead?
that he had gotten rid of his 'human heart'.
Chotto matte, I thought he was a demon."
"My guardian, Mushin, told me a legend once,"
Miroku spoke slowly, trying to remember.
"There was a thief who had been badly wounded in a fire and a
beautiful miko tended to him in a cave.
So beautiful was she that the man wanted her, unable though he was to
move. But this desire, this weakness,
was so great that he eventually gave his body to a hoard of waiting youkai
who desired to destroy the miko.
The resulting being was a hanyou called...Naraku."
name, Miroku inclu
had passed, he went on. "The
legend said that though the thief's body was gone, his heart remained, keeping
the half-demon from killing the priestess.
Perhaps this is our villain from the legend," he tentatively
suggested.
This name, like InuYasha’s, was accepted as their
‘villain’s’ after a brief debate.
“There’s little to no information after all this,
including no conclusion to our legend,” Kagome informed the group.
‘Naraku’, assuming those are correct, maybe we’ll find more, ne?”
There was a tired silence broken when Sango stood from
her chair, entwining the fingers of both hands together before raising them
above her head, starting to groan only for it to turn into a big yawn.
slowly turning her head to her giggling friend. When she arched a dark eyebrow in question, Kagome gestured
around the room with one hand, covering her own yawn with the other.
her gaze to sweep the study, finding all of its occupants in various stages of
yawning.
InuYasha gave a mighty one, jaw gaping, tongue coming
forward before the tip curled upward and then retreated back into his
mouth. The blue-eyed girl giggled
again, joined this time by the other two females.
At the boy’s questioning stare, Sesshoumaru said with an
imperceptible smirk, “They laugh because you just unwittingly acted like that
which your name suggests, Inu.”
The black haired women burst into outright laughter,
fueled by the insanity brought on by exhaustion, at the drawled remark.
One violet-eyed man took advantage of their distraction
to reach out…
A scream of ‘Hentai’ followed by a resounding slap
then thud was greeted by a minute silence before another round of laughter
started, this time including two of the remaining males, excluding one female
who stood breathing hard, dark eyes narrowed on the innocent face of Miroku.
*Midoriko legend summarized and,
possibly, paraphrased (really too tired to double check) from chapter 94, Birth
of the Jewel, volume 10 of the manga.
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Sunday, May 23, 2004