The End of the Demons

Regrouping

“Now then, where can we go?” Sesshomaru asked as Kagome realized that if they did not fix things, she would never see her family again. Not to mention, she would probably be killed.

She thought for a while and then said, “There is a lady that used to baby sit for my brother and me. She has a house not too far away from my family’s shrine. She goes away in the summer to visit family and asks me to keep an eye on the house. I have a key and usually stop by once a week to make sure everything is ok. I guess we could go there.”

“That sounds acceptable.” Sesshomaru replied and they were once again in the air with Kagome leading them to the house.

When they arrived at the house, Kagome let them in the door and locked it behind her. She led Sesshomaru to the living room. She sat on the couch while he sat in a chair facing her. They sat quietly like this for a few minutes and then Kagome started to doze off.

“I think we should retire for the evening, Miko. Where is the sleeping quarters?” Sesshomaru asked.

“Upstairs,” Kagome replied and led him up the steps. There was only 1 bedroom and a bathroom upstairs. “I’m sorry that this place is so small. It was the only place that I could think of, but the lady that lives here is rather old. All of her children are grown, so she does not need a big place. I thought one of us could sleep on the couch. It is still better then the forest floor. I don’t mind sleeping there. You would probably be too tall for the couch. I thought…”

“Miko, do you always talk when you are nervous,” Sesshomaru interrupted. She just nodded, yes. “Your anxiety at this moment is not necessary. I asked for a place for us to stay and you provided an acceptable place. I will be resting on the bench by the window while you sleep in the bed.”

“Oh, ok,” Kagome replied relieved. “Do you mind if I bathe quickly before I go to bed?”

“Ah, I believe now would be a good time to set some rules.” Sesshomaru stated and sat on the padded bench under the window. “Rule 1, you will obey my orders without question, or you will die. Rule 2, you may do as you wish in this house, but if you try to leave the house without my permission, you will die. Rule 3, you will not try to contact your family. You will have no time for this, because almost all of our time will be used to rectify the demon problem. You will focus on this because if we cannot fix things, you will die along with everyone you love. Have I made myself clear?”

She could not even speak. Just nodded again. “Excellent, now don’t disturb me again until morning.” Sesshomaru stated as he placed his legs on the bench, leaned his back against the wall, and closed his eyes.

Kagome looked through the dresser in the bed room and located a nightgown. She took a quick shower, changed for bed, and then slept like the dead. When she woke up in the morning she was alone. She gathered up her dirty clothes and took then to the washing machine. She started the washer and then went to the kitchen where Sesshomaru was standing at the back door looking out at the yard.

“Do you have any ideas on how we can fix this?” Kagome asked.

“I think we have 2 options. We either find a way to go back in time before the final battle and stop Naraku from making his wish, or we find a way to make a wish that will un-do this.” Sesshomaru answered, but never looked away from the door.

“Well I think there would be a lot of problems with option 1. That would put two of each of us in the same place at the same time and I just don’t think time and space will allow that. So I think we should go for option 2.” Kagome told him while sitting at the table.

“I agree. Lay down on the table.”

“What!” Kagome shouted and jumped to her feet.

“Rule 1, obey without question. Now lay on the table,” he repeated.

She climbed on the table and lie on her back. She was shacking and looked like she was going to cry.

He ignored her fear and asked, “Where is the jewel?”

She pointed to her side. Before she could even scream, he had sliced her open right though the night gown and removed the jewel. The cut that he had made was so small and precise that it hardly bled.

He sat in a chair by the table and studied the jewel. “You may go bandage your wound, and then come back.”

She jumped from the table and rushed upstairs. She calmed herself down while she put a bandage on the small wound. She was so upset with herself. She never used to be this scared of Sesshomaru. She stood up to him on several occasions, but now things were different. She did not have Inuyasha or her friends to back her up. Sesshomaru had also threatened not just her, but her family and having her family hurt scared her to death. She had never really thought that her adventures in the past could end up hurting her family. If she had thought they could, she might not have continued to have them. She would just have to try to keep the demon happy.

She went back to the kitchen and sat in a chair across from Sesshomaru. He handed her the jewel and said, “Attempt to make a wish to un-do Naraku’s wish.”
“I wish to undo the wish that Naraku made on the Shikon Jewel,” she stated out loud. Nothing happened. “I wish to bring the demons back into existence.” Nothing happened. “I wish to correct the wish made on the sacred jewel and bring all of the demons back into existence one second after they were wiped out.” Nothing happened.

“Enough. For some reason the jewel has lost it’s power. I also tried to make the wish and it did not work,” he said calmly. “We need to find out why it does not work and fix it.”

“I know why it won’t work,” Kagome said. She knew that she should probably tell him her theory right away, but she was going to wait for him to ask. She had felt weak too many times over the past 24 hours. So she sat there not looking at him and waited.

Sesshomaru was annoyed at first that she did not come right out and give him her information, and then he was kind of amused. She was playing with him. She actually thought she had the power to make him do something. Well she had spirit he thought. He was looking at her, but she was trying not to acknowledge this by looking away. He knew that all he had to do was order her to tell him what she knew and she would. She loved to talk and was scared of him, but that would be admitting that she had something that he wanted. He had to rely on her the previous night for a place to stay and that had bugged him to no end. Now he had to rely on her for answers. He would not stoop to her level. He would make her tell him without saying a word. He knew his gaze was enough to scare most people to death. He had a secret that no one knew. He loved games. If she wanted to play, then game on.

He stared at her with an intensity that made her shiver. She could feel it and see it out of the corner of her eye, while she still tried to look away from him. Then she decided that is she was really going to do this, and try to make him ask her for the information, then she should do it right. She turned and met his gaze. The staring contest was on. He won of course. His eyes reminded her too much of Inuyasha. Her eyes started to tear up, so she had to look away.

Sesshomaru had been impressed by her once again when she had met his gaze. He was pleased that he could make her cry with just a cold look, but also a bit disappointed that the game was over so quickly. He had no idea that her tears actually had nothing to do with him. He would have been furious if he knew that the tears were due to her grief over his hated half brother.

“The jewel does not work because the demonic energy is gone,” Kagome stated quietly while looking down at the table. “It was the balance if intense spiritual and demonic energy contained in one place that made it so powerful.”

Sesshomaru thought on this and it was a logical conclusion. “So we need to restore the balance in order to use the jewel,” he stated. “Very well, finish preparing for the day, Miko. We have a hanyou and his incarnations to hunt down. If demonic energy is what is needed, then they will be the ones to supply it.
Kagome smiled a bitter, wicked smile that that would have been out of character for her in any other situation, but right now she was sad, scared, and mad as hell. Naraku had caused this mess and now he would help to fix it. This seemed very fitting to her. ‘Revenge for my friends,’ she thought bitterly.

Sesshomaru saw the look on her face. He knew this look. He often wore the same look. ‘This is going to be most interesting indeed,’ he thought.

---- I do not own any part of Inuyasha or any of the characters in this story.